Multi-dimensional God
I am the Lord, and there is no
other; there is no God but Me. I will strengthen you, though you do not know
Me, so that all may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there
is no one but Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create
darkness, I make success and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things. – Isaiah 45:5-7 HCSB
There is a lot of talk in the modern American church about
God being Love. Obviously, the Bible agrees,
- Jeremiah 31:3 HCSB the LORD appeared to him
from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I
have continued to extend faithful love to you.
- John 3:16 HCSB "For
God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that
everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
- Romans 5:5 HCSB This hope does not
disappoint, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through
the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- Romans 5:8 HCSB But God proves His own love
for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!
- Ephesians 5:2 HCSB And walk in love, as the
Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant
offering to God.
- 1 John 4:16 HCSB And we have come to know
and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who
remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
but the problem begins when we think that is ALL He is. Do you love only? Do you hate
completely? Is any person truly that simple?
All human psychology is based on the complex interactions of
multiple factors.
- Jeremiah 17:9 HCSB The heart is more deceitful
than anything else and desperately sick--who can understand it?
We instinctively know that certain physiological imperatives
drive us almost as much as our subconscious impulses and conscious schemas.
We ascribe complexity to ourselves, yet simplicity to a
Person Who has lived so much longer than we
that to address Him as ‘Attiq Yomin (the Ancient One)
is almost ludicrous!
- Daniel 7:21-22 HCSB As I was watching, this
horn made war with the holy ones and was prevailing over them (22) until the Ancient of Days arrived and a
judgment was given in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, for the
time had come, and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom.
- John 8:56-58 HCSB Your
father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and
rejoiced." (57) The Jews replied, "You aren't 50
years old yet, and You've seen Abraham?" (58) Jesus said to them, "I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am."
It’s as though we have looked at Sunday school pictures of a
long-haired, white, blue-eyed Jesus for so long that we have begun to think He
actually is that one-dimensional!
God is love. But God also hates,
- Isaiah 61:8 HCSB For I the LORD love justice;
I hate robbery and injustice; I will faithfully reward them and make an
everlasting covenant with them.
- Jeremiah 44:4 HCSB So I sent you all My
servants the prophets time and time again, saying, Don't do this
detestable thing that I hate.
- Zechariah 8:17 HCSB Do not plot evil in your
hearts against your neighbor, and do not love perjury, for I hate all
this"--the LORD's declaration.
- Revelation 2:6 HCSB Yet
you do have this: you hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also
hate.
.He commands us to hate - evil.
- Amos 5:15 HCSB Hate evil and love good;
establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be
gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
God rejoices over the salvation
of even a single sinner.
But He is also enraged by injustice Isaiah 61:8 HCSB For I the LORD love justice; I
hate robbery and injustice; I will faithfully reward them and make an
everlasting covenant with them.
and stubborn, willful sin.
- John 3:36 HCSB The one who believes in the
Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will
not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
- Romans 1:18 HCSB For God's wrath is revealed
from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by
their unrighteousness suppress the truth,
- Romans 5:9 HCSB Much more then, since we
have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through
Him from wrath.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:16 HCSB (16) hindering us from speaking to the
Gentiles so that they may be saved. As a result, they are always adding to
the number of their sins, and wrath has overtaken them completely.
God is patient.
- Exodus 34:6 HCSB Then the LORD passed in
front of him and proclaimed: Yahweh--Yahweh is a compassionate and
gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth,
- Numbers 14:18 HCSB The LORD is slow to anger
and rich in faithful love, forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will
not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the
fathers' wrongdoing on the children to the third and fourth generation.
- Psalms 103:8 HCSB The LORD is compassionate
and gracious, slow to anger and full of faithful love.
- Isaiah 48:9 HCSB I will delay My anger for
the honor of My name, and I will restrain Myself for your benefit and for
My praise, so that you will not be destroyed.
- Ezekiel 20:17 HCSB But I spared them from
destruction and did not bring them to an end in the wilderness.
- Joel 2:13 HCSB Tear your hearts, not just
your clothes, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from
sending disaster.
But that patience can come to an end. If we stubbornly turn
our backs on Him, become stiff-necked and refuse to listen, He will turn us
over to the Destroyer.
- Nehemiah 9:28-31 HCSB But as soon as they had
relief, they again did what was evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them
to the power of their enemies, who dominated them. When they cried out to
You again, You heard from heaven and rescued them many times in Your
compassion. (29) You warned them
to turn back to Your law, but they acted arrogantly and would not obey
Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a person
will live if he does them. They stubbornly resisted, stiffened their necks,
and would not obey. (30) You
were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit warned them through
Your prophets, but they would not listen. Therefore, You handed them over
to the surrounding peoples. (31)
However, in Your abundant compassion, You did not destroy them or
abandon them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
- Psalms 78:49-51 HCSB He sent His burning anger
against them: fury, indignation, and calamity--a band of deadly
messengers. (50) He cleared a path
for His anger. He did not spare them from death, but delivered their lives
to the plague. (51) He
struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the first progeny of the tents of Ham.
