Im pretty new to God, and something really just clicked for me.

[Harley.]

As a kid I always thought that God was boring. Even as a teenager I thought this for the most part. Something really basic for me just clicked though, God didnt just make everything, he also made the very CONCEPT of something. This universe we think we know, the laws upon which it revolves, those were also placed by him. The very idea of matter is his, he could have made a very different idea of existence if he so wanted. To me, this is so much more then just making what we see, he made the very basis for what we see to even exist! For some reason in my mind I always thought God was limited to what our universe would allow him to make, not realizing those very laws that I thought would limit him, were placed by none other then him.

 

[Laodicean60]

As a kid I always thought that God was boring. Even as a teenager I thought this for the most part.

Well Harley you were light years ahead of me as a kid. My belief was in aliens.

 

[RandyPNW]

As a kid I always thought that God was boring. Even as a teenager I thought this for the most part. Something really basic for me just clicked though, God didnt just make everything, he also made the very CONCEPT of something. This universe we think we know, the laws upon which it revolves, those were also placed by him. The very idea of matter is his, he could have made a very different idea of existence if he so wanted. To me, this is so much more then just making what we see, he made the very basis for what we see to even exist! For some reason in my mind I always thought God was limited to what our universe would allow him to make, not realizing those very laws that I thought would limit him, were placed by none other then him.

Absolutely, it gets kind of awe-inspiring to think that our own frame of reference, and the very laws of Nature, are all a product of His Intelligent Design. It's overwhelming to think He manages every atom in the universe at once! Frightening! Thank God He is a God of love. And He has defined that love in a way that enables us to rest easy, knowing that life is hardly boring, though it isn't for cowards.

 

[Clare73]

Absolutely, it gets kind of awe-inspiring to think that our own frame of reference, and the very laws of Nature, are all a product of His Intelligent Design. It's overwhelming to think He manages every atom in the universe at once! Frightening! Thank God He is a God of love. And He has defined that love in a way that enables us to rest easy, knowing that life is hardly boring, though it isn't for cowards.

Ever think about the fact that the matter in a glass of water if converted into energy could supply the city of New York with power?

And then think of all the power contained in all the matter of the universe?

And it all came from God.

 

[Laodicean60]

He manages every atom in the universe at once!

True!
Col 1:17
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.

 

[ralliann]

As a kid I always thought that God was boring. Even as a teenager I thought this for the most part. Something really basic for me just clicked though, God didnt just make everything, he also made the very CONCEPT of something. This universe we think we know, the laws upon which it revolves, those were also placed by him. The very idea of matter is his, he could have made a very different idea of existence if he so wanted. To me, this is so much more then just making what we see, he made the very basis for what we see to even exist! For some reason in my mind I always thought God was limited to what our universe would allow him to make, not realizing those very laws that I thought would limit him, were placed by none other then him.

Amen. And this same idea hit me many years ago. The God of creation a big theme throughout scripture. If we cannot accept this, how can we believe for the promise of the new creation of inheritance in Christ Jesus
Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

?

 

[RandyPNW]

Ever think about the fact that the matter in a glass of water if converted into energy could supply the city of New York with power?

And then think of all the power contained in all the matter of the universe?

And it all came from God.

Yes, Clare, I think about those things all the time! I'm an enthusiast over the potential of fusion power, but not excited about the potential for fission power. Thank God that He sent His Son to tell us, "Don't be anxious for anything."

Thanks much!

 

[Harley.]

Amen. And this same idea hit me many years ago. The God of creation a big theme throughout scripture. If we cannot accept this, how can we believe for the promise of the new creation of inheritance in Christ Jesus
Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

?

Oh how I look forward to the new earth. Im a music producer and I dream and wonder about how I will be able to produce music for my Lord once im there!

 

[Clare73]

Oh how I look forward to the new earth. Im a music producer and I dream and wonder about how I will be able to produce music for my Lord once im there!

Worry not. . .you will have all the happiness you can manage there.

 

[BeyondET]

As a kid I always thought that God was boring. Even as a teenager I thought this for the most part. Something really basic for me just clicked though, God didnt just make everything, he also made the very CONCEPT of something. This universe we think we know, the laws upon which it revolves, those were also placed by him. The very idea of matter is his, he could have made a very different idea of existence if he so wanted. To me, this is so much more then just making what we see, he made the very basis for what we see to even exist! For some reason in my mind I always thought God was limited to what our universe would allow him to make, not realizing those very laws that I thought would limit him, were placed by none other then him.

Like a rainbow tree without the rain

 

[GDL]

Finally, an inspiring thread!

Not as deep as this thread began, but nevertheless:

2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 Jn. 3:2 NKJ)

48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. (1 Cor. 15:48-49 NKJ)

Some have speculated bodies of light or some such thing. But based upon what's being discussed in this thread, where could this go as our being like our Lord?

