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)