Doing vs Being

Doing is binding and enslaving. Being is freeing. If a positive sense of who we are (our identity) is based on what we do, we will never achieve enough to gain the long-term sense of well-being that we need and were designed for.

We need perfect and infinite love because, as bearers of God's image, we were designed to be loved perfectly and infinitely, by the perfect, infinite God of love. We can never secure this for (or by) ourselves because we will never live perfectly enough to earn His approval and love. Nor does any other creature offer this kind of love. To seek perfect infinite love from finite persons or things doesn't work and will ultimately disappoint us. So we ¹should not seek it from them. Only the Creator loves in this way.

The good news is we don't have to because Christ did this for us. As His infinitely cherished children, we are called to simply abide, dwell, or live in this in His perfect love. Only as we abide in God's love, perfectly secured for us by Christ, do we become loving. The more we abide in His perfect love (by faith), the more loving we become.

What is the nature of being or abiding? It is believing and receiving (claiming) the offer of a perfect standing with and before God, earned for us by Christ's efforts, not ours.

Being (abiding) in His love leads to doing. Doing can never lead to being; i.e., being loving never leads to being fully loved. Being fully loved leads to being loving. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit (gets much done), for apart from me you can do nothing... As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love" i.e. claim this reality (truth) and own it - Jesus speaking to his disciples at the last supper. John 15:4-6,9

Where the confusion comes in is faithful obedience (i.e. doing) does result in - is the fruit of - our experiencing God's love more fully. But this is on our side of the relationship. Our doing - obedience - does not cause God to love us more. His love for us is no greater or less because of what we do, simply because it's based on who we are as a bearer of God's image and poured out on us because of what Christ did for us by bearing our condemnation and removing it from us and also assigning His righteous life to us as if we lived it.

Because we are in Christ, the Fathers love is fixed on and set upon us, and poured out in our hearts by His Spirit as we trust Him in all His love. It never stops or subsides. Own this! Stand on it! Abide in it!

This is not only for our sake but for Christ's as well. For God to love us in this way honors Christ and the infinite pain He submitted to in order to reconcile and unit us to His Father. Live - dwell, abide - in this reality.

For a further discussion, click here

For a discussion on bearing much fruit, click here For a discussion on acting before being, click here

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Footnotes:

¹this does not mean that God cannot demonstrate His love to us through another creature or by His creation. It is a main way He does so. However, we must recognize that it is only because of His love that others can love us the way He does, i.e., to give love, not to receive it. So indirectly it is still God's love we experience, for none of us can love as God loves until we are loved by God first.

Do you want more of God?

Do you want more of God in your life? Then you must attempt great things for Him. 

We will not fully engage with God and all that He is until we fully engage with what God does and is doing. 

What kind of things? The things God has stirred in your heart through his word that honor Him.

Doing great things requires great strength. Great strength requires great faith in God who gives us the strength necessary to accomplish things we could never do on our own. We engage God by faith and experience Him more as a result.

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” - Romans 10:17 

Great (i.e. supernatural) strength comes only from God. We are merely jars of clay that hold great treasure. But also the only jars that can display that treasure in a way that only we can and were made to.

If you want more of God, pursue great things for Him.

“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit (who empowers us to live for God) to those who ask him!”” - Luke 11:9-11, 13 ESV

“I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” - Proverbs 8:17 ESV

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” - Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ” - John 15:7-8 ESV

How are we able to admit our unfaithfulness

We can only acknowledge the depth of our brokenness to the extent that we recognize God's perfect acceptance, embrace, and love for us in and through Christ. 

If our understanding and trust in His total acceptance and love is incomplete, so will be our ¹ability to see and acknowledge our distrust of God, i.e., the essence of our sinful condition. 

And what is the full extent of God's acceptance, love, and embrace of us? It is the same as His loving embrace of His Son, i.e., it is perfect-complete-total! 

