He is God

Revelations 1:18 Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

I once read the argument of an atheist who insisted that if God were real, we should be able to study him just as we study the rest of our natural world.  If God exists and if He answers prayer, we should be able to force his hand by studying those who pray and those who do not.  If those who pray get what they want, then God is real.

Jesus dispels this stunted view of God by explaining that He dwells in a reality beyond time and space.  He is the first and the last.  He is before and after the universe, thus He is forever and exists in a manner that we cannot measure or test.

It seems silly (to me at least) that one should insist that God be subject to a scientific study, yet I often expect God to conform to my version of reality.  In my own inhibited view of God, I insist that He behave in a manner that fits my sense of reasoning.  I cannot believe in a God who would allow… I cannot believe in a God who says… I will only accept God if He makes sense to me.

 Of course, as soon as I start designing my own god, I do not have God, I have a creation of my own that is necessarily smaller than and subject to well, me.  God, by definition, defies my efforts at categorizing and quantifying him completely. I can know God and I am to have a tangible relationship with him, but to pretend that I can contain God within the confines of my logic is ludicrous.  I know this to be true, but I do it to God all the time.  If you really are all-loving and all powerful, you could not allow these horrible things to happen in your world.  Let me tell you how things should be.

 God is not subject to my will and He does not have to satisfy my sense of justice.  He is God.  I do not dictate terms to him.  I do not test him and I do not determine what is right and what is wrong. If I want to truly know God, I need to accept that He is wild and that He is free to be God.  He is more than I can imagine or grasp.

I do not think this means that God is offended by my questions.  In a loving relationship, I am free to wonder, ask, seek and question.  God may not feel inclined to answer my every objection (see Job) but I think He is big enough to absorb my inquiries. He wants me to seek him and He wants me to find him.

He is God and if I want to know him, I need to allow him to be God.  He will of course be God whether or not I allow it. The difference is in whether or not I will truly come to know him.