Monday, September 24, 2007
Miss My Hubby!
Paul left this morning for a business trip, and I miss him already! (Is it any wonder why?) Also, yesterday my hero hung up our pictures and artwork all over the house. We've been in this house 10 months, and it finally feels like we've moved in! :-D
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
More Thoughts
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isa. 57:15)
My translation: “For this is what I say, I who am exalted on high, lofty and residing perpetually in eternity, I who am holy in reputation, authority, and character: I dwell in the sacred sanctuary on high, near (among) the crushed and contrite, the humble and lowly spirit (life, breath), to restore to life (nourish, recover) the humble (depressed) mind, and to repair (save, preserve) the heart (will, feelings, intellect) of the broken (bruised, contrite, humble, oppressed).”
It seems to me that the sense here is not that God dwells on high and also with the lowly, but that He dwells on high with the lowly. As if “on high” is where the humble also dwell. Those who exalt themselves are actually positioning themselves in the lowest places, while those who are broken and contrite dwell on high with the humble God. Humility is not contrary to exaltation, but is necessary and complementary to it. Pride is what brings one low. Our thinking is all backwards. It is like swinging at the park. If you move your body in the direction you want to go, you will not get anywhere. But if you move your body in the opposite direction, pushing against the swing, you will soar.
Who is like the Lord our God, Who has His seat on high, Who humbles Himself to regard the heavens and the earth! The Lord raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap and the dung hill, that He may seat them with princes, even with the princes of His people. (Ps. 113:5-8)
He humbles Himself to enjoy, experience, and gaze joyfully upon the high and lofty sky and space, and also upon the common earth, the nations and the world. He raises up weak, poor man from the ashes (earth, clay, mud), and lifts the beggar (destitute) out of the rubbish pile. He causes him to dwell among princes as an equal with His free people (flock).
When Jesus humbled Himself to come among us as Man (Phil. 2:5-7), He was not going against His nature. It was the inevitable result of a humble God gazing upon His people with delight. Of course He would come as one of us, for the holy dwells with the humble. They are two sides of the same coin. God-Man is not a contradiction, but a completion of the desire of a God who is meek and lowly of heart (Mt. 11:29) to be one with the bride He has created to be one with Himself.
My translation: “For this is what I say, I who am exalted on high, lofty and residing perpetually in eternity, I who am holy in reputation, authority, and character: I dwell in the sacred sanctuary on high, near (among) the crushed and contrite, the humble and lowly spirit (life, breath), to restore to life (nourish, recover) the humble (depressed) mind, and to repair (save, preserve) the heart (will, feelings, intellect) of the broken (bruised, contrite, humble, oppressed).”
It seems to me that the sense here is not that God dwells on high and also with the lowly, but that He dwells on high with the lowly. As if “on high” is where the humble also dwell. Those who exalt themselves are actually positioning themselves in the lowest places, while those who are broken and contrite dwell on high with the humble God. Humility is not contrary to exaltation, but is necessary and complementary to it. Pride is what brings one low. Our thinking is all backwards. It is like swinging at the park. If you move your body in the direction you want to go, you will not get anywhere. But if you move your body in the opposite direction, pushing against the swing, you will soar.
Who is like the Lord our God, Who has His seat on high, Who humbles Himself to regard the heavens and the earth! The Lord raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap and the dung hill, that He may seat them with princes, even with the princes of His people. (Ps. 113:5-8)
He humbles Himself to enjoy, experience, and gaze joyfully upon the high and lofty sky and space, and also upon the common earth, the nations and the world. He raises up weak, poor man from the ashes (earth, clay, mud), and lifts the beggar (destitute) out of the rubbish pile. He causes him to dwell among princes as an equal with His free people (flock).
When Jesus humbled Himself to come among us as Man (Phil. 2:5-7), He was not going against His nature. It was the inevitable result of a humble God gazing upon His people with delight. Of course He would come as one of us, for the holy dwells with the humble. They are two sides of the same coin. God-Man is not a contradiction, but a completion of the desire of a God who is meek and lowly of heart (Mt. 11:29) to be one with the bride He has created to be one with Himself.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Thinking Out Loud
“One you see [God’s] greatness, there comes great joy in humbling yourself before the Lord. . . . He is everything, and as we are joined to Him the poverty of our personal identity is lost in the fullness of His eternal greatness” (Sorge, p. 47).
This made me think: If God so desired, could He create a being intrinsically equal to Himself to be His friend, His lover? Is that even possible? It seems not, for in order to be of equal greatness, that being would also have to be uncreated, omnipotent, omniscient, etc. And if there was another such being, then He himself could not fully embody those qualities. It would contradict His very being. Then how, if God desired a counterpart, could it be accomplished? For in order to be a true counterpart, she would need to be His equal. And she would need to be other than Himself. But being God, there is no other beside Him. So He must create her. Then how could He endow her with His qualities?
What if, instead of creating a being equal to Himself (or nearly so), He created one completely unequal? One who is poor in every way, in contrast to the unlimited richness of His being. One who had no greatness of her own, an empty vessel. The one quality that He would give her, the one thing that could make her truly other than Himself, would be her choice to love Him or not. If she chose to love Him, coming to Him in her poverty, then He would fill her with Himself. She would become his counterpart, not because of her own worthiness, but because of His worthiness bestowed upon her. She would become His equal (in a sense that I do not understand), not because she would be God, but because she would receive into herself His Spirit. And in so doing, she would become one with Him. She would always be the weaker vessel, but she would glory in her weakness because it enabled her to be filled with His strength. If she had any strength (or goodness or greatness) of her own, she would always remain lesser, for she could not fully receive Him into herself. And so He would give her none of her own, and all of His.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27, ESV)
And we are living the rest of the story.
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah (Psalm 39:5, ESV)
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, ESV)
This made me think: If God so desired, could He create a being intrinsically equal to Himself to be His friend, His lover? Is that even possible? It seems not, for in order to be of equal greatness, that being would also have to be uncreated, omnipotent, omniscient, etc. And if there was another such being, then He himself could not fully embody those qualities. It would contradict His very being. Then how, if God desired a counterpart, could it be accomplished? For in order to be a true counterpart, she would need to be His equal. And she would need to be other than Himself. But being God, there is no other beside Him. So He must create her. Then how could He endow her with His qualities?
What if, instead of creating a being equal to Himself (or nearly so), He created one completely unequal? One who is poor in every way, in contrast to the unlimited richness of His being. One who had no greatness of her own, an empty vessel. The one quality that He would give her, the one thing that could make her truly other than Himself, would be her choice to love Him or not. If she chose to love Him, coming to Him in her poverty, then He would fill her with Himself. She would become his counterpart, not because of her own worthiness, but because of His worthiness bestowed upon her. She would become His equal (in a sense that I do not understand), not because she would be God, but because she would receive into herself His Spirit. And in so doing, she would become one with Him. She would always be the weaker vessel, but she would glory in her weakness because it enabled her to be filled with His strength. If she had any strength (or goodness or greatness) of her own, she would always remain lesser, for she could not fully receive Him into herself. And so He would give her none of her own, and all of His.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27, ESV)
And we are living the rest of the story.
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah (Psalm 39:5, ESV)
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, ESV)
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