Introduction:

         Many of God's precious truths regarding His Sovereignty, Eternal Decrees, Justice and Control over mankind, whether before the Fall or after, whether saint or sinner will not make thorough sense until you are able to see God as infinite.  God is the only being that is Infinite in the truest since, and therefore, on this level God is totally different than man, from all creatures, all systems of though, all pagan religions and just simply all things.

            As I have said before the God of the bible is the only true GOD because He is the only Infinite Being.  If you logically consider all other so called gods in their own worldview none are shown to be truly infinite.  Much of the wrong and evil judgments and miss-understandings worldly men say against God starts here.  They simply do not see nor understand this God of the bible is infinite.  It is the very fact the biblical worldview is the only one with a true Infinite that mankind has such a hard time understanding Him.  They simply are not accustomed to thinking on that level and then foolishly think Jesus Christ and His Father are as finite as they and all their other foolish ideas of reality.  For this reason we must be ready to be gentle in explaining and also ready to rebuke the unrepentant.

            Even as Christians we wrongly become hypocrites and fools by thinking God is like us and then try to Judge Him on this level.  Logically this is foolish and stupid, for God condemns inductive logic in Psalm 50:21(at least in the sense to find truth about God). Shall dust judge the Infinite Existence on their level?  Yet there are some who even dare to do so and will be judge by Him on His infinitely high standard on that great Day.

            This is worth much thought and many nights of contemplation: yes even an endless amount of nights

(This is 2 Chapter from my book I am currently working on: The Biblical Standard of Preaching.) 

.        (A) Although, I have this as point two, in my list, it is as much as the first "main thing" as God's revealing His supreme passion to glorify Himself.  Yet, if I am supposed to be a good little reformed writer I need to say the gospel is the "main thing", which it is!  Indeed, the scripture makes plain that the gospel of Jesus Christ is our central message.  So that God revealing He is an Awesome Infinite God is the main message, while the cross is the bulls eye or center, or most prominent part of this main message, so that if you do not focus on the centrality of the cross you will likewise not be able to behold the main point either, because the ability of the main point being able to be understood depends on this main or central message which is Jesus Christ crucified.   Yet, some who affirm the centrality of the cross do not equally affirm that Yahweh, and His Son are truly an infinite and truly a Supreme GOD as grandly and continually as the fact that Jesus saves sinners in His bloodshed.  While mankind and even Christians seem quick to overlook this, there is one Person who never overlooks this point and that is God Himself! 

            The doctrine of God's Supremacy is the main thing in the sense that a starry night is no more beautiful without infinite vastness of the darkness.  Until one sees on a clear night the immensity of the shinning stars being engulfed by the darkness the stars don't seem that amazing.  The beauty of the stars piercing the endless darkness loses all its wonder if there is no darkness to pierce.  The stars take center stage, but the infinite black space is always there, always being behold and marveled at.  The doctrine of God's supremacy is the main thing in the sense that the warmth of the sun is God's supremacy and its light is the gospel.  The gospel light grabs center stage but without warmth not only would the beauty of the suns light seem less impressive, but the gospel's beauty as well without the warmth of God's Supremacy would be less impressive.  Romans 3:24-26 puts sovereign justice and mercy, or God's Supremacy and gospel mercy as inseparable twins. 

            If there is one point I see more emphasized and continually repeated over and over again in the bible as much as the gospel message itself, it is that Yahweh is truly an Infinite and Supreme GOD!  So many miss this obvious and glaring point!  One of the main reasons this point is missed is due to the fact you really cannot feel its weight until you have read the scriptures from cover to cover a few times and begin to see certain points repeated over and over.  Yet, how many truly practice this ancient art?

            Particularly in the Old Testament you read, like a broken record, Yahweh is God, a most high God.  It is hard to see the weight of this until you recognize every time your bible reads "LORD" as all caps it refers to the personal Name of God: Yahweh.  One of the most used, of not the most used phase in the entire bible is "the LORD your God",[1] (or the Like.).  In other words one of the most repeated phrases, which God says over and over is that "Yahweh is a true God, and He is your God."  It is a point God never lets us humans assume for one moment, but repeats this to us over and over.  This is huge because there are some things, which God says in the bible a few times and then expects us to assume it, but this point is so important God simply is not willing to do that.  We are never to assume this but live in it with our amazement, lively thoughts and constant faith.

            If there is one distinction that makes Christianity different from all other religions it is the fact Christianity is the only religion where God is the center and not man.  No mater how central another religion's god may seem, man is ultimately the center of it.  For example, if any religion has man working his way to heaven with his own merits, then by rational reason their god is not an infinite god anymore.  Meaning man has now become the center point.  A God who allows man to work his way to a perfect heaven is not morally perfect and therefore, is not Infinite.

        If a Being is infinite and therefore perfect in morality, then He cannot order his subjects who have sinned against Him to work their way back to perfection, because to sin against an infinite Being is to commit an infinite degree of evil or sin.  This means it is impossible to work your way back to a good standing in the eyes of an infinite Being, for how do you pay an infinite debt?  A finite being although working to pay of their evil can never do so because just one of their sins would already equate to an infinite evil.  Therefore, it would be evil to reward finite working of good with and infinite reward.  This means that religions where one is able work their way back to perfection automatically means you are dealing not with an infinite God, but mere finite existence, who is able to ere and fail and where endless happiness is therefore impossible.

        Therefore, this being is not truly a supreme infinite God.  For it is impossible for a being to be infinite who is not perfect in morality.  An evil being cannot be infinite, because to be infinite means you cannot even be tempted to do evil.  To be infinite means you need nothing because being infinite you already have everything in yourself.  If you are evil you are tempted to wrong others to get something you want, because you lack something, whether it be material things or happiness!  An infinite being does not need to hurt people to be happy because infinity already possesses infinite happiness.  Therefore, this is not even a desire or temptation for Him.  This means it is impossible to be evil and infinite.  This is why in Hebrews 6:18 it says it is impossible for God to lie.  Without perfect morality and holiness a being simply cannot possess infinite anything, including power.  Therefore, this being is no god, and is suitable for defeat.  Because all other religions basically have this as apart of their systems, it shows all other gods as nothing, or not really gods![2]

        Christianity is the only religion where God is truly a God and not just some glorified human with mere comic book powers.  And this is something that the bible never lets us assume but reminds over and over.  For even the bible itself if broken down to its most basic level is simply this: God has written His first auto-biography about Himself to publicly show how famous and Supreme He is and He did this through His Son Jesus Christ in the gospel.  Or to sum up the bible in the shortest way possible: God's self-declaration of how Famous He really is through His Son!   It is not ultimately "god's love letter[3]" about how a pathetic god needed and did everything he could save man who was so valuable to him.  The bible is the Infinite Existence's self-disclosure about how famous He really is as He shines this beauty centrally through His Son Jesus Christ on the cross.

        See, it is about God showcasing His glory through His Son Jesus Christ.  Who in great love saved sinful mankind who were less than worthless, by causing them to partake of Their infinite happiness.  Accordingly, even man's enjoyment of God's is in itself, at its greatest level, man bearing the image of God and thus showcasing His Fame in it, so that man's beginning, middle and end, his salvation and happiness is for the Glory of God.  Here God's wisdom is displayed in that He acquires the accomplishment of having His greatest passion realized, which is having His unapproachable light made famously public through Jesus Christ's bloodshed.  Yet, God gave to man, who was created for this mere goal, infinite oceans of His own happiness to eternally pleasure themselves in, which they did not earn nor worked for.  This good was only because Jesus Christ turned toward worthless dust and chose to loved them as His own!  This is why God is so glorious in the eyes of all who have been granted the gift to see who He really is in the public image of His Son!

        Even some Christians have a hard time grasping the fact God only loved us first, because it made Him look good and famous.  Listen to God speak about this in, Isaiah 48:11, when He says, "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will [save you]; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another."  It is not first God's love to mankind that is motivating Him to save us, but His passion to make His Name Famous.  The Infinite Existence's wisdom concluded that saving us from our sins and hardships will make His famousness more known and public.  Then He repeats Himself in Ezekiel 36:32, saying, "Not for your sake do I do this [save you in Christ bloodshed]," says the Lord GOD, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!"  Or that be confounded at how worthless and sinful you are and how wonderful I am to save you and why I am doing it.

        The idea that the first motivation in God for saving us was not love to us is unnerving to our prideful hearts.  Yet, this shock should not surprise us for God even says in our text that this knowledge should cause us to be "ashamed and confounded."  We thought the world revolved around us pathetic humans, now we find out it does not.  We are so worthless that not even the tiniest stone revolves around us but God instead.  Now we are confused and angered that God saw us so worthless[4] that the motivation to save us was not first love to us!

        God's love to save us came from His first passion, which was to display His Fame by showcasing His love for His Son, by giving the public world to Him.  Only after the Infinite Existence decided to save us, to make Him look good, did He then turn His loving heart toward us and decide He will love us as His own children.  God loving us was a decision not a necessary reaction as if He needed anything.  This might frighten many unbiblical minds, for it appears to make God's love to us diminished and having room to be broken since it was only based on a mere choice of God. 

        This is how foolish and worldly minds think.  See, hypocrites feel safe when they evilly think God's love for them is based on the fact God must love humans because we are valuable!  Because we are valuable then God, if He is good, must love us, this is the irrational thinking of a hypocrite.  They fail to base all their understanding on God's own words but instead take some truths from His mouth and mix them with human depraved logic, which is why they are hypocrites.  They think they are Godly when in fact the mock God by trying to know God by their own logic and efforts and not living on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

        Yet, it is the very fact God's love to us is based on His own free choice and not because we are valuable that infallibly gives us the safety to trust Him!

        It is His mere choice that gives us no doubt He does and will always love us who are His Church.  We will dive into this more later but Hebrews 6: 18, says: "immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us."  It is impossible for God to lie.  Therefore, even if the Infinite Existence tells us that He saved us first out of His passion to make Himself famous and in this He then turned to love His church, still we have an immutable ground to trust Him.  This verse says God cannot lie because He is immutable.  And the only way to be unchangeable is to be infinite.  You're immutable if you have everything to an infinite degree so that it is impossible to change or be added to.  The main reason to change is because you lack something, but God being infinite lacks nothing, and therefore, cannot lie.  What He says is as sure as if He has already done it.

      See, God is such an infinite fountain that He has the capacity to first choose to love us because it will give Him glory and then to choose to love us from this and then choose that His love to us will be infinitely pure, being as intimate as a spouse, as endearing as a Father and as strong as a closest friend.  Human beings simply do not possess the ability or power to love in this intensity.  We love God because He is infinitely beauty and worthy to be loved.  God also loves Himself for the same reasons.  Yet, it is because of this very reason why God wanted to created creatures who are not beautify but undeserving of His love.  The goal of this was to showcase the superiority of His love.  Only God possesses this type of love inherently.

        God has the capacity to love us as strongly and sincerely as if we are His own children, even though this love was first inspired for His own self-promotion.  This is similar when a couple has a desire first to be parents and so adopt a baby.   Then when they do adopt they turn their love to this particular baby and love it as their own.  God doesn't need children, for He has a perfect Son, Jesus Christ. Still, God is able out of the overflow of His infinite heart to adopt children not His own and love them as His own much more perfect and deeply than any human parents could.  We were undeserving sinners and enemies of God.  Jesus calls us the children of the devil.  Still, because God is infinite and therefore His choices uninfluenced from any outside force, once He makes a choice it is exactly what He wanted to do.  Since there is no outside forces influencing His choices His decisions He will never change or waver from the intensity of desire from when He first made the choice.  God is immutable.

        See, if you were not infinite and chose to show your deepest love to a being that does not process the value or only secondly from a prior reason then you will eventually run out of this love, because you are limited.  Being finite you are mutable and open to change.  Being finite you could only stretch out your love for so much for so long.  But God being infinite has no limits or contestants or time restrictions to how much or how long or to whom He freely loves; He, being infinite is not able to change His promise of love to whom He gives it to.  Only God is truly capable of actually loving finite beings with an infinite, personal and unchanging love.  Because God is infinitely wise and powerful He is able to both plan and accomplish His promise of love through His Son Jesus Christ crucified for sinners. 

        People might irrationally think this reduces the sincerity of God's love.  Yet, because God is infinite this in fact does not lessen the sincerity of His love to us, but increases it.  God has an infinite capacity to love; therefore it is not diminished even if He chose to love first for another reason other than because we were beautiful. 

      See, mankind was the opposite.  We were not beautiful but hideous and worthless.  God has an infinite fountain of love to go around; infinity cannot be diminished.  There is in God, love enough.  The personal-ness, deepness and sincerity of God's love to us is only as great as God decided He would give to us.   And the scripture is quite clear how deep it goes.  The Infinite Existence when speaking in particularly of His love and mercy to man says in Isaiah 55:8-9, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  Paul speaks of Christ's motive for us on the cross was simply that the, "Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me", Galatians 2:20.  Psalm 36:8 displays an incredible scene concerning the depth of love that the saints receive from Christ in heaven, "They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures."  Elsewhere it is even said that God sings over us with joy!

         When we better understand what it means for God to be infinite the bible will make more since.  This is one reason why pagans have a hard time understanding the intelligence of the bible because they fail to see God as infinite.  This is why such strange and mutated doctrines arise stating God loves us because we are valuable, when this is quite impossible, seeing the bible calls all mankind less than worthless.   How un-ironic it is then when we actually believe all the biblical presuppositions and truths that it makes perfect since.  For the mere truth of God our Father and Jesus Christ being infinite shows how He is able to love Himself above all things and yet still love us worthless creatures with an eternal, infinite and personal, love more than any creature could hope to receive!

            This brings us back to what was said earlier.  Christianity is about God and not man, and His great kindness extended to man through His Son.  See, in the biblical worldview a true infinite God shines forth His supremacy through His Son in free mercy to sinners, this is the center.  In short hand it is ultimately about a glorious God and not man.  Reality is about God's choice not man's.   This is the only religion where this actually stands firm, and it stand because there is God who is actually infinite.  

        This is why the bible starts off, not with a weak being in need of a relationship, but with a real God, who in 6 days creating out of nothing, the entire infinite physical universe, as if it was nothing!  Yahweh was showing to all He was the real and only living Almighty God.  

        Yahweh translated reads: "I AM who I AM."[5]  The basic Hebrew meaning of  "I am" means: I exist or to be.  In other words our God's personal Name Yahweh means: I exist I exist.  This is repeated for a reason, for in Hebrew to emphasize something you repeat it.  God is not merely saying "I exist" but that "I am infinite existence" that is so overflowing with energy and power that with infinite motion moves and creates an endless universe in 6 days.  When God says He is the great "I AM who I AM" He is saying that He is infinite existence in constant moving energy.  This is why the universe is so huge and why Life is so complex even to the cells that make up our little bodies.  God is showcasing His infinite existence or that Yahweh is a true God.  Romans 1:20, "Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen...even His eternal power."  He is infinite in being or existence that is at constant infinite motion of forceful energy and power.  His creation gives us a dim glance of who He really is, the great and famous "Infinite Existence"!  And Jesus Christ claims this same title for Himself as God's only Son: John 8:58, "Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."

         The foremost reason I am writing deeply about this subject is because God in the bible does so much.  Seeing how many Christian teachers do not convey its important spurs me even more.  Lastly, because I truly have a sincere passion and heart felt priority to make my Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified the "main thing", unlike others who only use this title for gamesmanship, I am therefore, compelled to make the doctrine of the Yahweh's infiniteness and claim as a true God very well known so that the light of the gospel might appear more brilliant in backdrop of God's infinity as the stars do in the darkness of endless space.

        There is no usefulness in trying to look at all of life "through the lens of the gospel" without first looking through the lens of Jesus Christ as a true God or as the Supreme infinite Being!  This is why the "main thing" is recorded as such: "gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."   (1)Jesus Christ is the real God and Lord over all and He is giving to lowly man (2)free oceans of love and forgiveness.  The gospel that is weak on this teaching of God's Supremacy is weak in its teaching of its grace.  I wonder how many know this and actually teach in this knowledge?  To some degree it is true that the gospel is only as strong as you paint the beautiful and terrifying reality of Yahweh's and Jesus' claim as Infinite God.

         When I speak of Jesus' Supremacy I do not merely refer to His Holiness and hatred of sin itself.  Many speak very well of this.  The point is this: so what if this person you speak of is holy and pure if they are not truly an infinite Being or God?[6]  When I often watch the secular public hear a preacher speak of God's holiness and this why everyone needs forgiveness, it appears to me they do not even grasp that this God is truly a Supreme Being.  Although this should be obvious to all, (Romans 1:19-20), yet because men have seared their soul with a "hot iron" ironically what is suppose to be clearly observable is not. 

       The point that I really wish to covey is that when the Bible speaks of our "Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel" as the central, first importance and main thing that the doctrine of God's claim as the only infinite God is biblically included in this.  This is not just implied in the gospel nor is it to be assumed by our thoughts or poaching.  The more you assume this the weaker the massage and effect of the cross becomes!  I fear too many people do not realize this! -(Romans 15:16)

(B) How is this actually shown in the books of Romans and Hebrews?

        Romans 15:15-16, "Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."

        Paul states that God has given him a special grace, giving him the ability to know what the gentiles needed to be reminded of the most.  Paul knew these gentiles and their lack in not growing up in a Jewish home, being taught about Yahweh, His fame, His law, and infinity.  Paul's goal was to have the gentiles as a pleasing "offering" or sacrifice to God, being truly sanctified in the Holy Spirit.  By the grace of God Paul knew there were particular gospel doctrines, which were going to greatly help this goal.  One of these gospel doctrines was God's infinite sovereignty and power.  This becomes clear when we compare the amount of time Paul devoted to this subject in book of Romans compared to other books, which He wrote.  Paul starts his preaching in chapter 1 on this subject and it is heavily woven throughout chapters 2 and 3.  Then chapters 9 and 11 are almost entirely dedicated to this doctrine.  The amount of time Paul spent on God's infiniteness and sovereignty is almost as much time as Paul spent on the basic gospel issues of faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Why did he do this? He did this because God's grace gave Paul the understanding that the gentiles needed this emphasis in order to cause them to be an "acceptable offering" to God.

         But why is that the case?  Mankind's problem started when we tried to defy God's right to rule over us, as if that somehow was possible!  Our problem is at is most basic issue a matter of stupid pride.  We think to highly of ourselves and to little of God.  Yet, the design of human beings is for us to behold the Glory of Christ and enjoy Him.[7]  Therefore, if our goal is behold and enjoy God then having sinful pride is a major problem.  The less we think of God, the more diminished He is in our prideful minds eye, then the more of God's design and purpose for humans beings is not attainted.  But God never fails; therefore, it is humans who must be humbled to their proper place so that by the grace of Jesus Christ we are able to see how glorious He really is and so worship Him as He really is. 

         In particular gentiles who worship pathetic idols, including themselves are in great lack of knowing how infinite God really is, therefore, we particularly need to be instructed and re-instructed in this truth.  And lest we forget atheism, which is a form of worshiping man, is called by the bible an ancient form of paganism and idol worship.[8] 

        See, a Jewish man raised in a devote Jewish family, although he might be atheistic, if he was to become a Christian does not need heavy training in how infinite Jesus Christ and His Father is, for his thoughts have already been trained to think about such things.  Whereas pagans who worship finite idols and ourselves have not trained our little minds to comprehend the greatness, infiniteness, and true sovereignty of Yahweh.

          Therefore, one of the immediate charges and doctrines we learn from the preaching of Romans is that gentiles need a good amount of training in God's infinity and sovereignty.  Dear reader how often do train and retrain your mind to stretch as far as you can, through God's revealed word, in how infinite and sovereign He really is?  Dear preacher, do you preach the some amount of time on God's infinity and sovereign as the biblical standards charges us?

Having established this I will now proceed to show what in particular Romans, Hebrews and the bible says about God's infiniteness.  These doctrines are:

1.      Infinity is Creator of all things

2.      Infinity is Possessor of all things

3.      Infinity controls all things & is the only cause all things while all other things are effects of Infinite power

4.      Love is infinite 

5.      Infinite value and beauty properly orders all things for His own purpose and glory. 

Then some concluding thoughts:( This will be available for the book)

1.      Therefore, we should be wise and join ourselves to the Infinite Existence, because there is no escaping infinite energy.

2.      We are not to question God's sovereign choices

3.      Saints should believe and live form every word that precedes from the mouth the immutable God who has made promises. 

4.      Saints should rejoice to be forgiven by infinite mercy displayed in the glory of Jesus Christ, for infinite mercy quiets all doubts.

5.      What we do in response to the sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ will determine if God is your Infinite Friend or Infinite Enemy.

6.      We are to worship God as infinite.  Infinity deserves all praise and Glory (Jeremiah 9:23, Revelation 4:11)

7.      Saints should rejoice that they are united forever to Infinite value and happiness, Jesus Christ. 

Doctrine:

 (1.) The Infinite Existence is Creator of all things.

The bible starts with Genesis 1:1 as it says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  This is the first point about The Infinite Existence we learn and that is He is a true, God!  God is the title of description, which Yahweh gave Himself, since Scripture is God[9], entailing that He is the supreme ruler, owner and possessor over all things, because He simply made it all.  I might own the clay pot I made from the earth, but God made the earth, clay, the wisdom and ability within me to make the clay pot; and yes even my the choice to make the pot ultimately belongs to God.  There might be many small owners, which are better categorized as stewards, but God being the Supreme Owner titles Himself: God.  He is the only one because there can only be one Supreme Owner.  God is the title for Supreme Creator and Owner, or Head Owner, or the total Owner or the only real Owner Creator of all things.  Romans 9:5, "Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen."  This verse explicitly shows that the title of God belongs with it the meaning of "over all" or governor or owner of all things. 

         Genesis 2:4, "This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens." The LORD, or Yahweh is God because He created all things in 6 days, by His infinite power.  This is why Revelation 4:8 and 11 have the heavenly host singing, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!" ... "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."  God is honored with glory, honor and power for simply being the Creator of all things, and by whom all things also keep existing. 

          Jesus Christ claimed to be the Infinite Existence along side with His Father in John chapter 8 verse 58.  Therefore, Hebrews 1:3, tells us just as the Father keeps all things into existence does the Son, for "[Christ] being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."[10] This upholding means nothing created, or that nothing other than God has the power to self sustain itself on the plain of existence.  Only the Infinite Existence, who has "life in Himself"[11] does.  In other words if Jesus Christ or the Father were to accidentally forget to think about a particular tree, angle, human being or rock, it would cease to exist. I t would disappear from place of existence!  God must "uphold" the creation He made on the plain of existence.  God must, if you would, keep recreating all spiritual and physical existence every moment for it to keep existence.[12]  God must every moment exert His own energy in every spiritual or physical object or it would no longer be.  Although God does this there is a vast difference between God upholding the devil in existence and God doing the same with a saint whom He is also indwelling them with the full measure of His sweet Holy Spirit.  There are different levels of God's presence.  There is a vast difference between God's sustaining in existence presence and His loving comforting intimate presence.