"The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." - Jesus, praying to His Father right before he was betrayed by Judas and crucified the next day - John 17:22-23 ESV

How much does the Father love the Son? However much that is, is how much he loves us!! i.e., it is the ⁵same as His love for His Son!!! It is equal to His love for Jesus!!! Total and infinite!! Selah (reflect on this and let it sink in. Ask God to reveal this to you more fully).

The only way to grasp this is to ask God to reveal this to you. Otherwise, you (we) will not see it.

Jesus- 

"All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." - Matthew 11:27 ESV

The apostle Paul -

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (i.e., bears His image) that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength (that comes to us through faith) to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." - Eph 3:14-19 ESV

For a closer look at the above passage, click here. You may wish to bookmark it to read later after you are done with this article.

Why does God love us this way?

Because...

1. We are like God - i.e. in His image - and if we are in Christ, we are His beloved child, not unlike Christ, who is in the image of God and His only begotten Son. 

2. Christ lived a life of perfect faithfulness to His Father - the life that God designed and intended us to ²live (but failed to live and still fail now). He lived His life to honor His Father but also to honor (share His glory with) us. 

Through our faith in Christ, God credits Christ's perfectly righteous life to us as if we lived it. In Christ we are now perfectly righteous (right) in the eyes of God. We will never be more acceptable or embraced by God than we are right now! 

Do you believe this? Paul in his letter to the church in Rome says to ³"reckon" (consider) it so.

And we won't experience the depth of God's love until we ⁴acknowledge the depth of our distrust in Him i.e., our lack of faith in this infinite provision.

And we won't admit that distrust until we grasp (by faith) His total acceptance and loving embrace of us. 

These go hand in hand. We must see both to fully know and partake of God in the fullness of His love. 

We must acknowledge our distrust of God and turn from it, so we might more clearly and fully see "...the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

For a fuller discussion of the love the Father and Son have for each other, click here

For a fuller discussion on why God values us as bearers of His image, click here

For a fuller discussion of Christ being the only begotten Son, click here. 

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Footnotes:

¹We will only admit the extent of our brokenness to others (and ourselves) to the extent we believe we will still be accepted and not rejected when we do. 

We all want to be fully seen but also fully accepted. But to be fully seen usually means we will be rejected because of our brokenness, except with God, who fully sees us and still totally embraces us, warts and all.  

²as well as died the death we should have died.

³ Rom 6:11 - reckon, consider, count...

English Standard Version
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Berean Standard Bible
So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Berean Literal Bible
So also you⁺, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus.

King James Bible
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 6:11 is not saying we are dead to the allure (temptation) of sin, but to its legal claim of condemnation on us. That claim is forever gone because our judgment was totally laid on Christ. Jesus paid it all!!! It is finished!!!

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." - Isa 1:18a ESV

must count - λογίζεσθε (logizesthe)
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 3049: To reckon, count, charge with; reason, decide, conclude; think, suppose.

⁴the more we grasp how great our distrust of God is, the more we realize and appreciate how great his love must be to still love us in light of this distrust.

⁵ the Son's love for us is usually assumed and taken for granted since He clearly demonstrated it by coming to earth to suffer and die for us. Nevertheless it is equal to the Father's love for us.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ” - John 15:9

The key takeaway is the Father and Son's love for each other is infinite and eternal i.e. non-stop. Which is the same exact love they have for us. There is never a time that it's not fully set upon us as well, no matter what we are going through i.e. the same infinite non-stop love they have for each other they also have for us - even though there are times we may not feel that love just as Christ didn't for a moment while on the cross. 

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ”

Matthew 27:46 

Even though we may feel totally forsaken, we are not no more than Christ was.

Good deeds?

What are good deeds?

Do all "good" deeds come from the same place; a place of love? Can the exact same deed come from a place of wholeness by one person and a place of need by another? And if it comes out of ²need is it truly a loving deed?

Truly good deeds that come from a heart of love have ¹no strings attached. The doer of such deeds is only interested in the deeds being gratefully received.

