Glory to God in the Highest

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Glory to God in the Highest
Explanation of the Picture
Robin Calamaio - Copyright 2002 http://www.freelygive-n.com/Free_Christian_Ebook_Home.html The Second in a Series of Eight

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1. “JESUS” - These letters go from an absolute white to an earthen, clay color. The
Bible declares that God Himself, who dwells in unapproachable light, decided to take on the likeness of sinful flesh (Ro 8:3) and dwell among us (Jn 1:14) - thus from white to earthen colors. Obviously, He had reasons for doing this - chief among them was to remedy the sin problem for all who call upon Him, receive Him, believe in Him. And while here in that earthen vessel, He fulfilled all of the Law’s requirements for man’s behavior - as annunciated through Moses. Stated another way, God came to earth and practiced what He preached.

2. The Triangle - The triangle represents the Trinity. I have drawn it in the middle of
the unapproachable light of God’s abode. The reason the triangle resides in this light is because the teaching of the Trinity is, in many ways, unapproachable light. To teach monotheism, yet this one God exists in three distinct persons, is a teaching that does not yield to reason or logic. Yet, this is what the Bible teaches. The Father is declared as God (Heb 1:1), Jesus is declared as God (Heb 1:8), and it appears the Holy Spirit is declared as God (Ac 5:3,4). Some have tried to maintain these are simply three manifestations of the One God. But the Bible does not attempt to explain this in such a way. Jesus did not address or interact with the Father as though the Father was simply some manifestation of Himself. He prayed to the Father (Jn 17), the Father spoke to Him (Jn 12:28), and, on occasion, to those around Him (Lk 9:35). Also, He obeyed the Father (Phil 2:8). The Father referred to Jesus as His Son, His chosen One (Lk 9:35), and then crushed Him (Isa 53:10) and then exalted Him (Phil 2:9-11). To complicate this even more, consider this. The Bible declares it is the words of the one true God - who cannot lie (Ti 1:2)! This same God once called to the wayward Israelites, “Come now, and let us reason together ...” (Isa 1:18). And yet, in the matter of His very Being, His makeup is beyond our reasoning ability. So, how should we respond to this? Well, I put the triangle in the area of unapproachable light. That does not mean I am afraid to approach the subject - it is simply an acknowledgment that the answers I seek are in a place currently beyond my reach. Maybe God is not bound by logic any more than He is bound by natural law (i.e., miracles). While He may choose to operate inside such boundaries in the normal course of things, He may want to occasionally show us He is bigger than any boundaries He has created in the first place.

3. The Circle - This represents His eternal Being. Again, this is drawn in the area of
unapproachable light. Have you ever reflected on what it means - that God is eternal? Well, let’s start with this. a) He says He cannot lie and that He has always been and always will be. Concerning time, this is something He created and He stands outside of it. That is how He can predict the future - He is already on the other end of time. He knows the end from the beginning. Put your hands in front of you with your palms facing each other. Your left palm represents the beginning of time and your right is the end. You can see beyond each of your hands, or above them or below them. God looks at time similarly. Page 2 of 6

b) And this God who cannot lie, says He knows everything and He has always been - and has always been complete! He never learns, and all His attributes of knowledge, wisdom, understanding, love, mercy, anger, jealousy, wrath, creativity, etc., have always been fully matured. He never developed. Before anything was ever created (angels, heaven, the physical universe, man, or even time) - when there was nothing there “stood” God, complete and uncreated. There has never been a point, and will never be a point, when He has not existed in all His fulness. He is fervently alive, exercises will, has emotions and is aggressively active. This is incomprehensible. Everything we know of came from something. Evolutionists declare matter is what is eternal - not God. Somehow ... matter has just always been. That is a statement of faith - void of logic ... or proof. Their “belief” has no innate superiority to the assertions of the Bible - specifically, that matter was created ... by a “being” who is eternal and dwells outside of time. The evolutionist’s assertion is no more sensible to one seeking logical answers on origins ... than the Bible’s claims. For the person dedicated to reason and logic, neither position is more palatable than the other. Both are beyond logic - so, pick your poison! Of course, only one is actually poison. c) Consider this, O Christian. If this uncreated, eternal Being exists in the manner depicted above - what can you possibly be worried about? If this “Being“ has set His love and affections on you - what can you possibly be worried about? If He will open one’s mind and heart to get just a glimpse into these matters - one will experience terror, awe, gratitude, excitement - each in their own ways and times. And concerning eternity, here is one attempt I have heard to describe it. Picture a granite mountain that is a mile high. Once every thousand years a bird lands on the peak, and sharpens its beak with one swipe on each side of the summit. When that mountain is reduced to ground level, one day of eternity will have passed. My friends, even an illustration like this falls short of doing justice to the concept of eternity.