What we are discussing is not pantheism.  See, the saints who are brought closer and in-filled with more of God's presence than any creature are only said to drink in God's presence but not become God.  Revelation 22:1, "A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceed[ed] from the throne of God and of the Lamb."  The saints are invited to drink in God's happiness and fullness but not to become God.

       Hebrews 11:3, "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."  God's essence is so infinite that He only speaks and all the worlds were created out of nothing.  How can this be you might say.  Here is Jonathan Edwards:

        "The whole of God's internal good or glory, is in these three things, namely, His infinite knowledge, His infinite holiness, and His infinite happiness.  Indeed there are a great many attributes in God, according to our way of conceiving them: but all may be reduced to these, or to their degree, circumstances, and relations.  We have no conception of God's power, different from the degree of these things, with a certain relation of them to their effects.  God's infinity is not properly a distinct kind of good, but only expresses the degree of good there is in Him.  So God's eternity is not a distinct good, but is the duration of good.  His immutability is still the same good, with a negation of change."[13]

        In other words God's Divine Nature of holiness, knowledge and happiness is so great it is infinite.  He is: The Infinite Good.  Accordingly, God's Divine Nature is so infinite it reaches out in unstoppable spiritual energy and creates things by the mere at of God happily thinking it.  Remember God's Name means Infinite Existence, which in is in other words means, infinite life or energy.  Energy is implied by existence, but God is infinite being.  It is hard to conceive this, but God's happiness and His moral goodness are not formless floating spiritual emptiness.  God's infinite happiness is energy, infinite energy.  God's infinite knowledge is energy, infinite energy.  And God's infinite holiness (or moral beauty) is energy itself, infinite energy.  Therefore, if it pleases God to created the universe God has infinite energy coming form His Divine Nature itself of knowledge, happiness and holiness to accomplish all His desires.

        Therefore, everything God does, whether it is with initial creation or His continued act of creation involves Him and not part of Him.  Because God's knowledge, moral beauty, and happiness are all infinite it cannot be said only God's moral goodness and not His happiness or knowledge causes something, for they are all infinite.  God cannot be infinite in one thing and not others, for finite cannot contain infinity.  Although all three of these things are infinite, God does cause some of His works to shine out particular shades of His infiniteness more than others.  Such as with wicked people the infiniteness of God's vindictive justice shines forth brighter than the infiniteness of His sheer happiness, which is still at work for He delights to see His justice accomplished.  But the point is that not parts, but all of God's infinite Soul is at work when He creates and continues to re-create all things, the future and all things for His glory.

        Normally when we conceive of our happiness we see it as an invisible emotion that needs the power, form and energy of our physical body to express it.  But God is different.  His happiness and holiness, is the energy itself, which is an unstoppable infinite energy. John Piper commenting on the above Edwards quote on his on footnote says:

         "The power of God is...the virtue of God in unstoppable effectiveness.  "Power" is simply the forcefulness of knowledge, virtue or happiness in accomplishing their ends."[14]

        This why the prophet Micah says, "But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, And of justice and might, To declare."[15] God does not strengthen Micah by His physical arm but by His Spirit.  I will address this later but the Holy Spirit is the infinity of Trinity's energetic love itself.  Again Romans 15:13 has similar langue when it reads, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Furthermore, when God speaks of what power will actually accomplish the salvation of man in the sending of His Son Jesus Christ He says in Isaiah 9:7, "The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."  Not God's arm for He has no physical arm.  Zeal is nothing more than a stream of love.  It is merely a more concentrated form of love with great passion.  What is being said here is that God's love itself will be the energy and power, which will actually accomplish the word of salvation.  This is stated like this because God's love is infinite energy itself; and infinite energy is able to accomplish all things.  God never fails.  Love never fails.  Lastly Hebrews 1:3, tells us that Jesus Christ "uphold[s] all things by the word of His power."  When God speaks or decree or wills something it is from the resources of His infinite heart, happiness and wisdom.  Because these are infinite they are infinite energy itself.  Therefore, when God speaks it comes from infinite energy and infinite energy cannot be stopped!  To stop true infinity would be a contradiction.  By this God's word is in a sense God Himself[16] and is unstoppable energy at constant motion for it came from the spring of infinity.  As the arms of God's word stretches out to accomplish its purpose its leg are submerged in the ocean of God's infinite energy of Holiness, wisdom and happiness.  This is what I mean that God's word is Himself.

         2 Peter 3:8, "Beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." In other words God is timeless.  He is timeless because He is infinite.  See, time has bounds.  Time has a starting place.  God is infinite, therefore He is outside and bigger than time.  The creation God put on display is not greater than its creator.  God is a true infinite.  While everything thing else at best can only be a mathematical infinite, where you have starting point and then infinitely proceed from their.  God has no beginning, and He is the only Person or existence for which this is true.  

        Furthermore, as far as I am concerned, there is no such thing as time, in a sense.  Time is nothing more than God choosing to act with regularity within physical mater.  We say the phrase, "the laws of nature", but this is misleading for there is no such thing.  God only chooses to regularly act the same way, or upholds and recreates the physical world in regularity so that there appears, from our conceiving of things, to be laws of nature.  I do not see how physical matter automatically means there is time.  But only because God chooses to act in regularity and in the same patterns within physical matter does there arise the possibility for such a thing as traceable time, as we conceive it.  God acts in regularity because His goal is to show to a grand public audience how famous His Son really His, or how glorious His really is.  Therefore, God acts in regularity and so gives us the notion of traceable time so that we, being in the school of the world and His revelation, may truly trace and know Him in a most incredible, unique, personal, and glorious way. 

         1 Corinthians 8:6, "There is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live."  One of the most glaring consequences belonging to a creator is that what they create is "for" them or for their purpose and intentions.  The same is also true for God, but not just true but much more.  All other creators whether, angelic, human or any other creature all derive their own powers, creativeness and the materials to create from God to begin with.  To this John the Baptist says, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven."[17]  Paul says something comparable in Acts 17:25 when he states, "[God] gives to all life, breath, and all things."

        Therefore, if we humans who derive all our life, abilities, and are being upheld into existence this very moment by the sheer power of God when we create claim full right to use it for our purpose, how much more does the Infinite Existence!  We humans even claim it as a virtue, a proper moral right for a creator of something to have the freedom to do with it as they so please, to be used for their purpose.  By this the hideousness of human depravity and hypocrisy appears when we claim such rights for ourselves yet deny it for God; especially when things are thoroughly considered and God is found to be worthy of infinitely more rights as the supreme Creator compared us who are like little worms. 

        Romans chapter 9 gives the clearest portrait concerning this doctrine.  Here, God compares pots and souls in such a way that His claim is this: My moral right to do whatever I want over a clay pot is the same as my right over a human soul!  Romans 9:20-21, "But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?"

        God tells us that just as stupid and wrong as it would be for a clay pot to argue with its human creator saying, "why have you made me this way", it would be equally as stupid and morally wrong for a human to say such things to his Supreme Creator.  In other words God is saying that His rights over a human being, as a Creator, is just as strong as a human's right over a clay pot.  So that if a human is able to take some mud and form a clay pot and use it as a garbage-can so that no one accuses him of wrong, but actually extols him for using his freedom, then God has the same moral freedom with human beings: soul or no soul!

        See, if we think because we have a soul that God has limitations in how He can treat us then are we thinking far to highly of dust and far too little of the Infinite existence.   God could create all mankind and then throw us all into an garbage heap for eternity, and still God has committed not wrong.  Indeed, God has actually acted in moral goodness if He would have done such a thing, because it is a proper and morally good for any creator to exercise his will over his creation in total freedom.  Just as it is a morally good thing for metalworker to have the freedom to make a metal toilet and then the next day make a metal trophy.  God has this some right over a human being: soul or no soul it does not matter.  For if you do not think God's glory and Creatorship deserves that all mankind to be thrown into a garbage can, whether they sinned or not then your opinion of man is far too great and your view of God is infinitely too small.

        God's right over a clay pot is Infinite, and I say that as strongly as I can.  Furthermore, although man was made in God's image and thus, in a sense, a more valuable creation, still God being infinite, has an Infinite creator sovereign right over man to freely do with him in whatsoever way He wishes.  It does not matter how valuable you think a human soul is, God still has an infinitely free, infinitely morally good right, and infinite Creatorship over them.  This means God's freedom and moral right over a human soul is more morally free and more proper than what a human would have over a clay pot they made.  Only an Infinite Being has such rights and He has a name, Jesus Christ the Lord!

        See, the only reason God says he will not treat mankind in certain aspects unjustly is because God first made a promise to mankind, so that before this promise God had no moral obligation to love or treat any mankind fairly.

        It is infinite, unspeakable sheer kindness, humbleness and grace that God would bind Himself to treating certain aspects and certain humans with promises of love, rewards and even forgiveness!  Even with a soul, God owes nothing to any human.  As a Creator God created humans "for" Himself and "for" His own purposes just as a human creates a clay pot "for" their pleasure and for their own purposes.  Yet, God's marvelous grace and glory radiates as the morning Sun, when He makes the church "for" Himself with the purpose of grafting them into His Son Jesus Christ.  In this God basically makes the church like a clay pot "for" the purpose of pouring an unending flow of the rubies of His love and happiness into. 

        Through His Son Jesus Christ God promises to always forgiven anyone who asks in faith: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us."[18]  What unspeakable mystery lies in these words, that God would blind Himself to His created creatures in such a way He would be evil if He did not perform this forgiveness, when beforehand He was not obliged to perform such a wonderful thing!  Before God owed nothing to us and could do whatever He wanted to do with us.  This is true whether mankind had sinned for not.  Until God had made a promise of good to mankind God owed them nothing even if they had not sinned.  He could do anything with them and it would be a moral right of God to do so, even throwing mankind in a trashcan although they did not sin.  Therefore, it is a testimony of how great and deep is God's grace, love and compassion that He would promise and tie Himself in having to perform any goodness toward mankind so that it would be unfair and wrong if God did not.  Yet, for God to promise to forgiven mankind after they sinned and defied His right to rule over them, is a mystery and a testimony of the infinite heart of the Infinite Existence.  Why should a Creator who was wronged by His creation tie and bind Himself in an oath promising an eternal good and happiness to them is why in some senses the gospel is called a mystery, and thus, when words finish grasping in vain to explain such a wonderful thing can they can only end in words or worship: "To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved."

            Creation is like a mirror in that it reflects the truth that God is a necessary being.  What I mean by a necessary being is that it is impossible or a contradiction for God not to exist; and in particular it is impossible for the God of the bible not to exist.  Because all things are consequences there must be a self-existing infinite Cause.  In other words all of creation including its beginning is an effect or a consequence.  Even the imaginary fairytale of the evolution "big bang" theory cannot get past the law of inertia.[19]  This means even the faulty idea of evolution cannot escape the logical conclusion that creation or all physical mater is simply a consequence.   What this means is that there is a Necessity prior to any consequence, or that there must be a cause to an effect.  Creation being a consequence screams that their must be a necessity or screams out that the necessity that an eternal God exists or be.  Since it is impossible to be truly eternal without being infinite this eternal necessary is an self-existing infinite.

            The universe or all physical matter is a consequence because the idea of self-creation denies the most fundamental law of noncontradiction.  The only way for something that did not exist to then exist is to say non-being came into being by non-being, which is irrational stupidity.  For something to create itself it would have to be before it was, which is nonsense.[20]  This is why a self-existing infinite God is absolutely necessary.  See, while the concept of self-creation does indeed violate basic laws of logic, yet the idea of a self-existing eternal Being does not violate any formal law of logic whatsoever.

            Furthermore, God's existence is necessary because the physical matter cannot be by chance.  See, even an un countable amount of "finite" things (universe) it is still finite.  The true infinity cannot be made up of parts.  If so-called chance or chaos was responsible for physical matter then knowledge itself would be scientifically impossible.  For science is based upon observing noticeable patterns so that data can be collected and then understood.   But chance is not a patter but only random; therefore, knowledge would be impossible.

            Chance has no power; chance has no being!  If I flipped a dinner plate into the air and we knew the exact power exerted on it, the thickness of the air and other important variables we should be able to predict with a greater than 50% prediction which side the plate would land, upright or upside down.  The reason for this is that "chance" exerted no power over the dinner plate, therefore leaving us the ability to calculate were it would end up because the mystical power of chance has no power or being to alter it.  Chance has no power because chance has no being, or that it does not exist!  It is nothing and therefore, has the power to do nothing.[21]  Therefore, God is absolutely logically necessary.

            Lastly, I would like to point out that this argument for the necessity of God which creation shows is not the Christian's epistemology or first principle for proving God.  A first principle needs to be both self-justified and also containing universal truths for all of life so.  The Christian's first principle is the Bible.  See, the bible is self-justified in that you must affirm its propositions to deny it.  This is similar to the law of noncontradiction.  But the bible also contains universal propositions for all of life, thus making the Christian worldview a worldview with a true epistemology enabling truth to be known infallibly and fully.  There is no other worldview with an epistemology this strong.  Most, it not all, worldviews epistemology is non-existent, or circular leaving no possibly for knowledge to even be known.  Yet, this always leads to skepticism, but skepticism ultimately denies the law of noncontradiction, making all these worldviews false.[22]

            Finally I wish to conclude this section with this thought from Isaiah chapter verses 2-3 when it reads, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider." 

Every doctrine is practical because every doctrine we learn form the scriptures displays God's glory in some manner so that we might practically and more affectionately worship our good and Awesome God.  All doctrine helps us to worship our great God better, which is the greatest and the most important practical thing any saint or for that matter any creature can participate in.  This is the end reason why God made mankind or the church that He might be glorified by our pleasurable worship of Him.  Does this bother your?  Do you think you somehow deserve better things?  I believe the scriptures response for you is to know your place oh created creature back in your Masters barn.

        See, we like to think far too highly of ourselves just because we realize God has clothed mankind with a soul, which was originally pattered in likeness to God's.  But you might say that is good reason to think highly of ourselves.  Yet, it is for this very reason God hates such willful pride.  It is the fact that we have a soul and a strong rational mind that we should be able to know that we were also created from the dust and will return to the dust, and that God by His own power and will orders our very steps and numbers our days like a Grand puppeteer.  It is the fact we have a soul that we should know our place under our God and happily live there.  The problem according to this passage is that a dumb donkey knows is place as a created creature of God, yet intelligent mankind does not?  What discriminating irony this is for mankind.  The donkey like Noah and the Queen of the south will rise up on judgment day to condemn those who did not know there place in their Masters crib, when it, a dumb animal did!

        Here is how God responded to a righteous man who thought more highly of himself than he ought.  Job 38:1-4, "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: "Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. " Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding."  The Infinite Existence's response to Job was that he should not act so self-righteously or important because he was not there when the Infinite Existence with His own power, for His own intents created the foundations of the earth and all things, including mankind.  God is in essence saying to Job (and us) you were not there when physical mater was created for its specific reasons therefore, your understanding of things is as nothing and valueless.  God is saying you are trying to justify yourself as more valuable than you are without any true understanding about how things really are.   God is saying I created all things, I gave them value and I am able to take away their value.  Being Creator I am therefore, infinitely more valuable than all things combined.  God is saying how dare you Job try to judge what is true, righteousness and value when you did not create the world.  How can you know what is true righteousness when you know so little?  Therefore, God tells Job to prepare himself like a man, who was made from the dust of the earth.  Man did not determine what is his value or place in the world is, God did.  And God is telling Job you do not have the right as a created creature to justify yourself, for you have no inherent value nor do you the understanding to make that kind of call.  This is mans place before God on these issues.

        But what about the cross, you might say?  At the least does not Jesus make all true believers valuable?  Inheritably the answer is still no!  The Christian is like the man who found the treasure in the field.   The man himself is not more valuable, but now is enjoying possessing something that is valuable, which is Christ!   2 Corinthians 4:7, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us."  See, like our verse indicates it is the very reason that we are so worthless, like earthen clay pots filled with the precious diamonds of Christ gospel, that Jesus Christ clearly receives all the glory and we the pleasure of being filled with the treasure of His love.  

       This leads us to the concluding point about all of this.  If we are humble by recognizing we are but worthless created dust, by confessing our sins and by confessing how much of a failure we really are, before our Mighty God, He will save us and fill us with the treasure of His loving-kindness.  Psalm 100:3, "Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture."  And, Psalm 147:6, "The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground."

       Yet, the real test of our humility before our Creator is when we stand under the weight and beauty of Jesus Christ's humility on earth.  Indeed, how much more must we humble ourselves upon considering how Jesus Christ the Son of Infinite Existence would humble Himself even to the point of death on the cross to lovingly die for filthy enemies and worms!  When it was man who properly belonged in barn of His Master, Christ the lord humbled Himself and was born amongst the dirty hay in a barn.  He humbled, not of His own, will but His Father's will, although the earth and all in it was His rightful claim. John 4:34, "Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."  Every member of mankind should have lived just like this but instead each one us does the food of our own hearts and selfishness.   Christ our Lord loved His God and Father so much that He endured the cross and all of its shame, torment, horrific pain and suffering.  When it should have been man stooping and crawling at their Makers feet it was Jesus Christ who instead stooped and washed his disciples feet.  He lived the humble life that we were suppose to and then gave it as a free gift to all who love and believe in His Name, to ware this righteousness as if they had done it themselves.

         Dear reader do you know your place today in light of your God being Infinite power and the Creator of your body who knitted together the very fabric of your soul claiming ownership of it?  Do you also know that those who humble themselves at the foot of the cross will find the Creator's smile there?  They will find that although they are but a man who is made of clay will find the infinitely valuable mercy and love of Jesus Christ poured without measure in and over them.
           

        This is why Paul in the book of Romans chapter 1 mocks persons who worship created things and not the Creator of all things.  See, by worshiping created things, which includes the worship of man, it is not only an act of stupidity but of gross pride as well.  When the object of your salvation is a mere wooden bird, or a celebrity, or secular government (made up of man), or technology (made by man), or education (produced by man), or mother nature (a fairytale constructed by man), or science (produced by man) or sexual pleasure and fame (given by man) it makes you look good because you are not to far behind your god in value.  This produces great pride in the heart of mankind, who was created from mere dirt.

         Paul continues his mockery of such persons throughout the book of Romans by showing how Jesus Christ is a true God who is alone is able is save.  Paul shows God is the Creator of all things, that He alone has provided forgiveness for the sins committed by all men.  Paul shows how God has in immeasurable wisdom and intelligence predestined and ordered even the future itself for His own good intents so that the church is crowned in His Son's mercy, so that as all the spokes of a wheel turns in a common directions that in all things God receives the glory and honor forever.   What Paul presents to us is an irrefutable and beautiful display why the Infinite Existence deserves all true worship, because He alone created all things, and that for His own wise, good and gracious purposes.  Romans 11:34 "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?" "Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?" For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."  And, Revelation 4:11, "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."

2.) Infinity is Possessor of all things

Genesis 14:18-20,  "Melchizedek king of Salem priest of God Most High said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.  And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand."

          Our first point was on God as Creator of all things and now we will dive into the necessity of Him being "Possessor" of all things.  Furthermore, following this we will dive into the Infinite Existence being in control of all things.  While all these points do overlap some in their consequences yet there are some distinctives, which the scripture points out and it is for this cause I mark them out as well.

         As our verse indicates, to be the Most High God, means you are Possessor of all things: whether physical or spiritual, whether earth or heavenly, whether visible or invisible, whether tangible or intangible.  It can be said that God, because He created all things therefore, possesses or owns all things.  But it cannot be said that God creating everything and being Infinite could possibly own all things but could give this ultimate ownership to others.  Just as it is impossible for God to lie[23] it is impossible for God to only possibly be the ultimate Possessor of all things.  God, because He created everything and every moment must exert His own energy into all parts of creation to keep it on the plain of existence, does in fact own everything and establishes this fact every moment something exists, for by this God is the cause and everything else is the effect.  Therefore, by God having to re-create all things every moment, He accordingly re-establishes His ownership of all things, thereby making it impossible for God not to own all things, at all times in a total supreme Possessor of them.  This is why the scriptures when referring to God giving mankind things, whether physical or talents (etc), are often called stewards of them, and not labeled as supreme owner for it would be impossible for them to be so.  It would be a lie or a contradiction to say a person in the truest most absolute since owns something, when God owns that person, owns their thoughts, abilities, their hearts desires; and when God is upholding their breath in the palm of His hands and is this very moment re-creating this object and re-creating their ability and power in their arm to even hold this thing God gave them.  God is truly the Possessor of all things!

         The point I desire to focus chiefly on is a particularly implication or action God does, because He is the Possessor of all things.  Being Owner of everything accordingly means for God that He is also the Supreme Giver.  Since God owns everything then only He is truly in the position to give anything.  And give is something that an infinitely good and morally holy God does much of.  We will being our study of this were we left of from Genesis.  Here, just after we learn God is Possessor of all things by Abram own words, God tells Abram that He is going to give him a child.  By this we learn from the Scriptures that one of the implications for God being Possessor of all things is that He is able to give anything to anyone who He wishes to.

         Genesis 15:1 "After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." Genesis 15:3 "Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring."

        Genesis 15:5, "Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."

            If you were to consider God's dealing with man in general and particularly to the church then mercy and love would be the way to sum this up.  But if you were to consider of the most basic practically ways God tangibly shows His goodness and love to mankind, particularly the church, it would one enormous unending stream of giving and giving and then more giving.  I would have to write a book about as big as the bible to talk about all times God is giving to man, because the bible is so concentrated with God doing so.  Therefore, I would ask you to consider just some of the things God gives.             

            God is literally able to give anything, since He is the cause of all things, and re-creates all things every moment.  Man receives all things from God, but only if God thoughtfully purposes to give anything to man.  Otherwise man would have nothing.  John 3:27, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven."  This is an all encompassing metaphysical statement referring to all things, so that God gives things whether physical or spiritual, or that God gives the visible powers such as abilities, thoughts and desires within men. 

            God does in fact give all sorts of things, such as: forgiveness, even happiness itself, God even can give time[24].   God gave man a wife[25] and in this God gave friendship itself as gift to humanity.  God personally gives food to all animals,[26] and gives them rest by causing them to rest[27].  God gives sun light and gives rains to all sorts of persons: Matthew 5:45, "He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."  He gives earthly and heavenly inheritances and gives protection particularly to His humble[28].  Jesus Christ through His bloodshed, gives life to dead men, gives liberty to the oppressed, gives His favor, gives sight and gives every manner of healing.[29]  He even gives the access He has to the Father to believers by giving His own earned righteousness.  Jesus Christ gives the full measure of Holy Spirit and gives the gift of His own infinite love forever to all believers.

