I’m not sure how I feel about the whole Arms and Legs thing, only because, what is falling at the feet of Jesus if not completely falling? Perhaps it is a difference in intent, though, I’m not sure. I think you may have really touched on one of the points that has bothered me– because we always say, “without God, I am nothing.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard the converse of that phrase, and I think I always assumed that even with God, I am still nothing.
“I am nothing, God is everything.” I guess it would be sort of hard to go anywhere from that mind-set wouldn’t it? I mean, God is perfect and all-powerful, and he made me. While I certainly don’t mean to imply that he made mistakes or anything, I am a human and I am flawed. That’s because Adam and Eve sinned, I have sinned, and I am imperfect. Without God, I couldn’t breathe or function. So, I do have inherent value because I am a child of God, but I am still nothing without God, and that brings me back to “but WITH God…..?”
Maybe this is something I should really put a lot of thought and prayer into… while I wait for the enormous amount of wisdom I always enjoy from my brother and dad!
Gosh this is just so amazing! I’m getting teary eyed again. It’s like God is saying “okay, vacation’s over, time to get down and dirty, cause we got a lot of laundry to sort through!” I knew this would come. Like Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears!”
As a side note, man, I cannot imagine being Samuel and having to tell news like that to Eli, especially as a little kid. I would have been devastated.
Well, I’m off to read Samuel, and Jonah, and spend some serious quiet time with God! Mata ato de!
Good thoughts. I think you are hitting on one of the critical tensions of the Christian faith. You want to make sure you don’t fall off either side. I think part of the tension involved here is the relationship between the “transcendancy” and the “immanency” of God. His “transcendency” is his bigness, his other-ness, and what makes us reverent. His “immanence” is his nearness, his personal-ness, and what makes us call him “Abba.” You don’t want to focus on his immanence at the expense of his transcendence, and treat him like Buddy Christ as if he isn’t worthy of our highest regard. But you also don’t want focus on his transcendence at the expense of his immanence, imagining him as a God who might wipe you off the face of the earth, a God who is unknowable. The reality is that we are sons and daughters of the Living God, as you mentioned. We have been adopted into God’s household, and we have the rights and privileges therein. It doesn’t mean we are disrespectful, but it does mean we have worth and value in two ways: first, just naturally because we are the Imago Dei, the image of God, or image-bearers. No thing can bear the image of God and be worthless. Second, because we are adopted, we are heirs along with our brother Christ. The interesting thing about the story of the prodigal son is that it isn’t all that useful as a metaphor for a regular family with a good son and a bad son. It’s useful as a type of Christ, similar to the story of Adam and Eve. Romans 5 calls Adam a “pattern of the one to come.” So Christ is a better Adam. He is the head of a race, but instead of sinning and bringing death, Christ is perfect and brings life. Similarly, Christ is a better older brother, and we are all prodigal sons and daughters. Where that older brother sits at home, Christ goes looking for us as that brother should have done. While that brother complains of the prodigal’s return, Christ rejoices with the Father over us. The younger brother forfeited his inheritance, so when he returned, he was taken into the household of the father as an adopted son, given a new inheritance.
That was a long bit, but the idea is that we do have worth because we are true sons and daughters of God, and because we are the bride of Christ. It is not worth that we have earned or even deserved. It is worth that is extrinsic, declared of us by the Father.
Wow, that is a completely new way of looking at the prodigal son story. That is so mind-blowing, lol. I have definitely fallen off on the “transcendency” side, and once you fall off, it’s really difficult to come back. It’s like if a human were in his drive way taking groceries in and a frog comes hopping up and says “can I help you with that?” Of course that’s an extremely dumbed down analogy, but it’s an analogy for how it feels to me sometimes.
I guess I just have to pray about it. :/
wow. i am not as verbose but am so wowed….