In our last discussion we talked about why God must be perfect and why we must be imperfect. A being that exists forever must be perfect. He must be unable to be defeated. If He could be defeated then He would not be eternal. Eternal means forever and ever. It means that no matter how far back in time you go He is there. No matter how far forward in time He is there. No matter how far out in the universe you go, He is there. There is no end. If there is no end then there is no way He could be ended. To bring an end to the eternal is to say that there was never anything eternal at all….right?
And how could you even fathom that nothing is eternal? I mean, you can’t get something out of nothing. The only logical conclusion that a person could come to is that something must be eternal. In order for anyone to exist right now something must have existed eternally before all that is now. Think about it, if there was no "something" in the universe that is eternal then what conclusion could we come to? Nothing is eternal. The only problem with this concept is that if nothing is eternal then nothing would be eternal forever. No "somethings" like us would ever exist. You could say that lots of "somethings" have existed for a little time and then are destroyed, and this is repeated over and over forever, but the moment that you admit that every something has an end and a beginning you develop the concept that there is the possibility that some terrible, horrible event could occur that could make all of these somethings no longer exist. If every something can be destroyed then there is a very low probability that all of these somethings would eventually destroy one another completely or scatter so far away from each other that they would never interact with one another again.
In other words, to admit that there are imperfect things floating around in the universe forever and ever, constantly creating new imperfect things and then dying out is like believing that the human race does not ever stand the chance of being wiped out completely. Everyone believes that extinction is possible for mankind. Why? We believe it is possible because it is. There is the possibility that all of mankind could be destroyed because mankind is not invincible. We are imperfect beings with weaknesses.
In the same way, if the universe was like us, only on a far grander scale, then what is to say that something really big couldn’t come along and wipe out the entire universe as we know it? The universe, being imperfect, could become extinct by a bigger, more terrible thing. If it can become extinct, it is therefore not eternal because only indestructible somethings can be eternal. If something is indestructible it is then perfect. It has no flaw or weakness. If it did, that flaw or weakness would be its undoing.
So we concluded that a perfect God exists out there. We then also concluded that mankind must be imperfect. We were created to enjoy life, but because we chose imperfection over perfection we must now do things that we were not designed to do. Even still, though we are imperfect, we can and often are perfect. We just aren’t perfect all the time.
Finally, we concluded that a perfect God would even be able to use imperfect things to do perfect works. Therefore, God can use an imperfect man to write accounts about Himself to His people that are perfect. Not only can He, but why wouldn’t He? After all, would He create imperfect accounts? Would a perfect God create imperfection like that? No…even mankind was perfect when He created them. However, because they chose imperfection He made them vulnerable to attack, to death and to destruction just as He had warned them He would.
So now we come to the heart of the matter. A perfect God would love His people so much that He would do everything He could to save them from this destruction. I supposed you could say, "Why would you assume that God loves us?" To this I would answer, "Why wouldn’t you think that God loves us? If He did not love us, being a perfect God, would there be anything pleasant in your life? Would anyone ever receive anything pleasant? Would there ever be anything good?"
Imagine, for a moment, a world with a Creator that was NOT loving. Oh what a terrible place that would be! In order to imagine this, let’s put ourselves, just for a moment, in the shoes of a creator. Let us be like God for a moment. Think of something you might like to create. I like to write stories. Maybe you like to build things. Maybe you like to cook. Whatever it is, begin to think of that think now. What happens if you love what you are making? When you love what you are making you find time to make it. You spend extra time in making it. You put extra effort into it. You are patient with it because you see the end result of your craft. The cook will not stop cooking until the dish is completed to his or her perfection. He or she is not happy until he or she has created the right taste. A builder who loves to build is likewise not happy until every imperfection is sanded down out of his project. A writer who loves writing does not stop until every word is to his liking.
Now take something you don’t like to do. Let’s say you don’t like to build. Would you build anything at all if you didn’t have to? No. You don’t like to build, so why would you build unless you had to? Even if you did have to build, what kind of work would you do? A person who has to build a deck for his house, but who hates building, is most likely going to do the bare minimum to put a deck on his house. He will not do, as the loving builder does, and sand down every imperfection because he doesn’t really care. He just puts up the deck and says, "Good enough." Then, even when he uses the deck, does he truly care for it like the loving builder? No. He abuses it and mistreats it because he just doesn’t care.
Now look at the workmanship of God. Look at the detail of the universe? How is the universe designed? Is there order to it? Yes! We would not have the fields of mathematics or science if the universe did not have a solid, perfect order to it. Every detail down to the smallest particle has order and logic and pattern. From greatest to smallest, even things that we might judge to be "imperfect" have perfection. Though we may not always understand why something has "imperfections" they are still perfectly designed based on a law that governs our universe.
Think of it. Is not the universe set up like that of a computer? Is it not that our universe is created just like one of these video games that exist in our world today? What makes up a video game? Is it not line upon line of commands all telling the computer what to display on the screen and how to interact with the player? Is not our universe really the same way? Is it not line upon line of laws that govern every aspect of our reality?...and how complicated these games are! Yet even in their great complexity these video games almost always have flaws. How many times do players command their avatars to jump over a wall that was not meant to be jumped over only to find their avatars falling endlessly into a void? This happens because the computer programmer failed to program it without flaw.