            Still, the greatest thing God possesses is Himself!  What doest this mean?  It means God shines out as the greatest, freest, and most wonderful giver of all.  See, the greatness of a gift depends on 3 things.  The value of the gift, the cost of the gift, and how much true happiness it imparts to the receiver.  God as a giver excels in all three of these as infinitely the best giver.

            First, God gives the gift of the greatest value and price by giving His Son so that by removing our sins from us, Jesus Christ might be ours and we His!  God is not a mere mathematical infinite but as stated before is a true infinite.  But His infinity is the infinite energy of His Holiness or moral beauty, knowledge and happiness.  Therefore, God is infinitely lovely and so infinitely valuable.  There is no measure to His beauty.  Being infinite God's infinite beauty and value is eternal; and furthermore, His value therefore does not waver but is stays immutably costly.  The scriptures, when comparing many countless human souls to God's worth, finds them less than worthless.  Isaiah 40:17, "All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless."  Moreover, anything which God creates will also be infinitely less valuable and lovely compared to God Himself.  Therefore, when God's heart overflowed with loving saving thoughts toward the Church when considering what would be the greatest gift to give her He gave Himself to her.  The Father gave His Son, and the Son gave Himself.  God gave man a companionship, the earth, promises of grace, God gave Revelations of Himself through miracles, through His prophets, Kings and servants, but God' greatest gift was His Son.  

            Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."

            Consider the church to whom this verse is spoken to?  It is to the church of the laodiceans.  This church was the only church, which no good thing was mentioned!  Yet, Christ has one of the most wonderful things that He offers to them.  He finds them naked yet invites them to be clothed.  He finds them lukewarm and undesirable yet invites them sit on His throne with Him at His Father's side.  Christ finds them wretched, miserable, poor and blind, and so counsels them to be zealous and repent, because He has come as a Kingly Savior, Who offers the best of all gifts, by offering Himself to them and they to be His.  In everything our Lord Jesus Christ did: by being born under the law as a child, teaching, healing, dieing on the cross and interceding for us in Heaven was so that He could simply and freely offer Himself to be yours and you His!  This is the meaning of our verse.  

          This passage is broadcasting the magnitude of the freeness concerning God's mercy given to sinners.  God is pledging to sinners a glorious marriage, an intimate fellowship and a sweet communion of the likes they have never seen or imagined.  The point is that only our happiness in receiving Him to be ours and we to be His, is required in His offers.  He only asks that we are willing for this. 

            What does it signify that the lord Jesus Christ is knocking on the door?  In our passage it states that it is Christ alone who stands at the door knocking.  Therefore, in conclusion it is Himself that He offers.  God's greatest gift is Himself! 

            If you would, Jesus Christ's bloodshed is the most beautify, unexpected, most precious gift given to His redeemed church.  It is so prominently displayed because it gives way for all the others gifts to come to us.  Yet, the greatest gift is the gift which Christ's bloodshed leads too, which is Himself.  Sometimes the scripture looks at this reality as one and the some in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but other times these gifts are seen although as twin sisters yet distinctly.  So that in the book of Revelation Jesus is center stage displayed as the "Lamb of God" as an infinitely precious gift for His church so that He might be able to be the greatest gift of offering Himself to His bride as "rivers and waters of life" as the "tree of life" and as sweet sun shine softly warming the hearts of His bride forever.

            He offers Himself to be ours and that we to be His.  Like a spouse offering themselves to the other, so Christ is offering Himself to live, fellowship and overflow our souls with Himself and that we would give up ourselves to be His.  Christ is offering that He Himself be translated into our souls so that His presence shines in us like the morning Sun as it becomes the pleasant light for all the world to enjoy.  He is offering that He would be this enjoyment to us by asking us to dine with Him forever where He lives.  His knocking means He is looking to gain entry to win ownership over our heart and mind.  As a spouse, He is asking to have your heart given completely to Him, so that the arms of your soul only hold onto Him as your all in all.  Having your heart emptied of all others is what He is seeking entry for, so that you would fall headstrong into His embrace of love and mercy. 

            Secondly, the cost of God's gift was immeasurable and unsearchable.  Consider how long the saints will enjoy the benefits of Jesus Christ's bloodshed?  Will it not be for eternity and even eternity again?  This shows to us the magnitude of the cost of Christ gift of Himself to us.  But the real cost of Christ gift is seen in how far He had to plunge Himself in the curse of our death, torment, suffering, weakness, shame and wrath of God meant for us.   King David when desiring to offer a gift of burnt offerings to Yahweh in 1 Chronicles 21:24 stated that he will not offer a gift to God that "which costs me nothing."

The value of a gift is seen when it cost the giver something.  The reason being is by this the giver demonstrates the genuineness of his love to the receiver.  Greater the cost the more authentic the love appears.  Therefore, Christ after clothing Himself in humanity gives it up under the wrath of God so that as His humanity was destroyed under God's wrath so that the saints might live because of His righteousness.  Who is able to understand the depths of torment that Christ experienced as He was under hour after hour of the Father's wrath?
            He who was once under the eternal infinite influence of God's love and pleasure was eclipsed from it to find Himself under God's separation and fierce wrath for sins He did not commit, but willing had given to Him for our salvation! Each tear was worth 10,000 gifts of healings and each drop of precious blood worth 10,000 souls to be forgiven and each word of love and deed of compassion worth 10,000 innumerable degrees of imputed righteousness to persons who did nothing for them!

            Christ Jesus literally has proven by an infinite degree that His love is immeasurably more genuine and authentic and trustworthy than all the world combined as a gift, because of how much it cost Him. Creating a world for each one of us would have cost God nothing for this would be infinitely easy thing.  Yet the cross cost Him His blood, honor, pleasure and close intimacy with His Father.  Is this not why the one of the only two ordnances Christ spoke by His mouth for the church to practice was the lord's supper?  And what is its goal?  Luke 22:19, "He took bread saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  Indeed we were redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."[30]

            Thirdly, and lastly God is seen as the Supreme giver in that His gift of Himself and bloodshed for us benefits us with and infinite and eternal degree of happiness in the fellowship of the Trinity.  See, if your gift is very costly but does not impart a true or lasting happiness to the receiver then the gift is not that great or wonderful.  The greatest of gifts imparts a true benefit of happiness to the receiver, for happiness is the greatest thing which love wishes to give to the object of its love. 

            It only takes a little consideration upon the wonderful benefits of Christ's suffering to know how greater God is as a giver compared to all others.  We were made of dust, but now because of Christ Jesus we are made from heavenly materials.  Before as sinners we were described as fifthly worms of the earth, now because of Christ's gift of suffering the saints are described as stars shining in the heavens.  Because of Christ the lowly, broken, oppressed, and hurt will have all tears whipped away.  In heaven there will be no more pain.  Instead all have free access to enjoy the shining beautiful countenance of their Saviors face, to enjoy His refreshing Rivers of pleasures and to eat of His tree of life forever.  Yet in all of this Christ Jesus does not grow in His essential happiness!  His happiness with His Father and the Spirit is infinite and immutable, and therefore cannot be taken away or added to.  Herein does the fame of Christ's loving gift of His grace shine particularly bright.  He gives so much not for His benefit, but solely for the benefit of others who did not deserve such.  The scriptures ring true when they say, "according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things... Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD.  For there is none like You."[31]

            God being the Supreme Giver showcases that He is very glorious, and so therefore, commands us to call upon His name so that the glory of Him being the supreme Giver is displayed.  Psalm 50:15, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

            This is the reason why God reveals to His creatures that He is in fact the giver of any and every good thing a person has.  God is showcased as grand and wonderful in that He who has everything and in need of nothing, yet generously gives so much to His creation.  Therefore, the psalmist has said in, Psalm 16:2, "O my soul, you have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You." Because all our good comes from the Lord the psalmist also says, "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy."[32]

        A person has nothing nor can give nothing to himself, nor produce any good for himself, but only has any good as God chooses to give it; whether it be physical, spiritual, situational, invisible thoughts, even the ability to chose good things are all gifts of God's goodness.  What happens is that God is showcased as a glorious Giver while helpless man gets blessed with God's wonderful kindness, help and loving-mercy. This is why Paul says that, "we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." Paul is saying mankind being made from the dust of the earth is likewise equivalent to a worthless dusty clay pot.  But God who is the great Giver fills these worthless pots with the priceless diamonds of Christ Jesus' righteousness, goodness and all divine blessings.  Therefore, the clay pots are not, in and of themselves more valuable, but only what they hold is valuable, which is God's loving-mercy. 

         Therefore, may the "the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us," and may this be shown through us by our holy enjoyment of Christ's goodness in the gospel.  What this means is that the church enjoys God's infinite goodness towards them with holy affections and praises to Him.

            Indeed, as we truly begin to see how everything we have that is good literally is given from the Father of lights, the giver of every good gift that every mouth will be stop from boasting and be reopened to thankfulness to the Supreme Giver.  Corinthians 4:15 "For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God." 

          Thanksgiving is justly the response to receiving a free gift.  One trademark of a maturing Christian is how thankful they are to their beloved God.  For through the eyes of faith a saint is able to see how everything they have was, is, and will continually be a gift from riches of Jesus Christ.  This is why we are instructed to be "abounding" in "thanksgiving."  Colossians 2:7, "Walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."  Also consider, Ephesians 5:18,20, as it reads, "Be filled with the Spirit...giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."  This is why 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

        Thanksgiving is God's will because God aimed at in the creation of the world and its end for His Son to have the "Supremacy" in "all things."[33]  Furthermore, it is right, proper and goodness to give honor and thanks to whom it is deserved.  But Christ Jesus' broken body is the food of the Christian and He is tree of life they will eat in that heavenly Jerusalem.  His blood is the refreshing wine and pleasure of the saints to drink and He is the rivers of life and pleasures which the saints will drink to their content in Heaven.  Christ Jesus is a cloud by day and fire by night to the Christian today covering them with full measure of His grace, mercy and protection until He brings them into His heavenly home where there is no need of a sun because He is its lights and glory for the saints to bask in the uninterrupted rays of Christ's loving presence. 

         By faith the Christian sees that even the ability to make godly choices is not of their self-will but that "faith" is a "gift of God."  They perceive that good works done by their physical hands were ultimately not fruits of them but "fruits of the Spirit" because by the power and gifting of the Spirit only did these happen!  God's divine energy working good in all creation, all things and in the spiritual good works of the Christian is so seamless that worldly eyes miss its author, but the Christians on the other hand sees that in all these things "Christ is all and all" and that He is the true power, energy and author of them all.  Therefore, Colossians 3:17 tells us that, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." 

            This leads us to our next consideration.  The end reason for knowing these things is this: that the glory of Him being infinite Creator, God and Possessor of all things is properly displayed.  And the reason God is so passionate concerning His glory being exhibited is so that we me pour forth in holy worship and enjoyment of Him by knowing Him in these things.  This is why I said earlier our worship or our holy enjoyment of God in truth is the most practical thing we are able do in our love before our great God.  This is similar to that old Westminster confession.   The ultimate end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever, or worshiping Him forever, or by an affectionate holy love given to Him forever.  And the more you realize God's love and all good gifts only reach His saints in the streams of redeeming mercy flowing in Christ blood then the more thankful we become.   By this we desire to glorify God in humble joyful boasting in Christ crucified for sinners.             

            This is the reason why Romans 15:9 says Jesus Christ came to earth to die so "that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy."  Similarly in Hebrews chapter 4 the writer speaks of how God Himself has entered in to an eternal rest when He finished the marvelous six day creation.  The writer leads us desiring to enter into this rest with God for it is the greatest of all blessings to do so.  Then by the end of this book the writer shows how Christ Jesus in His mediation of High Priest has acquired this eternal rest for His saints to enter into with God their Father!  The writer then gives us this conclusion about the matter: "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."

        (2) If we continue from our original text concerning God being Possessor of all things we will read that, "[Abram] gave him a tithe of all."(14:20) See, Abram gave a tithe of all because all he has was from God to begin with.  In essence we are giving back to God, which is God's already.  King David said something similar in 1 Chronicles 29:14, "All things come from You, And of Your own we have given You."  In paying tithes what Abram is doing is a public testimony that God is, well, in fact the Almighty God who owns all things in very since.  This is similar to the Lord's Supper where it is a public testimony of the believer that Jesus Christ's bloodshed has in fact saved them.  Tithe is also a public testimony of the believers joy and happiness in God in the since this act is a joyfully acknowledgment that all the good things they have was given to them by their kind Almighty God.  Tithe is the joyful and humbling acknowledgment that God, being infinite, is the sum Possessor and Giver of all things, particularly of all money, material things and even of all grace and goodness to the believer.

            (3) 1 Samuel 2:6-8,  "The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, And He has set the world upon them."

            We have looked over the logical doctrine that if God is Possessor of all things then He is the giver of all things whether visible or invisible.  But there is also a flip side to all of this.  If God possesses all things, and that by natural right because He created all things, then it is His right and power to take away anything He so desires.  This is exactly what our verse clearly indicates.  "The Possessor of all things does in fact give life or can take life; He is able to give life again from death or take it way; God gives riches or He takes it away. And God does this because the earth and all in it is His and does with His own creation as He so pleases and no one is able to stop Him and question Him saying: why have you done this?"

            Job 39:13-17, "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly.  She leaves her eggs on the ground, And warms them in the dust; She forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may break them. She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern, Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow her with understanding."

            Why does the ostrich treat her babies so irrationally?  God responds by saying He made or created the ostrich dumb, He took away her intelligence simply because He wanted to.  But you might be thinking that this is mean and unfair.  Yet this type of thinking is common for sinful men.  They do not like the idea God is, well, actually God and that He actually exercises His right to do with His creation as He so pleases. 

            But the saint has the opposite attitude, for their attitude is the same.  God abundantly enjoys exercising His Infinite sovereignty and goodness patterned after His infinite wisdom.  Therefore, the saint likewise having God's holy nature implanted in him, being able to see spiritually and logically enjoys, treasures, prizes, and marvels at the works of God done by His infinite sovereignty, power and wisdom; and done by His infinite right to do with all things as He so pleasures because He created all things by His own power; for by His will they exist and exist for His own glory and purposes.  The saint knows because the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross God uses all the power, love and wisdom at His disposal to order their steps and work all thing for their good in Christ.  When they see God's wrath on the ungodly they, like God, rejoice in the practical work of justice which destroys all evil on those who practice ungodliness.  Revelation 19:3,15:4, "They said, "Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever! & Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested."

            See, God has the ability to take away your soul.  He is the Judge over all creation because He made all creation.  So that Luke 12:20 says, "God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?"  Indeed, even what little or nothing you seem to have, even this will be taken away from you, and you be will thrown into that endless pit of black midnight being removed from all and any of God's beauty.  Luke 8:18 "Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."  Satan was the most beautiful angel distinguished from all the rest in this respect.  Doubtless this is where his pride had some of its beginnings, thinking he deserved to be God.  Therefore, God kicked Satan out of heaven taking away this beauty.  Now he is named as the most hideous of creatures, even that of a snake crawling on its belly, not being worthy to stand before God.  This is a symbol in how low God will humble all who do not love the value and beauty of His Name.

(3) Infinity controls all things & is the only cause all things while all other things are effects of Infinite power. 

        It is impossible for a true infinite not to always be the cause, for a true infinite is everywhere with its own infinite energy in all things.  It is impossible for infinity to be an effect of anything on any level for that would contradict infinity not being infinite.  So that God cannot choose to give causality to other things or beings for that would be the equivalent of infinity giving up its infinity, which is nonsense.  God would cease to be God!  God's infinite is not what He does it is who He is of His core existence, so that to give this up God would give up His existence as He is, which is nonsense. The phrase "lord GOD" in scripture means: Sovereign Existence or being.  Thus, God's being or existence consists of His Sovereignty.  This is so basic!  God cannot be passive in His governing reality for only God has the power of Deity, or that there can only be one infinity, both by definition of scripture and reason.

         See, according to Biblical revelation[34] by definition or classification if an object has the power to self-sustain itself then it is deity.   So that if a created object has an independent existence, so that it can choose its own destiny apart from God, it is by definition of scripture deity.  Yet, this flies in the face of biblical revelation and rationalism.[35]  Therefore, no created object, whether man or angle, has power to self-sustain itself or even their own thoughts.  This means all created things by Biblical definition are mere effects, or that it would be impossible for created objects to be causes of anything in the ultimate sense. 

       Yet, on the relative level from one created object to another it is proper to say a man or another created objected caused something.[36]  But, on the ultimate level as any created object is compared to God, God is always, and I means always, the cause.  I will give two examples of this. 

         First, consider Romans chapter 1 where the sinful persons being described in verses 18-32 on a relative level are attributed as the cause for God's punishment.  God gave them created creation to prove His glorious existence and they, created man, choose to suppress this truth and not worship God.  Therefore, God punishes them for their willful disobedience.  Yet, in Romans chapter 9 verses 20-23 when referring to all sinful men, who included those mentioned in chapter 1, God is ultimately attributed with why these men are sinful and punished, at least on the orchestrating and metaphysical level.[37]  Then there is the example of Jesus in Matthew 10:8 it reads, ""Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."  Jesus Christ tells them that they are to heal the sick and they are to cast out demons.  Yet, Peter says in Acts 3:12, "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk."  What we have here is that on the relative level of creation to creation, when understood rightly, it is proper to say the disciples healed the sick.  But on the metaphysical or ultimate level God is the power and causing of the healing.

           Furthermore, "in Him we live and move and have our being."  Therefore, a true free will and autonomy is impossible, because we are always "in" Him.  We are never out of God, therefore, any created thing then is the effect of God.  Furthermore, because we are in God no created man is free to think or move apart from God's influence, for they are "in" God.  For a person not to be influence by God in all their moving, being, thinking, they must be out of God, which means they would not to exist, because we only have a "being" or existence in God.  In other words God's upholding power is causing us to move and exist.  According to this verse God is both sustaining and causes all things in existence and causation when measured on the metaphysical or ultimate level.  In ultimate respect God is the cause of everything, even evil.  Understood correctly this means God is the metaphysical author or evil, although not a sinner, or a personal temper of man; nor does God being the metaphysical author or evil means He approves of evil.  More on this later.

"Also, if God merely permits us to do something, then I would also demand a metaphysical explanation on how it is possible for a creature to direct and control its own mind.  That is, is it possible for a created thing to function at all under God's bare permission without his constant causative determination?  How?

Calvin himself wrote, "Indeed, not even an abundance of bread would benefit us in the slightest unless it were divinely turned into nourishment."  This sounds like my occasionalism.  There is no inherent "nature" or power in bread that always works with the body to provide nourishment, but it must be "divinely turned into nourishment" each time it is consumed.

This is Calvinism - it is a consistent application of divine sovereignty over everything.  It is a denial of any form of dualism or deism."[38]

          Proverbs 20:24, "A man's steps are of the LORD; How then can a man understand his own way? If God is truly the Infinite Existence so that His sovereignty is so persuasive then how can any person have the ability to know where they are going or what they are to do?  This is the same question Proverbs ask as a rhetorical question, so that the answer is that a person does not in the natural sense.  This is how strong God's causality is in all of creation, that from a creation or human perspective a person does not even know their own way.  This reality is so strong that God even commands man to live out the truth: if the Lord wills.  James 4:13-16,"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil."

         Yet, God is abundantly kind and gracious in that He has not left mankind to hopelessly look from their perspective, but has given us His own word in the scriptures.  This means a humble man through the Scriptures is able to know what are God's commands for him to follow and even general information in how God works in His Divine mysteries and counsels, so that the believer in Jesus Christ knows what steps to take and in part how God is even Divinely guiding them.

          When we refer to a created object as if it has any power at all, we are speaking on this relative level.  And it is in this sense that we acknowledge Satan's efficacy in hindering the apostle and his companions.  Again, the reason that God's sovereign control over Satan's activity is mentioned is to suggest that there is a divine purpose for this demonic hindrance to the apostolic ministry.  Our ignorance of God's purpose, although considerable, is nevertheless often exaggerated.  Each event in God's providence is so calculated and so interconnected with other events that it would be impossible for any human person to grasp all the reasons for any single event.  However, we can often understand at least a few broad reasons for an event, because God has revealed to us in the Bible a substantial amount of information about his overall purposes and priorities. 

            Is God sovereign over all things or not? Any position that makes God's control over evil passive or indirect is in fact a denial of his absolute and exhaustive sovereignty, and thus a denial of God - in effect, to them the God of the Bible cannot exist.

            The Christian faith affirms that God is sovereign in every sphere of life, so that his moral commands define for us that which is good and evil, right and wrong. So if God tells us to resist Satan, then we ought to resist Satan.  It has nothing to do with who controls Satan.  Our moral responsibility is defined by God's commands about what we ought to do, and not God's decrees about what He would do or what He would cause to occur.

          At this point, the question is posed, if Satan is under God's control, then why would God cause Satan to perform evil acts, and then command us to resist Satan?  It is disappointing that many believers ask this question.  First, the question arises from rebellion, for who are you to question God (Romans 9:19-21)?  And second, the question arises from foolishness, since the Bible answers it over and over again.  It does not occur to them that God might not cause Satan to perform evil for its own sake, so that evil might triumph, but that among other reasons, it is to produce situations for the elect to resist evil.  Thus there is no mystery or paradox between God's ordaining Satan to perform evil and God's commanding Christians to resist evil, since it could be that the point is to educate the elect through resisting evil in the first place."[39]

         2 Peter 1:3, "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us."  As this verse clearly states, "through the knowledge" of Christ in the scriptures we have all the information that is helpful to us in all things toward godliness and even life!  And then there are many examples within God's word such as the stories of Joseph, Job, Samson, David, Paul and ultimately Jesus Christ.  In the lives all of these people God is clearly proclaimed as the original cause for the evil things in their lives.  Yet the scripture also explain why and how God both orchestrated and then also caused such things.  The general theological answer from the scriptures says that God's infinite value, based on God infinite wisdom does all these things for His glory and Name.  Take Genesis 50:20 for example, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."  God kindly and lovingly meant the evil for Joseph's and many peoples good.  Notice, God did not allow the evil, but instead the verse reads God meant or planned, and thus causing these things to happen for great good and for His great Fame.  This means the Christian trained by God's word can know in part where they're steps are, because God who loved them has kindly revealed to them His ways of doing things and His good statutes and good gospel commands to them.

