See what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
1 John 3: 1 NKJV
I've been a Christian for a good many years, yet in some ways I am still young. One thing that I still try to comprehend is the unending love which the Father has for me. I mean, what did I do to deserve the God of all creation to call me His own? What have I ever done which would cause the Lord to make way for my future in Him? I ask these questions a lot because, being raised in Christianity, I was taught that being a believer was definitely a reward based proposition. Yes, I am created in Gods own image. Yet, somewhere along the way I became a sinner. As we all know, sin is something God cannot be part of. So here we began to see the beginnings of the narrative that there must be a separation between myself and God. If I am but a sinner, then I toil away here on earth while God is in heaven watching over me. A personal relationship with God? Not likely, remember I'm a sinner. Indeed, it is this teaching which taught me to believe that I would never measure up to what the Lord desired of me. This would be a all too true statement, if not for the love of God. For it is by the love of the Lord that I am created in His image {Genesis 1:27}. God, knowing that I am not perfect without Him, created me not for what I was...but for what I would become. I will never believe that God desires that I live in the false belief that He is separated from me. This is a impersonal God given but to punishment and rewards. Is God more of a overseer than a loving Father? I believe that most Christians see Him as a loving Father, yet they continue to follow the old paradigm. The old paradigm that tells us that we can experience the Lords wrath of kindness depending on how we live our lives. Not so long ago, I seriously believed that I would end up homeless if I did not spend my money in a way which was pleasing to the Lord. Think about it, if God does not like how we spend the money He has provided, wouldn't be therefore punish us by taking it all away? Once again, that old paradigm. It took me awhile, but I began to chip away at the teachings of the old paradigm. The wonderful thing is, when we can see past the old teachings, we began to see God for who He truly is.
And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
1 John 4: 16 NKJV
I can't recall a exact day when I began to see God as less of a score keeper and more of a loving Father, but I know that it was well after I left the church. Maybe all of those years listening to the old paradigm were finally wearing off. Whatever it was, I was tired of living my life always wondering what I would do next that God would not be pleased with. Worse yet, what would my punishment be? I remember back in my church days where it was common practice if someone was having a rough situation in their lives that a few of their Christian brethren would remind them that God was probably not pleased and was punishing them in some way. Those who have been in the church long enough may have experienced this as well. Was this the Lords motivation for fellowship, that our brethren would tell us that we were being punished? I think not. It's no coincidence that after I left the church that I began to see God in a way I seldom had. God was not a overseer...but a loving Father. He loved me enough to create me in His image. He loved me enough to claim me as His own. I believe that the old paradigm which many Christians have grown up in is simply a fog or a mist which we need to strive to see through to the true identity of who God is. The mist obscures reality for a short time, but it never changes it. I find more comfort in the thoughts of what God has accomplished in me than in the thoughts of the old paradigm. God is love, a love never ending.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).
Ephesians 2: 4 - 5 NKJV
~Scott~
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