2+2=4 simply because He says it does.

Some have wondered why they get to the depths of the oceans and see such beauty that is normally never seen. The answer was because He's an artist. Imagine the wonders of the new creation apart from corruption. Imagine Him saying, come here, I want to show you something I'm going to do. Imagine an eternity of this and always having more to learn from Him and watch Him do, let alone what He'll be teaching and empowering us to do... Are we finished here yet? How about tomorrow?

Thanks for the thoughts. Refreshing.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Like a rainbow tree without the rain
View attachment 340732

I keep trying to explain to a non-believing friend of mine, that God is not what Christians say about him.

 

[GDL]

I keep trying to explain to a non-believing friend of mine, that God is not what Christians say about him.

And what Christians say about Him can affect what's said in the Gospel. Some of the things said in this brief thread say more about the Gospel and who we're believing in than does much of the evangelism in our time. Just who is this Christ and what wonders await we who believe in Him?

 

[Jonaitis]

As a kid I always thought that God was boring. Even as a teenager I thought this for the most part. Something really basic for me just clicked though, God didnt just make everything, he also made the very CONCEPT of something. This universe we think we know, the laws upon which it revolves, those were also placed by him. The very idea of matter is his, he could have made a very different idea of existence if he so wanted. To me, this is so much more then just making what we see, he made the very basis for what we see to even exist! For some reason in my mind I always thought God was limited to what our universe would allow him to make, not realizing those very laws that I thought would limit him, were placed by none other then him.

If Yahweh created this cosmos, then he himself must transcend it.

I see it a little different, but nonetheless the same. If Yahweh purposed and is orchestrating this whole cosmos according to his decretive will, then this is the best possible universe. It must have the best laws and rules for it to function. It flows according to his nature. However, he would still remain above and beyond this plane of existence, and could possibly create other planes of existence that would also work. However, we already live in this perfectly self-functioning, self-organizing universe.

 

[Mark Quayle]

If Yahweh created this cosmos, then he himself must transcend it.

I see it a little different, but nonetheless the same. If Yahweh purposed and is orchestrating this whole cosmos according to his decretive will, then this is the best possible universe. It must have the best laws and rules for it to function. It flows according to his nature. However, he would still remain above and beyond this plane of existence, and could possibly create other planes of existence that would also work. However, we already live in this perfectly self-functioning, self-organizing universe.

Agreed. Logically, whatever else might be true, God is above it all, to include above even the system itself that we refer to as 'reality'. He is not subject to anything we might call reality. Instead, reality is dependent on him. He does not 'exist' in the same way we, or anything else does —existence itself depends on him. These are necessary facts in keeping with the fact that he is the only, and the uncaused, "First Cause".

 

[Jonaitis]

Agreed. Logically, whatever else might be true, God is above it all, to include above even the system itself that we refer to as 'reality'. He is not subject to anything we might call reality. Instead, reality is dependent on him. He does not 'exist' in the same way we, or anything else does —existence itself depends on him. These are necessary facts in keeping with the fact that he is the only, and the uncaused, "First Cause".

Yes, God is the ontological ground of being. He is the Source of all dualities (good and bad, light and darkness, pleasure and pain), and stands outside of what we believe is reality itself. One of the best descriptions of God is silence, because we cannot utter what truly He is, only in a way that is relational to us as finite creatures. He is simply That which all things are.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Yes, God is the ontological ground of being. He is the Source of all dualities (good and bad, light and darkness, pleasure and pain), and stands outside of what we believe is reality itself. One of the best descriptions of God is silence, because we cannot utter what truly He is, only in a way that is relational to us as finite creatures. He is simply That which all things are.

I don't call him the source, but the first cause of, sin. Good vs evil is not a duality in the same way as other dualities. It is the corruption, or more carefully put, the privation, of good, which good is God-made. But yes, fact itself —all fact— descends logically from first cause. God certainly did cause that there be sin and evil, though those can be seen as directly caused by the sinner and evil-doer, yet not aside from causation from what came before them.

 

[Jonaitis]

I don't call him the source, but the first cause of, sin. Good vs evil is not a duality in the same way as other dualities. It is the corruption, or more carefully put, the privation, of good, which good is God-made. But yes, fact itself —all fact— descends logically from first cause. God certainly did cause that there be sin and evil, though those can be seen as directly caused by the sinner and evil-doer, yet not aside from causation from what came before them.

I see what you mean, but "I would not have come to know sin except through the Law" (Romans 7:7), therefore, as a shadow is cast by the light, sin, as the privation of good that God has made, is cast by the light of that same goodness. It is dualism in the end, and it almost seems impossible to imagine goodness with the privation of it being absent no more than light being absent of darkness.

How do you distinguish between First Cause and Origin/Source?