- Proverbs 1:24-27 HCSB Since I called out and you
refused, extended my hand and no one paid attention, (25) since you neglected all my counsel and
did not accept my correction, (26) I,
in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes
you, (27) when terror strikes you like a storm and
your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and stress overcome
you.
- Proverbs 29:1 HCSB One who becomes
stiff-necked, after many reprimands will be broken suddenly--and without a
remedy.
- Matthew 24:48-51 HCSB But
if that wicked slave says in his heart, 'My master is delayed,' (49) and starts to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and
drinks with drunkards, (50) that slave's
master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not
know. (51) He will cut him
to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
He wants nothing but goodness and life for us,
- John 10:10 HCSB A
thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that
they may have life and have it in abundance.
but He will make us sick and even kill us if He thinks
that’s what’s best for us.
- 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 HCSB (4) In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you
are assembled, along with my spirit and with the power of our Lord
Jesus, (5) turn that one over to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of
the Lord.
- 1 Corinthians 11:27-30 HCSB
(27) Therefore, whoever eats the bread or
drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way will be guilty of sin
against the body and blood of the Lord.
(28) So a man should examine himself; in this
way he should eat of the bread and drink of the cup. (29) For whoever eats and drinks without
recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. (30) This is why many are sick and ill among
you, and many have fallen asleep.
Jesus came as a Suffering Servant
but that role is now over. God has exalted His Son above all others
and any day now, He will return as King of kings and Lord of lords.
God declares that His Lordship is demonstrated in the fact
that He creates both light and darkness, success and disaster.
- Isaiah 31:1-2 HCSB Woe to those who go down to
Egypt
for help and who depend on horses! They trust in the number of chariots
and in the great strength of charioteers. They do not look to the Holy One
of Israel and they do not seek the LORD's help. (2) But He also is wise and brings disaster.
He does not go back on what He says; He will rise up against the house of
wicked men and against the allies of evildoers.
- Isaiah 45:5-7 HCSB I am the LORD, and there is
no other; there is no God but Me. I will strengthen you, though you do not
know Me, (6) so that all may know from the rising of
the sun to its setting that there is no one but Me. I am the LORD, and
there is no other. (7) I
form light and create darkness, I make success and create disaster; I, the
LORD, do all these things.
Therefore, a
correct understanding of God’s sovereignty leads us to believe that even the
calamities of life can be laid at God’s feet.
- Amos 3:6 HCSB If a ram's horn is blown in
a city, aren't people afraid? If a disaster occurs in a city, hasn't the
LORD done it?
because nothing happens that He does not allow.
- Job 1:6-12 HCSB One day the sons of God
came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with
them. (7) The LORD asked Satan, "Where have
you come from?" "From roaming through the earth," Satan
answered Him, "and walking around on it." (8) Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have
you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of
perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil." (9) Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job
fear God for nothing? (10)
Haven't You placed a hedge around him, his household, and
everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his
possessions are spread out in the land.
(11) But stretch out Your hand and strike
everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face." (12) "Very well," the LORD told
Satan, "everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay
a hand on Job himself." So Satan went out from the LORD's
presence.
- Job 2:1-6 HCSB One day the sons of God
came again to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with
them to present himself before the LORD.
(2)
The LORD asked Satan, "Where have you come from?"
"From roaming through the earth," Satan answered Him, "and
walking around on it." (3) Then
the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? No one
else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and
turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you
incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause." (4) "Skin for skin!" Satan
answered the LORD. "A man will give up everything he owns in exchange
for his life. (5) But
stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely
curse You to Your face." (6)
"Very well," the LORD told Satan, "he is in your
power; only spare his life."
God is not some one-dimensional, pastel picture hanging on a wall. He is
loving and fearsome, patient and curt, comforting and crushing. We do not need
to defend Him. He does not need “spin doctors.” We should not slant our
testimony – even in what we think is His favor.
- Job 13:7-12 HCSB Would you testify unjustly
on God's behalf or speak deceitfully for Him? (8) Would you show partiality to Him or
argue the case in His defense? (9) Would
it go well if He examined you? Could you deceive Him as you would deceive
a man? (10) Surely He would rebuke you if you
secretly showed partiality. (11)
Would God's majesty not terrify you? Would His dread not fall on
you? (12) Your memorable sayings are proverbs of
ash; your defenses are made of clay.
- Romans 1:21 HCSB For though they knew God,
they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking
became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.
We must choose to love Him as He is, in all His glorious complexity, or
not to love Him at all.