The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"More Than Wonder!"
Because God is God, an eternally and infinitely self existent Being who requires nothing but His triune being of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for fulfillment, we may minimize how deeply the happenings of His creation affect Him. We do well to avoid this misunderstanding at all costs.
"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things" (Acts 17:24-25).
"And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him… By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God" (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5).
Moses and the writer of Hebrews unite to illustrate the first direct mention of God's emotional sensibilities and how much all things matter to Him. Enoch pleased God, to the degree he was removed from the realm of the earthly unto the glory of Heaven. Both light and mystery present wonder to our hearts in Enoch's translation. For the present consideration, we will confine ourselves to the simple affirmation, "He pleased God."
All believers possess this capacity through the indwelling Holy Spirit to bring joy to the heart of God. "The Lord taketh pleasure in His people" (Psalm 149:4). Indeed, every human being bears such potential. The sinner who repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ in the new birth is said to elicit "joy in Heaven" (Luke 15:7). The saint who trusts God with a loving, humble, and submitted heart joins Enoch in bringing great pleasure to the Lord's heart. "Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more" (I Thessalonians 4:1). Clearly, the steps of our lives matter to our Heavenly Father, so much so that seemingly insignificant beings such as ourselves bear the capacity to affect the emotional sensibilities of the God whose character, nature, and way transcend our loftiest imaginations of Him.
God does not need us. He rather desires us. I have pondered these two truths for decades. They still primarily elicit a sense of wonder far more than any other response. The first bears witness to the truth of our Lord's eternal and infinite being as the one - the only One - who independently sustains His own existence in every way. Wonder indeed! The second truth, however, takes the matter beyond wonder. The God who does not need us nevertheless desires us, so much so that our doings lead to the emotional response of a love so unfathomable it "passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19). What do we do in the light of this truth? The years have never really answered that question for me. I am not sure eternity will either. Indeed, some things of God we ponder simply stop our thoughts, emotions, and every other response in their tracks. The Psalmist well knew this, confessing his determination to not delve into matters "too high for me" (Psalm 131:1). Yes, more than wonder!
Our Father does not need us today. He will be fine in His existence and being regardless of whether we respond well to Him, or not. He does, however, desire us in this day. We matter to Him today far more than anyone or anything has ever mattered to us. How we respond will affect Him in the depths of His heart. If we please Him by faith and the blessed fruits thereof, great indeed will be the joy we elicit in the Divine being. If we distrust and disregard Him, great indeed will be the sorrow. No, I do not understand such things. Nor do I expect I - or anyone else - ever will. It is enough to know they are true, and to ask our Lord to make them deeply significant in our hearts, as they are in His.
"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at his heart."
(Genesis 6:5-6)
"It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."
(Philippians 2:13)
Weekly Memory Verse
"He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
(John 7:38)
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