Glory to God in the Highest!
So why did this eternal God, who dwells in unapproachable light, become a man? The simple answer that you will hear from all Christians is that God became a man so that He could offer Himself as an offering on the cross to pay for our sins. While this is correct, I think there is a much deeper reason for this exercise. I doubt if you have ever heard what I am about to submit to you. You see, I believe the cross as just a part of an even broader plan and purpose. Let’s go before time, then move forward into time, and then go beyond time. Before Time. For some reason, God decided to create morally accountable creatures. To these, He decided to display His qualities. Let’s assume that the angels Page 3 of 6

were this first order. Let us further assume that when created, they were morally upright. Let’s also assume that initially, time was not a necessary function since they were designed to live forever - thus time, at least as we know it and relate to it, was an irrelevancy. Now in that situation, God could expose a lot about Himself. Perfect angels would be able to see His power, wisdom, creativity, knowledge, uprightness, and love, etc. But in such a setting, only a degree of His love capacity could be exposed. Only a degree of His wisdom could be exhibited. And in a setting of morally upright beings, He would never have occasion for other areas of His Being to ever be exposed. There would be no cause for anger, wrath, justice, mercy, or jealousy. No one would ever know those aspects of the Creator. Into Time. I believe God created the environment where He knew morally responsible angels would become sinful, and then created another order of beings (us) who would fall into the miserable state we now occupy. This is no accident - it is by design. Yet this has all occurred in such a way that God Himself is free from any wrongdoing. In a stunning scene at the future Judgment Day, every creature will volitionally confirm this - even those who are doomed (Ps 22:29, Isa 41:11, and Isa 45:23,24). Each creature affected by these falls will fully acknowledge God’s innocence in these darkened realms. Incidently, we may find that at the moment Satan first sinned, the clock turned on and time came into being. At the moment of that fall, a time limit was set for when his moment of reckoning would occur - hence time entered creation. Satan was given a certain amount of time before his appointment with Hell. This is terrifying material. So why would God create an environment whereby all this rebellion and suffering would ensue? Well, as stated earlier, in a perfect creation, inhabited by obedient perfect creatures, the depths of many of His attributes would never be revealed. And some of His traits would never be revealed. As one example, in a perfect creation, some of His wisdom would be obvious - His works alone declare His wisdom. But with this fallen creation, He has exhibited a depth of wisdom that can not be seen in any other situation. He figured out a way to redeem sinful, rebellious creatures without violating justice and without soiling Himself in any way! The salvation plan He devised is an incredible navigation through the reality of sin - even the righteous angels longed to gain a clear glimpse as to how He was going to accomplish such a feat (1Pet 1:12). As another example, obedient creatures probably experience and see God’s love and care for them in many ways. But in the case of fallen man, God showed that His love was capable of being unfathomably deep. He became a man and died a horrific death so as to create the only way those enemies could have their rebellious acts (sins) paid for and pardoned. But not only has He used this fallen situation to display greater depths of some of His attributes, He has also used this situation to expose sides of His being that would never be seen in a perfect environment. His anger, and wrath, would be eternally hidden traits. Interestingly, Paul stepped up to the edge of stating this possibility in Romans 9:22, but then backed off from this line. I have crossed it. Another attribute - a righteous Page 4 of 6

