In the minds of Greek philosophers, God "became" uninvolved, unapproachable, and unmovable. He was noted for, and even defined by... being omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He was seen as God who didn't need our help and who wouldn't listen to our pleas (unless they agreed with what he planned on doing anyway). This unknowable, unchangeable, and (in many ways) unlikeable God still enjoys a huge following today... BUT THIS NOT THE GOD OF SCRIPTURE! Indeed, the God of the Bible is a God who gets involved in human affairs, who listens and responds to the cries of his people, who threatens and cajoles, who plays favorites... and who is utterly and entirely immersed in our lives... to the point of carrying his cross up Calvary's Hill.
The God of the Bible seeks to walk with Adam in the cool of the day, and he cares enough to make clothing for Adam and Eve, even as they are thrown out of paradise. (Gen. 3) When Moses told God that it would be "un-Godlike" to destroy his people in a ball of fire, (Ex. 32:9ff) the Bible says, "God repented," and when Abraham challenged God to be more graceful than he had planned to be,(Gen. 18:16ff) God bargained with the old man and agreed to spare the city if there was just ten righteous people. When Gideon, (Judges 6:36ff) asked God to prove himself not once, but twice... God obliged... and when God saw how sinful his people had become, in Noah's day, he "regretted making humankind."(Gen. 6:6) When God laid down his law, he told his people that, if they didn't take care of the widows and orphans in their midst, he would certainly hear their cries.
I could go on and on, but the point it clear- the Bible is filled with stories of God who in involved in our lives and who listens to our prayers. The Bible is all about a God who cares enough to be jealous, to get angry, to cry... and to also forgive! The Bible is about a God who chose NOT to be above the fray and who chose to manifest His Holiness, not in being unknowable, but in walking among us, full of beauty and truth. The God of Scripture is a living God who calls us to give our all for him because He gave his all for us. God's ways are not our ways- it is true- but according to Scripture, the biggest difference between us... is that God's love knows no end!
God cares so much for us- He loves us so deeply- that He will NEVER give up on us. This is the great truth. It is the great promise, and it brings me to another of the Bible's great questions... which comes from Hosea 11:1--9. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to Baals and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by my arms, but they did not realize that it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like the one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.... How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?... My heart is changed within me, all my compassion is aroused, I will not carry out my fierce anger... for I am God, and not a man- the Holy One among you. How can I give you up, Ephraim... even though you have sinned and walked away from me? You are my child. I taught you how to walk, and when you were hungry, I bent over and fed you. How can I hand you over, Israel... although I you haven't even tried to honor me?
If I were a man- if I were human- I would punish you. I would have my way with you. I would teach you a lesson... but I am not a man. I am God and I have given you my heart. If I were human, I would get justice, but I am God... and I choose GRACE instead! I will walk with you forever, my children... and in the end, I will hang on a tree for you! Friends, we have a God who cried out, "How can I give you up?"... and it doesn't get any more loving than that! Amen.
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