It all depends on God and you

You may have heard the following…

Pray as if it all depends on God and work as if ¹it all depends on you; because it does... both of them.

Is this true? If so, how do we reconcile this seemingly contradictory and paradoxical statement? Can we?

First, God is the cause - driving force behind all things. As Paul under the Spirit's inspiration said,

“...For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever...” Amen. Rom 11:36

All that we are and have comes from God, is by Him, and points back to Him. Nothing exists or happens without God and outside His perfect rule.

This includes our obedience. It is God who works in us to will and do of his good pleasure... so work out your salvation (which is already ²fully ours in Christ... this means we are to bring forth in practice what God has already declared about us i.e. we are perfectly righteous in Christ, so live accordingly) with fear and trembling.

Why fear and trembling? Not because we are afraid we'll lose our salvation but because obedience matters and honoring God matters. There is significance to our conduct that has real consequences,  either positive or negative, for God, others and ourselves. 

Phil 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 

Our "work" is to believe in God, what He says about Himself and us. He says He is the almighty, all-loving, wise God, and his love is set upon us in Christ. It never stops, no matter what we do or don't do, and no matter what our circumstances are. Nothing happens to us, in us, or through us without His complete care and rule. The more we believe this, the more his love and power are released in and through us to others. 

Make no mistake, it is only by God's love, which empowers us, that we are able to faithfully follow him. However, we must believe God's love and His claims about his care and control and act accordingly, to partake of and participate in this power. We must receive His love - by faith - to give love i.e. for it to empower us...we play a major part in how God empowers us. We must believe Him and His promise that nothing, no adversity, no challenge, no pain can or will ever separate us from God's loving care and will. To believe this, is our part in obedience. Without faith, we will not subjectively and consciously take part in what he freely extends to us in Christ… his full and perfect love, care, and guidance.

What is it exactly we must believe about God and ourselves that makes this work?

God - He is the all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving, and everywhere present God. He is working in all things, at all times to advance our greatest good and His greatest glory, regardless of how it might appear to the contrary. All things are from, through, and to him. To him be the glory forever, Amen!! There are no exceptions. Full stop!

Us - We are his image-bearers, perfectly accepted, valued, and loved in Christ. Nothing we did, do, or don't do can change this. This is based on Christ and that we are in his image. This is who God made us be – first by creating us like Himself in key ways and second by restoring us by grace to Himself in and through Christ - and therefore it is a fixed reality. It is not based on anything we did, are doing, or will do; ever (other than simply believing it is true). He made us in His image and considers us worth his love, enough to send His Son to die in our place and restore us.  So much so that we were told by Christ Himself we are loved by God in the very same way he loves His Son 🤯. Christ's words, not mine!!!

To fully experience all God designed for us, and seeks to do in, and through us, we must believe all God says about us, to us, and for us, and about Himself regarding us. When we do, we will act (obey) accordingly, and the more we believe the more faithfully - full of faith - our pursuit of him will be i.e. we act/obey, regardless of how challenging it may be.

So while God is the driving force and cause and everything depends on Him, we are the means by and through which He works to bring about His good purposes and it is through our trust in this God, He works to accomplish this i.e. *it all depends on us...our trust in who he claims to be for us.

John 6:28 Then they said to him (Jesus), “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Related posts:

Faith is hard work

The necessity of faith in an infinite God

Obedience... the fruit of abiding

The strength for self-denial

The fight of faith

The necessity of choice 

The spiritual and our spirit

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Footnotes:

¹This is why man is always fully accountable for all his actions. He may not possess the power to obey God, but he does possess a will by which he can either choose to believe what God says about himself and us or refuse to believe. Which one we choose determines how we will live, and how we live, we are fully accountable for. No one else is.

²His love is always there objectively if we are in Christ, but we won't experience it subjectively until we believe, receive, and act upon it.

Love is power

Love is power. To be more precise, it is God's love that empowers us to pursue and honor him.

So how exactly does this work?

We are created by and for God. For us to operate as we were designed to, we must be in perfect union with God, who is the source of love, life, and all things. Without being “plugged in,” we are only operating on ¹temporary borrowed power.

Because we are ²finite in our love, life, and all things, it is not possible for us to love with sacrificial infinite love on our own i.e. in our own strength. God ³alone is the source of endless love. Not us or anyone else. If we are to love with God's love, we must have God's love flowing to, in, and through us.