        The scriptures reveal God in His causation in all sorts of ways.  At times it shows God as a grand master orchestrator over events.  This is seen for example in the life of Job.  Here, God starts the whole affair by enticing the Devil asking him to consider how wonderful Job is.  It is obvious God did this on purpose for the Devil then asks if the LORD will allow him to test Job with all kinds of evil.  Thus, it is wrong to say God only allowed the Devil to test Job with evils, for the this whole chain of effects was started by God asking the Devil to consider Job knowng it would cause the Devil to want to test and tempt Job.  Therefore, God is shown here to be the metaphysical cause of evil in Job's life because God started the whole thing with His own personl action.  Likewise, there are many places God is not the mere allower of things but the master orchestrator of all things who starts the who string of events because He has a grand plan to accomplish.  Job 42:11-12, "Then all his brothers, all his sisters came to [Job]and they comforted him for all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning."  Because God is the grand orchestrator of all things He is created for why the evil came to Job.  Yet we are told why, so that God might bless Job more and also bring glory to His own Name.

           God moved upon the writers of the scriptures so much so that "no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."[40]  Yet this type of powerful causality of God working upon the hearts of these holy saints is not reserved for saints only but for all sorts of men.  I will not explain in detail here for I have already in my book, (The Divine Decrees -page 146), how God in1 kings 22 "put" a lying spirit into some false prophets.  God did this because He already told King Ahab He was going to kill Him.  So God caused the false prophets to specially lie, by the direct work of a lying spirit so that the king would go to war and die in battle.  So here God used secondary caused to cause what He wants to happen.  

           God is the metaphysical author of evil in the sense of decreeing it and orchestrating it into being.[1]  But He is not the author of evil in the sense of doing evil.

         God gave the dreams to Joseph, which was the tipping point of his brothers wanting to kill him (Genesis 37:5,8). They were not mad enough to kill him. But God needed them to be, for He had a plan to save many through Joseph.  The dreams was thing to bring this about. God, in this light, does not merely use things in motion, but rather, causes or orchestrates them into being.  Who is it but God who must uphold the evil devil into being?  Who is it who sustains our tongues into being as we use them for evil?  Who turns the heart like waters to any direction, even to evil?

       To this I often receive a question that goes as the following: "I understand that you say God cannot be tempted by evil, which I agree.  But are you suggesting that God tempts with evil?"

       My response:  Personally No, but metaphysically Yes.  

       Consider that even physical secondary causes are created by God, are sustained by God, moved by God and even have their own hearts directed by God (etc).  This is why I say God is the metaphysical author of evil.  In order for God to personally tempt someone, He Himself would have to be evil or darkness.  How can light tempt someone to darkness, when light is only shining out light?  So it is impossible for God to "personally" tempt anyone in the truest sense of it.  

        James 1:13 is oftentimes abused.  It does not say God is not the author of evil.  Rather, it says God personally does not tempt Christians.  In context, this is all this verse says!  Many seem to miss this.

        God says He in general moves the hearts of men. Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."  The high priest Caiaphas, who was not a saint, but a God hater, was caused by God to prophesy.  The Scriptures tell us that it was caused by God so much so that "he did not say this on his own initiative [or of himself]."[41] 
          Then you have the King of Persia, Cyrus, who "The LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus so that he made a proclamation and put it in writing." Then in Ezra chapter 1 verse 1-4 we are told exactly what king Cyrus wrote down.  Therefore, God's causality is so persuasive that He not only moved this man's heart to want to help Israel in a mere broad sense, but caused him to put specific things into writing!  From Cyrus' perspective he was making choices from his own desires and knowledge of things, but from God's he was making choices to His desires and decree.

         Yet what about the Christian?  For the saint God's infinite control over all things is their joy for God uses His power to love them and glorify His Name through them.  See, love without power is useless!  So what if the Easter bunny loves me, if his love is unable to remove my sin from me, protect me from harm and save me!  Yet, love that as power to sustain, to hold, to protect and save is a love more valuable than words.  The love found on earth is cheap.  Worldly love is empty and mere words with failed promises.  While God's love is infinite and the power of His love ensures He never fails, that His love is not empty.  God actually does something about His love for His church.  He dies for her, washes her in His blood, redeems her soul, defeats all obstacles, demons and kings for her, and brings her to be with Him in heaven forever.  Our God is an awesome God!  He is worthy of all our trust, love and praises.  Who is like the King of Glory, Who loves us like Jesus Christ does?

         God has told who He is, or what is His Divine Nature is in the revelation of His scriptures.  Great is the glory of the LORD. [Because] though the LORD is on high, Yet He regards the lowly."[42]  This is that thing which God's zeal planting both feet down and pushing with both hands strives to accomplish.  This is the glory of Yahweh.  This is the Glory of Jesus Christ.  This is the Glory of the cross.  This is the glory displayed in the bible and throughout is pages from beginning to end.  If the question is asked, "how is Jesus Christ similar to the LORD in the Old Testament", this is it.   This is the same God and the same Glory: His transcendence & His grace.  Yes! He is Sovereign & He is very Kind.  He is King and Lord & yet gives His blood and love.  He sits on Majesty & yet upholds in mercy.  He is Infinity & yet to man He as an affinity.  Furthermore, I believe John Piper is right when he says Romans 3:21-26 is fundamentally the most important passage regarding what is the gospel message of Christ crucified.  Yet, here we find the same thing repeated and showcased as the essence of God's glory.  For does not it read "God set forth [Jesus] as a propitiation by His blood to that He might be just (Transcendence) and the justifier (Grace) of the one who has faith in Jesus."[43]

        Not only has God reveled what is true beauty, value and goodness, by revealing Himself who is the standard, but also He has given us His commands for us to follow.  God as commanded us to worship Him and have no other Idols for any form, whether physical or things such as an idol or loving sports or family, or TV to much.  Our heavenly Father has command us to listen to His Son Jesus Christ and obey Him as God's true Son.  And Jesus Christ has commanded that we above all other commands love Him with all our soul and strength and then secondly love our neighbors as ourselves.  He has commanded us to believe in His gospel by sincere repentance and faith.

        What this means is that God has not left us speculating what we are to do as mankind in the created world He has made for us.  God has said the secrets things of life (a.k.a. the secret and complexities of His causality in everything) is for Him to know, but the revealed things (scripture) is for us to know, follow and love God by it.[44]

Even still God's kindness goes deeper!  He has given us His precious promise of goodness that He will absolutely work in His children's lives.  Therefore, God's causality for the saint is pure joy, because the Infinite Existence uses His power for our good and joy in Christ. 

         I have come to find the doctrine of God's total sovereignty is one of the most profound ways to know if Jesus Christ is the true love of your life. If Jesus Christ is, then the total sovereignty of God arises more passion, more ambition, more humility and more love in your practical life.  If it seems to depress you, make you angry or the like then your greatest problem right now is not the attempt to understand a certain doctrine, but instead, your greatest priority lies in this question.  Who do you love the most: Christ, yourself, or this world? 

           To be predestined forever and ever to what your heart beats for, your true soul-mate, your greatest pleasure is the best news ever; but if the object you are being predestined to live forever and ever with is not your greatest love then it is utter horror!  This is where much of the horror of God's sovereignty arise, whether people wish to admit to it or not.  The real horror is not toward God's sovereignty but toward the Person of Jesus Christ.   They simply do not love Christ Jesus and so being predestined to be with Him forever is a horror; they have never been converted and are still under the dominion of sin.  Still, others are babes in Christ and or have major immaturity issues in their profession of love to their God and Savior.  They intellectually know Jesus is the greatest beauty and at times experience this in their minds and hearts, but because of such things as worldliness their love for Christ is rather weak and pathetic.  The total causality and sovereignty of God is one doctrine, among others, which is a constant sword in the heart which exposes if Jesus is really our greatest love or not.   If He is, then in light of Him causing you to will and do, should arise in you doxology not questions, praises not outburst of anger, pleasurable security not horror, passion and not lethargy.  

         By this we know in general or a broad since how God will always use the secrets of His causality in the saints life such as in Ephesians 1:11, as it reads, "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will."  Part of God working all things according to His own will and pleasure (remember Yahweh's pleasure is His power itself) is to cause His saints to have an eternal inheritance in His beloved Son Jesus Christ!  Furthermore, in Philippians 2:13, it reads that, "It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." God with His infinite control of all things promises in grand words He will cause His saints to choose righteousness and goodness!  In other words God loves His adapted children so much He sees to it, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to insure they live righteously so that they remain in His infinite love.  Adam and Eve sinned, and therefore, lost God's blessings.  But in Christ the saints have the fullness of His Spirit poured out into their hearts so that God's love makes sure they have an immutable friendship with their God.  Moreover, time would restrict me from looking into the many and glorious other scriptures which gives us the same type of rich promises of God revealed love to His children such as, Romans 8:28, "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  &  1 Thessalonians 5:23, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."  &  1 John 4:10, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  &  Romans 8:39, " [Nothing] shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  God's love is infinite towards all His adopted children.  Therefore, for all who have placed their hope in Jesus Christ, standing under the shadow of the knowledge of God's total causality, have perfect peace for the love of Christ fills their souls.  1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear."  Dear reader look upon Christ's love, on the blood stained cross, making an end of all your sin and allow His love to cast out all fear!  For this is why He died for us.

The nature of God's Power:

          God is infinite because of the infinity of His moral holiness and happiness.  What this means is that God's infinity, which is all things, upholds all things and moves all things is not merely power or force.  Upon reading Hebrews 1:3 when it reads that God upholds all things it would be wrong to conclude that God being the Cause, and all other things an effect, is because it is by mere power as though God's power is a completely separate attribute.  Although God's infinite sustaining and movable power is causing all things to happen, yet this is not the issue I am pressing.  The issue is the nature of God's power. 

           As I stated before, God's power in essence is the infinite constantly moving energy of His moral heart and wisdom of His personhood.  Also unlike humans and other creatures God does not need a physical body with physical energy to aid in expressing such things as love.  He does not because His love is the infinite, unstoppable energy itself, along with all Excellencies belonging to His Holy Nature, such as all goodness, grace, happiness, justice, peace, wisdom and etc.  This means the nature of our LORD God's power is totally different from all other beings and created things.

          The point in all of this is that God's will or choice, or desire is His power and infinite energy itself!  God's will is His infinite power itself.  It is not as though God chooses something and then uses infinite power to make sure it happens, but His choice or holy desire in the choice is the infinite energy itself!  The energy of God's infinite wisdom and infinite delight in a choice is God's Power.  When God chooses something His Holy delight and wisdom, involved in the choice, being infinite itself moves with infinite force and energy to accomplish.  All other beings need power or force or energy, as an added attribute, (whether physical or spiritual) to accomplish their choice or will, so that by this God is totally different from all other beings and things.  This is why God only is the Cause and other things being totally opposite are effects.

            This is important when contemplating what is energy or what is the only real energy in existence, both physical and spiritual.  When merely looking at the universe or physical creation it is easy to make the mistake, on this side of the fall, that it is self-sustained by its own physical power.  But this is a mistake, for Hebrews 1:3 glaringly crushes such an irrational notion.  Yes, even nature itself teaches that self-creation and so self-sustaining physical power is illogical. 

          The question might arise what if God chooses to allow me to set my own destiny (as is the common way of saying such things) or allow physical creation to exist by its own energy by God willing it?  This might have the appearance of logic or intelligence to it but is far from it.  It would be the equivalent of God choosing not to exist, which is nonsense.  Remember God's power even to uphold creation in existence is not mere power, but the power is God's good infinite pleasure and wisdom itself. 

            Furthermore, because God is a true infinite God's active power is in all things.  Therefore, it is impossible for God to set that aside (which means God would stop being infinite, which is irrational) and allow a man to determine his own step merely being upheld by God's power, when God's power is His infinite wisdom and pleasure.  God's infinite pleasure, goodness and wisdom is not involved in letting a man chose his own steps when man, being finite, cannot choose in perfection according to God's own pleasure, wisdom and goodness.   Since God can only chose in infinite wisdom and love to Himself, God therefore, does cause all things, whether its an invisible thought, a rain drop falling a particular time in a particular place or every step by any person.  See if God concludes that man is a fool, as scripture plainly tells us, then neither God's infinite wisdom or happiness is involved in the idea to let man self determine his life; and since God's infinite wisdom and happiness is God's power, therefore, such an idea is impossible, for if God is not there then nothing exists their.

            See, if God's infinite wisdom and pleasure and goodness, which is His energy itself is not making something happen the nothing happens for this is the only power in the universe.  So that if God willed for a person to choose their own destiny the person would not exist to begin with; for God cannot have infinite delight in something that is not in accord to His infinite wisdom, love and holiness.  In others words God's infinite energy of love, holiness and wisdom cannot cause something that is not in perfect accord to the energy of His infinite love, holiness and wisdom, for that would be a contradiction.  What person is able to make every decision in infinite perfect wisdom, love to God and holiness other than God, therefore, God Himself must make every decision and cause all things to happen.  If not then the infinite energy of God's love, holiness and wisdom is not there, which means God not there, which is total nonsense.  If not then God would choose not to be infinite, which is impossible.  It is against infinite wisdom and goodness for God to chose not be to infinite; therefore, it impossible for God not to be the cause of all things and everything else be an effect of His infinite goodness, wisdom and love to Himself, to His Son Jesus Christ.

         Some even dare to say God "is" sovereign and then proceed to say God chooses not to "be" sovereign (for the sake fee will).  This is foolish and in particular a contradiction.  To choose not to be sovereign means you "are not" sovereign anymore.  This is so basic!  Therefore, it is nonsense for a person to affirm God is sovereign and then proceed to say He is not.  Which is it?  Please make up your mind.  I will not allow you the luxury to claim the glorious Biblical proposition that God is all sovereign and then deny it in application.  The person who claims such things is a fraud.  This is similar to a person who would claim only Jesus saves me to then proceed to preach legalism; they are a fraud.  Many love to claim the glorious truths that God is all sovereign and a total savior but they deny it in practice and application.

            The phrase "lord GOD" in scripture means: Sovereign existence or being.  Thus, God's being or existence consists of His Sovereignty.

           The words God and lord in the bible, both in Greek and Hebrew, means sovereignty.  Thus, God's sovereignty "is" and not just possible.  Possibility has no existence: it has no being!   Possible sovereignty "is not" sovereignty.  God's Name Yahweh means: infinite or endless existence.  Because being infinite is means God is everywhere (timeless) and because God's essence includes being sovereign, then there is no place or time were God is not already there and sovereign over it.  You cannot deny your own essence!  God's sovereignty being infinite is by necessity the causality of all things.  If God is not sovereign over everything, whether by choice or not, He is not only not sovereign but neither is He infinite, which is a denial of two biblical propositions.  God is not possible endless existence, but actual and active infinite existence.  What this tells us is that it is impossible for the Divine Nature to be anything but active infinite sovereignty.  He cannot choose not to be God, this would be a contradiction.  The Infinite Existence sovereignly choosing not to be sovereign is pure nonsense and a contradiction.  God is God all time.  Or in other words, God "is" sovereign all the time in all things; this means He chooses Himself what all things will be, even every human choice and destiny.

          God's sovereignty, therefore, is who He is.  This is means sovereignty for God is not a mere expression or attribute; His sovereignty is not something God does on Tuesday afternoon, it is who He is!  This is the true God of the scriptures: The infinite Sovereign Existence.  Anything less than this is paganism: or at the least the mixing of moralist Christianity with paganistic deism.

God knows all things:

          Furthermore, because God is the cause of all things God knows the future.  The question might be asked how does God know the future?  God knows the future because God made the future and is already in the future (according to our human way of conceiving it).  Being infinite, God is everywhere (timeless) and because God's essence includes being sovereign, then there is no place or time were God is not already there and sovereign over it: understand?

As said before, time is traceable because God acts within physical creation with consistent action and patterns.  But God being infinite is outside of finite time.  God wants His Son Jesus Christ to come back a second time to take the church home to Heaven forever.  This means already at work is the infinite energy of God's good pleasure and wisdom reaching out to accomplish this.  But because this pleasure and moral goodness and wisdom is infinite it is already there, or that God is already there in the future in a sense.  Because all reality is by the power of His good will, therefore God is everywhere in the past and present and future.  Therefore, since God is already in the future and by His will has chosen what everything will be He obviously knows what the future is!

         Take the word foreknowledge for example.  We must not arbitrarily take Webster's reading of it for the bible interprets this word slightly differently.  The word for, know, has a larger meaning than knowing information, but also means knowing by either sexually or by strong love.  This is particular true for the Old Testament, but the New Testament does the same: for example in Matthew 7:23, " I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"  Here Jesus, being God already knew the information about these persons, therefore, it was knowing them in a lovingly way that Jesus never knew then.  This is the meaning of the verse.

          A word in the New Testament that is built on this same word, know, is foreknowledge or foreknew.  It is not by mistake every time this word is used it is in connection with persons and not mere objects.  The reason being is that foreknew is more properly read as "fore-loved."

          Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined."  First thing to notice is the starting word in the sentence containing foreknew is for.  This little word tells us to look back at the preceding verse.  God had a "purpose" for His glory to be displayed by working everything to the good of the persons He chose.  Remember God's will (or here spoken of as purpose and called) is filled and moved by the infinite energy of His delight and holy wisdom reaching out in unstoppable endless power.  This means God foreknow these persons whom He already had a purpose or happy choice about.  This means God's foreknowing of things is based upon His holy desire or willing things into being first as said before.

          But also read the verse in light of knowledge as love, so that the verse would read: whom God fore-loved, He also predestined." God's love reaches out with infinite unending energy into the future toward these people He creates and so this infinite energy of love predestines and arranges the future for their good, and His glory.  Again God knows the future because He made the future.  Isaiah 44:7, "And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them."  God ask who is able to tell or proclaim what the future will be like He does?  Then God tells why others cannot and the reason is because unlike everybody else He actually makes the future or that He "appointed the people, and the things that are coming."  Therefore, He is able to tell exactly what the future will be, and so displaying Him as a true God as, The Infinite Existence.

God is never frustrated: 

         This is another implication for God being infinite and the cause of all things.  God is so happy. He is never frustrated.  Every little or big thing He has ever wished comes about.  Needless to say no created being is able relate to such an incredible reality.  Indeed we are often times frustrated.  That is why being in heaven with Jesus Christ will be such an incredible experience.  We will be with an eternally happy God who will share that happiness with us.

           If there were more than one God it becomes quite obvious how perfect happiness would be impossible based on the mere fact frustration would be added to the picture. So that even if these so-called gods got along it still would not matter, frustration will be inevitable; and therefore perfect happiness impossible.  There would still be some events or things which each of them would find frustrating.  The reason being is that sooner or later some of their plans would come into contrast with the others plans and so their plans would find at least some frustration.  From the other so-called gods making their own plans would unavoidably bring clashing of some sort.  Accordingly, these so-called gods would not be infallibly and perfectly happy in a total infinite respect.

          This is not the kind of persons I would want to spend eternity with!  If that is the case then Heaven would be a very scary, boring, and frustrating place to live.  This would be the same outcome if there were no Gods.  Even if all humans were so-called good the same circumstances would play out and perfect happiness would be impossible! It should bring great tears to anyone who thinks man is all there is in existence and so looks to man for salvation, when if happiness is what he hopes for, will never ever happen in such a reality!

         Great power and knowledge is no guaranty of perfect happiness.  Take the Devil for example.  He is called the "god of this age."  He is powerful for he is called a dragon, and mighty lion seeking whom he may devour.  He is great in craftiness.  Yet for all this the Devil is very unhappy; he is a very hateful, jealous and angry creature.  Much of this arises from being frustrated by being apposed by the LORD God in all he does.

         One thing which, among others, which must be present in order for infinite perfect happiness to happen is never to be frustrated.  The Infinite Existence because he is the cause of all things is never frustrated.  There are times in the scripture when God speaking like a man appears to be frustrated on the surface level, but in accordance to God's greatest will and want He is ever frustrated. I have written much more about appearing to be frustrated in my book: The Divine Decrees.

           The creature's happiness can only be as great as the one who created them.  See, because God is infinitely happy this means there is one, and only one chance for His created creatures to know that level of happiness; and that is if He shares it with them. So that even apart form scriptures logic tells us that monotheistic is the only possible way for many creatures to be endless happy at the same time.  And that is if the One infinitely happy Supreme Being gives and shares His happiness with His many creatures.  Furthermore, the scriptures teach us accordingly that monotheistic or precisely monotheistic in "Jesus Christ" (who is the one true God) would be the only way "hedonism" has any hope to fulfill its promise of pleasure.

God Controls even evil:

           I have dealt with this already in some various degrees but will still briefly mention a few things, by God's grace.  I have extensively dealt with this issue in my book: The Divine Decrees and several articles on my website, therefore, I will not go into depth here.  In my book the Divine Decrees I deal with this Jonathan Edwards quote:

          "It is a proper and excellent thing for infinite glory to shine forth; and for the same reason, it is proper that the shining forth of God's glory should be complete; that is, that all parts of his glory should shine forth, that every beauty should be proportionally shinning forth, so that the beholder may have a correct notion of God.  It is not appropriate that one glory should be exceedingly manifested, and another not at all.  In this case, the shinning forth of God's glory would not answer its true reality.  For the same reason it is not proper that one should be manifested exceedingly, and another but very little.  It is highly proper that the shining forth of God's glory should answer his real Excellency; that the splendor should be answerable to the real and essential glory, for the same reason that it is proper and excellent for God to glorify himself at all.  Thus, it is necessary, that God's awful majesty, his authority and dreadful greatness, justice, and holiness, should be manifested.

 But this could not be, unless sin and punishment had been decreed; so that the shining forth of God's glory would be very incomplete, both because these parts of divine glory would not shine forth as the others do, and also the glory of his goodness, love, and holiness would be faint without them; no, they could scarcely shine forth at all.  If it were not right that God should decree and permit and punish sin, there could be no manifestation of God's holiness in hatred of sin, or in showing any preference, in his providence, of godliness before it.  If there were no sin to be pardoned and no misery to be saved from, then there would be no manifestation of God's grace or true goodness.  However much happiness he gave, his goodness would not be as prized and admired, and the sense of it not so great, to the degree as we have elsewhere shown.  We little consider how much the sense of good is heightened by the sense of evil, both moral and natural.

Furthermore, it is essential that there should be evil, because the display of the glory of God would be imperfect and incomplete without it, so evil is necessary, in order to the highest happiness of the creature, and the completeness of that communication of God, for which he made the world.  Accordingly, the creature's happiness consists in the knowledge of God, and the sense of his love.  Moreover, if the knowledge of him were inadequate, the happiness of the creature must be proportionally lacking; and the happiness of the creature would be lacking upon another account also; for, as we have said, the sense of good is comparatively dull and flat, without the knowledge of evil.

