Objects of His Love

   One of my favorite verses of Scripture is from the Old Testament book, the Wisdom of Solomon.

For Thou lovest all the things that are, and abhorrest nothing which Thou hast made: for never wouldest Thou have made any thing, if Thou hadst hated it. (Wisd. 11:24)

It is a comforting thought to know that I exist because the Creator of the universe loves me and wants me to be here. He did not create me or anyone else to be hated. He created everyone and everything to be loved by Him. God loves every single individual on this earth and if there is life in other parts of the universe, He loves them, too.

   God's love for us implies that He desires to have a relationship with each of us. He wants us to communicate with Him and He wants to communicate with us. This means that God reveals Himself to us and He actually does that. He reveals Himself to us through nature. St. Paul said,

For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. (Rom. 1:20, KJV)

King David wrote in the 18th Psalm,

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. (Psalm 18:1, LXX)

   God also has revealed Himself to us through the writings of His prophets and through His Son, Jesus Christ.

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds. (Heb. 1:1,2, KJV)

   The Bible, which includes all of those books accepted in the regional Church councils accepted by the Quinisext Council (692 A.D.) in its Second Canon, contains the writings of those prophets. These books of the Bible reveal God to us.

   Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, of course, also reveals God to us.

   Since we are created to be loved by God, we should spend time knowing God. We need to read the Bible daily and pray frequently. We should try to obey God in our daily lives by keeping His commandments. Jesus said:

He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. (St. John 14:21, KJV)

St. John the Theologian wrote:

He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (I John 2:4, KJV)

   Obedience to God is evidence that one knows and loves God. We all sin, however. (I Kings 8:46; Rom. 3:23) So, repentance, therefore, should be the outcome of spending time with God. A person who sees his sinfulness after reading pages of Holy Scripture and does not attempt to abandon his sinful way of living is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror, walks away, and then forgets what he looks like. (James 1:22-24)

   Being objects of God's love, we each have value. No one is worthless. Being objects of God's love, God desires that we know Him and He has revealed Himself to us through nature, the Bible, and His Son Jesus Christ. We should spend time with God in prayer and reading the Bible. We should strive to keep His commandments. Obedience to God's commandments is evidence that we know Him and love Him.

Steve

God Among Us

In the Old Testament Scriptures, there are many recorded instances wherein God has revealed Himself to man. In the first chapter of Genesis, God gave the first man and the first woman a commandment. He told them:

Increase and multiply, and fill the Earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the seas and flying creatures of heaven, and all the cattle and all the Earth, and all the reptiles that creep on the Earth. (Gen. 1:28, LXX)

He also told them:

Behold I have given to you every seed-bearing herb sowing seed which is upon all the Earth, and every tree which has in itself the fruit of seed that is sown, to you it shall be for food. And to all the wild beasts of the Earth, and to all the flying creatures of heaven, and to every reptile creeping on the Earth, which has in itself the breath of life, even every green plant for food. (Gen. 1:29,30, LXX)

and:

Of every tree which is in the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil — of it ye shall not eat, but in whatsoever day ye eat of it, ye shall surely die. (Gen. 2:16,17, LXX)

God was communicating with man from the very moment that He created him. The very first commandments of God had to do with procreation, vocation, and food. God told man to procreate and fill the Earth with his offspring. He said to "multiply." He wanted man's offspring to procreate as well. He told him to subdue the Earth and have dominion over it. He wanted man to govern the planet we live on and rule over all of the wildlife that is on it. He told man that he may eat every herb and from all of the trees except one -- the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

After man chose the path of disobedience and became an outcast from the Garden of Eden, God continued to communicate with man. It is said that Enoch, who is of the seventh generation from the first man, walked with God and God took him. (Gen. 5:22-24)

God revealed Himself to Noah. (Gen. 6:9-21) He told him to build an ark and take two of each species of unclean animals and seven of each species of clean animals on board the ark with him. (Gen. 6:14; 7:2,3) God appeared to Abraham. (Gen. 12:7) He appeared to Moses. (Ex. 3:2-22) He revealed Himself to many different individuals in many ways.

In Baruch, it says:

This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of Him. He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob His servant, and to Israel His beloved. Afterward did He shew Himself upon Earth, and conversed with men. (Baruch 3:35-37)

This is a prophecy about God living among men and conversing with them. The prophet described this prophecy in the past tense although it was not fulfilled until many hundred years later.

The fulfillment of this prophecy has already occurred over two thousand years ago. God entered into History as a Man. He retained His Divinity, but also partook of our humanity. God walked among us. The history of God walking among us is documented in four books called the Gospels. There are only four that Orthodox Christians recognize as being authoritative and trustworthy: the Gospels according to Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

In St. John's Gospel it says:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. (St. John 1:1-4)

and:

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (St. John 1:14)

God was made flesh and dwelt among us. In future blogs, I will talk more about God and His revelation of Himself to us.

Steve