And how does this occur? In and through Christ. It is because of Christ, God's love is freely and fully extended to us. If and when we choose to believe and receive it, it is poured out in us and out to others through us. But not without Christ. Without Christ, we are disconnected from God and therefore also from His perfect infinite love. 

For a further discussion on being empowered from within, click here. 

For a further discussion on the strength needed for self-denial, click here. 

Additional comments in footnotes below.

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¹What do I mean by borrowed power? Everything we are, have and use to sustain ourselves emotionally and physically comes from God, whether we acknowledge this or not. Without God we have none of these. He gives us these things as an expression of his love for us. If we refuse to recognize - believe - this, we will go into eternity without all that we now have and are i.e. it's temporary and borrowed. If we do not recognize this we will eventually lose it. We will go into eternity with only the memory of the things that we had and were, but no longer have (we may still be who we are now with all our gifts and abilities but no way to utilize them to derive a sense of value through their use). This will be the essence of hell - an ongoing memory and constant reminder of what we use to have but no longer have use of. We will be in a perpetual state of unfulfilled longing and endless thirst with nothing to quench it. This is the natural outcome of enjoying the good gifts of God in creation now without rightfully acknowledging him as the Giver of these and all things. 

²Though within ourselves we are finite in giving love, we have the capacity to receive and participate in (i.e. experience) infinite love - only because God is infinite and created us like himself so we might partake of him. Because we can receive endless love, we can give it also. 

But apart from God, we do not have within ourselves infinite love to give to others i.e. only God is the source of love, not us. To give infinite love, we must first receive and partake of infinite love. And that is only within and from God. He alone is perfect, none stop love. He alone is the great I AM, the Alpha and Omega, the cause, means, and end (goal) for all things. Because we are finite we must be plugged into the infinite source to partake of infinite love and in turn pass it on to others. 

We are like the batteries in a cell phone or electric car.

They can hold power but are not the power source. Overtime they run down and must be recharged. But when fully charged, can accomplish amazing things. If not charged they are a paperweight at best. 

We were not designed to be the source of infinite love, only the recipient, container, and conduit of it i.e. vessels of God. But, if we are plugged into the source, we can be the means by which infinite love - God's love - flows through us to others. The ⁴more plugged in we are - through believing and receiving God's infinite love - the more His love flows to and through us, and the greater we advance His reign of love - kingdom - and become all we were designed to be.

³God is - and has been throughout all eternity past - an infinite, overflowing fountain of endless love within and among the Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit. This was most clearly displayed in and through Christ.

⁴The more we believe and receive God's infinite love the greater our capacity to contain infinite love expands, i.e. unlike regular batteries, the size of our battery (our capacity) can grow with increased use, allowing us to receive and contain more love. God is always seeking to increase our capacity to receive and give love... to stretch and grow our faith. This is often best accomplished through pain and suffering. By these we become aware of our limits and need for infinite love. This is the essence of spiritual formation, aka sanctification. 

God doesn't need us, He delights in us

God doesn't need us but he does want and enjoy us. So why would God want us and how can he enjoy us if he doesn't need us?

God is not like we are. He operates on a totally different - infinitely higher plane than we do. We operate ¹out of need as finite, dependent creatures but God operates out of fullness i.e. overflow as the infinite giver and sustainer of life, love, and all things.

God enjoys us because he is a being of perfect and unlimited joy who from all eternity past gives and receives love, honor, and delight among the Father, Son, and Spirit. He is perfect fullness and love. He is perfect community. He is perfect contentment, joy, and bliss. He is life and the Source of life for everything else.

God doesn't need us because he has ²himself. He is not just full but overflowing. 

But, because he is a community of overflowing love and delight - he desires others share in the glory and joy of who he is as a perpetual overflow of love, glory, joy, and delight. 

When someone else finds delight in Him and partakes of His delight in Himself, He is delighted for them, by them, and in them. He loves it when others share His love, joy, and glory. 

In short, God's independence from us and desire for us is because he has himself, i.e. He is not only complete as a being, he is overflowing because of His completeness/perfection. He is perfect in love, glory, and joy. And because He is, He desires we too partake of Him and the fullness of His joy - bliss. 