But this is not because the doer needs it to be gratefully received for themself. But because it confirms the deed helped the recipient as intended to i.e. to show love.

Such deeds are not designed to manipulate others to meet their own need for love.

Deeds done out of a need for love are actually done under the guise of giving. Such deeds do not come out of love but out of a need for love and affirmation gained through their good deeds. This is giving of a sort but only superficially i.e. on the outside.

Truly good deeds are intended to give love and also enjoy receiving it as well. It is who we're designed to be as bearers of God's image. But receiving isn't the motive for this kind of action. Love is i.e. giving not receiving.

Deeds done to fill a need in us is giving to get love. This comes out of a need for love, not from a place of love. It comes from emptiness (lack of love) not fullness. Therefore it is not truly giving, but ²taking.

This need only exists because of our disconnection from our Designer and Creator who is the source of life, love, and all things. We can not be truly loving if we are not plugged in to the Source of love.

If we accept God's love extended to us through Christ we shift from being takers of love to givers but not until then.

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

- John 15:4-5

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Footnotes:

¹good deeds are not enough. But deeds done out of love. This is why love is not easily offended. It comes out of fullness not need...

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things...

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." - 1 Cor 13:1-7, 13 

²this is not to say such deeds are never helpful, but in time we may find they have clear strings attached which may cause us to have to detach from those who "love" in this way.

Is making a lot of money legit?

Is it legitimate to pursue making a lot of money as an end in itself? No.

However, note the above says the love of money is the problem, not money itself.

If we diligently pursue doing things with excellence for the glory of God, it is not only totally legitimate to be as productive and fruitful as possible, but what we are called to do. 

From the beginning in Genesis and throughout the New Testament, God's mandate to humanity was to be fruitful and multiply i.e. bear much fruit. This honors God.

This may result in financial success (and sometimes does, particularly if God gave you the temperament and skills to be an effective business person). But it's not automatically a guarantee. 

Since making money is not the focus (though it can clearly be a legitimate measuring stick of success under the right conditions), the pursuit of excellence for Christ's sake is i.e., doing everything - including "business" - for God's honor (glory) regardless of whether we see a significant financial reward or not. 

We should always strive for excellence and never back off from being as fruitful as possible, both spiritually and materially. Doing things with excellence has more to do with effort and intent than outcome. Backing off from doing all things for God's glory is not optional. Honoring God in all we say and do is the calling of every believer.
 

What about our skills?

What if our skills and abilities, energy, stamina, strength, and mental sharpness have considerably dropped off with age or for some other reason, such as overall health or injury? Is this a legitimate reason to slow down? 

Because money is not the final measuring stick of a legitimate endeavor but intent to honor God is, we are still to pursue things with excellence regardless of our skills i.e. being excellent for Christ's sake always remains the ¹same even though our abilities change over time (some for better - like increased wisdom through increased life experience - and some for worse, like declining physical and mental stamina). 

Doing everything with excellence for the glory of God should ²always be our goal and modus operandi, regardless of the resources or skills we may or may not have; whether those resources change, decline, or increase.

What about excellence vs doing just enough to "get by?"

Excellence in the marketplace, in contrast to the lack of excellence, provides a greater opportunity to put God on display; to demonstrate that living for God is a more excellent and productive way than not living for him but living only for self-advancement. 

This is exactly why Joseph in the Old Testament excelled in every circumstance he found himself in and was entrusted to oversee things wherever he went. He was eventually promoted to second in command in Egypt, considered the greatest nation on earth at that time. This led to great prosperity, which in turn was used to save many lives, including his own family. 

Truly knowing and living for God makes us more productive, resourceful, and excellent, resulting in greater honor to God and service to humanity made up of fellow bearers of God's image.

Excellence in attitude.

We are not only to be excellent in our effort but excellent in attitude e.g., humble, diligent, caring, grateful etc., which usually, though not automatically, leads to an excellent outcome. In fact, the right attitude leads to the right outcome. Therefore, knowing God is more excellent in the work environment (or any area of endeavor) than not knowing Him.  It is the superior way of living life. 

