One

In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have not told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. John 14: 2-4

I have been busy as usual exploring relationships with school kids over the last couple of weeks. Part of our journey has been values, one of the exploration points being sex before marriage – ok or not ok…. It is fair to say that most thought it was OK to have sex before marriage, and the idea of marriage wasn’t looked too favorable. Perhaps that’s a reflection of the age of the students (marriage is far in the future) or maybe a reflection of their experiences of marriage breakups, failed relationships of significant adults in their lives. After all, the stats on relationship breakdowns is sadly very high.

It has made me think about how God views marriage and also explore how God designed marriage to be. There seems to be a sense that when two people come together they become one “in flesh”. It’s a bit like how our lives become “one in Christ with God” – there is a lot of this “oneness” language in the bible – God being one, us being one with God, us becoming one in intimate human encounters.

I was amazed to learn something new about scripture passage at the top of this entry – it connects with this oneness, it is wedding language. Yes it seems that within the oneness we share in God’s circle of divine relationship, God wants to be “married” to us!!

Around the time of Jesus these words were used as an exchange between engaged couples - the man speaking to the woman – said after the marriage proposal. It was the mans way of saying he had a home for her – in his family home, but he had to go off and build a new room for them - a bedroom, within the house – that’s the “prepare a place for you” part. Under the watchful eye of his father, the husband-to-be would build on this room, and only when it was deemed good enough in the eyes of his father would be able to go back to his fiancées home and take her to be his bride – the celebration would begin.

When Jesus spoke these words to his disciples, Jesus had just predicted Peter’s denial of Him, things were heating up in Jerusalem about Jesus and they were scared. Jesus comforted his disciples with these words and the disciples would have immediately recognized it as wedding language – they would have heard these words before. If they truly knew who Jesus was, if they knew in their hearts that Jesus is the divine in human flesh – I reckon they would have been cut down with awe and wonder and felt overwhelmed by God’s love for them.

We too are invited to share in marriage with God – perhaps we are in courtship at the moment – engaged…

Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. Revelation 19: 6-8

Trinity

My attention has been focused on thoughts around the trinity over the last couple of weeks – that God is the father, son and Holy Spirit as one. It’s been enjoyable revisiting this topic and it led me to read one of Baxter Kruger’s books – Jesus and the undoing of Adam (it's been on the bookshelf for about 2 years). It’s always very exciting reading his work as he sets straight what I hope are some fundamental truths about our God and turns onto it’s head our western concept of who God is. It’s been a “revision of (my) perception”. Baxter describes repentance as “the radical re-orientation of our minds” - something I need to be reminded of every day. Below are a few phases from this book, which I would like to be mindful of as I go about my with-God existence.

God always intended to become flesh. It wasn’t a second plan – the eternal plan of God which precedes creation itself.

The Father loves the son, the son loves the Father and they share all things in the love and unchained fellowship of the spirit.

Trinity means that we believe that God is a relational being, and always has been, and always will be. The doctrine of the trinity means that relationships, that fellowship, that togetherness and sharing, that self-giving and other centeredness are not after thoughts with God, but the deepest truth about the being of God. Baxter speaks of how before God created anything - the universe, earth, heaven, heavenly creatures etc- God was there and as God is love, God had to be in relationship and thus suggesting that God is Father (lover) and the Son (re-loved) and sharing all things in the Spirit - being in loving relationship. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." John 1: 1-2

For while the father, son and holy spirit remain eternally distinct, their love for one another is so pure and their fellowship is so deep that any descriptive word short of “one” betrays the sheer reality of their togetherness.

The understanding of all this implicates the type of relationship God wishes to have with us – to share in that relationship, that fellowship, that togetherness and sharing, that self-giving and other centeredness. To be brought into the one-ness of God the father and the son – and share all things in the love and unchained fellowship of the spirit. How amazing is this! It gives me a closer understanding of “God is Love” and understanding what love truly is. It gives me plenty to think about too! Just imagine how the church would be if all people could understand this utterly amazing love God has for us. It would radically re-orientate the way we relate to God, to people. Why is it that our view of God is often turned on it’s head – that the words which quickly come to mind when describing God include anger, judgment and rejection..

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HAS blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose US in Christ before the foundation of the world to be HOLY and BLAMELESS before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children though Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will…Ephesians 1: 4-5.

Beginning

"Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself" Luke 10:27.

Wow - what a huge ask. An absolutely massive undertaking - overwhelming. How do I go about loving God so much especially when He seems so far away sometimes - and love all people...those who cause serious pain to others, those who just seem so unloveable. IMPOSSIBLE!!

And that's the whole point - this would have to be my "most important" verse and aspect to living a life "with God" because without God - this verse IS impossible to achieve. This verse tells us what we must cultivate in our hearts and souls -not so much as to what we must do - as this would be like "trying to be nice" and failing miserably.

To love God / neighbors is the ultimate to what God wants for us - nothing is more important, as we are designed for this function "created in God's image" - our souls desire this allignment. As I cultivate my heart and soul towards this goal, I hope to discover something quite amazing....

It is this quest which I am on.