In summary:

God loves perfectly because he is perfect love as Father, Son, and Spirit. He wants us to partake of and delight in Him.

God is independent. He doesn't need us because he is interdependent, self-sufficient, and overflowing within the Godhead. But is also overflowing to others for the same reason.

For related discussions about God see the following:

The importance and necessity of the Trinity 

The essence of God's life 

Thoughts on the Trinity 

Overview of Jonathan Edwards theology.

Why do the Father and Son love each other?

How are love and life connected

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Footnotes:

¹Because we operate out of need, it is hard for us to comprehend and relate to someone who only and perpetually operates out of perfect fullness and overflow. We simply can not relate to this from our own experience, i.e. it is not how we operate as dependent and broken image-bearers of God.

²To be loved by the most perfect being is to be loved perfectly. Christ is the perfect image of the Father and therefore most highly regarded and loved by the Father. In response, Christ adores the Father in whose perfect image he is. He also desires we know and experience the Father in the same way - to the same extent - he experiences Him. 

To be loved perfectly is to be in a state of complete fullness, bliss, and contentment. This results in God overflowing in love which moves Him to share Himself with others – as Father, Son, and Spirit - so we - His image-bearers - can also participate in this (His) state of blissful union.

What does it mean to be broken?

What does it mean to be broken and living in a broken world? It means we are no longer consciously, deliberately, or personally connected to the Source of life, love, and all things and, therefore, no longer fully functional. It is like still having eyes or ears that no longer work properly. 

It also means the rest of creation itself is "in bondage" (broken). 

We no longer function at our maximum capacity - nor does the rest of creation. We are like a highly efficient and beautifully designed catamaran with no wind or sea... or a powerful and precisely engineered flashlight with no batteries... or a gloriously decorated Christmas tree sitting unplugged in the dark. Each of these has great intrinsic value with the capacity to do far more, but their potential can never be realized without being coupled with the energy (love) they are designed to operate by.

When we do not operate according to our true design, we may still function, but at a very limited level, if at all. To use an overused but familiar word, we are dysfunctional - i.e. We are broken. 

You may put a catamaran up on stands, hook things up - not the sails - even lavishly decorate the interior, and live rather comfortably inside, but you will never experience the full glory and benefit of what it is designed to do, i.e., sail the world experiencing great adventure and beauty.

Without God, we can still function at some level, but nowhere near the capacity we were designed for. And no matter how well we fix up the outside or inside of our catamaran to make it more attractive and comfortable - even luxurious - we will always have a sense that there is far more to be engaged in than what we are experiencing.

As Augustine said, "You (God) have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find rest in you."

For a discussion on how we are fully loved yet fully broken, click here. 

For a discussion on how to be freed from our brokenness, click here

For a discussion on how it's impossible to live for God in our own strength, click here. 

For a discussion on how we are free yet bound click here

How to fix fake news

We have all heard the expression “fake news” in the last few years. Who makes the assertion doesn’t really matter. The fact that it’s made at all tells us things must change.  

If we are ever to return to sanity in the news, getting to the truth must be our goal, not ratings or doing a favor for someone. The following are some items I find overlooked or ignored regularly that prevent this from happening. A clear list of standards in determining truth is vital and must be established to assess the accuracy of any report and restore confidence that when we hear a report, it is fact, actual news.

The ultimate guideline is laid out for us in the Bible itself. Here are at least two expressions of that standard.

Exodus 20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (which happens to be one of the 10 commandments). 

Matt 18:16 "But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses."

So what must be done to help us get to the truth in the news arena?

*First we must distinguish between reporting facts and an op-ed i.e. An opinion piece or opinion editorial. There is very little actual true reporting today on both sides of the political spectrum. What is usually promoted most are opinion pieces.

Though opinion pieces have their place and value, they don't always get to the facts. They interpret the meaning of certain events. They can be good to stimulate discussion in a healthier environment but in today's climate, it usually results in disagreement and division. True reporting is simply giving facts regarding an event, not some of them, or most of them, but all of them. A good reporter will even say, "this is what we know so far...As more comes in we'll bring it to you here at XYZ News. Tune in tomorrow for the latest update..." This was commonly used as recently as 30 years ago. Not so much today, if at all.