But we must distinguish between truly knowing God versus knowing about God. They are not the same. 

Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Ecc 9:10  Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. 

Col 3:23  Whatever you do G4160, work G2038b heartily G5590, as for the Lord and not for men, 

Do – G4160

ποιέω - poieō - poy-eh'-o

Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct): - abide, + agree, appoint, X avenge, + band together, be, bear, + bewray, bring (forth), cast out, cause, commit, + content, continue, deal, + without any delay, (would) do (-ing), execute, exercise, fulfil, gain, give, have, hold, X journeying, keep, + lay wait, + lighten the ship, make, X mean, + none of these things move me, observe, ordain, perform, provide, + have purged, purpose, put, + raising up, X secure, shew, X shoot out, spend, take, tarry, + transgress the law, work, yield. Compare G4238.

Work – G2038b

ἐργάζομαι - ergazomai; from G2041; to work, labor: — accomplish (1), accomplished (1), accomplishing (1), achieve (1), committing (1), do (1), do...work (1), does (3), doing (1), doing...work (1), done (2), make...living (1), perform (4), performed (1), performing (1), practice (1), produces (1), traded (1), work (9), work be done (1), work do...perform (1), working (7), works (1), wrought (1).

Heartily – G5590

ψυχή - psuchē; of unc. or.; breath, the soul: — heart (2), heartily (1), life (36), lives (7), mind (1), minds (1), person (1), persons (3), soul (33), souls (14), suspense *(1), thing (1).

From G5594; breath, that is, (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely (the animal sentient principle only; thus distinguished on the one hand from G4151, which is the rational and immortal soul; and on the other from G2222, which is mere vitality, even of plants: these terms thus exactly correspond respectively to the Hebrew [H5315], [H7307] and [H2416]: - heart (+ -ily), life, mind, soul, + us, + you.

Thayer Definition:

1) breath

1a) the breath of life

1a1) the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing

1a1a) of animals

1a1b) of men

1b) life

1c) that in which there is life

1c1) a living being, a living soul

2) the soul

2a) the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.)

2b) the (human) soul in so far as the right use of the aids constituted it that offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life

2c) the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body) i.e. put your heart into it. Do it with passion, spirit, and energy.

As a believer in business for over 45 years, I have wrestled with what is legitimate and what is questionable in "doing business." 

The following links are some conclusions I have come to so far, based on Scripture first and my own experience, failures, struggles, and successes. 

For those who have wrestled with these same things, I trust you will find the below helpful. 

For a discussion on the fallacy of the health and wealth gospel, click here.

For a further discussion on excellence, click here. 

For a discussion on sowing and reaping, click here. 

For a discussion on legitimate vs illegitimate business, click here 

For a discussion on giving what you have, click here.

For a discussion on being diligence vs undisciplined, click here

For a discussion on resting in God, click here

For a discussion on whether competition is good or bad click here

For a further discussion on being diligent, click here

For a discussion on what is more important, great effort or great faith, click here

For a discussion of what exactly is money/currency, click here.

For a discussion of how faith is hard work, click here.

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¹And as we mature, our walk with God should strengthen, so this becomes a more consistent and common part of our life, not less common.

²Whatever you have, no matter how much or how little, use it with all the faith, strength, and energy God gives you for his glory.

legitimate vs illegitimate business

What distinguishes a legitimate enterprise or business from an illegitimate one? 

Being ¹service driven vs. solely profit-driven.

There is nothing necessary wrong with profit in itself, but when profit becomes the ²sole motive, serving others becomes irrelevant or secondary at best and usually leads to ⁴harming others. This is a disservice and the opposite of serving others.

When an enterprise is focused on ²serving others we are loving our neighbors and helping them flourish. The result is that the "consumer"  ²benefits. 

