Yes! There is Good News! May 7, 2016

In the previous article, I mentioned there were only two conclusions one could logically come to concerning Jesus Christ. Either He was who He said He was, or He was insane. Incidentally, there were some who thought that Jesus was insane. In Mark 3:21, it says, “When His family heard about this, they went to take charge of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind.” And later in that same episode in Mark, the scribes said He was demon possessed.

Let me state right here that I believe Jesus was who He said He was. Near the end of the fourth Gospel, John tells us his reason for writing the book: John 20:31, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name.” Yes! That is my position, and I know that is the good news!

Okay, so we have this as good news, but is that the entirety of the good news that we are looking for? If you are like me, you like to ask questions. (Might I suggest that God, our Father, will never mind us asking Him questions. It is how we learn.) So, my question at this point might be, “Why did God Almighty create a universe wherein is a planet that is populated by beings that have a free moral agency to reject Him and go after all manner of evil?"

I have a friend who likes to joke and say God just didn’t have enough problems in His life. But I believe that we know there is much more to it than that silly idea!

The reality, as I see it, is that when the Bible says “God is love,” it implies that His whole being filled with this love needed a place to express it. It is in the first letter of John that it says, “God is love,” and that is an interesting statement. Note that he does not say God shows love, or that God produces love, or that God gives us love. It is quite specific, “God is love.” You and I have the ability to love on several different levels. The love we have for a spouse is different than the love we have for our children, and that love is different than the love we might have for a friend. And all of these loves come in different degrees. A married couple of 50 years has a much deeper love for each other than when they were first married, etc. But we are not “love.”

God alone may be called love. That is most difficult to get one’s mind around. Another example to consider concerning God’s love is from the book of Exodus. In chapters 33 and 34, Moses asked to see God’s glory. God told Moses that He would pass by and proclaim His name, but no one could see the face of God and live. Exodus 34:5 says. “The LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him, and proclaimed His name ... “Yahoveh, Yahoveh the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands ...” Our God is abounding in love and that is good news!

To be continued ... stay tuned!