Finally God Unveils His Face!

To finish out the year, I'm sharing seven quotes from George MacDonald, thought-provoking words that may provide the reader with material to meditate on as we transition from the end of this year into the start of a new year. I've chosen different themes from his writings; perhaps one of these may catch your attention. If so, a helpful practice is to take a moment and contemplate it together with Him:

"God hides nothing. His very work from the beginning is revelation - a casting aside of veil after veil, a showing unto men of truth after truth. On and on, from fact to fact divine He advances, until at length in His Son Jesus, He unveils His very face. Then begins a fresh unveiling, for the very work of the Father is the work the Son Himself has to do - to reveal..."

"I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest and most precious thing in all thinking."

“You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself." (Quoted by C.S.Lewis in Mere Christianity)

“...there is no harm in being afraid. The only harm is in doing what Fear tells you. Fear is not your master! Laugh in his face and he will run away.”  

“...though I cannot promise to take you home," said North Wind, as she sank nearer and nearer to the tops of the houses, "I can promise you it will be all right in the end. You will get home somehow.” 

“But we believe – nay, Lord we only hope,
That one day we shall thank thee perfectly
For pain and hope and all that led or drove
Us back into the bosom of thy love.”  

“It is vain to think that any weariness, however caused, any burden, however slight, may be got rid of otherwise than by bowing the neck to the yoke of the Father's will. There can be no other rest for heart and soul than He has created. From every burden, from every anxiety, from all dread of shame or loss, even loss of love itself, that yoke will set us free.”

May the coming year be one of looking into the face of Jesus and experiencing His work of "casting aside veil after veil...until at length in His Son Jesus, He unveils His very face." God is Christlike!  II Cor. 4:6  For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made us understand that it is the brightness of his glory that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Astonishing News for Everyone about an Astonishing Person

In the previous post about "astonishing news", we looked at Luke 2 and the announcement made by the angel to the shepherds:

Luke 2 ^{- "}And in the same area there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And then an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were very afraid. But the angel said to them, “Listen! Do not fear. For I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you: You will find the Baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly there was with the angel a company of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will toward men.”

I want to follow up on how Jesus wonderfully fulfilled each part of the announcement that is highlighted above.

First, "Do not fear." In taking on human flesh and dying, Jesus faced fear and broke the power of the fear of death that haunts and torments every human. His pure love for humans drove out fear, opening the way to trust God rather than to fear.

Second, "good news of great joy." Jesus was the joyful good news. His presence among people always inspired joy and expectation. Here was a person who was fully alive, filled with the love of God for everyone. His presence caused great hope and rejoicing to all who were hungry and thirsty.

Third, "to all people." In spite of the fact that the first century world was "small" and that Jesus moved about in a very limited geographical space primarily among the Jews, He was always relating with and ministering to those who were not Jewish and left no doubt about God's love and redemption being for all peoples. In Jesus we began to see clearly that God has no favorites; all are His own.

Fourth, "the Baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." Jesus' life began as any human life begins - as a baby, helpless and vulnerable. The way He lived His life as a grown man reflected His identification with the average person. God came in a way that was unexpected and non-threatening.

Fifth, "on earth peace." This announcement of peace concerning this birth indicates that His nature is that of peace. In Jesus peace came to earth. Because He understood that violence only begets more violence, He did not try to resolve force with force. He lived this way of peace and His death manifested His refusal to respond to violence by use of force. He promised peace before His crucifixion and pronounced peace immediately upon appearing to His followers after His resurrection. Jesus was and is the Prince of peace.

Finally, "good will toward men." In Jesus God was showing that He has good intentions for humans, all humans. When we see how Jesus treated humans, we see the good will that God has towards us. God was in Christ saying through Jesus' words and deeds and the outpouring of His life that He loves and wants everyone to experience the goodness that there is in relating with Him.

...astonishing news for everyone about an astonishing Person! GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!

Astonishing News for Everyone

The dramatic announcement made to the shepherds about God's coming in human flesh shows us a lot about God.

Luke 2 ^{- "}And in the same area there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And then an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were very afraid. But the angel said to them, “Listen! Do not fear. For I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you: You will find the Baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly there was with the angel a company of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

                                                                 Glory to God in the highest,
                                      and on earth peace, and good will toward men.”

As I reflect on this beautiful portion afresh, I see the following truths about God in the highlighted phrases:

First, "Do not fear." This suggests to me that God knows we are fearful people and wants us to understand that, unlike the intimidating gods of the nations, He is coming to us in a non-threatening way. Rather than fearing Him, He desires that we trust Him.

Second, "good news of great joy." Our God is a joyful God with good news for us. This announcement isn't that of a vengeful, vindictive God but One, who like loving parents, is eager to surprise their children with a gift that the child knows he/she doesn't deserve.