*The best facts are those that can be substantiated by an eyewitness i.e. those who have 1st hand knowledge of the facts or better yet confirmed by the source itself - though even a source is not always reliable e.g. They may be coerced to say something that is not true to avoid a greater consequence than their "report" or "confession" - such as torture, bribery or some other threat.

Nevertheless, the best source for accuracy comes from the party involved in the event or action, coercion aside. It doesn't matter if this is a willful admission or unintentional. Documentation of an event, either in writing, audibly, or visually, acquired or disseminated by a 3rd party - e.g. WikiLeaks, or OMG (O'Keefe Media Group, formally of Project Veritas) - is still an admission by the party committing the act even if an unintentional admission. 

*Reporting only some facts, not all of them - and often withholding other facts, can totally change the understanding of an event.  What they share may be true as far as it goes, but it doesn't cover everything relevant to the issue. Partial reporting of facts may give the appearance of being truthful, but it is often the most subtle form of lying. This is what we call a “half-truth.” These kinds of reports usually contain information taken totally out of context so that what is reported is not interpreted correctly. When you tell only part of the story, you can claim someone said pretty much anything you want to.

*A witness that openly and willingly identifies themselves is always far more reliable than an anonymous "source" whose identity or motive cannot be confirmed. A witness who openly identifies themselves has "skin in the game" i.e. Their reputation is on the line - or sometimes far more - making it far more likely they are telling the truth. If they're not willing to put their neck on the line, their testimony should carry far less weight, if any at all.

*Multiple witnesses are far better than a single one. But they still must produce evidence for their reports/claims e.g. 10 liars are still liars. One person with hard evidence trumps (no pun intended) an unlimited number of liars. More liars in agreement in their report doesn't make it more true. Just because several are making a claim, without hard evidence, we can't assume it's true. But this is often the method used today to mislead us. 

*Facts are facts regardless of who reports them. Many good facts are promoted by outlets or individuals with opposing views, but are often ignored simply because those outlets or individuals have been discredited by their opposition or competitors through false accusations and personal attacks. This results in others never considering the facts themselves. If all the facts are given, they stand on their own merit, regardless of who presents them. We should never be afraid of facts, only cautious of the reporter.

*It helps to keep in mind that the "news" is also in the sales business. The more sensational the news, the more viewers it draws, which brings in more revenue from advertising, truth be damned. I'm not saying advertisement in itself is necessarily bad as long as integrity is a priority. Strong advertisement revenues should be the fruit of doing a good job and not what drives the story.

In conclusion, I find it best to wait 48 hours after an initial report so it can be scrutinized more closely before I assess its accuracy. Those who rush to put out a story may be motivated to set and control the narrative. News stations wish to be the first out of the gate with a story, but premature opinions on events, before all the facts are in and reviewed, can have incredibly negative consequences and are highly irresponsible. When all the facts come out contrary to the early views pushed, it's too late. Misinformation that goes out first tends to stick as fact. The following clip of a police cam on the Floyd arrest is a recent example. Even if there is a retraction - which rarely happens - the damage has already been done. Worse yet, the bad initial reports still circulate indefinitely even after the facts prove they were completely wrong. This happens way too often – especially with police-related matters - and is why many official news outlets have lost their credibility and seen their ratings drop significantly.

These are things I always look for when assessing any "news." These all may seem obvious and common sense but they are ignored regularly so I felt it was worth raising. Many things that are put forth today as facts do not pass a rigorous application of these tests, if they are applied at all.

Even the so-called fact-checkers often don't pass the "test" of this list. I have seen many reports by "official" news sources that turned out to be garbage after being scrutinized more closely. Long-established outlets often depend on their "official” status as a reputable source or on self-proclaimed "fact-checkers" instead of actual facts to persuade the public. As a result, they often do poor work… in many cases, very harmful work.

Last, the above list should be something everyone agrees on, regardless of your political bent. This is not a list that favors one side over another. It favors getting to the truth, which everyone should want and agree to. Truth is always better than lies.

For a discussion on the history behind fake news click here. 

 

 

The necessity of faith in an infinite God

Belief is powerful, both positively and negatively. To believe and act upon the right things has infinite consequences for good but to believe the wrong things has infinite consequences for harm. 

Faith is necessary. By virtue of being created, we are ¹finite and therefore ²dependent beings. ²We must engage and operate by trust/faith to function properly. 

