Does God have a Clue …?!
Does God have a clue
what it’s like to be you?
Does a God who sees all
does He understand?
Can He imagine the limitations,
the shortsightedness of human life?
As Job once asked: Do You have eyes of flesh?
Are Your days like the days of man?
Can He comprehend such blindness,
to who’s eyes all is clear?
Has God ever lived by faith
and not by sight?
Can a God who is all-knowing
Can He identify with
a being as me – facing uncertainty
trapped in situations
where the outcome is not clear
How does He know
what it is like to not know all
Could the limitless One endure the confines of human life?
Could he bear the ordinary existence of a man?
Is He powerful enough to become so weak?
Is He all-knowing enough to know our doubt?
If life was only neutral,
faith wouldn’t have been so unusual.
But often, the mundane turns to pain
Our uncertainties become frightfully clear:
Here where we live,
there is rejection,
there is shame,
there is injustice.
Does God have any idea
what it is like to be here?
Has the All-powerful One, ever been helpless?
Has the immortal God, ever faced death?
Has this God ever really experienced conflict or confusion?
Has He been tempted?
Does God have any clue,
what it is like to be you/me?
…
I love your questions, now hear my reply:
I came … and became all that you are
Willingly subjecting myself to every human limitation
I saw with eyes of flesh
Not all was clear, not all was bare
when I became you.
The incarnation is my answer.
He had to grow, he had to learn,
An ordinary man, a carpenter, most of his life
The routine, the frustrations,
the anxieties of daily life, he understands.
Yet, he began to remember, began to see,
discovered a faith, that allowed him to perceive,
the spectacular beyond the visible.
The Word became flesh,
entered our domain of conflict and shame.
Falsely accused, brutally abused
As nails were driven through His flesh,
He even knew even our doubt …
and on our behalf cried out:
My God, my God, Why?
Have you forsaken me?
But then, as God, he answered:
By entering our hell he declares:
I will rather go to hell than forsake you.
Even when you are at your worst
I will not turn my face or despise you
He experienced our torment, ……
felt our pain,
subjected to our injustice
wounded by our violence
assumed even our doubt.
He came in the form of sinful flesh,
exposed Himself in the most vulnerable state,
defined Himself in a human face.
He knows you
He has experienced everything you have experienced, with you
For in Him all things consists …
including you
You were in Him, when He became man … he became you.
Do you have a clue,
how well God knows you.
He invites you to see what He sees,
And to know as you have always been known.
For the moment you become aware of him,
your hell becomes heaven.
He does not save by legal transaction
He does not heal from afar by magic incantations
He heals what He becomes, He saves what He assumes.
He became all that you are
so that you may be all he is.
Our atonement secured by His at-one-ment with us
He embraced us when we were at our worst,
that we might share in His best: resurrection life.
Right now, wherever you might find yourself,
He is with you, He is for you, He loves you
and wants to turn your life into the greatest romantic adventure.
Simply become aware of His closeness.
– See more at: http://hearhim.net/wordpress/2013/10/01/does-god-have-a-clue/#sthash.V1LMa0BU.dpuf
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The One Father, Son and Spirit
By Andre Rabe On June 25, 2013 ·
For us to attempt to define and identify this God, would simply be ridiculous.
For us to describe how God identified and defined Himself in Jesus Christ, is the declaration of the gospel.To define means to describe the nature, scope, or meaning of something.
For something or someone to be infinite, it means that there is no limit to the scope or extend of what we describe. To be infinite means that there is always something more, something beyond what is already known. For God to define himself, means that he places certain boundaries on who he is, on what can be said of him and therefore, by definition, he is no longer infinite in the absolute sense.
