Results 1 - 5 of 5
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Can we disappoint the omniscient God? | Bible general Archive 2 | Makarios | 102221 | ||
Greetings Radioman2! "Can we disappoint the omniscient God?" Yes! Proverbs 17:25 speaks of parents who are disappointed with a foolish son, and the Holy Spirit Himself is grieved when we sin (Ephesians 4:30). Our hardness of heart grieves the Lord (Mark 3:5; Matthew 14:9; Isaiah 54:6; 63:10; Psalm 78:40; Genesis 6:6), and our sin separates us from God (Matthew 27:46). Yet, with all of this grieving, does God not know our steps before we take them, even if we should fail? Yes! (Job 14:5; Psalm 139:15-16; Isaiah 25:1; 41:4; 46:11; Acts 17:26; Romans 8:28-33; Galatians 1:15; Ephesians 1:11). But if He already knows, then why is He still grieved and disappointed in us when we fail? Why? Because God loves us and desires to see us succeed as any loving parent would (Matt. 5:48). God sees a great potential and value in us, calling us when He knows that we are not fully ready (Romans 5:8), but knowing that we can be of great potential for Him (Ephesians 2:7)! And when we are saved, that potential and value takes on an eternal significance, that whatever He gives us to do from now on until forever, when we are there with Him in heaven, that we will continue to glorify Him forever! And as a loving parent as He is, He being able to see both our beginnings here on earth in sin, and our glorious "ends" with Him serving Him for all time, cannot help but to shed a tear when we, who will eventually serve Him in love forever, find ourselves using some of this "free" time that we have here on earth to rebel against Him! I believe that that grieves Him the most- that we, who have already been irrevocably changed (Romans 11:29), would still find ways to cut ourselves off from Him through sin. Our love relationships with Christ always go both ways- when we sin, then both we and Christ know that there has been a severage of that relationship that has happened. And our Savior is very sensitive to that severage, regardless of His foreknowledge of our sin, loving us so much to want to gather us all under His wings if we would be so willing! (Matthew 23:37) Another way to look at this would be Gethsemane, or Christ's death on the cross. Why did God the Father forsake Jesus on the cross (Matthew 27:46) if the Father knew beforehand of what was to come (Matthew 26:54)? It was the separation that occurred between the Father and the Son, due to our sin, that hurt them the most, even though that was His mission, ordained to Him before time began. Why did Jesus have such a hard time in Gethsemane, if He knew that He must suffer so that what has been ordained to Him before time began could come to pass? In Gethsemane, Jesus was about to take on the sin of all creation, for all time (1 John 2:2; Romans 5:6). That is what separated Him from any mere martyr- Christ was the Ultimate Martyr, in that when He was martyred, He also had to face separation from that which was His nature, His very being (Colossians 2:9), having His Father turn His back on Him, His only Source of strength at that time. And the world will never know a single greater moment of grief in time than that moment in time. Blessings to you, Makarios |
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2 | Can we disappoint the omniscient God? | Bible general Archive 2 | Mommapbs | 102227 | ||
Greetings Makarios - there has been some discussion on the Forum previously about the omniscience of Jesus prior to the cross. When He emptied Himself (Phil 2:7), did He "set aside" this aspect of His participation in the Godhead? I see Jesus in perfect communion with the Father, and thus all that the Father revealed to Him, Jesus knew and He told His disciples as well! (John 17:8) In order to experience man's walk on earth, it makes sense that He had to also "walk by faith", totally dependent upon His Father. Also, if Jesus were omniscient, why would He not know the day or the hour of His return? (Mt 24:26) - He was made a little lower than the angels therefore, if the angels do not know, even without this verse could we infer that Jesus relinquished some of His Divine attributes for us as well . . . If He gave up His life, and suffered the forsaking of God for us, what would be so out of line to suggest that He set aside His omniscience? He could lay down His life and take it up again; could He not also do the say with His omnisicince? - I'm still trying to ponder this whole possibility . . . if this is too controversial, let's just leave it. Thanks for any insight or input you might have. Blessings, mommapbs |
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3 | Can we disappoint the omniscient God? | Bible general Archive 2 | Makarios | 102232 | ||
Greetings Mommapbs! No, your question is not "too" controversial! Contrary to what many believe, it is "OK" for Christians to have questions and doubts, which are answered by studying His Word. Philippians 2:5-8 "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross!" [NIV] I believe that Christ did not give up any of His attributes. His "making Himself nothing" ultimately boils down to 3 things: 1. A 'veiling' of His preincarnate glory 2. A voluntary nonuse of some of His divine attributes 3. Taking on the 'appearance' of a man 1. I believe that part of "making Himself nothing" involved veiling the glory that is His for all eternity as God, which would be necessary if He were to take on the appearance of a man. Christ never surrendered His glory (note the Transfiguration), but He simply veiled His glory so that He could dwell among His creation, "appearing" as one of His created beings to His creation, even though He was the Creator Himself. :-) If He had not chosen to veil His glory, then human beings would not have been able to associate with Him! Everyone would have been like John the Apostle in Revelation 1:17, or like Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5 (see also John 12:41) in relation to Him. 2. I believe that Christ voluntarily did not use some of His divine attributes on some occasions, so that He could accomplish everything that He came to do. I don't believe that He ever could have actually surrendered any of His attributes, since He would then have ceased to be God. But He did voluntarily choose not to use some of His attributes as the Son of God so that He could live amongst us humans and our limitations during His time here on earth. However, He DID use His divine attributes of omniscience (John 2:24; 16:30), omnipresence (John 1:48), and omnipotence (one example - John 11). So, in whatever limitations that Christ may have had to endure when he 'made Himself nothing', He did not subtract a single divine attribute, or in any way make Himself less than God. 3. Third, Christ "took on the appearance of a man", literally looking like a man, taking up residence inside a body that grew from an infant to full grown adult, and being 'truly' human. And this humanity was also subject to temptation, distress, weakness, pain, sorrow and limitation. However, He was "made in human likeness": even though He was similar to humans, He was still different from us. Though His humanity was genuine, He was different from everyone else in that He had something that you and I don't have- He was perfectly sinless. But even though He was not sinless, He still "made Himself nothing" in a sense that He had to take on our likeness, which was a great condescension on His part. Blessings to you, Makarios |
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4 | Can we disappoint the omniscient God? | Bible general Archive 2 | Mommapbs | 102244 | ||
Thanks Makarios for this wonderful observation - it has really helped to keep the Divinity of Jesus within my ability to understand. What you have said: "Christ voluntarily did not use some of His divine attributes on some occasions, so that He could accomplish everything that He came to do." makes sense to me! I struggled with the concept of Jesus as God apart from His Divine nature. This answers that problem for me! ("He did not subtract a single divine attribute, or in any way make Himself less than God.") Thanks again! Blessings to you and yours - mommapbs |
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5 | Can we disappoint the omniscient God? | Bible general Archive 2 | Makarios | 102245 | ||
You are most welcome, my friend! All praise and glory to the Lord! Blessings to you, Makarios |
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