Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable (Isa. 40:28, ESV)
Me: Who are you God?
God: I revealed myself to my servant, Moses, as the great I AM (YHWH).[1]
Me: I don’t understand. You are what?
God: Not what, who. I am the LORD, Creator of the heavens and the earth. If you want to know who I am just look at the sun, moon, stars, oceans, and mountains which display the majesty of my hands. I am the LORD, Giver of life who created adam from the adamah and breathed the breath of life in to his nostrils and adam became a living nephesh (being).[2] I am the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who promised Abraham long ago that I would make him into a great nation and bless him so that all people on earth would be blessed through him.[3] I promised to establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant between us including his descendents. I promised to be Abraham’s (and his descendant’s) God forever. I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who redeemed and delivered my children from the bondage of oppression and slavery so that they might know that I alone am God and that there is no other god like me. I am the LORD, the God of Nineveh, gracious and compassionate, long-suffering and abounding in steadfast love. I am the LORD, the God who relents from sending calamity upon those who turn to me.[4] I am the LORD, who raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. I am the LORD, and should I withdraw my breath and my spirit from the earth, all flesh would perish.[5] I am the LORD who made a new covenant with my people with Christ as Mediator, just as the prophet said: “Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God,” cleansing the human conscience from acts that lead to death, so that those who receive the promised eternal inheritance “may serve the living God!”[6]
Me: How would you describe your nature? On the one hand, I know there is only so much I can understand about who you are in your being – in this sense you are a great mystery to me; yet on the other hand you have revealed yourself in Holy Scripture as God the “Father.”
God: Good question. Yes, this is a complicated question to answer. For your sake, let me talk to you about what you can understand about my nature. Most notably you know me as “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit.” These are titles which confer meaning, but the titles in and of themselves do not define my nature. They are categories to help you understand who I am like. My Son, Jesus, says that I am Spirit.[7] This means, as you have already mentioned that it is impossible for humans to penetrate the depths of my divine nature. However, I have revealed myself to you in this way to show you something significant about my nature, namely, that I exist in intimate relationship with my Son and Spirit. We are perfectly equal in nature, revealed in Scripture and nature as three distinct “Persons.” We are one, yet three distinct – but not separate – Persons. We are Persons-in-relation, “For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal…uncreated…incomprehensible…one Eternal…one God…one Lord.”[8] For example, Holy Scripture says, “…He [Jesus] sat down at the right hand of the majesty of God,”[9] and the Holy Spirit testifies that He sat down at my right hand.[10] The expression “right hand” does not indicate a lower place, but a relationship of equality.[11]
Me: So you are one LORD God equally in three distinctly relational “Persons”? (That’s a mouthful.)
God: Exactly. If we count, we do not add, increasing from one to many. We do not say, “First, second, and third” because I am the LORD your God the LORD alone[12] and I am the first and I am the last.[13] Can numerical rankings ever change the nature of anything?[14] Numbers help you to distinguish between things, but the things which are numbered remain what they are by nature and origin. Counting can never change a thing’s nature – including mine.[15]
Me: So if you are equal in nature, in what ways are you distinct?
God: I want to make it clear that my will is inextricably connected to my Son and Spirit. When Jesus says in Holy Scripture that he has not spoken on his own authority,[16] what he is saying is that we are united in will and purpose. Also one of the ancient creeds says that Jesus is the Son of God “begotten, not created.” To beget is to “become the father of: to create is to make…When you beget, you beget something of the same kind as yourself.”[17] What I beget is me. My distinctions, though they are important, do not necessarily define who I am but reveal my will and purposes for all of creation. For example, while I am often referred to as “Creator,” the fact remains that Jesus is Co-Creator just as Holy Scripture affirms: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” All things were made through the Word, who became flesh as the only-begotten Son from the Father, and everything was made through Him.[18]
Me: Speaking of creation, what are your intentions for creation?
God: My intent for creation from the time of Adam to the end in history is aimed at the work of incorporating the entire created realm into my life. Creation was an act of love. As Scripture says, I saw all that I had made and it was very good. Creation was designed to reflect me. But then sin and evil entered creation and Adam and Eve were told that they would die on the day they ate the fruit, and were subsequently exiled from the garden. They turned away from resting in my presence and turned toward something which had no life in itself. Since that time, I have been continually renewing and restoring all of creation to myself, and my plan for redemption found its focus in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The work continues today in the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit and the Church. What creation needs more than anything else today is redemption and renewal – and this is promised and guaranteed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Me: Why did you create me? Who am I that you should pay attention to me?
God: You were created in our image first and foremost to experience the joy of intimate relationship with me, your fellow human beings, and creation; and second, to reflect our divine image by participating in my ongoing work of cosmic restoration. C.S. Lewis said that the whole purpose for which you exist is “to be thus taken into the life of God.”[19] And in order for that to happen, by my grace you have to surrender yourself and allow me have my way and then come to share in the life of Christ who not only died for your sins, but conquered sin and death through the Resurrection. You are a beloved child of mine and I have a standing invitation for all to come and share in this kind of life. Christ came into the world to spread to others the kind of life He has. My command to you is to participate in the life of Christ. After all, if you don’t want to become more like Christ now, why would you want to go to heaven? Do you understand?
Me: Yes, I think so. It seems so simple to understand yet so difficult to put into practice. I feel as though I need to strive for more of you; after all, Jesus said, “Be perfect.” How can I possibly live up to that?
God: Yes, Jesus said some things which are difficult to understand, but Jesus didn’t mean that unless you are perfect I will not help you. Rather, what Jesus meant was that the help I will give will help you become perfect. Whatever suffering…whatever refinement…whatever it may cost you or me, I will not rest nor let you rest until you are perfected in our image. I will not do anything less.”[20] Not only am I doing this in your life and in the lives of other Christians, but in all of creation which is longing for renewal – longing for my shalom. The renewal of creation is my ultimate desire and you are invited to participate as an agent of renewal in this large project. Are you up for the task?
Me: I am.
1. Ex. 3:14
2. Gen. 2:7
3. Gen. 12:2-3
4. Jonah 4:2
5. Job 34:14-15
6. Heb. 9:14-15
7. John 4:24
8. http://www.carm.org/christianity/creeds-and-confessions/athanasian-creed-500-ad
9. Heb. 1:3
10. Heb. 8:1
11. St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, (New York: St. Vladimir's Press), p. 30.
12. Deut. 6:4
13. Isa. 44:6
14. Basil, 70.
15. Basil, 71.
16. John 12:49
17. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 138.
18. John 1:1-3, 14
19. Lewis, 142.
20. Lewis, 174.
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