We are dependent on certain things to not only survive but to flourish and function to our maximum capacity. To provide those things for God's honor and the bettering of our fellow man or woman is to serve both God and humankind.

If we are diligent in serving others, it often results in our economic benefit as well, i.e. profit. We "win" by helping others "win." But serving others is and should always be our focus, regardless. 

As believers, this is carrying out the commandment to love our neighbor as we love ourselves i.e. treating others the way we would like to be treated. If we gain (profit) in this exercise, this is a good thing, not bad i.e. it is not exploiting our fellow man or the planet, as ⁵some assert, but the possible (though not automatic) fruit of serving them.  

The most successful enterprises are those that find a ¹legitimate ³need of others and meet it better than anyone else. The greater the need, the greater the service provided. The greater the service, the greater the opportunity for profit if we are diligent. 

For a discussion on sowing and reaping click here. 

For a discussion on socialism vs capitalism click here. 

For a discussion on doing things with excellence click here. 

For a discussion on whether the pursuit of money is ever legit click here.

For a discussion on what exactly money is click here. 

For a discussion on cryptocurrency, click here. 

For a discussion on giving as we have received, click here

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Footnotes:

¹The nature of the need is also vital in determining the legitimacy of the enterprise or service e.g. providing healthy food vs junk food is a legitimate endeavor. Providing a want such as junk food (or pornography, or abortions etc) simply because there is a demand for it is not. There may be large profits in these kinds of offers, but if an offer is contrary to God's design it is ultimately destructive and a disservice to others and humanity at large regardless of how great the demand or profit.

²Even when profit becomes the primary motive, serving others becomes secondary, which also ultimately leads to people's ⁴harm and the opposite of serving others.

Serving others is good for both the provider and the consumer. This is a "win-win" scenario. 

³We must distinguish between needs and wants. Needs are vital to our existence and flourishing. Wants, no matter how great, are merely what we desire but will not result in our perishing if we can't acquire them i.e. they are not essential to our existence but may only be for greater convenience and comfort versus greater fruitfulness i.e. productivity. 

We are called to be productive (fruitful). Anything that enables us to do so is legitimate. Helping others be more efficient so they have more time to be more productive is a legitimate endeavor. 

This is our initial mandate in the Old Testament:

‭‭Genesis 1:28-30 

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 

This is repeated in the New Testament: 

‭‭John 15:5...

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing... 

 

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples...

 

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, - regarding advancing God's rule (kingdom) of love - he may give it to you. 

⁴Such as using corn syrup in foods as a sweetener because it is cheaper and adds more to the bottom line even though it's harmful to us.

⁵Ayn Rand asserted capitalism and altruism are opposites and do not mix i.e. in a true free market system we can not benefit (win) by helping others benefit (win). 

Click here for a 2-minute video of her explaining worldview. 

However, as an atheist, she didn't understand the dynamic of being empowered to love others when we know we are fully loved. 

She interpreted altruism as a giving away of our dignity - or others taking it from us - and not an expression of the dignity we derive from God, the eternal overflowing fountain of love. She saw altruism only as others taking from us by force vs our freely, gladly, and willingly giving to others out of our fullness of receiving all things from our Creator. A subtle but vital distinction. 

This distinguishes God's Kingdom from communism. This also reveals how the progressive side of the church is unwittingly sympathetic to communism, which is vastly different from advancing God's kingdom by loving our neighbor. 

Givers vs takers

For a discussion on how we are designed to be givers and not takers click here.

When service is our primary focus - but profit is also desired

(though not primary) - this puts innovation front and center. It causes us to continually look for creative ways to meet the unmet needs of our fellow humans and how to also generate the necessary funding to continue to do so. 

Often, but not always, the copycats of legitimate and successful innovation are driven purely by profit, not necessarily how to better serve humanity. 

Knowing God but not fully yet!

