It's interesting flipping through channels and hearing what different televangelists think about God and comparing it to what we hear in the pulpit Sunday after Sunday. I often find that two viewpoints generally seem to show themselves:
1.) God is a grandfatherly figure, sitting on the front porch to Heaven in His rocking chair, desperately hoping that any minute His children will come walking down the road to see him. He gives blessings every chance he gets and feels wrenched when we hurt. He doesn't care what anyone has done. All he wants is for us to be healthy, wealthy, and happy. If we would just believe that, he could give us that. Ask Him, and He will provide.
2.) God is a judge with a gavel, ready to pronounce sentence on all who trespass against His law. Those who are obedient to Him are blessed, and those who turn from Him are cursed. Death, disease, natural disasters--these are God's wrath against the sinfulness of man. And pray that you do not become one of the select few who learn the truth and then fall. That has the greatest shame of all--to know God and fail him.
Personally, neither one sounds quite right. I agree with the first view that God is a loving God, who wants the best for His children. But at the same time, He is also a just God, and a mighty God, one who smites the enemies of His children. That's not exactly grandfatherly. I agree with the second view that God enforces His law, and anyone who goes against that law will be worthy of punishment. But God is not a tyrant. He's not sitting in Heaven waiting for us to fall so He can throw us in the spiritual slammer.
Looking at the first few chapters of Genesis, I noticed a several things:
(1) Man is the only creation that God breathed the breath of life into. (Gensis 2:7)
(2) Man is the only creation that was made in His image. (Gensis 1:27)
(3) Man is given dominion over all other creatures. (Gensis 1:26)
(4) Man is the only creature God gave a law to. (Gensis 2:15-17)
(5) When Man broke that law, God didn't kill them right there and then. He punished them, but He let them live, and He provided clothing for them. (Genesis 3:21)
(6) God punished the serpent worse than Man, and predicted that ultimately Man would be victorious over the serpent. (Genesis 3:15)
(7) God wanted to avoid further pain for Man, so He sent them away. (Genesis 3:22)
When I think about the circumstances surrounding the events of Genesis 1-3, I notice something very important. Of all creation, Man is God's favorite creation. (Of course when I say "Man," I am referring to mankind, as in males and females. Much love to the ladies ;-) ) Its the only creation that was given the breath of life, it was the only creation given dominion over anything else, and it was the only creation given a responsibility to keep. For all of His marvelous and beautiful works in all of the universe, His favorite one is us...mankind.
That of course makes the fall of Man all the more painful. God's most prized creation ends up disobeying Him and siding with an enemy. As much of a favorite as we are to Him, that makes us that much more deserving of punishment for the evil will commit. We are God's equivalent to the Mona Lisa, and we just decided to dump ourselves into a bucket of mixed finger paints.
But as bad as Man's fall was, and as much as we deserved a good smack on the head (really worse), God holds His hand back. Now He has to do something, because to ignore the transgression would be breaking the law, too, and God would not be God if He did that. But, when He had every right to strike Adam and Eve dead right then, He instead punished their livelihood. Adam would now have to work the ground to get food, and Eve would have a lot of pain giving birth to children. But the main point is that they would both still be alive to experience those hardships, not erased from all existence.
But God is not incapable of complete wrath. Look at the serpent. He got the worst of it, because in the end, he would be the one with a crushed head. Apparently, tricking His favorite creation into doing evil is not a good idea.
The last thing God does is make clothes for Adam and Eve and sends them away from the garden. I see this as an act of mercy, firstly because Adam and Eve knew they were naked, and it ashamed them. So rather than let them walk around with the shame that they felt, as He had every right to do, He decides to give them clothes to help them recapture some sense of dignity.
Sending them away is an act of mercy in this--think of what would have happened if God let them stay. They would have still eaten from the Tree of Life, which means they would have lived forever. They would have lived forever, having to deal with the shame of being in God's presence, feeling their nakedness in front of Him, and being constantly reminded that they screwed up. All the wonders and glory of Eden, and here were two blemishes in the mix, the creatures who ruined God's plan and condemned to feel the shame of it for all eternity. (Remember those dreams you have where your standing in front of your entire high school naked as a jaybird. Think of that but a hundred times worse.) No, the best thing to do would be to send them away, out of the Garden, where they could feel some sense of separation from God and His wonders, to be removed from the shame for a little while. It was an act of mercy that made God send them away.
So, all in all, when it comes down to who God is, the grandfather or the judge, He is actually a balance of both. God loves us, because we are His most prized creation, and it pains Him to punish us for the evil we commit. But God is also just. He has to punish evil, because if He didn't, He would no longer be the standard for goodness that He is. By His nature, He must punish evil, even if it hurts Him to do so.
Of course there is so much more that could be said on this topic, but for the sake of time let's focus on this: God is just; He must and will punish mankind for breaking His law. But God is also love. He wants to spare us from punishment if there is a way. The Good News (pun intended) is that because God is love, He has provided a way so that we are spared punishment and His just nature is still upheld. We'll discuss that more next time. Read Romans 3:23 and 6:23 for a preview.
Feel free to leave comments or questions; the whole reason I'm doing this is to encourage discussion. :-) Thanks again for reading.
Keep Soaring,
B
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