For instance: when God declares that he is only good, that only light dwells in him and that no darkness or evil has any place in him, it means that he has placed a certain boundary on how we can describe him; it means that he is not infinite in the sense that he is both good and evil. Such a self-definition means that he is finite in that he is only good and there is no evil in him beyond his goodness. However, he is infinitely good and will continue to surprise us with his goodness. He remains infinite in the attributes that are part of his nature, that means we can say that he is infinitely loving, infinitely good, infinitely wise. Yet he has defined himself very specifically …
God has done the unthinkable, he has defined himself in the most precise way, in an actual person and an actual event! The bravest of philosophers would not have imagined such a thing because it would place terrible limitations on how we speak of God. But God did what seems like foolishness to our wisdom. In Jesus, God does exactly what our imaginary gods cannot – he identifies himself in such a way that we may know him intimately.
The one God, who encompasses time and fills it, who is infinite except in the areas where he chose to define himself, has uniquely identified himself as Father, Son and Spirit. These are not generic terms to describe certain attributes. He is a very specific Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; He is a very specific Son, Jesus Christ, the uniquely born Son that is in the bosom of the Father and He is a very specific Spirit, the spirit of this Father and this Son.
This God is the creative source, the creative process and the end result of his own creative genius.
The Father, from before time began, intended the perfect union of man and God, intended the Son, Jesus Christ. The Father is the creative source who finds expression in the Son and through his spirit. It is through the Son and through the Spirit that the Father is freed to be all He intends to be.
The Son is the fulfillment of the Father’s intention and in the incarnation this fulfillment is made manifest in our time-space dimension. In Jesus the invisible becomes visible, the eternal enters time, the infinite willingly and purposely defines himself, the inner motivation, the word of God becomes flesh and ultimately the immortal God … dies! But Jesus’ death does not contaminate God, rather life fatally infects death … and death dies!
He is big enough to become a servant and not be reduced in who he is. He is strong enough to face evil even in his most vulnerable state, allowing evil to do its worst to him, even kill him and then simply rise again!
Is this the best you can do, evil?
Is this all you’ve got?
Where is your sting?
Where is your victory?
He is wise enough to partake of our humanity, to enter our temporality and instead of loosing himself, he finds us, raises us, glorifies us and makes us partakers of his divine nature.
Eternity has penetrated time without becoming subject to the temporal. God became a man without ceasing to be God. The prince of life died and in dying conquered death. Behold He is alive! Death was swallowed up in victory.
This Father who intended us throughout time and eternity; this Son who fulfilled his Father’s intention and removed every obstacle between man and God, this Father and this Son is present with us by their Spirit. It is the very Spirit breathed by the Father and the very Spirit breathed by the Son that is with us now, ever blowing us into the limitless future of the God who makes all things new.
By the Spirit the Father and Son have come and made their home with you, ready to create a future beyond our wildest dreams. What is there to fear? Nothing in the past, nothing present, nothing to come can separate you from the love embrace of this God.
God – Father, Son and Spirit – embraces our time, encircles it and also fills it with enduring value and meaning. He has always known you and loved you. You have always been his will and intention.
Source http://hearhim.net/
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You are valuable beyond measure
By Andre Rabe On January 26, 2012
You are valuable, you are loved, and someone knows you even better than you know yourself. There is an image and likeness imprinted upon your being that is the basis of your value … a value beyond your wildest dreams.
Coins used to have the face of the person who guaranteed their value, minted onto them. Any note or coin has a guarantor, a person or institution that guarantees its value. Even if a coin gets lost, the coin never loses it’s value.
The one who invented and designed you, stamped you with His own image and likeness.
He knows you better than you know yourself … He knew you even before you were born. You might not know Him, but He has always known you. You might not be aware of Him, but He has always had you on His mind.
You might think ‘why’ … why would anyone have such an obsession with me. Well, the creator of this universe sees a value and a beauty in you beyond anything in this natural world. He even sees a possibility of romance!
When, Where and Why you began.
Whatever age you are, you have a beginning that cannot be measured in time.
You have the most awesome origin. In the beginning, before creation, before time as we experience it, before the existence of evil, there was a dynamic exchange of love, a relationship without boundaries, an enjoyment of total abandonment … a being we now call God. It was in the very midst of this fiery love, at the core of this passion, that the idea of … you came into being!