Understanding the "already... not yet" aspect of the gospel (good news) is vital. This addresses how we are "seated in the heavenly's" but have yet to be in heaven. Without a clear understanding of the difference, we will not enter into the benefits of what God has already secured for us in this life. 

This involves a clear understanding and faith in who we are in Christ right now vs who we are not yet but will be one day. This concerns how we are viewed by God now vs how we will experience God in eternity.

To gain a solid understanding of this key component of the gospel (good news), we need to differentiate between our ¹legal status (standing) before God and our actual experience of God.

What do we mean by the expression "already but not yet?"

Christ already fully loves us (just as much as He will in eternity), but we have not yet experienced that love to the full extent we will in eternity.

God is already fully committed to us, totally engaged in our good, and fully present with us now (just as much as He will be in eternity) but we do not yet see him face-to-face i.e. we are not yet without any obstructions, or distractions and fully in his presence (though His love and care are perfectly and fully set upon us now and every moment in Christ...in Him, we live and move and have our being).

We are totally delivered from the ultimate legal consequences of our past, present, and future rebellious distrust of God. But we are not yet presently or fully delivered from all the practical consequences of that rebellion or from being in a broken, rebellious world and wrestling with the day-to-day struggle of our own distrust. We ²still wrestle with trusting God perfectly even as His children - in the same way Christ did (though Christ did without sin i.e. he always obeyed. We often do not).

For now, what connects and brings something of - ³but not all - the glorious future blessings God has in store for us into the present, is faith. 

Faith in what? Faith that God is fully committed to us and engaged in our lives as much now as He will be in eternity. And He is working in all things for our good for those who love Him, even if it doesn't seem or feel like it presently. And He is using all things good, bad, and ugly to draw us into greater union with Him, who is life, love, and the source of all things.

In this present existence, the just - those who are legally and perfectly right before God because of Christ - live by faith. Faith is the evidence of what we hope for (confidently expect) and the certainty of things not yet seen (Heb 11:1) i.e. faith in what is already perfectly ours - though not yet fully ours in our day- to-day experience. By this faith, we bring something of our glorious future of overflowing joy and delight into the present. The more we agree with and trust in what we now have (God's perfect acceptance, commitment, and love) the more we experience something of it but do not yet fully have, i.e. the full experience and participation in what is already ours legally. 

You could say God has all of us now as much as He will ever have (regarding His complete acceptance, love, and devotion to us) but we do not have all of God yet. God is always working through all our experiences in this life to move us more in that direction practically/ experientially, to align us more fully with what has already been earned for us legally. Christ already fully took care of the legal part i.e. "It is finished."

No matter how much faith we have it will not result in the ³full experience we are yet to have in eternity i.e. we are not glorified yet with all its benefits. Glorification is real and something different from our present experience. Something will happen to us that is not yet happening. 

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Only in eternity will all tears, pain, and death be eliminated. Only then will the rest of creation be fully delivered from the corruption, pollution, and decay of its present bondage.

Yet, at the same time, we are already glorified in the eyes of God.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (a present reality). Rom 8:30. 

Our present existence consists of pain and suffering. For now, we primarily experience God by faith. But there are times He will give us glimpses of His infinite love providentially, i.e. we will experience something of His involvement in our day-to-day lives circumstantially. And if we are about advancing His purposes, this involvement may be very significant - just nowhere near the same level we will see in eternity.

In eternity, we will experience God fully and directly without interruption, in all the fullness of His glory, face-to-face. Now we relate to God through faith, hope, and love. In eternity, love will be central if not the only way we relate to Him. Who hopes for what they already fully have or must trust what is fully seen?  

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. - 1 Cor 13:12‭-‬13

"...then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known..."

This wording is deliberate and specific. It says our experience of God (knowing Him perfectly) is not yet full even though God's disposition of love and commitment to us (and knowledge about us - including our sin) is i.e. we are fully known (and loved) by God even though we do not yet fully know (and love) Him. 

This suggests the reason we will one day fully know him is because He already fully knows and embraces us now in our brokenness i.e. he knows everything about us, good, bad, and ugly, and fully receives and embraces us in Christ.