Is our reality like a video game? Are there flaws like there are in almost every video game in existence? No. If you run and jump off a cliff you will not fall through the ground and down through the center of the Earth to come to the other side of the world before you stop. Nor will you fall up. Nor will you suddenly fly or teleport to a new place because the "system glitched". Indeed. There are no glitches in our universe, and it is far greater and more complex than any video game ever made. If we could not accidentally design a perfect video game without glitches, how much more so can the universe be created by accident? If the universe has no accident wouldn’t that also imply that the universe was very carefully and lovingly made?
Now if the universe was carefully and lovingly made, wouldn’t the next question be, "Why?" The answer is simple enough. Why does anyone create something that they love? They want to enjoy it. Therefore, if we were made, and we were made as detailed and defined as we are, doesn’t it stand to reason that we were made to be enjoyed and loved by our Creator? Doesn’t that also mean that if He loves us wouldn’t He do everything in His power, short of destroying Himself, to save us from destruction?
Yes! As I have said, I am a writer. As a writer I have experienced first-hand what it is like to love what I have written. I created a story and I loved it. I sacrificed a lot of time and effort and creativity on writing this story. I made a lot of details about it. When it was not as successful as I was hoping I was very disappointed. I was saddened because it failed. Did I throw it away because it had failed? No. I still have the story saved with multiple copies. Why? Why not just throw it away because it failed? I did not throw it away because someday I hope to try again to redeem it. I hope to modify it and make it better so that maybe it will succeed. There is always that hope within me that others will enjoy the story just as I have.
But even if no one ever enjoys the story, would I throw it away? No. I love it. I don’t want to just throw all that hard work away. I will keep it around because I enjoy it. I will keep it because I find it has good qualities and it is worth keeping. Now, however, there are stories I have written that I have not put so much time into. Many of which I have forgotten. Over time I have felt that they hold no real joy for me. Not only do I think that others will not enjoy them but I really won’t enjoy them either. They have no redeeming qualities. Therefore, should I keep such stories around? Why would I? Why not throw them away so they don’t take up space.
Now, however, if there is a story with even one single redeeming quality, will I not save that story for the sake of that one redeeming quality? For fear of losing forever that one redeeming quality I would save that story. I would not want it to be thrown away because I love that redeeming quality. Therefore, only those stories without any redeeming qualities would I throw away and destroy.
So it is with mankind. God has made us so that He might love us forever and ever and enjoy spending time with us. However, because we have chosen imperfection we have let destruction come into our lives. We are like machines that have started to rust. The more the rust takes over our parts the less redeeming qualities we have. If the rust overtakes all of our parts, what redeeming qualities do we have? What are we then good for? We would only be good for the scrap pile. We would only be good for the fire to melt us down and destroy us completely.
But if we have even one redeeming quality, will the loving God not save us? He spent so much time making us. Would He not fix us if we can be fixed? Yes! Of course He would fix us! He would redeem us because He made us so He could enjoy us. He does not want us to be destroyed. He doesn’t want that ANY should perish, as Peter wrote in his second letter in chapter three verse nine. He wants everyone to be saved.
And how much more does God love us than we would love some "thing" we have created. If we create "things" that we love and would not want to discard, how much more do you think God would love us, who are not just mere "things"? We are beings with intelligence. We are His children!
If you are a parent, think of it like this. How much do you love your children? Oh they may frustrate you and disappoint you or call you names or mistreat you. Oh they may push you to your limits and make you grind your teeth at times and bite back your anger. However, if any person in their right mind considers what makes a good parent, if a person be a good parent, would they not give their lives to save their children? Would they not push them out of the way so they are not trampled by a truck? Would they not risk their lives to enter a burning building to save them? No matter how much our children may push us, we love them because they are our children. If we, being imperfect beings as we have already established, are able to love our children with that kind of love, how much more so do you think a perfect God would love those intelligent beings He has created?
Our Lord Jesus said this very same thing himself which is recorded in Luke’s Gospel in the eleventh chapter and verse eleven. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" And also, does not Matthew’s Gospel say the same in the seventh chapter and verse 9? "Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
If this is the case, then it only stands to reason that God would do even more, take even more care, about the salvation of a people He created whom He loves even more perfectly than we could ever love even our own children. He would move Heaven and Earth if He must to get their attention, make them endure untold hardships to guide them to this great salvation, physically talk to them in person, appear to them in supernatural ways, perform great signs and wonders, predict the future, heal the sick, give money to the poor, cause the rich to lose their wealth, move other people in the way or out of the way…in short…anything He could do He would do just as you parents who are earthly would do anything in your power to help your own children.
So now the question arises, "Since we chose imperfection, how might we be perfect again?" In other words, "How can we be fixed? How can we be saved from destruction? What has God done to save us?" This is where Jesus comes in. This is where His Ministry and His Passion come in. As we go through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection you will soon see why it makes perfect sense that Jesus had to come at the time He came and in the way He came doing all that He did in the order He did it in. Everything from the place of His birth to the place of His death to the way He died was perfectly arranged by God to maximize on efficiency, maximize on love, maximize on grace, maximize on everything that needed to be maximized on. Then, in the process, you will see how each of the Gospels align to tell ONE story without flaw or discrepancy. You will see how it all comes together to make perfect sense to tell the single story of "How mankind can be saved from certain destruction." It is the story of a loving God who "so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Let us launch into this discussion without further delay.
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