The God who is love planned to share this love with beings created in His image and likeness. This God, who is all-knowing and able to accomplish all of His purposes, planned a love-affair that would span over eons and conclude with a final victory in which His love conquered all – no contradiction; no evil.
This good news is not some new idea, but the ancient, original thought of God.
Let’s imagine this beginning, let’s allow the spirit of God to draw us to this place in which all things had their origin. Although no science can explain it, although the greatest minds have tried and failed to define it, God is confident that you are able to comprehend the unsearchable; to appreciate the motivation that gave you birth; to remember where you began. In this place there is no space, yet no limit; no creation, yet no emptiness – there is only God in all His fullness. He is not lonely or in lack. It is out of His fullness, out of the overflow of love that you are conceived.
God did not imagine a pet that would simply entertain Him! This God-dream is about a being who has the capacity to intelligently appreciate, to receive, to produce and to exchange the same quality of love that flows within God. His plan is not vague or speculative philosophy, but clear and specific … so clear, that He uniquely identifies and names the individuals who would form part of the plan and become part of creation. And so before the foundation of this world, He saw you in Christ. At this point, He made up His mind about you! No matter what detours, no matter what contradictions would come, He determined that you would be His treasure – blameless and innocent before Him in love.
When did you begin?
Before creation, before time itself.
Where did you begin?
In the very heart of love, a love relationship we call God.
Why did you begin?
To be loved, adored … and ultimately for that love to be awakened in you.
The Word made flesh.
The original, authentic Word was face to face with God from the very beginning. God Himself is the content of this communication – revealing His personal presence and unique expression in all that exists.
In fact there is nothing original or innovative outside of Him! He is the only Creator and the source of all inspiration and creativity. Everything that is, has ‘Made by God’ stamped on its existence.
The very life of God is what ignited the existence of man. This original light still shines even in darkness and no amount of darkness can put this light out. (John 1:1-5 Breath of Life)
The time lapse between the original thought of God and now is obviously vast. Has this original thought not been lost through time?
No, this authentic dream began before time and was preserved, set apart, in a person called Jesus Christ. In Him the logic of God was kept until the right time when it was made visible in flesh. He came and demonstrated in human form, the kind of life God had in mind from the very beginning … a life where God and man is so fully united that we cannot even tell them apart.
Man began in God. No matter how far man has fallen from his original place of innocence, God has never been confused about the true identity of man.
Jesus Christ is the place, the event and the person in which God and man meet once again. In Christ Jesus, God has taken the initiative to reconcile man back to Himself – to restore man to blameless innocence.
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, and as such does not only represent God’s initiative, He also represents man’s perfect response of faith to God’s initiative.
Jesus reveals the heart of God more than any other story ever told or any scripture ever written. In Him God reveals that He does not want to be God apart from us. He does not want to be a distant or unknowable God. The only way in which He wants to be God, is with man, in man, and as a man.
Jesus reveals the truth about man more accurately than any other story, or even the factual history of man. In Him we see that the only way to be fully man, the only way to be fully free, is in union with God.
This passion of God to restore man to that place of union, would drive Him to pay any price, to go to any depth to see it accomplished. And so in the act of becoming man, He places Himself in a position of conflict. Everything that has ever stood between God and man, every obstacle and every form of separation (called sin in the Bible) would meet and come to a final conclusion in this God-man, Christ Jesus.
When your timeless Creator became a man, He mystically united Himself with you, so that He could bring an end to everything that stood between you and release you to be fully and truly yourself again. In this unity He faced everything you faced … and conquered! In His death, you died! That old state of being, separated from Him and united with sin, was brought to a final end in Him. He has wiped your slate clean, forgiven you of every wrongdoing.
In His resurrection, you were resurrected to newness of life – that original life that God imagined for you from the beginning. In His ascension, you were raised to the most glorious place of honor – a place where God delights in you!
