Learning More About God’s Nature

 

1Thessalonians 5:23(NLT) says, “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” God has masterfully crafted us. In Ephesians 2:10, He calls us His masterpiece because He considers us, human beings, as His finest work. He made us in His image and like a master craftsman, He dovetailed the components of our being to fit together harmoniously and perfectly. He sanctified us, made us holy, and breathed life into us, and He did this all without any help whatsoever from any of us. Before sin entered the picture, we walked together with Him in total bliss. Why would we ever do anything to damage that?

God created the first man, Adam, and Heavenly Father warned him in Genesis 2:16(NLT), “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” It’s a trip to think about it, but the truth is that God knew Adam would eventually sin. Even before He created humans, He already had a plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. If we will allow the reality of this to marinate in our brain cells a bit, we can’t help but to learn some very important knowledge regarding God’s nature.

God has given us His Word because He desires that we know who He is. We exist to know Him, and life affords us this unfathomable privilege and opportunity. Looking at the way in which God does things, we can see very clearly that He has made the element of time a part of life. Time is allotted to us on this earth for a reason; it demonstrates God’s amazing grace. 2Peter 3:9(NLT) shows us this. It says, “The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” Heavenly Father hasn’t changed, nor will He ever change. Patience is a part of His nature, and He doesn’t rush things. His grace is perfect and so is His timing. Both reveal aspects of His being that He wants us to learn and experience.

Adam and Eve always had the choice to follow God’s Word and be obedient, or to not follow His Word and be disobedient. Heavenly Father has shown us that this is what love does. Love allows the freedom to choose. It is very hurtful when you know the right way to go, and you do all that you can to care for people, yet they still walk away. It’s heartbreaking, but that’s what people do. You have to let them go if that is their choice. Imagine how God feels to have given us the earth to inhabit, air to breathe, and the sun, moon, and stars to enjoy. He takes care of us and if we followed His Word, we would share in the same bliss Adam and Eve enjoyed before they sinned. But this isn’t what most of us choose. Most humans choose to walk away from God, and He allows them to do this because He will never overstep their free-will choice.

Our Heavenly Father has all power in His hands. He has the power to make it as though we never existed, and He can do so in less time than the blink of an eye, but He hasn’t done this. Instead, He offers us redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ. God restored our default settings through Christ and upgraded us through the new birth experience. As time has progressed, we’ve seen countless examples of what it looks like to walk away from God. We’ve seen the oppression and bondage the adversary causes in the lives of those who refuse to reject the actions of Adam and Eve. You and I should be incredibly thankful, and our hearts should be continually swollen with gratitude that through Jesus Christ, we have received God’s righteousness and salvation as a gift. Through His infinite love, mercy, and grace, Heavenly Father allows us to make a different choice than the first couple. It is a choice to be obedient to His Word and live according to the example of Jesus Christ.

Our God is not unhappy. He is wonderfully and righteously loving and just. He is a King of a Kingdom that will never end. Jesus Christ tells us in Luke 12:32 that God is delighted to give us the Kingdom. We must also remember that 1Corinthians 14:33 tells us that Heavenly Father is a God of order. He runs His Kingdom this way. So, we don’t get to do things any way we choose when it comes to God’s Word. We must choose the way of Christ and follow his example, because this is God’s way.

1Corinthians 15:45(NLT) says, “The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.” You and I can be overwhelmingly confident that our God will forever make choices from the standpoint of His love. When Jesus Christ came to the earth, he could have gone down the road that Adam did, but Jesus rejected sin and always did the Will of the Father. Because of his sacrifice and resurrection, we have received life! We are indeed God’s children, and we have His Spirit abiding within us. We are a part of God. Acts 17:28 tells us that it is in Him that we live, move, and have our being; we are His offspring! Through our spirit, soul, and body, we are created to fully participate with God’s plan by learning everything we possibly can about Him. We are to take on God’s nature, grow in faith, and committedly become the men and women He has called us to be. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Learning More About God’s Nature”, written for Christian Encouragement and Inspiration© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.