Third, "to all people." This God is not tribal. He isn't coming for only one particular group of people but for all people, all nations. This is staggering news for humans whose bent is toward thinking that God favors people like ourselves over others.

Fourth, "the Baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." Wow! This God comes in the most vulnerable form possible and is born into the poor of society, underscoring His desire to identify with the lowliest and to come in the most non-threatening way possible.

Fifth, "peace on earth." This tells us that His nature is peace-loving and non-violent. He comes, unlike all other gods and kings, with no rivalrous nor competitive agenda, no need to prove Himself. The rule of His kingdom is a rule of peace.

Sixth, "good will toward men." This God comes with good will, good intentions towards all people. All other gods and rulers view people as a means to accomplish their agenda and glory. Our God is all about good for everyone.

This is an astonishing announcement! Everything about it shouts that this God has no animosity towards humanity but rather is madly in love with humans and will do anything to come to our aid. The world has never known such a God; but because He is how He is, He won't assert and force Himself and His ways on anyone; it requires a lowly attitude in us to see and receive the good news that the angel announced that splendid night.

Deadly Side Effects

Recently I asked myself this question: "Is my interest in continuing to learn and to grow in knowledge so that I can understand God better and thereby love Him and others more, or is it so that I can prove that I'm 'right' and win arguments? Is it so that I can give life to others or so that I can feel superior to others?"

I believe this question was prompted by the Spirit of God and was His way of continually re-calibrating my journey in Him to keep me focused on loving Him with all my heart, mind, soul and strength and loving my neighbor as myself.

In the story of the garden of Eden, we see the two ways of knowing that humans are offered: knowing independently of God (the tree of knowledge of good and evil) and knowing in God (the tree of life). We humans have a wonderful capacity for knowing and learning, making great and wonderful discoveries because of being made in the image of our Creator; but when we exercise this capability apart from relationship with Him, even the discoveries we make that are beneficial to others have a dark underbelly to them and side effects that are worse than the knowledge/discovery.

The follower of Jesus is not immune to this reality. We never reach a place where trust and dependence on God is not necessary in our growth in understanding (whether that be theological understanding or any other discoveries). As we pursue knowledge that leads to creativity, we must do so in Him and dependent on Him; in other words, we must seek knowledge while in vital relationship with Him and with the awareness that the purpose of learning is to better understand God and His creation and be conformed to His likeness so that the way we live our life is like Jesus lived His: in loving communion with God and loving actions towards all humans. A common deadly side effect to gaining better understanding of God and His ways is pride and a sense of being superior to others.

When we grow in knowledge while depending on God, the benefits of that knowledge will have no deadly side effects.

If increased understanding is not producing increasing tenderness towards God and others, then it may be time to step back and allow His Spirit to examine us. For each person this will look different, but a periodic time of healthy self-reflection (not a morbid unhealthy religious self-hatred type of exercise) is helpful in re-calibrating the direction in which we are headed. Our natural propensity towards taking what we are learning and using it in unloving, self-serving ways requires that we allow God's Spirit to call us apart (for a moment, a day, a week...) for renewal and a fresh reminder of what life is really about: receiving His freely-given love in order to freely love Him and others with the same love and therein bring life and peace into our small corner of the world.

There is no Fear/Control in Love (In other Words, Is God 'in Control'?)

This is the third and concluding post on the topic of God's uncontrolling love. Having shared thoughts on the general idea that true love by nature is uncontrolling (here) and then some thoughts on where we see this clearly in operation (here), I will share some random thoughts about the implications of this kind of love. This is not comprehensive at all but perhaps can help generate more thoughts on the topic. The following are a few implications that come to mind:

One implication is that God is more interested in His creation's well-being than in His own well-being, because to love someone without trying to control them will, in one way or another, ultimately cost the lover his/her life. It is a dying to oneself and a giving up of one's power for the sake of the other.

Another implication is that God is willing to take risks in order to win voluntary love from His creatures. By taking hands off and not manipulating a person to behave in a desired way, the lover is risking that the person will walk away from life and goodness.

A third implication is that God wants love that is freely given to Him. God must exercise the kind of love He wants back from us. Voluntary love is not produced through using controlling love.

Another implication of God's love being free from control would be that, contrary to what we Christians say about God all the time, He is not controlling all that happens in our lives and in the world. God so loves the world that He gave up control over us in order to have a family that loves Him voluntarily. If God is not controlling everything, this would explain why the world is in the mess it's in; humans must be allowed free choice in order for true love to be operative in the world.

All of this could make God look impotent and weak to the point of His being unable to accomplish anything. But my final thought about uncontrolling love may apply here, and that is that uncontrolling love is actually the most powerful force there is. GOD IS LOVE. The presence of God among men is transformative. His power is in the ability of uncontrolling love to ultimately win over the heart of the loved one because the human heart is created to be loved. The apostle Paul says that LOVE NEVER FAILS; if this is so, then the God who is love will ultimately win the loved one through His loving presence rather than through His control.

