Written October 18, 2008:
...So who is this God character anyway? As a matter of principle, I believe
that every living soul should be allowed the freedom to answer this
question in their own way (Way), in their own time. What I will offer
here is my personal conviction on the question of Gods’- and our-
nature.
I’m quoting a couple of passages from the Bible that,
for me, paint the perfect picture of God and how he relates to us.
They’re all from one of my favourite books, 1st John:
1:5 “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”
3:1-2
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be
called children of God! And that is what we are...dear friends, now we
are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.
But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see
him as he is.”
3:16”This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us”
4:7-12”
Dear friends let us love on another, for love comes from God. Everyone
who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does
not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love
among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live
through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends,
since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No-one has
ever seen God; but if we love on another, God lives in us and his love
is made complete in us.”
4:16-18”And so we know and rely on the
love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God,
and God in him. In this way, love is made complete in us so that we will
have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are
like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,
because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made
perfect in love.”
From this book alone we can make at least two
concrete statements. The first; God is love. The second, God is light.
If God is both these things, we are also by very nature love and light.
We were made in the image and likeness of, as reflections of light and
love. But what is love? My boy Paul lays it down beautifully in
1Corrinthians 13:1-8, 13
“And now I will show you the most
excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have
not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have
the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, but
have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I have to the poor and
surrender my body to flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love
is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is
not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always
hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Sound like a bit of a
tall order? It shouldn’t be; this stuff should come naturally to us,
and it can. If man was created and designed to be vessels of pure love,
as God is, and Christ was that self-same love made flesh, then it seems
to me logical to conclude that there isn’t a final purpose for our
existence in the strict sense of the word, rather that our purpose is a
continuous one: to propagate and refine our understanding of God and his
infinite and pure love by practicing it in our daily lives. Again, if
Christ can be used as the template for perfect love, then we already
have in the Scriptures all the guidance we’ll ever need for leading
lives more and more in line with our divine purpose. The only thing I
think limiting us individually (and to a greater extent, collectively)
is the level of understanding we allow ourselves to experience. I say
allow because I don’t think any of this has to do with learning or
growth or something we have to go and find that we lack.
Describing
the colour red to someone born blind is a fruitless exercise. So is
talking about abstract states like contentment, peace, joy, love. It is
only through experience that one can testify that it truly is ‘more
blessed to give than to receive.’ The most worthwhile thing we can do
with our lives is to increase the depth of our spiritual understanding
(not intellectual) of the fullness of the Love of God through the
experience of sharing it freely and actively amongst ourselves.
This is our sole purpose, our Soul Purpose. Everything else is incidental.
This
is my Truth, what I’ve adopted as my Way. However you’ve chosen to
practice your Way, I sincerely hope that God continues to reveal himself
to you in his infinite glory, and guide your steps every day as you
walk along the path of enlightenment.
Peace and love.
Nathan
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