Perfect God is No Contradiction, Lent Part 6

Spirituality Column #231
April 12, 2011
Current in Carmel - Westfield - Noblesville – Fishers
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Lenten Series 2011: Just Not That into God, Part 6
Perfect God is No Contradiction
By Bob Walters

Some people are just not that into God because God seems to harbor so many contradictions.

Is He the Old Testament’s good and mighty God of Creation? The exasperated God of the Great Flood? The unfair God Who delivered Israel out of Egypt, made the Jews wander 40 years in the desert and ultimately denied His servant Moses entry into the Promised Land? The warlike God Who vanquished Israel’s unsuspecting foes from Canaan, but then banished disobedient Israel to Babylon? The abiding God of Psalms 51 and 91 Who delivers us from all trouble? Or the absent God of Psalm 88, Who leaves us despairing in the pit?

In the New Testament, utterly humble baby Jesus grows into a friendly, gentle man Who works miracles, picks fishermen and tax collectors for Apostles, ransacks the Temple, heals the lame, preaches never-before-heard truths, and leaves cryptic but indisputable proof that He is Christ, the Son of God; the fully human and fully divine Second Person of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit Trinity.

This glorious, eternal, innocent King of Kings is brutally murdered on the Cross – dead – then resurrected to life.

These evident contradictions lead some people to reject God, the Bible, or religion, or to diminish Jesus’ mission with theologically suicidal rules of engagement, e.g., “Don’t worry about Jesus or Hell. God saves all. Everyone goes to Heaven.”

Theologians through the ages have worked exhaustively on that idea, known by the Greek term “apocatastasis.” It means “everyone is restored” suggesting, bottom line, Christ’s work on the Cross was unnecessary because death and sin didn’t really need to be defeated. Now there’s a contradiction.

God does nothing unnecessarily, and underestimating Jesus’ sacrifice is a human death sentence.

So here’s the real deal. There is one unwavering, patient, faithful, good, loving and eternal God. He is Perfect, and God’s idea of “Perfect” is the Bible’s point. Our fallen, self-interested, worldly, human idea of “Perfect” is not.

We pine for our “Perfect.” Scripture reveals time and again, God insists on His.

The Bible’s overarching proposition is this – Which is better: God giving sinful man the Law to attain righteousness, or God giving sinful man Jesus Christ whose righteousness removes our sins?

The Bible, you see, reveals a New Covenant, not contradictions.
It takes work to understand the Bible, faith to understand Jesus, and belief to go to Heaven. The contradictions reside in us, not God.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com, email rlwcom@aol.com), a sinner, is humbly thankful for God’s love and securely trusts the Bible’s truth. Amen.