We must trust because we are finite and therefore dependent beings. God alone is infinite in love, wisdom, and power.

Who or what do we trust? We either place our trust in ³ourselves or in someone infinitely greater-wiser-more powerful than us.

When we trust in God and recognize He - not us - is greatest of all, we can accomplish amazing things. But if our faith is placed in the wrong thing(s), it can result in us doing incredibly harmful and destructive things. How harmful and destructive is determined by ⁴what we believe best brings life, how deeply we believe it, and the actions we take because of our belief.

Faith, coupled with the extent and amount of the gifts we have been given, determines how much good or harm can be done. The more highly gifted a person, the more they can be a means of great evil or great good.

Faith is powerful, and when coupled with the right object - i.e., the all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving God - it can release in and through us amazing results. To do amazing things requires amazing faith, but not faith in anything but in the right thing i.e. the all-powerful, loving, wise, and amazing God. The benefit, value, and effectiveness of our faith are determined by the object of it.

Truly amazing outcomes are the combination of great faith in an infinitely great object-Being.  The more we recognize the greatness of the object - God - the greater our faith-trust in that object grows, and the greater the impact we have for Him and His kingdom.

Great faith in the wrong thing doesn't work. Neither does no faith in the right thing.

For a further discussion on related topics, check out the following: 

The essence of God's life and therefore ours.

Why do the Father and Son love each other?

Why are relationships important?

Is God dependent?

Beatific vision - what is it?

What is life and love?

 

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Footnotes:

¹By finite, I mean we are not all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present. I am not saying we are not able to do far more than we presently do. Our capacity for great good and achievement is far greater than any of us realize, but only if we operate according our design i.e. when we are fully “plugged in” to our Creator who is the source of infinite life and love (which starts in this present life through Christ and is not fully participated in until we are with him face to face in eternity). We are, after all, like God or god-like if you will. And we are this way, so we might participate in all that God is, to the greatest extent possible, without actually being Him - we are not God (infinite in love, wisdom, power, and existence) and never will be. We are finite and wholly dependent on God to be all we are designed to be.

²In the physical realm, it is easy to illustrate our dependence. We must have air, food, water, and shelter to survive. In our present circumstances, we have come to take for granted that air, food, and water are not only helpful but vital and not harmful. We trust this is true because we have found it to be so. But if we went to an unfamiliar environment - such as an alien planet - we would be cautious because we wouldn't know whether the air, food, and water there are life-sustaining or not. If we don't take the time to find out, it could cost us our lives.

³Trust in ourselves includes trust in persons or things we think or hope we control, i.e. we are ultimately trusting in our ability to obtain from something or someone else what we need - and we may, for a short time, but not ultimately. God ultimately controls and sustains everything, and our experiencing the benefits of these is a gift from God, whether we recognize it or not. To not acknowledge this, however, has significantly dire consequences. This eventually results in us no longer having these good gifts or the provider of them, once we leave this world.

To trust in ourselves also means we think we are more able and wiser than God to take care of ourselves. Though we might not openly admit or even think this, our actions tell us we believe this. 

⁴This can be wealth, power, pleasure, or whatever we think (believe) will ultimately give us what we most need.

Having faith in God does not mean we can't believe in ourselves; it means we can't believe we are wiser than God. It is not just OK but good to recognize and acknowledge our abilities as long as we also recognize they are not and will never be greater than God, but in fact come to us because of God. Neither will they give us what we ultimately need and seek, no matter how great they are. 

The necessity of choice

Choice is essential. It is a ¹vital part of why we have innate value. Our worth and dignity are tied to our freedom to choose i.e. free choice is an essential part of our significance. Without it, we are like programmed robots who do not pursue God freely.

However, choosing disobedience (i.e. rebellious independence) with its negative consequences shows the critical importance of choosing God over attempts at being our own god. Though we are free to choose, we are ²not free from the consequences of our choice. It is through painful consequences, we hopefully learn to willingly and delightfully choose God's way - as we were designed to - over our own way i.e. the way of independence from God...the way of Adam. 

Both our free choice and our choosing the right direction are vital, i.e. we can choose whatever we wish, but that doesn't change that the consequences of our choices are according to our design. To act contrary to how God designed us is to suffer loss and bring harm to ourselves i.e. to lose God, and all that comes with knowing Him. 

