A Muscle-Bound God?
One of the debates in athletics, especially in boxing, is how much muscle is too much. It is suggested that when a fighter becomes too muscle-bound, their flexibility, quickness, and endurance are all compromised.
In a theological equivalent, some have suggested that there are certain ways that God is limited due to His sovereignty. When you are as sovereign as God, it is argued, you can’t allow others to have genuine free will or allow life to just play out. God is just too sovereign (muscle-bound) to allow such things. But is God really limited by the prodigiousness of His own capabilities? Are His capacities so great that they become self-limiting?
Following this logic, how does God allow anything to exist outside of Himself? Since God is omniscient, does that mean that He can’t allow ignorance to exist? Since God is omnipresent, does that mean that nothing else can fill any part of the same space? Since God is omnipotent, does that mean that only He can wield power? Of course, all of these things are allowed to exist outside of the personhood of God.
Despite this, it is argued that because God is sovereign, He can’t create mankind to have free will. This point of view turns God’s unlimited ability into a limitation, which is contradictory. Isn’t it better to understand that God exercises complete control over His unlimited capacities? Isn’t it more consistent to believe that there is no good thing that God can’t do?
This certainly finds support in the Scriptures which acknowledge both the unlimited nature of God’s divine attributes, as well as the reality of man’s free will.
“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you" (Jeremiah 32:17, NIV).
A Kingdom of Robots
TOKYO -- An amusement park has unveiled plans to open a "robot kingdom" featuring over 200 automatons on the premises.
[All] part of a long-term strategy to revolutionize Japan's anemic service sector.
... The androids will include a chef that can cook okonomiyaki (a Japanese pancake), a bartender that can mix no fewer than 10 cocktails and a wait staff ready to serve and clean up after visitors.
... The kingdom will expand on a "smart hotel" that opened last summer at the Nagasaki Prefecture theme park. Automatons check in customers, provide information and carry luggage. The facility started with about 30 flesh-and-blood staffers, but robots have taken over many duties, cutting the human headcount by more than half.
Imagine it, a kingdom of robots programed to serve the needs of people. Perhaps God’s purposes would have been better served had He established a kingdom of robots. Instead, He has called believers to serve others of their own free-will.
While man dreams of a utopia where he is served by an army of robots, God dreams of a kingdom where “The greatest among you will be your servant” (Matthew 23:11).
In the Kingdom of God, you won’t need robots. Everyone there will be your servant.
Where Was God In The Paris Attacks?
According to THE TELEGRAPH:
The Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted the terror attacks in Paris made him "doubt" the presence of God.
Justin Welby said he was left asking why the attacks happened, and where God was in the French victims' time of need. He said he reacted with "profound sadness" at the events, particularly because he and his wife had lived in Paris.
Asked if these attacks had caused him to doubt where God is, he said: "Oh gosh, yes," and admitted it put a "chink in his armour."
He told the BBC: "Yes. Saturday morning - I was out and as I was walking I was praying and saying: 'God why - why is this happening? Where are you in all this?'"
Have you ever had cause to question the presence of God due to a personal encounter with overpowering evil? Whether you’ve had such an experience or not, the world abounds with such tragedy. So much so that we all have the opportunity to grapple with the questions posed by evil, long before these questions are forced upon us.
What about 911? What about the Holocaust? Should any of us, particularly those who serve as shepherds and guides, be caught off guard when something like this happens? Especially when we know from the pages of Scripture that God has granted mankind the free will to choose between good and evil. And not only that, the Bible warns us that those who choose evil are “storing up judgment for the day of judgment.”
Think about the implications of this statement. If judgment is being “stored up,” than it is not being doled out now! And since you can't have divine justice without divine judgment, we shouldn't be surprised that we have to wait to see God's justice for the terrible things that some people choose to do.
The postponement of judgment requires the postponement of justice. The fact that man is given free will, combined with the fact that judgment has been postponed until the "day of judgment," means that we have no biblical basis for asking why the attacks happened, and where God was in the French victims' time of need.
Don't wait for evil to strike before you ask, “What the heck is going on in the world?" And don't allow the presence of evil to cause you to question the presence or the purpose of God. Expect God to allow what God has revealed He will allow, rather than what you think He should.
"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you" (1 Peter 4:12).
"But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up judgment against yourself for the day of God's judgment, when his righteous judgment will be revealed" (Romans 2:5).