^"God is love, and the man whose life is lived in love does, in fact, live in God, and God does, in fact, live in him. So our love for him grows more and more, filling us with complete confidence for the day when he shall judge all men—for we realise that our life in this world is actually his life lived in us. Love contains no fear (control)—indeed fully-developed love expels every particle of fear (control), for fear (control) always contains some of the torture of feeling guilty. This means that the man who lives in fear has not yet had his love perfected." (I John 4:16-18  JB Phillips paraphrase - I inserted the word 'control')

There is No Control in Love (In other words, "Sovereignty is More Like the Pathos of a Slaughtered Lamb than the Omnipotence of a Totalitarian Emperor")

Following up on the topic of true love being uncontrolling (see There is No Fear/Control in Love), I will touch this week on where we can see this kind of love most clearly in operation.

As a starter, I'd like to suggest three places we can see this at work. The three places that come to mind are in the stories that Jesus told, in the life that Jesus lived, and in the death that Jesus died.

First, the stories Jesus told. Perhaps the most famous of His stories, the story of the lost son (Luke 15), displays uncontrolling love most clearly. The father in the story had points of control over the situation through which he could have controlled both sons, thereby gaining a contrived desired result. After all, as long as the father was alive, everything technically belonged to him and he could have used that as a means of controlling the behavior of his sons, strong-arming them into being how he wanted them to be. This story has no hint of attempts at control on the part of the father; he loved them with pure unadulterated love.

Second, the life Jesus lived. Time after time we see Him relating with people in a non-controlling way. Statements made by Jesus in the gospel of John sum up the way He lived His life: "The Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing...I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me." (John 5:19,30) Obviously, Jesus lived His life of love without trying to make things go the way He thought they should. He lived trusting His Father; in other words, His life was one of loving trust without fear and control. 

And third, the death Jesus died. His death by crucifixion meant that He was literally immobilized, rendered incapable of doing or controlling anything; it climaxed a life lived free from controlling people and situations. The cross is the ultimate expression of the words of the apostle John, "There is no fear/control in love..." The non-controlling love of God is seen in living color in the death of Jesus. In Jesus we see in clearest terms what God's love is like - no fear, no control, no coercion nor manipulating, fully self-giving for the sake of the other. The cross shows the voluntary helplessness of the Creator to do anything to control creation; it was a voluntary helplessness because He understood that His creation can only respond freely to freely given love.

Morgan Guyton says: "...many Christians like me are wondering if God’s sovereignty looks more like the pathos of a slaughtered lamb than the omnipotence of a totalitarian emperor." 

Next week I'll write about some implications of this kind of love.

There is No Fear in Love (in other words, There is No Control in Love)

-->As I continue to seek to know God, I'm discovering that His love is of a nature that is beyond human understanding of love. Recently as I was teaching, I had a new understanding of how uncontrolling His love is. And it dawned on me that true self-giving love must be uncontrolling or else it is not pure.
With this in mind, I plan to share some random thoughts on this topic that are helping me know and love God more. This isn't comprehensive but simply a starting place for prayer and discussion about God and His love.

In this post I will share thoughts on the nature of true love and the issue of control in love.

According to I Cor 13, the nature of true love is the following:

* Love is patient, which implies long waiting for the sake of the loved one; this is a form of suffering because waiting for another person means putting my plans and desires on hold.

* Love does not claim "ownership" of the loved one even though I may have a role in the person's life that would give me permission to "own" that person.

* Love doesn't flaunt itself (whether in obvious or in subtle ways) to get the attention and praise of the other person(s).

* Love is polite (recognizes the dignity of the other), not simply for the sake of politeness, but for the sake of honoring every human as a being of great value to God.

* Love isn't overly sensitive to every little word and action by others but overlooks many offenses whether they are intended or not.

* Love is inclusive, genuinely happy when good things happen to anyone, and has no desire to gloat when bad things happen to another person or group that is not part of its clan or way of thinking.

* Love endures forever; it believes the best about others and keeps hoping in the face of everything; it doesn't quit when it's not accepted and will prevail when all else has collapsed.

As I take the time to ponder each of these qualities of love, I can see how uncontrolling true love is. For example, exercising patience and waiting for a loved one to find and experience God is a form of taking hands off; it's refraining from manipulating to hasten the person towards God. Being willing to wait is a form of non-controlling love, and it is risky...and so on.

I'll let the reader go through each of the qualities of love and think through how letting go of control is at the back of each one. This makes sense, because fear is what pushes us to want to control life, and fear is the opposite of love (according to I John).

Next week we'll look at where we best find this kind of love in operation.