The only thing that has ever kept you from enjoying these realities, is blindness. Not seeing what He sees, keeps us from enjoying what He enjoys. But these very words you are reading now, are reminding you of your union with Him.
As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake in thy likeness (Psalm 17:15)
What should I do?
You might ask, what should I do … how does one respond to such news? Well the good news is that the hard work has already been done for you! Jesus defeated everything that stood between you! Gratitude … love awakened, is all that’s left to do. Some call it faith.
Here’s a simple suggestion to give expression to this faith. Turn your focus inward. Become aware of the One who made you and united Himself with you … within you. In your own thoughts and words respond … something like: Thank you for who You are and what You have done for me. As You gave yourself in love to me, in Jesus Christ, I give myself in love to You. You made me in Your image and likeness, I acknowledge Your ownership. You made me to be loved … here I am, love me!
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The Contradiction of the Cross
By Andre Rabe On April 22, 2013
The cross is the greatest contradiction. It is an evil act of murder and it is our salvation. This horrific death is the ultimate goal of false accusation, but simultaneously it exposes the deception of this accusation and so forever strips it of its power.This scripture summarizes the tension of this paradox: “For the Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.””(Mark 14:21 HCSB)
In other words, it is God’s plan but it is an evil act that should not happen. The scriptures simultaneously declares that he was innocent, that he was unjustly accused, that those who murdered him was guilty of the blood of all innocent victims … it was wrong in every way, yet the scriptures maintain that this was exactly what had to happen.
If we become so familiar with the story that we no longer see the contradiction, then we’ve missed the central revelation contained in it. Like all other pagan ideas of sacrifice, much of christianity looks at this sacrifice and are mystified by its magical powers – we allow the very revelation it is supposed to bring, to be swallowed up by sacred awe.
The murder of the innocent man Jesus Christ can never be justified – it was wrong! He was falsely accused and brutally abused by a frenzied ignorant crowd. Nowhere else was the true nature of our religious and secular institutions revealed more clearly than in this senseless violence. This is where God in all his innocence, in his most vulnerable state, faced evil in its most articulate expression – the unjustified violence of man. Evil incarnate met God incarnate.
Yet it is exactly here where evil is most real, that God intersects, turning our act of murder into our salvation. He uses the occasion of our most brutal violence to demonstrate His most extravagant love. He bore the brunt of our hostile minds, of our sinful thoughts. The event in which we bruised him and wounded him, is met with healing. At the very moment in which our rejection of him is absolute, he demonstrates our absolute acceptance.
However, we have often ascribed both the good and the evil of the cross to God! Lets expose that myth.God obviously anticipated these events. He knew that the open display of truth, in a world bound by myth, would be a confrontation with only one possible result. The very fabric upon which our societies were build, the false accusation, the prince (principle) of this world, the father of lies, would not take to this exposure kindly. Yes God knew and planned to make the most of this confrontation, but in no way is He the source of the violence that it exposes. In no way does He delight in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.
The unjustified torture and death of the innocent Jesus Christ does not satisfy God’s justice in the sense that He delights in this punishment. The blood of Jesus does not satisfy the blood-lust of an angry God. Such theories is a mixture of ancient pagan thought and the very biblical revelation that came to expose the corruption of these myths. We were the angry deities who satisfied our blood-lust in this iconic murder.Why would God then use such an event? The scriptures describe this event as God’s victory over evil. In what way did He conquer evil?
This was the event in which the deceiver would deceive himself; the act in which our unfounded accusations would be exposed for what it is. The story that would deconstruct all our myths into the nothingness that they are.
These false models are exposed in the very moment when our true model is revealed. We are now able to see the true God and reflect Him – a God who loves and adores; a God in whom there is no accusation.
Wherever the gospel is declared and understood, sacrificial systems cease; victimization ceases, the oppressed and downcast are given hope by a God who identifies with them; a God who is able to overthrow the established corrupt overlords and make all things new.
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