For a further discussion on how we know God now vs in eternity click here.

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¹Because of Christ the disposition God has towards us now is exactly the same as it will be in eternity i.e. perfect and total love and acceptance. We will be no more loved by God in eternity than we are right now. The difference will be our experience of that love. It will be different because we will be different (glorified) and face-to-face with him vs seeing him now through a glass darkly (in a mirror dimly) i.e. we now live by faith, not by direct sight, as we will one day be in His direct and unobstructed presence.

The only reason we are equally loved and accepted by God now as we will be in eternity is Christ. He took the full consequences of our rebellious unbelief onto himself and assigned his perfect obedience and the right standing he earned with the Father fully to us. In the eyes of God, we are legally, perfectly, and fully received and embraced in the same way, and as much as the eternal Son of God is...the Son of His eternal and infinite affection. We are now seated (legally established) in the heavens, but not fully (physically) present there yet.

²God seeks to eliminate that wrestling as much as possible by increasing our faith and removing our doubt as we faithfully pursue Him.

³Though a great deal of the energy and effort expended by many believers is to secure all the benefits of heaven here and now. This is sometimes referred to as the "health and wealth" gospel or the "prosperity" gospel. To assume this, does not recognize the benefit of struggle and the importance and necessity of strengthening our faith through it.

For an excellent, more technical article on the "already, but not yet" teaching in scripture click here.

Who are we?

There are ¹two fundamental aspects of our being (nature) that define us. One is divine, the other is decidedly human and the opposite of divine.

1. We are like God,  the divine - in His image.

2. We are not God - not self-sufficient, infinite, without limits, but finite i.e. human.

We are like God and created to interact (commune) with God - who is ²infinite. Therefore only our union and relationship with this infinitely loving God can make us whole - complete us. 

Because we are not God, we are limited, dependent, finite, not infinite, we ³must be in union - connected - with the infinite to function properly, i.e. as designed.

What is the nature of our relationship with God? 

He is the source of all things and we are recipients of all things, i.e. All we are, have, and need to exist and function ⁴comes from God either directly (such as our breath-existence and our abilities) or indirectly through His creation - e.g. food, water, air, sun, other image bearers, etc.

Because we are finite yet designed for the infinite, we must go outside ourselves to find not just what we need for our physical existence but also lasting meaning, purpose, value, and fulfillment i.e. our non-physical - spiritual and emotional - existence as well. 

Since God is the Creator and the Source of our being (existence), and we are in his image, to understand ourselves correctly, we must ⁵know and understand God correctly.

How do we know God? God is a person. What can be known about him on a personal level must be revealed to us by Him; just as others only truly know us to the extent we reveal ourselves to them. 

His revelation to us of Himself comes in great part through his words (the bible) - What he tells us about himself specifically, as well as what he says in general. 

He also reveals Himself by His actions; through creation - which includes us and our being like Him.

God's fullest, most complete self-revelation occurred when God the Son took on human form as Immanuel (i.e. God with us) and came to live (abide) among us. 

"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..." ‭‭Heb 1:1-3

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth..." - John 1:1‭‭-‬5‭, ‬14 ESV

Yet we are not presently connected to God because we have rebelled and broken away from our dependence on and need for Him. We act as if God is irrelevant or unimportant when it is just the opposite i.e. He is all important. We can never function as designed unless and until we acknowledge this foundational reality.

If we wish to be reconnected with our Creator, Jesus tells us how in the following statement...

And this is eternal life: that people can know you, the only true God, and that they can know Jesus Christ, the one you sent. - John 17:3

To understand why we are disconnected and how to reconnect click here.

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Footnotes:

¹theology - the study of the nature and essence of God

anthropology - the study of the nature and essence of humankind.