God decrees all things, and even all sins.  Acts 2:23, "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death." Acts 4:28, "To do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done."  If the scripture means only that Christ's sufferings should come to pass by some means or other; I answer, they could not come to pass but by sin.  For contempt and disgrace was one thing He was to suffer.  Therefore, even the free actions of men are subject to God's disposal.  Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."  See Jeremiah 52:3, "For because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, till He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon."  The fact of people not complying with the terms of the covenant of grace is decreed, 1 Peter 2:8, "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense. They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed."  What man determines, never comes to pass, unless God determines it, Lamentations 3:37, "Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, When the Lord has not commanded it?"  By commanding here it means willed; and God is elsewhere said to speak, and it was done; to command, and it stood fast.  God determines the limits of men's lives.  This is exceeding evident.  Job 7:1, "Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?"  Days of a hireling signify an appointed, certain, limited time, just as Isaiah 16:14 and 21:16.  If the limits of men's lives are determined, men's free actions must be determined, and even their sins; for their lives often depend on such acts.  See also Job 14:5.

I do not argue that God may commit evil, that good may come of it; but that he will that evil should happen, and permit that it may come to pass, that good may come of it. It is in itself absolutely evil, for any being to commit evil that good may come of it. Yet it would not be evil, but good, even in a creature, to will that evil should come to pass, if he had wisdom sufficient to see certainly that good would come of it, or that more good would come to pass in that way than in any other. The only reason why it would not be lawful for a creature to permit evil to come to pass, and that it would not be wise, or good in him so to do, is for this reason: that he does not have perfect wisdom and sufficiency, so as to make it right that such an affair should be trusted with him. In so doing, he goes beyond his line; he goes out of his province; he meddles with things too high for him. It is every one's duty to do things right for him in his sphere, and appropriate to his power. God never entrusted this providence in the hands of creatures of finite understandings, nor is it proper that he should.

If the sum total that has evil in it, when the evil is subtracted, has yet the greatest good in it, then it is the best sum total, better than the other sum total that has no evil in it. But if, all things considered, it really is the best, how can it be otherwise than that it should be chosen by an infinitely wise and good being, whose holiness and goodness consists in always choosing what is best? Which does it argue most, wisdom or folly, a good disposition or an evil one, when two things are set before a being, the one better and the other worse, to choose the worse, and refuse the better?"[45]

          See, God's plan is not for evil to thrive, but for His infinite beauty to thrive and be displayed and for the saints to enjoy their God by this to their fullest.  Furthermore, God's plan by decreeing or therefore, causing evil to be is for the prosperity of His children in holiness and maturity.  James 1:2, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience."  By definition because God knows all things it is proper and good for Him to make the call if evil should ever be or not.  And God by infinite wisdom after considering all things concluded that a temporarily time to decree for evil to be would produce more of His displayed glory and more maturity and enjoyment of saints in Christ, than without it. 

        James 1:13, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone."

         "The verse is telling you that when you deal with temptation, you must directly address your lust, and not just blame God and then do nothing, or remain in your sin.  Read all of James 1 and see if this is not his obvious emphasis.  He deals with joy, faith, perseverance, doubt, pride, lust, anger, moral filth, and being a doer of the Word.  He is dealing with the Christian's direct responsibilities in practical living, and he does this by relating it to the internal motives and characteristics of the person.  

          In verse 13, he is instructing the believer on how to rightly approach a temptation - he is not trying to explain the metaphysics behind it.  Or, he is considering the believer's responsibility concerning the inner factors in sanctification, and not the metaphysical cause or principle for these.  But the metaphysical cause or principle is exactly what we are discussing when we consider whether God is the author of sin.  Therefore, James 1:13 is not directly applicable to our topic.  If one still wishes to deny that God is the author of sin, he will have to use another verse."[46]

         The point being is that God does not tempt a person Personally..  It is impossible because God is light, so that God cannot mask the intensity His Holy presence in a dark way to tempt us, because God is "the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."  It is impossible for light to be darkness for then it would no longer be light, and God is only light.  Even if God wanted (which is impossible) to shine out darkness, there is none in Him to begin with, it would be impossible. 

          Understand that God does in a sense tempt or test people.  Genesis 22:1, "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham."[47]  God tempted or test Abraham's faith, love and obedience to Himself if it was true or hypocritical.  James 1:13 on the other hand is referring to the tempting as enticing, as a seductress would entice her victim with her own personal beauty and evil so that the victim is lead away by his own lust and desires.   In this God is by no means a tester or tempter!  He is all light and so there is no evil beauty or evil desire for God to entice with.   An Infinite fountain of light only has pure light and no darkness.  Therefore, it is impossible for God to tempt anyone.

         Still it is even impossible for God to even have the possibility to be tempted to do evil Himself, let alone do it.  Here is why.  God is infinite wisdom; therefore, whenever God does something He infallibly has a goal or particular aim for doing it, unlike man who foolishly acts without considering his goals or aims.  Thus, if God were to be unjust or evil toward a person where would have to be within Him a reason or goal why He did so. 

         A soul chooses evil for two basic reasons.  One is for self-interest and the second is because they simply delight in evil and so doing evil.  But it is impossible for God to be tempted by either of these.  As stated before God is pure holy light and therefore, it is impossible for God to desire to do evil when He has an infinitely holy hatred for it!  It is infinitely impossible for God therefore to be tempted to do evil for evil sake, unlike man and devils who often practice evil for evil sake.  Men also choose evil for evil sake because they ignorantly do not see the valueless-ness and grossness of evil. But God is not constricted by such ignorance, for He perfectly sees evil for what it is.  Furthermore, it is impossible for God to be tempted to do evil for the sake of self-interested because God being infinite possess all happiness, blessed and glory.  What is there that God needs, for which to tempt Him to cheat and lie to acquire it? What is there that God wants so that He is tempted to wrong a creature to get it when God has infinite power to acquire it at infinite ease?  God already has everything that is good, pleasurable and valuable.  Therefore, it is impossible for God to be tempted to be evil toward man for self-interest for He already possesses infinite blessedness.  Thus, it is impossible for God to be tempted to do evil and therefore, impossible for God to be evil toward any of His creation.

          I want to briefly explain more why God cannot tempt or entice a person to evil, Himself, by showing how God cannot be tempted to do evil Himself. 

          It seems odd to me that people try to get God of the hook, by trying to show how God was not responsible for an evil action of a human being, when God Himself has no problem ascribing it to Himself.  God never "does" or "commits" evil Himself with His Spirit, but God does decree, start, and orchestrate into reality evil by other means.  Both the story of David taking a census and of Job, God in both places is ascribed with the responsibility (therefore the Author) for why the event actually took place.  Although the Devil was the direct means for why both David sinned and why the evil happened to Job, yet God claims responsibility for the events.  2 Samuel 24:1, "Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, "Go, number Israel and Judah."" (Also Chronicles 21:1) Job 42:11, "Then all his brothers, all his sisters... comforted [Job] for all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him." God claims responsibility for this reason.  Although the evil was produced by other direct secondary means, Yet it was God who initiated, caused, upheld and designed the event.

          This can in some measure be illustrated when a person hires a hit man to take some one out.  The hiring person must take responsibility for the action since, with out their initiative or designing the evil act would have never taking place.  But with the Devil He did the actual event from purely evil reason from purely evil desires in his heart.  But God, as I said before, only temporally decrees or initiated evil for the future benefit that because of this evil more Good and display Glory would be shown than if the evil would never been.  God is actually looking at His church's eternal future best happiness to come about.           

         Conclusion:  First, God does not commit evil or do evil from His own beauty at any time.  This would be evil for any being.  But God does will, decree and bring evil according to His decrees plans.  Because of this God, in this sense of His decrees, does claim responsibly, or if you would a metaphysical authorship of evil, for why evil is temporally in the world and every particular action on earth.  The bible never says God is not the author of evil, but man has.  Therefore, take care to only believe God's revealed truth and you will find fewer contradictions with God and how He ruins His own creation.

            We must not forget it is God who upholds with His own power our evil hearts, the Devil and hell.  God must exert His own "upholding" power into a human's evil heart and even the even thoughts, and the Devil or they would cease to exist.  And if God's power is already in all hearts, good or evil, then He is able to turn it wherever He so wishes.  But there is a grave difference between God's mere "upholding" presence or power and the fullness of His glorious comforting presence given to His Son and the church.  God's pleasure for upholding the Devil and evil men and their thoughts is only for the present and future glory and goodness, which will be accomplished by them, while God's hatred directly rest upon them for their own evil sakes.  Yet God's direct full love is on His saints, for their own sake, for they have been beautified in Christ His Son!

          God tells us that with His absolute sovereignty He uses it in both decreeing and planning to use our sins, which come from our hearts as evil.  Yet, God plans to use them to bring about our good in the end and chiefly to Glorify His Son Jesus Christ.  Romans 8:28, "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose." 

          Again, take for example the story of Joseph.  What finally pushed the brothers over the edge to kill their brother and sell him to the Egyptians?  It was the dream that God gave to Joseph.  Genesis 37:4-5, "But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.  Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more."  So why did God give a dream to Joseph knowing it would be the last straw to push his brothers over the edge so that they wanted to sell him away as a slave?  In verse 4 Joseph brothers hated him to the point that they did not wish to speak to him.  After hearing of the dreams, which God gave him, the brothers hated to the point of wishing to kill him.

       The reason why God planned to give the Joseph the dreams, therefore, planning to cause his brothers to hate him much more, was to bring about a great amount of good in the end.  Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."  The better Hebrews translation of the word "meant" in this verse is planned.  The whole point is that God did not "use" or "allowed" these things, which were already in motion.  Yes, God "planned" for the brothers to sin, by giving Joseph that dream, because God planned not to merely "allow" Joseph to go to Egypt, because God "/sent/" Joseph there.  Genesis 45:7-8, " God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh."  Even the Psalmist teaches us the same truth, Psalm 105:17, "[God] sent a man before them -- Joseph -- who was sold as a slave."  Then even Joseph himself when speaking to the Pharaoh said this about the years of drought coming, Genesis 41:28-29,32, "This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do."  The drought was by God's decree and will, Joseph in Egypt was by God's decree and sending Him there, the dream God gave to Joseph causing his brothers to be angry enough to sell Him was by God's decree and will and not mere allowance; all of these were first started by God and not by God's mere allowance!  Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."

          I say all this to just show that God's evolvement I our lives is not merely permission but direct evolvement.  Yet, for the Christian and child of God, it is all for our "good."  God is such a personal and thoughtful God that to ensure that "all things" are for our  "good", He, much like with Joseph is actively evolvement every step of the way.  Our Father loves us so much in Jesus Christ that He personally sees to it that every detail, in our lives, is by His direct plan and will so that all the good things and mercies that He wished to work in our lives is actually done.  This is the only secure and safe place for any creature to be in, the love of an infinite Being, who has infinite control to ensure this love covers our lives.  All the demons and peoples have no chance to stop all the good and good ends that our great God and Savior has planned to shower in our lives.  Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ our Lord, who did for us, who rules with His Father over all heaven and earth?  What shall be the judgment of our Judge, Jesus Christ, over us be whom He died for, other than a pronouncement of more of His precious love that will pursue us all the days of our lives?     

           Genesis 45:7-8, "God _sent_ me...to save by a Great Deliverance."  Great deliverances only belong to a Great God, Amen!

Questions:

 Now I will proceed to answer a few questions about the subject cornering God being the cause of all things.

(1) If God causes all things how am I still found responsible before God?

(2) Why is it so foolish to judge God as a man? 

(3) How much does God value wisdom as compared to man?

(4) What is a helpful way to see own responsibility when God seems so sovereign over everything?

            (1) It is illogical and unbiblical to think man's responsibility before God automatically means free-will or freedom.

          How free we are does not determine if we are responsible for our choices before God. How can this be you say?  Romans 8:7: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." Here the scriptures state it is impossible for a sinner, in and of himself, to submit to God's commands.  Are sinners going to hell? Yes!  Therefore, their lack of freedom or inability to make a holy choice does not exempt them from responsibility toward God, for God will send them all to hell.  This proves that having freedom or free will is not the basis for our responsibility before God, which I believe should silence much needless debate for advocating free will.  Freedom and responsibility might work between man and man but scripture clearly states this connection is not so between man and God!  Different rules apply with God, because He is the one who creates and commands.  He is the standard and His Glory is the goal.  If we fall short of giving God Glory, which is the reason for all creation, then we are totally responsible for ourselves before God.

          Nevertheless, our choices are still authentic, for we choose form our knowledge and desires; we will be judged for our choices.  What I am saying is that our responsibility for our choices is not based on our freedom.  True free will does not have to exit in order to make us accountable before our Creator. When dealing with the problem of evil, some persons in the past thought they would jump the gun of scriptures and try to get God off the hook but saying, free will.  This was a mistake, for hundreds of years now many have tried to get God off the hook when God is in need of no such thing.  Our responsibility is based on the mere fact that (1) God Is Sovereign, (2) has commanded us, and (3) we have knowledge God and of these commands written in our own souls, as do all human beings born into existence.  Romans 2:15 states that all human beings have "the law written in their heart."  This means if you are part of God's creation and have a soul, then you are accountable to God, nothing more is needed!  God's law is written on every human soul; therefore, none is without excuse.  This illustrates how the Bible, when making connections between human responsibility and God's sovereignty, makes no such claims that so-called free will is the answer.  Instead, the scriptures state if God created you (Romans 9:19-21), and you have a soul (Romans 2:15), then you are accountable before God; being bound by sin and thus, having no freedom or freewill to choose holiness does not remove your accountability before God!  

          Romans 6 teaches us that man's will is either a slave to sin or God.  Therefore, we do not have free will! To be a slave is to be not free. John 8:34, "Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin."  (NIV) Romans 8:7, "The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so."  Sin has made a universal fool of mankind. We are forced by sin to hate God and are forced to do sinful things; the reason is that we are slaves.  Slaves have no choice! Slaves, while they are in prison, do have a choice to stand up and walk to a particular corner of their cell if they wish, but the choice to leave, they do not have.  People in his world choose to drive their car, but to be free from sin, from God's wrath, to believe in Christ, to love God; man does not have the freedom to choose these.  People seem to have the notion that we are neutral with our so-called free choices.  This is a lie of the Devil, who is man's slave master, who does not want the word to get out how enslaved and forced we are in doing His sinful biddings. 

          We are never to attribute to the Word of God a true paradox.  If we do not see the clarity of the revealed Scriptures it is our fault and not God's.  Everything that God has revealed is meant to be understood, obeyed and admired by us.  It is not loving or reverent toward God to sound contradictive and then drag God into it.  We are to be humble by admitting we are the ones lacking and repent to God that we do not understand His revealed word as well as we ought.  Also there is much that God has not revealed (Romans 11:33-36, 1 Corinthians 2:9), both because He chose not to and because we are too limited to comprehend it.  Let us then be humbled by the sheer greatness and authority by which God rules the worlds. May we continuingly and willingly live face down in the dust before our Good God, whose glorious ways and Majesty are unsearchable.  Most of the time when the revealed scriptures appear paradoxical it is owing to us, because we often filter the scriptures with counter worldviews or unbiblical ideas. 

          Our choices are authentic and sincere, (See Proverbs 16:1, 9 & the story of Peter denying Jesus although the future was foretold to him) as coming from our reasoning and desires (See Appendix 6), I do not mean that this sincerity it the base foundation for our responsibility before God. Instead the sincerity of our choices makes us guiltier before God, but it is not the chief or first reason why we are accountable before God. Our responsibility and guilt is increased before God because our choices are made from sincerity on our part. Although God decrees what our lives will become (Romans 9:10-13, 20-23) and controls all things including all nature (Ephesians 1:11), circumstances surrounding us, our physical bodies, our thoughts and words (Proverbs 16:1, 20:24, & Lamentations 3:37), all demon activity (The Story of Job and 1 Kings 22:19- 23), and even our very heart's desires (Proverbs 21:1), still this does not remove our accountability before God. 

          Therefore, in summery our responsibility before God is solely and primarily based on the fact God created us and has written His laws upon our souls.  Or that God being the infinite sovereign means man is responsible, because a being is only accountable if they were given a command by someone greater.  God is not accountable to nothing or no one, for who has commanded God.

          Accountability or responsibly presupposes a Sovereign, so that because man is not in control or is not free is the very reason whey he is under accountability or is responsible.  See, there is no responsibility or accountability without sovereignty!  It is the very fact that God is Sovereign and that we are not free that makes us responsible to God!  So many miss this point. A child is responsible to their parent because their parents are an authority over them; without this authority the child is no longer responsible.  The same is with the government or a boss (etc.).  Being responsible first implies above all things, an authority.  In Romans 9 where a person was having a hard time dealing with man's responsibility in light of man not being free from God the Apostle goes straight to the ultimate level for why man is responsible, God's sovereignty.  The Apostle says God is the Creator over man, or in other word: sovereign over man and for this reason alone is man responsible regardless of freedom.  This means God's creative and controlling sovereignty over us is the greatest level of our accountability, everything else adds to this level making us more accountable.

          God has created this public world, in time and space, and us finite beings in it.  He has made it is such a manner that we experience our lives in a sense of freedom and ownership over our own hearts, minds, thoughts, and bodies.  What this ultimately means is that as we live our "own" lives we experience this rightly and properly as own body, own desires and own choices.  That is how it feels to us and rightly so, because God sovereignly designed it that way.  We experience suffering and pleasure, we perceive beauty and vile so that we might evaluate and proclaim of the glory of the object of God's love, His Son.  To minimize the human viewpoint is to minimize the glory of Jesus Christ, because the human viewpoint is God's greatest design for how the glory of Christ is seen and reflected or mirrored back in praises.  

          This is the place where the confusion comes in and where foolish untaught people make wild accusations about God and man.  Just because -from a limited perspective- we feel somewhat free from God does not mean we are, in the ultimate sense!  In this light, it seems to me many so-called theologians base truth more upon how "they" experience or see life rather than believing the Scriptures. 

          These are 3 basic levels to man's accountability or responsibility "to" God.  They are (1) God is Sovereign, (2) God's Commands and (3) our "own" souls and perspective.

        See, human beings are accountable to God on many levels, but most of the time even good theologians only focus on the 2^nd and 3^rd levels of accountability; and sadly, some even disregard the first level completely.  In light of God's Sovereignty as given by the scripture and then by disregarding the first level what ends up happing is that these theologians see a contradiction arise; and rightly so, for without the first foundational level there is a true contradiction.  At this point theologians over the years have tried to account for this contradiction by submitting, free-will, for example.  Others who saw that free-will is also a contradiction just ignore this subject hoping others do not recognize they are simply failures.  Still, others cry out my favorite cop-out for their intellectual inadequacy which is mystery

          Seeing the bible appealing to all three of these levels of accountability confuses more than just a few.  What ends up happening is this.  A foolish person will see distinctions (such as the three levels of accountability) and do one of two things.  Either they will do what I call "verse cancel-azation" or just cry out "mystery."  By verse cancel-azation I mean they will take one verse or passage and cancel out another passage as if it makes the other passage disappear.   For example, one passage will say God delights in the death of the wicked (Deuteronomy 23:63) and then somewhere else it says He does not (Ezekiel 33:11). What many do, depending on their preferences, will take one verse and cancel out the other as if it does not exist.  Others, who see the hypocrisy in this, not knowing what to make of the two passages, will grab for the cop-out called "mystery." 

          Then there is the third option, which is the biblical option: let both passages stand on their own as being true!  See, for the sake of justice God does delight in the death of the wicked, but for sake of a wasted life God He does not delight in the death of the of wicked.  See how simple that was! 

          This third option lets both passages stand on their own two feet proclaiming truth.  A humble and understanding Christian will allow all scripture to have an unrestrained voice to speak and also allow the scripture to interpret itself. Now back to our subject.  As with all doctrine immature or prideful persons will see the three levels of accountability in scripture and not knowing what to make of it will try to cancel out one passage with another or just cry out mystery. Because all three levels are found in the scripture then we must allow all of them to be truth as the scripture proclaims them to be.  Because there is a scriptural order to them then there is no longer confusion but clarity.  Therefore, do not be confused when you read a passage of scripture which might appeal to one level and then later appeal to another and then another.  All three levels make us accountable so it is right for God in scripture to appeal to whatever level He seems fit at the time, for all make us accountable to Him

 (2) Why is it so foolish to judge God as a man?

        By judging I do not strictly propose looking up to heaven and shaking your fist demanding God to be accountable to you or something.  Instead I am referring the hearts intention when asking God a question.  For there is a right way of sincerely asking a question for information and help and then there is the wrong why of asking a question to God where you use a mask of humility but in reality are in pride trying to put God on the stand or defense because you doubt His Infinite Deity. 

          One of the best biblical examples of this is the account of (Luke 1:33-38) Mary the mother of Jesus and (Luke 1:15-20) Zacharias the father of John the Baptist.  We know it is a heart issue because Gabriel the angel, by the power of the Spirit, was able to see into Zacharias' heart that he "did not believe" what was told to him.  This means Zacharias' question was one of doubt of God's Deity and therefore, one which was putting God on the stand to be to judged by a mere man!  Doubting God is in a strong sense man judging God with extreme arrogance, which is why God shows such little patience with unbelief.

          We have already seen in Romans chapter nine that God created us and therefore, has Creator rights over us and by this alone it is sheer evil to question God wrongly or irreverently.  As if the Creator owes something or owes an explanation to the thing He created!  The Creator owes nothing to anyone!

          The problem is that our LORD God is so kind and relates to us sinful people so personally and gently through His Son Jesus Christ it can lead us to pridefuly forget our place in the grand scheme of things, which is evil.   God's loving-kindness should cause us to love, fear and respect Him more and not to treating Him irreverently! 

          One way to help this from happening is a constantly daily pondering of God's Infinite Sovereignty and Creatorship over all so that we see ourselves rightly and not distorted in our pride.

           Consider this.  Because God is infinite in intrinsic beauty and value and wisdom by definition He is the standard and goal and therefore, by definition whatever He does is good!  Accordingly it is impossible to logically accuse God of wrong.

Only a being with infinite wisdom and knowledge is able to make the call, for example, if evil necessarily for the greater good.  Anyone else would be going out of his or her bounds to make that call.  By infinite understanding God infinitely knows that He is truly infinite in beauty and value.  Therefore, the greater good to which God uses all this energy to accomplish is love to Himself and the self-promotion of His infinite beauty and value.  People who think the whole human race and all creation is not worth to be suffered for the glory of God has far to high estimate of creation and infinitely too small of the Infinite Existence.  These people are likewise infinitely vain and irrelevant, for God has made it so that the whole creation spins as a united soul, as the spokes of wheel, to the glory and self-promotion of God. 