jealousy - would never have occasion to come forward in a perfect environment. Mercy would have no exposure. Patience over the rebellious acts of the saved but not yet glorified creatures (the state I now inhabit) would never be seen. Disciplines that create peaceful fruits of righteousness would never have a platform for exhibition without a fallen creation such as the one now present. And it takes great wisdom to arrange and execute a discipline that can eternally change a sinner to become more Christlike. I could go on and on about how this fallen environment has created an exceedingly rich environment for God to expose all kinds of things about His own person and aptitudes and abilities that would not be possible to expose in a perfect creation full of perfect creatures. Beyond Time. I may be totally incorrect in the statements I am about to make but, I might be correct. See what you think. I fully expect this “fallen angel and fallen man” scenario is an exhibition never to be repeated in any form for all eternity. He has used this opportunity to expose all the things mentioned above, but, as He takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked, I think Hell will be fully occupied, and never added to, once Judgment Day arrives and concludes. Hell will be a righteous, eternal action by God, but I think it will carry some kind of a “wound” for God forever. This is a deep thing and I may be in error on this. But, if the destruction of the wicked does not bring pleasure to God, then some “emotion,” short of pleasure will be in play. That alternate state seems to me to carry a damper of some sort. But maybe the action of carrying out righteousness - out of a duty springing from necessity - will not carry with it any kind of wound. That is my hope. But I think two more things will be forever clear when Judgment Day is past, and eternity stretches forward. No one will be able to question what kind of things happen when morally responsible creatures reject God from being the center of all devotion and attention. Those creatures become destructive - either to themselves, or to others, or both. They become unjust, selfish, cruel and unbelievably perverted. Moral creatures separated from God become exceedingly dysfunctional. This will be on display forever. The second thing to come out of this is as follows. I believe every morally accountable creature that does not fall will know that God has kept, and is keeping them, from some fatal misstep - and certain doom. After Judgment Day is over and you and I come through in glory on the other side - can you imagine never sinning even once for all eternity? Are you going to live eternally flawlessly on your own accord? As for me, I am so sin prone that I know I will need the power of God in a continuous flow to keep me forever in righteousness in all words, thoughts and deeds. There can be no lapses. Interestingly, the unfallen angels are referred to as “His chosen angels” in 1Timothy 5:21. I wonder if they were aware of this position before Satan’s fall? I believe they are all acutely aware that they could have - would have - gone the way of Satan - except that God kept them from such a fate. I doubt if Gabriel thinks he is better than Satan. He probably now says, “If it wasn’t for the grace and power of God - there I would be.” Michael, the archangel, did not dare bring some railing accusation against Satan, but Page 5 of 6

simply stated, “The Lord rebuke you”(Jude 1:9). I get the feeling of a resistance towards an evildoer - but no hint of an arrogant self righteousness. I think there is a sense of fear in Michael’s response - a fear of, “I reject and resist you, Satan, but I also know that I stand on the side of righteousness because God has preserved me - and without that I could have been - even would have been - in your position.” I am positive I will not be able to go through eternity in perfect obedience unless God creates some kind of failsafe mechanism in my will, emotions, mind and spirit. It is ridiculous for me to entertain some ego based contrary opinion. You can think whatever you want to about yourself. But I know me. I can not keep myself for a day - much less for eternity! This is not some pious, humble, self effacing remark - this is a simple objective, realistic assessment based upon a track record filled with sin. To be made perfect forever, and thus preserved forever, without being some kind of mindless robot, will be an act of God - and I am sure I will be eternally conscious of that fact - as Michael and Gabriel and all the rest of the chosen angels are probably now aware of in their own selves. You may totally revolt at the information I have forwarded here. That’s Ok. It really is. I am quite content to wait until Judgment Day to see if these assertions are on the mark. I have no desire to argue with anyone on this side about them. Feel free to respond to this as you would with any of my Ebooks or Articles. Just go to “Organic Document” at http://www.freelygive-n.com on the “Invest” page and submit your comments! But for now, all I can say is, “Glory to God in the Highest!” We have a Creator in Glory, Beyond even the greatest story. He dwells beyond time, His acts are sublime, Those trusting Him need never worry.

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