²God is infinite both in depth (qualitatively) and breadth - duration (quantitatively). There is no deeper love or a love that never ends except His. His love has always been before He created. And that love is infinitely broad and deep because it is among and between infinite persons i.e. GOD as Father and Son, in, by, and through the infinite Spirit. God is infinite love and infinite Spirit.

³yet we are not connected because we have willfully rebelled from our dependence on and need for God. We now live contrary to our design - disconnected from our Creator. The source of life, love,, and all things - which is clearly evidenced by the current chaotic state of humanity and the world.  

⁴Whether we function optimally, as He desires and designed or not, we still live, move, and have our very being (existence) in God. If there were no God, there would be no us i.e. We still exist because of God whether we willfully and consciously have a personal relationship with God or not.

⁵John Calvin's opening paragraphs of The Institutes. 

Italicized comments in (brackets) are my own to help clarify the authors intended meaning.

1.Without knowledge of self there is no knowledge of God

Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.

For, in the first place, no man can survey himself without forthwith (immediately) turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves; because it is perfectly obvious, that the endowments (gifts) which we possess cannot possibly be from ourselves; nay (no), that our very being is nothing else than subsistence in (existence and maintenance by)  God alone.

In the second place, those blessings which unceasingly distil (come down) to us from heaven, are like streams conducting (pointing) us to the fountain.

Here, again, the infinitude of (unlimited) good which resides in God becomes more apparent from our poverty. In particular, the miserable ruin into which the revolt of the first man has plunged us, compels us to turn our eyes upwards; not only that while hungry and famishing we may thence (thereby) ask what we want, but being aroused by fear may learn humility. For as there exists in man something like a world of misery, and ever since we were stript of the divine attire our naked shame discloses an immense series of disgraceful properties every man, being stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness, in this way necessarily obtains at least some knowledge of God. Thus, our feeling of ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, in short, depravity and corruption, reminds us, (see Calvin on John 4: 10,) that in the Lord, and none but He, dwell the true light of wisdom, solid virtue, exuberant goodness. We are accordingly urged by our own evil things (ways/conduct) to consider the good things of God; and, indeed, we cannot aspire to Him in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves. For what man is not disposed to rest in (depend on) himself? Who, in fact, does not thus rest, so long as he is unknown to himself; that is, so long as he is contented with his own endowments, and unconscious or unmindful of his misery? Every person, therefore, on coming to the knowledge of himself, is not only urged to seek God, but is also led as by the hand to find him.

2.Without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self

On the other hand, it is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself. For (such is our innate pride that...) we always seem to ourselves just, and upright, and wise, and holy, until we are convinced, by clear evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and impurity. Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only, and not to the Lord also - He being the only standard by the application of which this conviction can be produced. For, since we are all naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance (appearance) of righteousness is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself. And since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted with very great impurity, so long as we keep our mind within the confines of human pollution, anything which is in some small degree less defiled delights us as if it were most pure just as an eye, to which nothing but black had been previously presented, deems (estimates) an object of a whitish, or even of a brownish hue, to be perfectly white. Nay, the bodily sense may furnish a still stronger illustration of the extent to which we are deluded in estimating the powers of the mind. If, at mid-day, we either look down to the ground, or on the surrounding objects which lie open to our view, we think ourselves endued with a very strong and piercing eyesight; but when we look up to the sun, and gaze at it unveiled, the sight which did excellently well for the earth is instantly so dazzled and confounded by the refulgence (brightness), as to oblige (compel) us to confess that our acuteness (skill) in discerning terrestrial objects is mere dimness when applied to the sun. Thus too (in the same way), it happens in estimating our spiritual qualities. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods (insignificant or lesser gods). But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard, we are bound to be conformed, what formerly (previously) delighted us by its false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest iniquity (most wicked actions); what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom (what we mistakenly thought by our own estimation) will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy (right or good efforts) will be condemned as the most miserable impotence (totally inadequate). So far (so distant or removed) are those qualities in us, which seem most perfect, from corresponding to (in relation to or compared to) the divine purity.