The Better Part, week #49

 

This week, a FB series....

The Better Part, Day #238 (part 1 of a series):

 

So this morning, I heard Pastor Colin Smith say (paraphrased), "If God has a problem WITH us, He has a solution FOR us, because He has a purpose IN us." I want to spend some time unpacking that. 

 

 First, to believe that, you have to accept that their is a God. And you can't escape the truth in that, even in atheism. Because with no god, you must logically accept evolution. Evolution teaches that the traits that evolve over millennia are kept because they have a needed purpose, a competitive advantage.

 

So man has evolved the unique ability to think in the abstract, to understand there is a Divine, something beyond himself. If this was a false concept, there would be no need to EVOLVE it. So even evolution would logically lead to there being a god or gods. And atheists, when they argue from "I can't believe there is a god because why would he blah blah blah" are crushing their own logic. If a being is a god, he would be, by definition, something greater than we, and thus not accountable to man's standards.

And now that logic establishes there IS a God, next step will be to ask, "WHAT is God?"

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #239 (part 2 of a series):

 

I heard Pastor Colin Smith say (paraphrased), "If God has a problem WITH us, He has a solution FOR us, because He has a purpose IN us." I want to spend some time unpacking that.

 

So by logic we established that there is a god, and thus He/they must be greater than us. But is there one God, or many? If we look at the religions that had more than one god, we notice some things they had in common. In them, man was created, but given no real purpose other than being subservient. In them, the gods have traits just like men: lust, pride, greed, wrath- in other words, all the bad traits of the flesh that Paul points out. Without, or with very little, of the virtues, especially love.

 

Another thing to look at in these religions, these gods rarely got along. Not surprising in humans, but it should be surprising with gods. If they truly animated the universe, they would have had to work together to make even the simplest things of nature work. Zeus could have never called rain from the sky if the sea god Neptune were mad at him. And they would have had to have the four winds in agreement even then. And what if they were working for calm skies in Greece while Donar was causing storms to blow in from the Russian steps? So much for tolerance.

 

No, logic tells us that, in such a complicated universe, with so many "goldilocks zones" needed just to permit life, One God had to oversee it all.

And if One God made us, and balanced things so well to sustain us, He had to have a reason FOR us. And if we can't all agree with that, then that One God has to have a big problem with a lot of us. That's where we go next time.

 

 

The Better Part, Day #240 (part 3 of a series):

 

I heard Pastor Colin Smith say (paraphrased), "If God has a problem WITH us, He has a solution FOR us, because He has a purpose IN us." I want to spend some time unpacking that.

 

I started yesterday on the topic of God's problem with us, from the logical standpoint. We proved logically there is One God; and He wouldn't have gone through all the intricacies of Creation without a purpose for us. So, if we are born into many different religions, with vastly different ideas of the man-to-God relationship, then it's inevitable that, merely by accident of birth in many cases, a LOT of people have the wrong idea about Him.

 

On that same line, He had to have given us a free-enough will to choose, since so many different choices have been made. If not all believe the same way, then a LOT of people have chosen against His purpose for us.

Thus, we get to the point where logic tells us our mere existence proves that God HAS to have a solution for us. Next time, we examine those possible solutions.

 

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #241 (part 4 of a series):

 

I heard Pastor Colin Smith say (paraphrased), "If God has a problem WITH us, He has a solution FOR us, because He has a purpose IN us." I want to spend some time unpacking that.

 

Not many of the religions man created trying to fill "the God-shaped hole" his own way even recognized the problem of logic caused by one Creator yet many different conceptions of Him. That began to change when Jesus Christ began His teachings. Right now, I would say there are four main ways man has approached the problem- not counting atheism, which we've already dismissed as illogical even by their own standards.

 

First, we have in Islam the false solution of "annihilate the unbeliever". Logic tells us that if a Creator wise enough to create this universe thought this was a solution, He surely could have done it Himself. Or, He would have strengthened his people to accomplish it within the framework of devotion to himself. Instead, the Muslim 'faith' has fought itself, aligned itself with chronically corrupt governments (think Ottoman Empire), or just flat went to the craven expedient of terrorism.

 

Next, we have the false solution of 'reincarnation', wherein the soul starts in a state of unbreakable poverty, and if they do this or that, when they die the soul returns in a new form somewhere up the ladder. Logic tells us if such a system worked, the number of poor unfortunates would be constantly lessening. In 2020, the poverty rate of increase in India went from a predicted 4.3% at the beginning of the year to an actual 9.7% at the end.

 

Then, you have ritual as the third false solution. If ritual fixed things, we would have to question why the Holocaust happened, or why 58% of Catholic women feel they are not obligated to follow their Bishops' rulings on abortion. In the end, all of these things involve man trying to 'fix' things with God.

But if God is the Creator, and so far above us, then it is logical that a man made 'fix' cannot fix the problem. The solution has to come from God. That is where we'll go next time.

 

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #242 (part 5 of a series):

 

 

I heard Pastor Colin Smith say (paraphrased), "If God has a problem WITH us, He has a solution FOR us, because He has a purpose IN us." I want to spend some time unpacking that.

 

Now, how God decides to fix the problem with us depends upon what He intends to do with us in the end. If the intent was simple companionship, why would He not have put us in Heaven? If it was blind obedience (robotic), why then give us choices? Those two questions lead us to the two best answers. The first one tells us we are like vessels of Gold and silver, that need refining. The second tells us He desires us to CHOOSE to be those vessels.

 

So now, if we are vessels of precious metal, how does He fix us? Well first, we have to accept that we NEED fixing; second, we have to realize that WE can't do the fixing. A mere vessel might not have to go through that Q&A; but living vessels, granted choice, we do. And how do you fix such a vessel? Well, the Creator has to melt us down and reforge us- remake us.

 

We have come this far logically. And if we have to come to this point, then our next step is, which faith allows for a God that will do this? That answer is, only one. Remember, that it requires a God that wants MORE than subservience, but wants to LOVE us and wants us to love back. A God that doesn't demand we destroy our fellow vessels, but join them in being remade.

 

From here, you have to make your own choice. Work out your own salvation. May your New Year be blessed with that journey and its logical conclusion.