          Another thing to consider is that often times in the scriptures God commands things as evil for mankind to do, but it goodness if He does it.  For example God commands man not to take vengeance, but then also says He will do vengeance Himself.  Romans 12:19, "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord."  God commands us to do all we can to help the poor and not make people poor.  God commands us not to murder people for these are evil for us to do them.  But God both kills persons and also He Himself makes people poor.  1 Samuel 2:6, "The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up."

            This signifies that there is not some other standard to which God is accountable to and now He is commanding us to obey this standard with Him, which is both unscriptural and logically impossible if God is infinite.  God Himself is the standard.  Not only is asking God to give an account of Himself to you horrifically evil, but it is likewise irrational, for by doing so you are in reality asking God to be God Himself, since He is the standard.

            Where then is our comfort and peace of heart in all of this terrifying knowledge?  The comfort in all of this is God Himself!  He could do what ever He so wishes yet He sends His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and forgives the sinner, redeems the vile, and heals the broken hearted.  God promises love to Adam and Eve the He makes good on it on the cross.  The infinitely worthy dieing for the unworthy.  For why did God died for the us worms of the earth, made from its dirt, who by our sinning made ourselves more worthless and gross than the merely mud we came from?  "God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us" is the reason why, His great heart![48]  See, when we were God's enemies, it was then that, "the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared."[49]  Jesus Christ, The Infinite Existence, Himself demonstrated His love for us by humbling Himself, becoming a man and then willingly making Himself to appease God's wrath against us by taking it on Himself!

            It is odd that the same God who is so terrifying when viewing strictly His sovereignty and His totally causality of all things is the same one we look to for the hope and comfort of our souls.  Indeed, for the Christian our awesome God has caused us to know the fullness of His infinite love, kindness and unending grace in Jesus Christ His beloved Son who gave Himself for us on the cross out of love!

(3) How much does God value wisdom as compared to man?

          One reason why even Christians have a seemingly hard time with such things as the biblical doctrines like predestination, election, evil, and God being the ultimate cause of all things and these is due to the fact they do not value wisdom like God who made them does. 

          Hypocritical mankind likes to hand pick just one of God's attributes such as love, give it an earthy definition, and judge what they think God is like and what God will and will not do by this.  But if this is a good thing then why not consider all of God's attributes being defined by scripture?  Why not also judge the issue of predestination and evil in light of God's infinite wisdom, justice and love of Himself?  This is why mankind is so hypocritical because they only pick on attribute and try to force all of God into it.  Yet, God is not so limited when considering of Himself which has been revealed to us in scripture.  Still the scripture supposes that there are some things that well will not completely be able to reconcile to God's attributes, even if we consider all of them.  This is seen in Romans 9:19-20.  Still this does not mean that we cannot at all.  For the revealed things are for us to know, so that we can reconcile, in part, to God's attributes concerning some of His more complicated actions.

          The book of Romans is particularly focused on showcasing the glory and fame of God's wisdom.  Twice when summing up God's actions in the salvation of man Romans exalts God's attribute of wisdom.  This is odd in the since it would appear more natural to sum up the act of saving a person with such things as: kind, gracious or loving.  What this exhibits to us is that we need to be trained in how to better evaluate the deeper things of God and life better.  Lets go over together what the book of Romans speaks of God's glory in saving His people.  More specifically, what about the glory of God in Romans showcase His wisdom so much, since God's wisdom is given to us as the particular glory that shines brightest through what is learned of God in its pages?

          First, we see God's wisdom in how salvation contracted.  How it displays God as infinitely supreme and also lavishes sinful man with an unending fountain of love.  How it brings together unrelenting justice and precious mercy so that they kiss.  How it is given by God and received by man. 

            "Now the righteousness of God is revealed, through faith in Jesus Christ, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood."[50]  Paul starts off this book by saying he is not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God to our salvation.  For in this gospel, the righteousness of God is discovered through faith.  Now in Romans 3:21-26 after showing (in the previous chapters) how sinful man really is returns to his first statement about what the gospel is.  He sums up the gospel as God's great manifold wisdom because the Just Holy God has revealed a means to forgive the guilty and still at the same time do it in such as way justice is completely meet and satisfied!  This is why Paul states both in 1:16 and 3:21 that in the gospel the "righteousness of God is revealed."  In other words God is able to rightly forgive sinners!  The good news for sinners is that God, in His wisdom, has found a way to forgive them and still be righteous and just, which means God is actually able to save guilty persons! 

           This is great news for anyone who is guilty of sin!  This is no mere symbol or nice gesture but tangible and actual salvation for guilty people, so that their guilty record it not merely forgotten but cast into the deep sea and erased as if they never did sin, a dirty soul is cleans not by a mere public pronouncement but God rebirths into man a new clean soul.  God saves people!

          Furthermore, in chapter 4 we learn by the wisdom of God how He justifies ungodly by their bare believing that Jesus did everything Himself to justify them; for this is the essence of faith (chapter 4:4-6).  Jesus Christ was a propitiation for their sins on the cross.  This means Jesus Chris was the "sin offering" which Leviticus 16:16 speaks about.  Jesus Christ appeased God's fierce anger because as a stand in for us basically asked God to look on Him as if He committed our sins.  Therefore, God poured His almighty wrath on Jesus leaving the Father's justice satisfied and His anger all gone for Jesus absorbed it all on Himself!  All faith does is merely believe this with joy.  This wonderful display of God's wisdom in salvation should take our breath away.

          Next in chapter 5 we see the wisdom of God in how "much more" Jesus Christ's sacrifice gives His people a betters standing before God than what Adam and Eve originally had.  We see God's wisdom in how Adam was not His final plan when He created man.  Instead, man grafted in to Christ Jesus, clothed in His righteousness, was God's original intention for man.  The churches exalted state was no mere accident (Adam's sin), which was merely permitted by God and then used by Him.  No.  God's wisdom designed it this way so that the church would be here for the sake of their joy and God's glory.  Ephesians 1:9-10, "[Christ has] made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth -- in Him."  God's first intention for all creation was to have Christ exalted by the means of having all godly creatures unite into Him as their Head and Fountain.  This was God's original design constructed by His wisdom.  Everything else designed and decreed by God, even the fall, was to accomplish this wise end, which only God was clever enough to understand and appraise.  For indeed wisdom says the end of the thing is better than it's beginning.  Ecclesiastes 7:8, "The end of a thing is better than its beginning."[51]

          Then in chapters 6-8 we see God's wisdom in how believers, while still living on earth with evil all around them, are empowered by the grace and Spirit of God to live righteously unto Christ's glory.  Chapter 8 then tells that God's wisdom has made it so that the "sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."[52]  This means God set up the stage so that in our sufferings we have HOPE!  God's kind wisdom thought every detail through and through for our benefit and His fame.  Finally Chapter 8 ends by making the incredible promise how "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."   This is true because the people whom He fore-loved He predestined to be in Christ.  Therefore, those whom were predestined to be in Christ God saw to it to make it happen by calling these, and then to justify these same people and finally to glorify them with Christ forever.  God's wisdom worked out everything detail so that the persons God lovingly desired to save are actually saved!  They will be with Him, for nothing will separate them from His love, for His love is infinite and infinite power itself at that.  Moreover, God has used His infinite wisdom to ensure that the fullness of His love for church will absolutely touch them and therefore save them.

            Furthermore, God's wisdom concluded in chapter 9 that "the older shall serve the younger" and "Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated."[53]  This was not concluded by God's wisdom because of anything these people or anyone as done.  Instead, God's wisdom understood it is best this way for His Glory and the churches re-communication of God's glory in their fullest enjoyment of Christ Jesus.  See, God determines the destines of men's lives when they "have not yet [been] born nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand."[54] 

        What is God's purpose?  God created all creation for the end purpose "that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory."[55] But this still begs the question why is it so important for God to create all things, even people intended for destruction, so that He might show deep riches of mercy to some of mankind?  "I say Jesus Christ has become a servant [so] the that Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy."[56]  Mercy given to sinful mankind exalts the glory of God so much so that all of creation, its history and every page from its beginning to end was caused by God, was for this one reason!  Colossians 1 verse 18 tells us that having Christ as the head and fountain of the church by Him dying for her in a display of mercy, by His plan, causes Jesus Christ to glaringly have the Supremacy and Preeminence in all things. 

          God infinitely loves Himself and so His design for all creation was to have His glory radiantly burst forth in soul staggering beauty through His Son Jesus Christ.  All of life revolves for this single purpose.  Accordingly, God's message to us is that He has, by wonderful wisdom, made it so that He eternally lavishing His tender mercies and sweet love on His saints is so much apart of His single purpose of displaying His glory that they are in one sense the same pursuit!  This is wisdom without end to its breath or greatness.  And a created creature who has received this love of God this wisdom is infinity dear and precious to me.  Is it to you dear reader?  Do you stagger under the pleasure of viewing the stream of life and of all creation and of the salvation of your soul was "to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places."  Do you worship God for His wisdom?  If not now then why do you suppose God will admit you into His house in heaven when such appreciation of His wisdom is a joyful requirement?

          This is why Romans chapter 11:33-36 concludes this whole personal saving of man by Jesus Christ's precious bloodshed and His intention for all of creation to singularly showcase His supremacy and preeminence as: "Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?" "Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?" For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." And then as if this did not get the point across enough this book of Romans, being a gospel sermon of man's salvation and God's glory, again sums up all this as:  "To God, alone wise, to glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen."  Some might think it should be to His grace, or love.  This is your conclusion dear reader.  If so why does you summary differ from God's summary of His own actions given to you?

         What this means is that God who has an infinite mind and thus, able to comprehend what is true value, beauty and worth, greatly esteems perfect wisdom.  Sinful man who only wants a Deity to be like Santa Clause to give and affirm them in their sin and idol worship only values blindness love in God.   If we were to have a better valuing of wisdom then seeing God as the causality in all things would be an avenue for us to praise and worship God seeing how His great His wisdom beautifies Himself in all that He does.   Oh that we would value heaven ways more than earthen wisdom, which is cracked with failure, crushed underfoot by devils and baked under the heat of lust and pride.

 (4) What is a helpful way to see own responsibility when God seems so sovereign over everything?

          Imagine you are at the movie theater to watch a 3D movie, the kind that requires you to wear those 3D eyeglasses.  The glasses are made up of 2 different colored lenses.  One is a red lens and the other is a blue lens.  Together as you look through both lenses you will be able to clearly see the 3D image in front of you.  But, if you are only look through one lens then the image becomes off colored and not as visible. 

           This is somewhat true when looking at reality concerning our everyday life.  In order to see reality best, (both intellectually and emotionally) we need to look through both the lens of God's absolute sovereignty and the, face value[57], of everyday life around you.

           For example when you hear the news of a friend who died in a car wreck.  At face value, as a human living on earth being created by an Almighty God and even instructed by Him to morn with those who morn, this is a great tragedy.  Both through nature itself and even much more through the scriptures we know how we are to respond in such a situation.  But at the same time this wreck, under God's sovereign causality, was probably an event of kindness or reward to this person and not tragic.  Jesus' death by the sovereignty of God was a reward and great joy for the church and not tragedy.  Samson's death at face value seems tragic maybe even punishment by God to him.  But, by God's sovereign causality, this was instead a immense reward to Samson as a great last act of faith given to God, which even Hebrews 11[58] labels him as one of the greatest men of faith for all time.

           This way of looking at things is also similar when considering God's causality over us humans and over even our thoughts and choices.  Like the friend in the car wreck not only does nature teach us so weep with our friends by even scripture does: Romans 12:15, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." It does not mater what God's secret sovereign plan was, whether it was revealed or not, we are to always weep with those who weep for right reasons.   Furthermore, God does not always provide a miraculous healing for us every time we pray for it, but since God tells us to ask and seek His help we pray for such things.  The fact that we do not know what is God's secret causality or choice in how He will exactly answer our prayers does not stop us from practically obeying His precious command to always pray and seek Him for help, which He delights to give His children.

            Moreover, consider this fact.  We actually exist! Not only does natural reasoning teach us this, but also scripture and therefore, infallibly reveals this truth.  See, because this is a physical world, with traceable time that reveals God's truth, means we are not floating in hypothetical bubble, which, because of God's total causality renders evil and good worthless.  Revelation 4:11, " You created all things, And by Your will they exist."  1 Corinthians 8:6, "There is one God through whom we live."  God's Name, Yahweh, means Infinite Existence, therefore, He would know what best what qualifies for existence or not.  And despite His total sovereign control over us He declares our existence and that what we do brings about evil or righteousness.

This is as real as it will ever get!  Understand God's glory in on the line.  His highest of highest passions is love given to Himself and His Son, Jesus Christ.  This flows into the passion to display His glory by shinning Himself in radiant fullness through Jesus Christ's Supremacy in the gospel.  This is God's greatest passionate goal and nothing will stand in His way in accomplishing this.

            If our actions did not mean real evil or good then God's displayed glory in creation is vanity and worthless.  Therefore, despite God's total causality over all things, our actions exist on the level of grand value and significant.  God has infinite understanding and if He knew His total causality over us would render our actions as valueless then we would have never been created for this would stop God's plan to fully display His glory.  God's glory cannot be shone forth in brilliant fullness if the creatures who were suppose to worship Him are meaningless.  If the death of Christ was done by valueless human actions then the glory of the cross is greatly tarnished as well.  Therefore, God's total causality, which is exercised over all things, even over us, does not diminish the value, accountability or significance or our actions.

            God the Father would not have had His Son violently crucified if the offence for which He died for were not justly worthy of punishment.  God's would not have sent His infinitely beloved Son to horrifically die for sin what was not real.  Therefore, how real is our guilt and His good?  By this also the saints are able to rest in perfect love.  God did NOT spare His own Son to save us from our sin and bring us to Himself.  What a grand display of love for all fear to evaporate and leave nothing but the salt of God's pure wonderful love for us to cherish. 

            One way to help us see how this is possibly is the following.  First, consider constantly, every day, GOD made all things!  Therefore, reality is based off what He is!  We forget this far to easily.  Furthermore, God was in prefect infinite happy love with Jesus Christ for an endless amount of time before you or I were ever created by His own power for His own purposes.  Reality and existence and the standard for what is beautiful starts here!

We must not only stand on these truths but daily remind ourselves of these foundational truths so that as we look at reality, the gospel of Christ, and what is our practical obedience and love to God correctly in right prospective.  There is a reason why the bible repeats itself over and over.  We are very forgetful and need God's truths and the Holy Spirit to be renewed and rehearsed in us daily.  Therefore how blessed are those people who understand and practice this?

            Secondly, such things as our sinful choices and God's merciful choices are real because all physical creation God declares does exist.  God purposefully made all physical existence working within it in perfect regularity so that there is such a thing as traceable time!  But why?  God's intention is to display His Glory through this physical existence to mankind.  And mankind was God's intention to be that creature who is most able to see, appraise and treasure God through enjoying His glory.  God's design intended His saints to trace the greatness of His love, power, wisdom, personhood, and grace; and praise Him for it in intellectual joyful love.

            See, although our accountability starts with the fact God commands us yet our accountability also depends because we choose from our own intentions, knowledge, and desires.  On this level the scriptures often deals with us.  Sinful confusion can arise when persons willfully reject the other parts of scripture and profess this is the only and first level on which man is accountable before God.  People read the scriptures relating to our accountability on the level of us choosing from our own sincerity and knowledge and then sinfully assume this is all that is too it.  Do not be a childish fool.

            Romans is a great example that our preaching and speaking of the realties of God is a true combining of God's absolute causality and our accountability for choosing from our own intentions and desires.  Romans chapter 9, as I have sown, explains how God "prepares" people for mercy or destruction before they where born or done any good or evil.  Then also in Romans chapter 1 we are shown it is God's causality, which lead to evil men becoming even more evil.[59]  Then right after this Paul says: "you are inexcusable, O man [for] in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath."

            This is God speaking to us in perfect unity and logically precision concerning the reality of Him being Infinite and therefore having total causality and on what levels mankind is accountable to Him.  Men do not need to be free to be accountable before God.[60]  This is our first level of accountability before God: He is sovereign and commands us.  Secondly, our accountability depends before God because we choose from the desires, knowledge, and intentions from within our own souls.

            It was not God's soul, which was having those evil desires it was ours.  Indeed the scriptures look at our souls, well as ours.  Even our physical bodies will die, but only our souls will be take with us after death for it is all we have; it is who we are;[61] it is ours.  Matthew 16:26, "What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

          You must understand that Christianity is not pantheism.  God exists without us and also for an eternity before us.  Although, God upholds us into existence, God is separate from all creation in a drastic since, in that He does not need nor receive power from the entire combination of creation for existence, happiness or knowledge nor anything.  Therefore, although our hearts are in God's causality, our hearts are our hearts, our thoughts are our thoughts, and our intentions are our intentions!  The desires within our hearts are our desires and on this level our accountability before God is greatly and justly increase.  James 1:14, "Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed."

          This is similarly spoken of in Proverbs 16:1 & 9, "The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.  A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." I will not discuss the implications of God's sovereignty, which arise from these verses, for I have done this generally enough, but will focus on the first part of these verses.  These verse show that the "preparations" and "plans" of a man's inner heart "belong to man", for the are rightfully his and not God's.  God tells us later in Proverbs 21:1 that He directs our hearts and not only our tongues wherever His wish.  However it does not say that God takes over our hearts so that it is no longer our hearts and its own preparations.  God directs our own hearts, and not His heart in us.[62]  God moves our souls.  He does not remove, put them into a box in the corner or incinerate them. 

          Our hearts are God's as in ownership, for He made them, but not so in the respect that our hearts are ours with our own intentions and preparations.  The beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that in Him the precious Holy Spirit directs our hearts so perfectly, with such fullness of His glory shinning on our souls that our choices will always be holy, obedient, and with perfect love for regard for God's glory.  We experience this in part now on earth and fully in the new Kingdom.

          But take the reverse for a moment.  God rewards His saints for choices He caused or moved them to make!  It might seem harsh in a sense that God punishes people who are ultimately under His sovereignty and predestined for destruction.  But on the other hand God gives rewards to His saints for things He predestined and caused them to do on the ultimate sense.  Therefore, on the level of God's causality it seems astounding that God gives rewards to persons whom He caused to be good.  This is in part what John 1:16 means by we receiving grace for grace.  Jesus saves by His grace by dyeing for own crimes, then the Holy Spirit caused us to walk in holiness, which are not called "fruits of you", but "fruits of the Spirit" and still God rewards us for this! 

          However on the level that God commanded us, whether or not we are free, because we did the commands we rightly are rewarded.  Furthermore, although moved by the Spirit, it was our own desires, heart and thoughts that choose what we did whether for selfish or Christ exalting reasons.  On the level that it was our hearts with our own holy intentions that made those choices God justly rewards us.  It is right for us to see reality this way for the scriptures and particularly Romans shows how both are preached together as if they were twins attached at the hip.

           So it is right for God to often relate to us in the scriptures on the level of us being accountable for punishment or reward because we choose from our own desires with our own hearts.  And it is also right for God to speak of His absolute causality for that is who His is: The Infinite Existence.  Therefore, as true children of God let us bow our selves in the dust, from were we came from, and marvel at God's terrifying sovereignty and tremble in fear at how obviously guilty we are for our own choices.  May we also shout in exuberant joy for the endless love we have through God's only Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.  Let us be the true worshipers our Father in Heaven seeks and not complainers who will perish in the same desert of their ungrateful hearts.  

          Therefore, God wishes for us to observe in awe, seeing how physical this world is, how strong our own thoughts, desires and sincere our choices are and how time is so traceable so that good and evil are seen for what they really are!  Furthermore, so that we my also observe in wonder how radiant and brilliant is God as a fountain of infinite beauty and how ugly evil really is; and what really is God's power, justice, wisdom and love are.  Before creation there was only God shined forth in His beloved Son Jesus Christ and expressed in infinite love in the Spirit as a fountain of infinite heart, knowledge and holiness.  God being infinitely knowledgeable knows how infinitely good and beautiful He really is.  But how is creation to know this without a controlled starting point where we may properly judge what really is ugly and hatful vs. what is beautiful and valuable.  This is much like in science where you have a controlled objective foundation form where to judge the rest of the results from.  God created physical creation and put man in its center, who is God's highest design in his ability to understand and perceive and enjoy what is His glory. 

          God decreed the fall of man and sin into being so that we are at the best advantage to evaluate how wonderful, majestic and glorious God is.  God is light so that, in a sense, evil is the absence of all that is God, who is Light and goodness itself living in infinite self-existence.  Once we see what reality is without God we can significantly begin to see how endlessly valuable, beauty, holy and desiring of all love God and His Son truly is!

          By this we are to see our own sinfulness and then marvel at the radiant glory of God's Divine Nature as we are able to touch, taste and see in all levels of physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and personal realities how Great and how Wonderful is the Son of God, who freely gives Himself to the worms of the earth.  "Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle!"  This King, this infinite Power, this infinite Mercy, this infinite Love has a Name and His Name is Jesus Christ the mighty!  May all adoring hearts and praise be given to Him alone. Amen!

To know more about this read my article: Seeing with Two Perspectives, at www.osheadavis.com.

In summary the two biblical gospel sermons (Romans and Hebrews) we have clearly seen God preached as the Infinite Existence and the cause of all things. 

Brief Application:

          Are you to engulfed in the vanities of this life, to busy with work, and your mined made to lazy by worldliness that you are unable to see and enjoy the infinitely beauty complexities of your Savior's glory?  Who's lover will you be, the world's or Christ?  Jesus Christ offers Himself only to those who forsake all others for Him.  Are you willing?  Do you see Him as this beautiful?  Or would you rather, after having placed your hand on the plow[63] look back and flirt with your worldly lovers as Lot's wife did?  Remember her fate and the rich young ruler. 

          Let it be know for all who have an endless appetite for life, Jesus Christ says to all who are willing to receive Him, "whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."[64]  Open wide and receive the fullness of Christ's glory, mercy, peace and the heavenly entertainment of His love.  He is infinite.  His love is infinite.  His happiness is infinite, and He is willing to offer Himself as such to all who would but only forsake all other lovers to have His fullness.  Forsake all others, forsake yourself, forsake this world and have Christ Jesus to be yours by giving all yourself to be His.  Plummet into the endless riches and beauties of both His complexities and simplicities for your enjoyment and His praise.  He is offering, but are you willing?  Where is your heart dear reader?  Are you still alive?  Then repentance is still in your possession!  Repent and find again the sure mercies of David in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus Christ the Lord given for you; for this is why they were pierced, for your forgiveness and reconciling with the Almighty God.  Do you believe?  Then all heaven is yours!  If not then all hell is yours!

 (4) Love is Infinite

           Love is not a mere hypothetical idea but infinite energy itself.  To understand this we must see what the doctrine of the Trinity teaches us.  To stay on topic we will be dealing particularly with the reality of the Person of Holy Spirit.