Our freely choosing the right direction is God’s aim. He wants us to choose freely, but also correctly. He doesn't want us to choose to live contrary to our design, but neither does he desire us to be automatons. He lets us choose freely, even if it leads to our own destruction. But He also desires we choose correctly as well as freely. 

It is truly our choice whether we pursue God or not but our dignity and the ³greatness and strength of ¹our value – our innate worth - make this a ³difficult and ongoing process. 

After we accept his offer of restoration from our rebellion, we still must be weaned from being our own god and persuaded to freely pursue the only true God. To keep our dignity intact, God does not force or program us to choose him. It is only in freely choosing God we can truly and fully experience God's glory to the greatest extent possible, as well as our own, i.e., to experience all He intended and designed us to be and partake in. 

This process is not difficult for God but for us. Choosing to be our own god is so ³deeply and subtly bound up in our heart of rebellious distrust (unbelief), we are slow to relinquish our rebellious independence and freely submit to God in total dependence/trust - as we are designed to - even after we've been reconciled by His grace. We are slow to believe someone is wiser than us and trust He cares more about us and is better able to provide what's best for us than we can - especially when circumstances look like the opposite is true.

Our challenge is we are free but also dependent at the same time - far more dependent than we are usually willing to recognize or admit. 

And this is the heart of our sin… refusal to admit our dependence on God for all things - even our very existence and breath itself. 

If we are brutally honest with ourselves we believe to be truly free we must be independent of God and if we are to be dependent we can no longer be free. God however knows our greatest joy - and his greatest glory in and through us - comes when we freely and delightfully (willingly) choose dependence on God and not on ourselves. Not to minimize us, but just the opposite... so we will fully be and experience all he created us to be and freely recognize God for who He truly is - the source of life, love, and all things. 

The irony is, when we do, we experience our greatest purpose and meaning - i.e. we are maximized - if you will - when we are most humble/ dependent; when we act according to who we are, dependent image-bearers of Almighty God. To say it concisely as the bible does, to live we (to God) must die (to self). 

So on the one hand we must completely have free choice to be and ¹live as the true image-bearers God designed us to be. Yet our will must be totally submitted to our Creator ³in order to fully display that image and experience who we are to the maximum of our design, God's greatest honor, and our greatest joy. 

Our submission to God must be done both freely and fully to experience God to the greatest extent possible and properly honor Him according to His true worth. We are created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever at the same time. Though these may be distinct and appear in opposition,  neither happens without the other, because of how God made us.

The following links are a further discussion on related matters...

We are created for glory

Does God value us?

For a further discussion on choice, click here.

Why freedom of choice is important click here

How sovereign is God? Click here. 

Giving and receiving glory

Do we have a "free" will or are we heavily influenced? Click here

The value of paradox and truths in tension click here.

The question of fairness click here.

The necessity of mercy click here.

Is the election and wrath of God unreasonable? click here.

The practical importance of God's electing grace click here

How we are free to choose yet bound, click here. 

________________________________________Footnotes:

¹The more aligned we are with God's will and design, the more we experience our truest significance and greatest joy. 

Also the more we freely choose God, the more we honor him. 

For these reasons God will not violate our choice. This is so we might gain the most out of our participation in the community of Father, Son, and Spirit i.e. our experiencing God to the maximum of the potential God created us for without our being God ourself.

²We do not live in a random world. The universe and everything in it operates by design. If we go contrary to that design we are not aligned with reality. This causes harm to others as well as ourselves.

³The level of pain and suffering we inflict upon each other is the greatest evidence that we cannot function properly as designed without being united to our Creator.

⁴Our ability to choose is at the heart of who we are and an essential part of our innate value. If we choose wrongly, the necessity and importance of having choice does not go away, but is misdirected. The challenge is our being redirected to choose correctly again.

The primary reason for this challenge is choice is essential to our makeup, but the pull of our misdirection (rebellion) is equally as strong in the wrong direction as it is in the right direction (submission). The strength of our rebellion is equally as powerful as the joy of our willful submission. To have the ability to enjoy God as great, our ability to refuse God must be equally as great.  

⁵To fully appreciate what we have, the possibility of not having it must also exist. The *absence of good makes the presence of good all the sweeter.

*or the possibility of its absence