This morning started just like any other weekday, waking up the kids and helping them get ready for school. They were a little grumpy at first, but as they came out of their slumber they started to perk up a bit.I am NOT a morning person, but I have come to cherish the 20 minutes we have in the car together as we wait in the lines to drop them off at their respective schools. We have about 10 minutes with both Laynie and Bryson, and 10 more minutes with just Bryson as his school is around the corner from Laynie's.
We have some awesome talks, and not just about the petty stuff, but really great times of sharing and teaching. We always pray together, and I am always amazed to see how God brings up something that he wants us to discuss.
This morning we were praying about how God calls everything He made good (See Genesis 1:31), and how He knows us individually and cares for each of us in a special way. That in and of itself is a revolutionary thought for some, that YOU ARE GOOD. I can hear some of you saying to yourself, "No, that can't be right. I am bad. I am a bad person. That's why Jesus had to come and die for me, because I am bad, right?"
However, let's be careful to distinguish the actions apart from the being who does them. God NEVER calls us bad. He NEVER labels us as bad people. Instead it's the sin, or the bad things we do and have done that God hates. GOD DOES NOT HATE US.
Have you ever heard of a painter painting something and then ripping it apart? How about a sculptor molding a figure only to smash it to the ground? Would a builder build a skyscraper for the purpose of smashing it to a pile of rubble with a wrecking ball? Ridiculous notions, huh?
Then why would God make us, humans, only to curse us and treat us as objects of wrath? He wouldn't, and He didn't. In Genesis 1:27, it says that "So God made man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Why would God take so much time to make something that reflected himself only to destroy it?
The fact is that no artist, painter, sculptor, inventor, builder, etc., would ever purposefully set out to make something, only to destroy it, and here's why - because at the end of the day, whatever they have made contains part of and is a reflection of themselves.
I try to illustrate this point to Laynie and Bryson all the time, so that they understand that sin only breaks fellowship NOT relationship. Here's the principle - YOU CAN'T HATE WHAT YOU CREATE. I want them to understand that even though they may do wrong sometimes that it can never erase the fact that God loves them BECAUSE He made them.
The very first thing God did after He made Adam and Eve, was to...........BLESS THEM (Genesis 1:28). Even after they rebelled against God, He never cursed them. Instead He cursed the serpent for deceiving them (Genesis 3:14), and then He cursed the ground (Genesis 3:17). However, God NEVER curses mankind.
Some of us have labeled ourselves BAD for so long that it's hard to understand this concept of goodness. That we as humans are good because of who made us, not because of what we have done. Goodness is determined by the source of our life, God.
I can hear some of you arguing with me now saying, "Stephen you've gone off the deep end. What about sin? Are you saying that everyone goes to Heaven when they die even if they have not accepted the sacrifice of Jesus into their hearts, regardless of their sin?"
No, listen carefully. Sin clearly has a price, and it is death - separation from God (Romans 6:23). Galatians 6:7 reminds us that there is a sowing and reaping principle for every action, a kind of spiritual application of Newton's first law of motion - "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Paul says it this way, "Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
My point is not one of rightness or wrongness, but simply perspective. Proverbs 23:7 (NJV) says, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Our beliefs lead to thoughts, which lead to actions, which equal the consequences of our decisions. If we start out believing the wrong things about our self, we will ultimately do the wrong things; a self-fulfilling prophecy.
We must begin to see ourselves from God's perspective - He made us, so therefore, we the creation are good. Sin cannot erase that fact. It can, however, alter our eternal destiny. We must choose to believe IN God, not just ABOUT him.
His goal in making us, was to be an object of His affection and a reflection of His glory in the earth. We all at some point, choose to sin (Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:23). We've all rejected the label that God put on us as GOOD, and instead bought into Satan's alternative message, "You are bad and you will always be bad, so just go ahead and continue doing bad things anyway, because that's what you ARE and that's what you DESERVE."
God's message to us, has NEVER nor will it ever be one of condemnation. God NEVER accuses us. Instead, Satan is the one who is called, "the accuser of our brothers" (Revelation 12:10). In John 8:44, Jesus calls him, " a liar and the father of all lies." Jesus stands alone as the GATEWAY to truth. He says in John 14:6, " I am THE way, THE Truth, and THE life. No one comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME."
Just about everyone has heard John 3:16, but have you ever looked and really contemplated John 3:17? " For God did NOT send his Son into the world to CONDEMN the world, BUT to SAVE the world THROUGH HIM."
God's message to us has NEVER been about condemnation, BUT instead it has ALWAYS been about LOVE. In Genesis 3:21, God makes a covering for Adam and EVE. In Genesis 6, God preserves Noah and his family through the ark. In Genesis 22:13, God tests Abraham, but spares Isaac by sending a ram into the thicket. Later in Genesis, we learn about Joseph, and how God sent him ahead of his brothers to Egypt. Through some unusual circumstances, God spares Jacob's family from the famine (Genesis 45:5-7).
In Exodus 2:2, we see Moses being hidden by his mother and father to avoid execution by order of the Pharaoh. Later God would use him to deliver all of Israel from slavery. Then what about Joshua, all the judges like Sampson, Deborah, Gideon; the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, Ezekial, Jonah, and so on?
They all pointed to one person. The only one capable of TRANSCENDING and UNCONDEMNING love - JESUS! The message of the Bible, the message of God is a LOVE LETTER from a Father to His SONS and DAUGHTERS.
God could never hate what He made, because you CAN'T HATE WHAT YOU CREATE!
*All scripture references are taken from the NIV, except where noted.