          "There proceeds a most pure act, and an infinitely holy and sacred energy arises between the Father and Son in mutually loving and delighting in each other, for their love and joy is mutual.  (Proverbs 8:30) "I was daily His delight rejoicing always before Him."

This is the eternal and most perfect and essential act of the Divine nature, wherein the Godhead acts to an infinite degree and in the most perfect manner possible.  The Deity becomes all act.  The Divine essence itself flows out and is as it were breathed forth in love and joy.  So that the Godhead therein stands forth in yet another manner of subsistence, and there proceeds the third Person in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, which is namely the Deity in act.  There is no other act but the act of the will.

The Holy Spirit is the Deity subsisting in act.  He is the Divine essence flowing out and breathed forth in God's Infinite love to and delight in Himself. 

But the Holy Spirit being the love and joy of God is His beauty and happiness.  Indeed, it is in our partaking of the same Holy Spirit that our communion with God consists: (2 Corinthians 13:14) "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all, Amen."  They are not different benefits but the same that the Apostle explains here.  In partaking of the Holy Spirit we possess and enjoy the love and grace of the Father and the Son, for the Holy Spirit is that love and grace."[65]

         The Holy Spirit when spoken about in the scriptures is spoken in this manner.  "Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father", and then, "has sent forth the Spirit of His Son."  It is important to note that nowhere is it recorded in the scriptures that God the Father or Son come froth from the Holy Spirit.  Instead, the Scriptures show the Spirit coming from both the Father and the Son. 

           Psalm 36:8, "They are abundantly satisfied ... You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures."  God is said here to give from Himself His pleasure to His saints to drink in like a river.  But the bible gives us more specific langue for what or Whom this pleasure and joy is.  John 7:38,39, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit."  Rivers or waters are most often referred to God as His pleasure and Joy, but this river is also the Spirit Himself.  Then when John baptized Jesus Christ the Father said, this is My Son "in whom I am well Pleased (Matthew 3:16-17)."  Proclaiming His pleasure in His Son the Holy Spirit came upon Christ in the form of a dove, which was a symbol of love and delight (see Songs of Solomon 2:14, 5:2,6:9).

           The Holy Spirit is the infinite energetic joy, love and pleasure generated between the Father and Son.  The Holy Spirit is the eternal and natural consequence of the infinite enjoyment, which the Father has in the Son and the Son in the Father.  This pleasure is so intense and so full of infinite energy, that the Spirit stands alone as His own rightful Divine Person.  It is hard then to imagine what joy and pleasure the saints in heaven will experience by having the Person of Holy Spirit overflow their souls with Himself!

        See, the Holy Spirit is Deity in infinite action.  This act of the Spirit is infinite energy of loving happiness that arises from the Father delighting in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ delighting in His Father.  The Father and Son have infinite wisdom and perfections.  They also are infinite beauty and holiness itself.  Therefore, with infinite comprehension the Father sees the infinite beauty of His holiness shinned out in His Son Jesus Christ and by infinite delight (Holy Spirit) the Father answers His infinite delight to His Son with infinite energy of love poured over His Son; and the likewise with the Son to the Father!  This action of infinite energy of love given to the Son of the Father and the Father of the Son is none-other than the great Holy Spirit.

        The Holy Spirit is love as a Person!  Like I said before it is hard to conceive this for we humans are accustomed to having to rely on our external physical power to accomplish our inner love of our hearts and minds.  However God is not limited in this manner.  His inner heart and mind is His infinite power itself because God's heart, knowledge and happiness are infinite in themselves.  This naturally and necessarily makes them infinite in energy, or that God is infinite energy.  This makes the Person of the Spirit who is infinite delight and love infinite energy Himself; or that love is infinite action and energy.

        One way to see this is when you hear someone say, for example, during a boxing match, he is fighting on spirit or heart alone right now.  The physical body is expended of its power but the spirit of the man is somehow fueling it with an unseen power.  This is similar when a person is mortally wounded and is only hanging onto life by the power of their spirit.  The body can be tired but by an uplifted spirit, heart or mind the body can be empowered beyond what it is normally capable of.[66]  In this we see how even our own invisible inner soul has energy to it.  But the Holy Spirit is an infinite heart, if you would, which is to say He is infinite energy and power itself.  He thinks and it is done, He desires and it is accomplished. Job 34:14-15, "If He should set His heart on it, all flesh would perish together." &  Zechariah 4:6, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts."

          This is why I say love is not a mere idea or concept, but love is a Person; love is infinite unstoppable energy!  Love is the Holy Spirit; He is God.  This similarly gives us insight into 1 John chapter 4 when it reads, God is love.  God is infinite love given as infinite energy of delight from the Father to the Son and the Son to the Father, and that energy is the rightful Person of the Holy Spirit. 

        This is why cheap love found on earth with the sons of men is such an abomination to God.  God's love, which is the Holy Spirit, is infinite action of delight given to each other.  Human love is the opposite.  It is finite stagnate nothingness.  Human love is often endless words, promises and smiles with little or no action of delight!  This is the opposite of God.  This is the opposite of what love is.  For the Spirit is pure unending action!  He is the Deity in infinite act of energetic love and delight.  What this means is that it is impossible for love not to be in action for it is in itself infinite energy of delight.  It is impossible for infinity or for infinite energy to stand still.  Infinity is not standing still, but is unstoppable motion and Power!  This is what love is.  Delight with infinite momentum and power, infinite energy to accomplish all its delight.  It might be hard for some to see love as this because it is so opposite to the cheap earthly and powerless love we see so often. 

        One of my favorite phrases in all the bible is found in Romans 8 verse three when it says, "God did by sending His own Son."  Particularly I enjoy the phrase "God did."  What God says He will do He actually does it!  All the mercy, forgiveness and compassion He promised to sinful man God actually does something about it!  God is not a failure like man or even angels, for even a third of their kind rebelled.  God does, God comes through, God accomplishes, God shines through the darkness, God brings to pass, God attains and when everyone else fails God does not but sees through to the end until His full desire is in the palm of His hands.  God desired to "save many people alive" so this day by the blood His Son Jesus Christ in His palms are engraved many names.  This is the God we serve, the Infinite Existence, who never fails and comes through with every promise of love which He promised before time began. 

          Proverbs 17:9, "He who covers a transgression seeks love."  Therefore, how much does God show Himself to be a God of steadfast love, by seeking out and pressing into the darkest parts of the world and finding His enemies to save them by the precious blood of His Son Jesus Christ?  God actually does something about His love and by this we know beyond all doubt we can trust Him.  What we are beholding here is infinite love. 

          God promised to Adam and Eve He would crush the serpent by sending a Savior to mankind to deliver them from the ruin they brought upon themselves by their own sinning against Almighty God.  But God's promise of mercy and love goes even deeper, deeper back in time that is.  The Father promised to His Son, by His suffering for them, which was written in the eternal Covenant of Grace that He will give the elect life and immortality and reconciliation.  Titus 1:2, "Eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began."  God promised that all nations will be blessed through Abraham's Seed.  Through the prophets God promised in words of great mercy that His Son would come into the world as both as a sin Savior and King to reign over all things for the good of His chosen people and His fame to be brilliantly displayed.

Let us trace together the glory of the true God who has infinite holiness and an infinite heart consisting of unstoppable energy.  Proverbs 15:23, "A word spoken in due season, how good it is!"  Likewise, how tragic and evil it is when a promise of love is given and it is not carried out during the time and season when it is needed most.  But God is not like man who is such a failure, for He sent His forth His Son when the world needed Him the most.  God promised and was good on His precious word of mercy to a sinful world.  "When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, to redeem those that we might receive the adoption as sons."[67]

          Man often makes promises of love out of self-interest or self-need.  When that promise of love seems to no longer serve their need or benefit their promise becomes as empty and as worthless as the desert baking under the sun.  But God has no need and has every benefit to the infinite degree.  When He makes a promise of love to a lowly creature it source is from a heart full of sincere love and pity.  This means when God makes choice it is only being influenced from within His own internal heart.  Accordingly, God's choice to love a person is therefore immutable and eternal.  God's love is never evil, empty nor it is based from self-need.  God loves because it who He is and what He desires to do.  God's love never runs dry but is an endless fountain of the most refreshing water.  And so just as "a good report makes the bones healthy,"[68] so the glory of God's grace given to sinners in the good report of the gospel has showcased the love of God as more than wonderful for it makes the soul abundantly healthy with heavenly life. 

            Proverbs 15:9, "He loves him who follows righteousness." Psalm 11:7, "For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness.  His countenance beholds the upright." God is righteous and loves righteousness.  God is righteous and therefore, He loves righteousness displayed from Himself or by Him through His creatures.  Although righteousness has a meaning concerning God acting in a manner true, right and answerable to His value, glory and moral beauty, yet here in our text it is particularly referring to the God's acting perfectly answerable to His moral perfection, whether it is mercy or justice.  We know this true for this is what is intended when God speaks of delighting in man's uprightness, or this moral uprightness.

          This is a huge problem if God is to act on this goal to love man, for man is evil and not upright!  Indeed Romans 3:10 makes this clear, "As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one."  God cannot love unrighteousness!  Therefore, one of the greatest goals in God sending His Son Jesus Christ to save man was to make them righteous.  Romans 5:19, "By one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."  What promoted God to send His Son Jesus Christ?  Love!  "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son."[69]  God first loved the sinner.  But love is not content at loving from a distance by touching the object of their love.  This is why God through Christ Jesus "made" the church "righteous." 

          The wonder of this is that this righteous is Christ's own righteousness which He earned by His own perfect loving obedience given to His Father.  Corinthians 5:21, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  The saints are in essence clothed with Christ's own the righteous purity and moral beauty.  It is like a robe worn over them beautifying them in infinite light, for it is God's.  Isaiah 61:10, "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."

          Love wishes to touch the person they love, and thus, God making sinners righteousness with Christ's moral obedience God is bringing them near to Himself.  If love touches a sinner then justice is the answerer.  This is why God had to make us righteous and by Christ Jesus He did.  This is why God's dealings with the saints is so often called "grace" and not mere love.  For it is by grace that God's love is now able to touch a sinner.  Not only does the saints have Christ's performed moral obedience on earth given to them as if they performed this, but they are by Divine power grafted and made one into Christ's heavenly body.  By this the saints shine as suns with the holiness and moral beauty of Christ, for it is in them and on them.  This is His precious gift to them whom He loved so much.  Matthew 13:43, "The righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

          Now by Christ Jesus the invisible God is able to touch sinners who have been made righteous in Christ.  This is so much so that God takes not the finger of an angel but Himself to wipe away the tears of His saints.  Revelation 7:17, "The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  God does something about His love because He is the Infinite Existence; He is infinite energy of love, which never stops moving.  His love is unstoppable, unmovable accomplishing power. 

          The Father wanted to make His Son Jesus Christ supreme and exalted above every name and so the Father did and accomplished this and will do so.  The Son loves and Father and did so even to the point of going to the cross in loving obedience to Him.  And God loved sinful man so actually did something about it.  He forgave us and made us clean.  And yes! Even more than clean but clothed in the righteous acts of Christ being gloriously beautified by His holiness, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

           God never fails!  Love never fails!  Dear saints do you realize the glory you are beholding here!  Why is this world then so attractive to you?  Do not be fooled, God knows who loves Him and who does not.  Doubtlessly one of the reasons why God in His decrees willed the fall of man and subjected the world with corruption in hope was for us to fully know and comprehend with exceeding joy the vast difference between what is His infinite love and all others; or that we might "able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."[70]  Is it now that you understand?

          We were to weak to obey God therefore, what we could not do to help ourselves "God did by sending His own Son in likeness of sinful flesh; He condemned sin in the flesh so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us."  By this God has brought much glory to Himself through the gospel. Proverbs 14:28, "In a multitude of people is a king's honor, But in the lack of people is the downfall of a prince." Christ is a great king with many people.  Many people who love His precious almighty Name, for to them His is their God and Savior friend. Revelation 5:9, "They sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation"

          What is beheld in such things is quite simple: 1 Corinthians 13:8, "Love never fails."  It is impossible for infinity to fail.  And the wonderful thing for us to come to grasp with is that this eternal necessary infinity is love.  Even still this love is a living Person.  And still yet this Person has a wonderful Name and has revealed it to man whom He created, Jesus Christ the Lord Glory.  And to Him let all cry: Be glory, power and dominion forever! Amen.

          In our continued discussion on the nature of God's love we will look over together what John 4:8 is primarily about when it reads, "God is love."  This answer has already been given.  God is love in that He loves His Son Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.  All other love is only a stream or reflection of this primary, infinite and original love of God.  This means that God loves the saints only through Christ.  Despite how some fools think this lessens the God's love to us it does the opposite; it infallibly insures God's love for us is both forever and deeper than the ocean.  To help me with endeavor is John Owen from the last book he wrote before he passed away.

 "The Person of Christ is the primary object of the love of God, and all of creation are members of His image.

(1.) Largely the eternal blessedness of the holy God consists in the mutual love of the Father and the Son, by the Spirit.  Jesus is the only begotten of the Father.  He is the first, necessary, complete object of the entire love of the Father.  Therefore, He says of Himself, that from eternity He was "by him, as one brought up with him: and was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him," Proverbs 8:30.  In him was the indescribable, eternal, unchangeable delight and satisfaction of the Father, as the full object of His love. The same is expressed in that description of Him, John 1:18, "The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father."  Being the only-begotten Son declares Jesus' eternal relation to the Person of the Father, of whom He was begotten in the entire communication of the whole Divine nature.  The Son is in the bosom of the Father.  Meaning, in the eternal embraces of the Fathers love, as His only-begotten Son. The Father loves, and cannot but love, His own nature and essential image in Jesus Christ.

In this love to Jesus Christ is God's original love: "For God is love," 1 John 4:8.  This is the fountain and prototype of all love, for it is eternal and necessary.  All other acts of love in God are only displays of this love, and effects of it.[71]

          As He does good because He is good, so He loves because He is love.  He is love eternally and necessarily in this love to His Son; and all other workings of love are but stream from this, being outwardly expressed.  All love in creation was introduced from this fountain, to give a shadow and resemblance of it.

          Love is something thoughtful men have always almost adored.  Many things they have spoken to prove it to be the light, life, luster and glory of the whole creation.  But the original and pattern of it was always hid from the wisest philosophers of old.  Of this indescribable love of the Father and the Son, both in and by that Spirit proceeding from both of them, philosophers have never understood. Yet, herein does the main part of the blessedness of the holy God consist.  It is the only fountain and prototype of all that is truly called love.  This is a blessing and glory that creation has never been made partaker of, but only to express, in their limitation, this infinite and eternal love of God!  God's love of himself, (is natural and necessary for the Divine Being), consists in the mutual satisfaction of the Father and the Son by the Spirit.  It was to express Himself, that God made any thing.  He made the heavens and the earth to express His being, goodness, and power.  He created man "in His own image," to express His holiness and righteousness.  Furthermore, God placed love in our natures to express this eternal mutual love of the holy persons of the Trinity.

          Jesus is the intimate object of the Father's love.  Likewise, Jesus is the intimate object of God's love, as Jesus the incarnate. - (Jesus in the work of mediation, continues its work; that is, the Person of Christ, as God-man, is the intimate object of the Divine love of the Father. The person of Christ in His Divine nature is the sufficient object of the Father's love)- This love is a natural necessary act of the Divine essence in its distinct personal existence toward the Person of Christ incarnate, as clothed with human nature.  This is the first and full object of the Father's love in those acts of it that are "ad extra", or are towards anything without Himself.  So He declares Himself in the prospect of His future incarnation and work, "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delights," Isaiah 42:1.

          The delight of God's soul, rest and satisfaction, (which are the great effects of love), are in the Lord Christ, as His elect and servant in the work of mediation.  The testimony of the Father's love for Jesus the Savior was given twice from heaven, Matthew 3:17: "A voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  It is again repeated in Matthew 17:5.  All things are inclined to give a good sense concerning this love of God unto Jesus.  The testimony concerning it is repeated twice in the same words from heaven.  And the words are emphatic demanding our strongest comprehension: "My Son, my servant, mine elect, my beloved Son, in whom I rest, in whom I delight, and am well pleased."  It is the will of God to leave upon our hearts a sense of His love for Jesus Christ.  Indeed, His voice came from heaven, not for Jesus' sake, who was always filled with a sense of this Divine love, but for ours, that we might believe it.

          The sense of this is the foundation of Christian religion. Therefore, Jesus prays that we may know that God has loved him, John 17:23, 26.  In this sense, the Person of Christ is the first recipient of all Divine love that extends itself to the church. It is all, in the first place, fixed upon Him, and by and through Him is this love communicated to the church. Whatever the church receives in grace and glory, it is but the streams of this fountain - love unto Himself.

         People cannot partake of any other love, neither in itself nor in its effect, except the love which the Father first loves Jesus.  The Father loves Him for us all, and does not love us except as in Him.  He makes us "accepted in the Beloved," Ephesians 1:6.  Jesus is the Beloved of the Father; for in all things He has preeminence of the Father's Love, Colossians 1:18.  The love of the body (church) is derived from the love to the Head; and in the love of Jesus does God love the whole church, and no other way. God loves none but who are united to Jesus, and participant of His nature.

          The love of the Father to the Son, (as the only begotten, and essential image of His Person, where the indescribable delight of the Divine nature consists), was the fountain and cause of the love for creation, which was by the will of God for its representation of this.  The love of God the Father to the Person of Christ as incarnate, being the first sufficient object of Divine love where there is anything "ad extra," is the fountain and cause of all gracious love towards us and in us.  Our love to Christ being the only outward expression and representation of this love of the Father to Him consists the main part of our renewal to His image.  Nothing more makes us like God in His image, as our love to Jesus Christ; for He is the main object of the Father's love.  Indeed, in Jesus does His soul rest, in Jesus is He always well pleased.  Wherever this is lacking, there is nothing of the image of God.  He that loves not Jesus Christ, let him be cursed; for this person is unlike God, and his canal mind is enmity against God.

          We assert that there should be, in all believers, a religious, gracious love for the person of Christ, distinct from their obedience to His commands. In other words being distinct from all other commands; but is also itself commanded and required of us in a way of duty.

"My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."  What heart can conceive, what tongue can express, the glory of these promises, or the least part of the grace that is contained in them?  Who can conceive rightly of the Divine condescension, love, and grace that are expressed in them?  How little a portion is it that we know of God in these things!  But if we value them not, if we labor not for an experience of them according to our measure, we have no portion in the gospel.  The presence and dwelling of God with us as a Father, manifesting Himself to be such to us, in the infallible pledges and assurances of our adoption - (the presence of Christ with us, revealing Himself unto us, with all those indescribable mercies where these things are accompanied) - are all contained in them.  These promises are noticeably given to them who love the person of Christ, and in the exercise of love towards him.

Designed in the Gospel are the giving of blessings and curses. As blessings are declared to be their portion "who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity," Ephesians 6:24, so those who do not love Him, have all the curses denounced against them even 1 Corinthians 16:22.  Whatever these persons confess in outward obedience to the Gospel, minus a glorious joy in the promises of it, are justly liable to a final removal from the church in this world, and eternal cursing in that which is to come.

It is evident, therefore, that the love of the church to the Person of Christ is not a silly fancy, not a deluding imagination, as some have blasphemed.  Indeed, it is that which the nature of their relation to Him becomes necessary and that where they express their renewal to the image of God; and finally which the Scripture indispensably requires of them.  This is where all their spiritual comforts depend."[72]

          God the Father loves His Son so much that the world or all creation was made for the Son.  What I mean by that is this.  God the Father does not see merely in first person; He always sees His Image: Jesus.  Proverbs 8:30, "I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him."  Jesus Christ is always before God.  Furthermore, Jesus Christ is the infinite shining forth of the Father's own holiness, as light is to the sun.  Therefore, as light is always before the sun shining out so to Jesus Christ has and will always be before the Father.  As the sun would not be able to see the universe without seeing it through its own light so to the Father sees only through the light of His glorious Son Jesus Christ.

          What this means is when God the Father wanted to make the world He saw this desire as He viewed it through His Son.  Seeing with infinite love and energy of delight toward His Son, the Father then sees His desire to create the world.   By this God the Father is creating the world for His Son Jesus Christ of out love for Him.  The Father doesn't merely see Himself and then wants create the world.  He sees always before Him His Son Jesus, the Divine Image, and His infinite love for Him as infinite energy poured to Him by the Spirit.  Therefore, in infinite delight over His Son Jesus Christ the Father creates all things as a gift of love for Him. 

         This is why John Owens says that all creation, (whether planets, angels or mankind), was the Father's love for His Son; and or that it was a loving gift for Him.  In Hebrews 2:13 Christ Jesus says regarding the saints that they are, "the children whom God has given Me."

          But this the very hope for why God's love for His saints will be so immerse and endless.  Some might think if God's love toward all other things is only because He first loves Jesus that it might lessen the sincerity of His love for creatures like us, yet, it is rather the opposite.  God loving us secondly through and for His love to His Son, is the only guarantee God's love will be sincere and abundantly deep.  Because the infinity of God's love is poured entirety in and for His Son Jesus Christ, then what or whoever is not originally a gift for Jesus as its true cause for God creating it is worthless and less than nothing in its value.  But whoever is has eternal value and beauty, for they have their start and existence where God's love lives, His Son.

          The practical implications of God's touching, personal and sustaining love to His saints are infinite.  See, what excited God to love His saints sprung from the infinite unstoppable love for His Son.  The Saints were a gift for His Son.  Therefore, on this premise alone God has endless love for the saints who are for His infinitely beloved Son.  The Son is the ending point where the Father pours the infinite energy of His love to; and whoever is found there will likewise have access to that love.  Out of infinite energy of love to His Son God our Father turns to us personally, eye to eye, and grabs us by the hand to show His love to us.

          Moreover, Zephaniah 3:17, "The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." The Father rejoices over us with singing for the saints are the image of His Son.  The saints are the height of creation used to express the supremacy and preeminence of Christ as the Eternally blessed God and Son whom is beloved by the Father.  From this explosive love for His Son is the source from which God loves each one of His Saints! 

          "It pleased the Father that in [Christ] all the fullness should dwell."[73]  First, the saints are beloved because their start for existence was as gift for His Son Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:10, God had a plan so, "that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth -- in Him."  And secondly this gift (the church for Christ) was particularly a displaying of Jesus Christ's image as the only Son of God.  Therefore, the saints in their imaging of Christ display Him as Supreme and so by this are in the center of God's love, for His love is to display His Son.  Likewise, the public Jesus Christ has the Father's own glory shown through Him.  But the public Jesus Christ is not a private Person but the church is a part of Him, therefore the love of the Father rest in them also.  For the church also in Christ displays the Father's glory.  Romans 8:29, "Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."  But why?  Colossians 1:18, "[Christ] is the image of the invisible God.  He is the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence [or Supremacy]."  In summary God loves the saints or the church for they are a love gift to His infinitely beloved Son.  Secondly, God has an infinite passion to showcase His glory and that particularly through His public Son Jesus Christ and because the church in Christ does this the Father greatly loves His saints.

         The Father conceived a manner for His precious beloved Son to publicly be exalted as Supreme by having a shined forth image of His physical Deity in Jesus Christ.  As Jesus Christ is of the Father in infinite spiritual reality so the church is the holy image of Christ in physical reality.  This is the center of the Father's loving gift to His Son Jesus Christ.  His gift for the Son is to have all things summed up in Him and for Him to have the public Preeminence, particularly by the church being the image of Christ's own glory and victory. (See Romans 8:29)

        God made the world for the Son, for the Son's image is always before the Father.  The Father desired for the Son to be honored as He is and so lovingly made it so that the church is His image, and therefore, as the fountain of the physical world's good.  The Father loved His Son and so desired for Him to have the enjoyment of having an image as He, the Father, has His beloved Son as His radiant beautiful image.

       Christ and His image, which is the Church, displays the public idea of the infinite, spiritual and invisible union of the Father and His Son as the perfect image, within the Trinity.

        An implication to consider is how much the Son, as the image of the Father, receives from Him and how much the Son loves the Father as being in His Father and as His Holy Fountain.  So to it is the same as Christ is the Holy fountain and the church as His image.  The joy the church will experience will be like of the Father's love to the Son and the Son's to the Father's!  Christ will rejoice in His church being the reflected beauty of His glory as the Father rejoices in His Son being the perfect image of Himself.  This is just one of the many types of endless joys that the church will partake of in their heavenly union in Christ.  They will enjoy the pleasure of Christ who died for them to be His bride.  They will feel the joy of the Father's delight over them as they are beautified in the righteousness of Christ.  

            Yet, this is one aspect of the many glories God has displayed through His Son in the gospel and creation.  For God greatly desired to display His glorious compassion and grace in general.  This consequently is the same grace, which makes the church Christ's image.  And so, God did.

            What we see here are the great sundry Excellencies of Christ shining together as twin stars; love to His Father and Love His saints.  Christ's pleasurable love to His Holy Father, and His merciful love to worthless sinners.   Christ does both perfectly and wonderfully.  Christ's love to His Father appeared most vividly in being a wrath appeasing propitiation for sinners so that His Father's honor is repaired.[74]  Sin is against God Himself.  Sinners by their sin do attack the honor and worth of God.  But Jesus Christ has infinite love for His Father and His love starts here.  He was not willing to rescue sinners without gaining back the huge honor sin took from God's Name.  Christ pursued this love for regaining this honor for His Father by running head-on into the suffering of the cross.  He suffered torment of body and soul.  His body was torn by nails, spears, thorns and whips; and His soul was torn by being abandoned by His disciples and even His Father.  All this was out of love to His Father.

        Yet, astonishingly Jesus personally directs His love to sinners!  He loves them not only because it brings God glory, (although it starts here) but He loves them because He chooses and wants to love them!  God loves you in one sense simply, "because the LORD loves you."[75]  Being infinite God is able to make choices purely form within Himself without being tempted by evil, loss, greed, or by any outside force.  Therefore, His choices being based on His infinite wisdom, moral beauty and happiness are prefect, immutable and exactly what He wants.  The entire future is what He creates it to be and therefore, there will never raise a surprise that might cause God to change His mind.  His decisions and particularly His decision to love the saints through Christ is an everlasting, immutable and joyful choice on God's part.  It is what He wants to do.  Because His desire is infinite energy itself there is nothing that will stop God from His desire to love His chosen saints.  God's delight is to love the saints with His own personal love in His Son Jesus Christ.  Therefore, since God has chosen to personally direct His love on a creature it is precisely what He wants to do.

          In Jesus Christ we see a kaleidoscope of heavenly beauty express in a grand public showcase: love to His Father and grace to sinners!  The gospel of John particularly displays this beautiful sight. 

          Christ loves His Father and actually says this is one of the main reasons why He came to die.  He died to prove how much He loves His Father; and how much His Father desires to be loved; and to prove by His love for His Father how infinitely lovely the Father is.  John 14:31, I am going away to die so "that the world may know that I love the Father."  Jesus says He died above all things to as a loving gift to bring His Father glory: John 12:27, "For this purpose I came to this hour. "Father, glorify Your name."  Moreover Christ's love is heard in when He told the Jewish leaders, "I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."[76]

            The on the other side of the table Jesus has much to say about another love He is giving to another party.  John 12:47, "I did not come to judge the world but to save the world."  But why or what initial motivation did Jesus have for saving the world?  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."[77]  Indeed God cherished the persons He chose to love so much that He "did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all."  What incredible and fathomless love there is here!  What a wonderful mystery: God choose to love sinners and therefore He went so far out His own way to save them, sending His own Son for them!  In fact Jesus pronounces His own love for us along with His Father.  "For their sakes I sanctify[78] Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."[79] And lastly Jesus says in two unbelievable states regarding His love to the church that: "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you."[80]  &  "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."

          Who is able to grasp such knowledge?  Jesus Christ tells us that as the Father loves Him He will likewise love us!  How much does God the Father love His Son is the question?  Infinitely, eternally and immutably!  There are no bumps or dips in the Fathers love to His Son.  The love here is infinite.  It neither wavers nor decreases.  It is infinite energy itself and so it acts out every loving desire it has for the object of its love.  Furthermore, our Lord says no greater love is proven more than giving your life for your friends.  Jesus did that for us!  How greatly has He proven His love for us?  In His mind's eye He sees us has His dearest friends for He actually did die for us, at a definite time and a definite place!

          Oh dear saints of God how great a reason for us to set aside this world and even ourselves and trust Him with all our hearts, for has He not already proven His love for us?  What more could anyone, let along the Infinite Existence have done to prove His love than count us as friends and give up His life to save us?  How blessed are those who enter into that heavenly friendship and how great is the woe for the one who rejects such a proven love!

           Jesus, because He is infinite, has the ability to turn to a creature, which does not deserve His love and actually give it to them, although it cost Him so much to do so.  The Father deserves the Son's love.  Jesus possessing infinite wisdom knows how beautiful and valuable His Father truly is.  It is therefore infinitely agreeable and sweet to Him to pour all His love to His Father.  But how and why can Jesus love in an infinite manner a creature who deserves not this love or one drop of it?  As said before God being infinite makes choices out of His own internal nature without any outside force influencing Him.  His choice is completely His choice and He is the only Being where this is true in the absolute fullest sense.  Also Jesus Christ came as a Savior and mediator in means of grace, by dyeing on the cross so that by making us Holy in God's sight He can justly rejoice over us as deeply as He so pleases.  But some might ask, if Jesus Christ is already pouring the infinity of His love to His Father what is left for us?

          It is precisely because Jesus is infinite in the truest sense that He is can also infinitely love us!  Christ's divine essence as God is not infinite as a mathematical infinity where you have a starting point and then infinitely move from there.  Christ and His Father never had a beginning, and therefore, are a true infinite.  Here is infinity with no beginning.  His Name is God.  He is not a straight-line infinity, but infinity in every direction and every direction you cannot think of. 

           Therefore, Jesus Christ our Lord has infinite love to spare for anyone whom He desires to love.  The infinite love, which Christ loves us, is more like a mathematical infinitely were He and His Father chooses to love at a point and time and then forever more.  Yet, God's love is truly infinite toward us.  This is indicated by the expression in Jeremiah 31:3, "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love."  Or a perpetual love, which is to say an infinite love in duration.  Furthermore God's love to His saints is an infinite love in its height for this is indicated by the phrase "sons of God" and "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" in Romans chapter 8.  God loves His Son Jesus with an infinite height and we are "joint heirs with" Him our Divine Brother.

           Why would God love us with an infinitely high and extensive love?  Is this not an exposure or snapshot of how wide, how deep and how magnificent is the heart of the Infinite Existence.  Consider this wonderful love of God for us.  For before there was no love between God and sinners, but now there are oceans of love.   Before we were enemies but now because of Christ's initiative and hard work we are friends to the Almighty God.  Before there was bitterness between God and man but because of Christ's tender mercies there is peace which passing understanding.  Before we were actually running away from the Infinite Existence the source of all life and beauty, but because Jesus purchased the gift of the Holy Spirit we now are running into the arms of God by the Spirit's sweet directing.  We were diseased with sin and corruption but Jesus Christ took our strips for us in our place and so we are healed.   Before there was an endless gulf between us and God and now because of Christ's love there is such unity that He is the vine and we are the branches; He is the head and we are His body.   Before we were devoiced playing the harlot with the devil and death, but now by Christ's loving sacrifice we are married to the King of Kings and Lord of love.

           What we have in view is how God who took the initiative to save us.   Furthermore, He did all the hard work to make it so that He is able to cover us with the deepest and purest form of His love. Love and mercy were the motivation of God's inner heart toward us.  You must see in faith that "God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us"[81], &  "because the LORD loves you."[82]  The Father and Jesus Christ His Son loves us because they chose to love us with all infinity of knowledge, happiness, energy and immutability behind that choice.  For God's choice is, in a since, God; just as the scriptures are in essence God as Romans 9:17 indicates.[83] 

           Consider how personal God's love is to us in 2 Corinthians 4:6, "God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."  Again it was God who proves His love to us is authentic in that He initiated this whole love affair.  Secondly, trace out the place God is choosing to shine His glory or Personhood at.  Does it not look like a heart, your heart?  What an amazing thing this is!  God has not only come down from heaven to earth, but has also chosen to come down and walk in the walls of our hearts.  And this was to the persons who before hated Him.  So after cleansing them in His blood His love then fills them!  How can this be, but that this is a testimony of how personal God's love is to each one of us just as He promised.  Thirdly, we know this glory of God is His most intimate, beautiful and personal aspect of His essence for it is the very "face of Jesus Christ."  We have the darling of Heaven, the Morning Star, the Son of God smile in our very hearts.  What joy and mystery it is and will be to have the Infinite Existence to peer into our souls and as it were smile His countenance their!  Who is able to comprehend such wonder?

          Why should any creature know such pleasure and glory!  Is this not again the testimony that Yahweh does have an infinite heart!  See it's all about love.  The Father infinitely loves His Son and the Son infinitely loves His Father.  The Spirit is this infinite love as pure infinite action.  Therefore, God sends Jesus Christ out of love to His Son so that as a end result the whole creation is a gift to display the Supremacy of Jesus Christ.  But the Father also sent His Son as our heavenly and human High Priest to remove our sins from us out of love to us.  Jesus came down to earth to save mankind from their sinning out of love to us.  Jesus also sacrificed Himself as a mediator between the Father and man so that He might lavish on us the fullness of His love by the Spirit forever.  God out of love to us in rich mercy saved us to lavish the greatness of His love on us.  God has loved us so that we might love Him.  Jesus Christ died out of love for His church so that as in a marriage we might be His and He ours.[84]  God is love!

           Simply put this means God is an Infinite Person and not some force as in pantheism.  What makes humans human is that we are seen as persons.  Meaning we have souls.  We are able to think about knowledge and have affections in according to whether this knowledge is evil or good.  God does not have a physical body but is Spirit or an infinite Soul, if you would.  He is or that His Soul is His infinite knowledge, infinite moral goodness and infinite happiness.

            Deuteronomy 7:8-9 "because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. "Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations."

(5) Infinite value and beauty properly orders all things for His own purpose and glory. 

             It is unbecoming to see a person move in the direction of destruction and evil.  This is so, because it is not suitable or proper for a human being with a soul, who has value being made in God's image, to ruin and throw this away to destruction and evil.  It is proper for things to move to the direction of great beauty, value and goodness.  As the spokes of a wheel all turn in one common direction so it is proper for the universe to move to what is most worthy, valuable and beautiful.  It would be a waste and not suitable any other wise. 

          Artists move to finding out better artist.  Needy people seek out people who are able to help.  The contract at work goes to the best workers.   More animals are found in the lusher and better forest.  Therefore, even without scripture nature itself teaches it is proper for things to gravitate towards to and for the most valuable and most beauty. 

          But the scriptures are abundantly exposed on this subject.  Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."  The whole created physical and spiritual realities are to be to and for God.  This is so because God is worthy.  His worthiness comes from the fact that almighty God made all things.   This makes Him glorious, beautiful, valuable and so worthy for all things to be for Him.  It is proper and suitable for all things to gravitate to Him who is so beautiful and valuable.  It is proper and suitable for all things to self promote God who is so valuable and thus worthy of such public promotion.

          Then verse 8 says Heaven cries out saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!"  Repeating Holy three times is saying God's holiness is infinite or unending in the truest sense.  Taking this with understanding that God's holiness means to be a cut above everything else we come face to face with a profound greatness.  God's value is infinitely transcendent above everything else.  He moral beauty is infinitely above all others.  He wisdom is infinitely above all others.  His happiness in seeing this infinite greatness shining in the face of His Son Jesus Christ is infinite pleasure to Him.

         Yet there are some who might bark up and say is it not wrong for God to be self conceited by having all things promote His fame; and for all things to find their happiness in Him alone.  

         God created all things and thus is the fountain of all goodness and beauty.  Where else can one go to find pleasure but from the fountain of it?  Happiness and pleasure do not spring out of nowhere for no-reason.  Happiness is in the universe because God who is the fountain of all happiness rains His goodness on all.  It is impossible for find happiness outside of God.  God would be dooming all if He did not command and cause all to find their happiness in Him; in His Son Jesus Christ who has a face to behold and scars to touch.  All happiness or goodness in this world, which men have, finds its source from God the fountain of it all. 

        Being conceited is a sin, because a creature is nothing.  Likewise it is a sin for a man to be haughty for he is nothing.  But God who is infinite value, power and beauty is acting in perfect goodness to promote what is most beautiful, which is Himself.  It is perfect beauty to love what is most beautiful.  For God that is Himself.  He has infinite reasons to do.

          The reason God loves Himself above all things is because He is the greatest of all Beauty by an infinite degree. 

          It is an evil act to exalt any inferior beauty over a truly greater beauty. Accordingly, God would be evil if He did not love and exalt Himself above all things, even all mankind combined.  All mankind combined and all angels gathered together are still infinitely less beautiful in every manner to God;  to His moral beauty, wisdom beauty and public beauty.  Therefore, God is actually doing the most proper and just thing by loving and exalting Himself over all things.  Yes, God is in fact acting in Justice by exalting Himself above all, so that He would be acting in injustice by not exalting Himself with His highest love and reward.

         Herein do we see the great height of both God's love and wisdom to man.  Man is infinitely less beautiful to God, and I use that word "infinitely" as strong as one can here. Job 25:6, "How much less man, who is a maggot, And a son of man, who is a worm?"   Therefore, man does not deserve to be exalted to an infinitely great height to God. 

          Yet, God has exalted and loved man to an infinitely great height!  How can this be without God acting in injustice or not being evil?

          God, in His rich wisdom, made man so that as he sees the glorious beauty of God in Jesus that in their great enjoyment of the beautic vision of God would themselves love and exalt their God!  Therefore, by loving man, to exalt him to such a height is in reality exalting and loving Himself above all!  God is loving Himself above and is doing this by loving man infinitely more than he deserves.  This is how God's exalting man is not an evil act, but a good and proper act. This is also why God's loving man so much is not at odds with His passion to love and exalt Himself as supreme, for He has made them to be work together or even to be as one single quest. An act of love both Himself as Greatest and to man by loving him infinitely higher than he deserves.

          Therefore, dear readers do you see and are you staggered by the great wisdom and love of our God given to you in Jesus Christ, when you never earned such!  No creature deserved less of God's love and exaltation as sinful man, yet, by God's great love and wisdom in Christ there is no creature more exalted and love than him.  Ponder afresh the glorious God who rules the Heaven and earth, Who came clothed as a lowly man to save the least deserving creature only to exalt him into the highest height of receiving His purest love!

          What kind of Being are we with dealing with here?  One who is truly and infinitely beautiful, infinitely valuable, infinitely loving and  merciful, and therefore, One who is deserving of all our trust!  How more gloriously can Jesus Christ be in order to win the full measure of our love and trust?

          I could write pages more about the doctrine of God being the Infinite Existence, but I pray what I have written gives you a beginning understanding and worship of your great God.  I would like draw my reader's attention to the fact that this Infinite Existence which we have discussed is Jesus Christ!  Yes this is God our Father but it is also Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. 

          In my day and age we have a tendency to over proclaim the human and moralistic side of Jesus Christ while forgetting the Divine, and Infinite.  Dear readers do you realize in Isaiah 6:3 the "LORD" or Infinite Existence mentioned is according to the scriptures own interpretations (in John chapter 12:41) is Jesus Christ!  Indeed, the same Jesus Christ who washed the disciples feet, is the same Infinite Existence who has seraphim bowed as His radiant feet in Heaven crying day and night, Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD God Almighty, the whole earth is filled with His glory.  The same Jesus Christ who wore a crown of thorns is now wearing celestial orbs as a royal diadem, although even this is too small for Him who is infinite.  

          Isaiah 66:2, "Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool... For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist," Says the LORD. "But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word."  Christ Jesus who trembled in pain suspended on the cross between heaven and earth under His Father's wrath as a bridge of mediation proclaims His loving gaze is only on those who tremble before Him, the Infinite Existence, who created and sustains everything.  We tremble for two reasons.  One, is because of His terrifying majesty.  Earth is His footstool!  All nations are as a drop in the bucket to Him.  He is our Judge, even over intention of our thoughts!  We breathe because He sustains our own existence in the palm of His hand.  If He were to forget to think about us we would disappear off the plan of existence.  We are that fragile and He is that terrifyingly Great!  Secondly ,we tremble before Him because the Infinite Existence has shown us such terrifying boundless mercy and love!  Isaiah 55 when speaking how God's thoughts are endlessly beyond our thoughts is specifically referring to His mercy.  Isaiah 55:1, "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price."

            Dear reader do you tremble at the Word of God?  Do you see His majesty and tremble at its terrifying height?  Do you consider His mercy and tremble at its breadth?  Do you tremble at the thought that the same Jesus who died so painfully for your sins, is the same Infinite Existence whose chest is encircled by a bond of gold and His face shines as the sun does in its full strength.  He has no beginning or end.  He is infinite power and energy because His Soul is infinite in knowledge, moral beauty and happiness shared to His Father by the Holy Spirit.   His thoughts carry infinity or infinite energy with them.

"I pray my beloved God and Savior to You, for You are the Infinite Existence in your majesty and mercy displayed as you sat on the cross and now as you sit by right hand of the majesty on high.  I am poor, unwise and a sinful failure.  But I have heard your hands, being strong enough to hold the oceans, are strong enough to carry me.  And I have also heard the report that your hands are laden silk and so soft enough to comfort me.  May I and your Church always tremble before You my Lord Jesus Christ, for You are the only one worthy of such humble trembling.  Therefore, may all adoring hearts be given to You standing at Your feet to tremble at your Majesty and unfailing Love, for there is none like YOU.  Being the only true infinite You are infinitely unique and so infinitely Valuable and worthy of the Fame You claim for Yourself in your word. Amen!"

 

 

Sincerely Yours together in our mutual love and labor in the cause of Christ's public Fame: Oshea

[1]  The direct translation for this most repeated phrase would simply read: "Yahweh your God."

[2] Take for example Islam, where people work their way back into heaven.  This means Allah is not an infinite supreme God or Being, but is merely finite at best.  In this Allah is rewarding an infinite reward for finite work, which is unjust.  In reality Allah is a demon, for the bible says all idols and false gods are demon worship (1 Corinthians 10:19-22).  Demons love to steal worship from mankind knowing it is not going to the true Infinite Existence, Yahweh.  Yet, God will get His deserved worship back in the screams of both man and demons in hell.

[3] The bible could be said to be "God's love Letter" if it primarily meant to His Son and then to us through His Son.

[4] Isaiah 40:17 "All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless."

[5] Exodus 3:14

[6] Earlier I said that to be infinite you must be morally perfect, but you are not automatically infinite if you are morally perfect.  You are infinite if you are infinite in your moral and natural perfection.

[7] This just goes to show that Adam and Eve were not God's original design for mankind, but a stepping stone (among others things) to get there.  The original design were human children in Christ, being able to publically behold Christ's true glory and love Him in it in the greatest possible way.  If Adam and Even were God's original design for this then God was a failure, but "love never fails."

[8] Romans 1:23,  "[fools] changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man -- and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things."  God labels the fools who worship a wooden statue of a bird the same thing as worshiping man.  The worshiping of man is believing he is able to save himself: for example through government, environmentalism, random acts of kindness, his intellect, so-called freewill and the like.  Every modern man in his time thinks he is so intelligent and relevant, but God rightly shows him as a fool.  When God sees an atheist he sees the oldest type of pagan worship there is, the worship of man.  Atheism is very old, foolish, pagan and repulsive to the Infinite Existence.   

[9] Romans 9:17, "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth."  In Exodus 9:16 which is where Paul is quoting from it was God who said that.  Yet, here the bible calls interchanges God and Scripture as the same thing.

[10] See also Colossians 1:16-17, "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."

[11] John 5:26, "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself."

[12] This is even true for the invisible things as well, such as knowledge itself.  God must keep recreating every moment the invisible knowledge within your soul or else it would cease to exist.  Contrary to popular belief all knowledge is not created by powerless observation, but by God's Divine power and energy.  God kindles uses the vehicle of observation, as person uses a straw to drink their beverage, but it is not the power the produces knowledge.  It is God who does.  To know more see my article on epistemology on my website: www.osheadavis.com.

[13] Jonathan Edwards from his book, The End for which God Created the World.  Found in John Piper's book, God's Passion for His Glory, published by Crossway Books, 1998, page 244.  Slight Editing done by Oshea Davis.

[14] John Piper, God's Passion for His Glory, published by Crossway Books, 1998, page 244, footnote 106

[15] Micah 3:8

[16] Romans 9:17, "The Scripture says to Pharaoh."  But it was God who originally spoke to Pharaoh.  Therefore, the doctrine we learn is that God's scripture or word is in a sense God Himself.  And part of that reason is because the infinitely of God's moral beauty, happiness and wisdom is behind His word and scripture and therefore, by this is in as sense God, for this is who God is: infinite Holiness, knowledge and happiness in Himself as a Spirit in endless loving fellowship.

[17] John 3:37

[18] 1 John 1:9

[19]  The logical beginning of an evolutionist's theory of evolution and cosmology (with an expanding universe) is a pri-mortal immensely dense egg (or that all matter or the universe was compacted into a single point of singularity with all energy and mass compacted in a state of stability being eternal).  But what would cause this so-called eternal stable pri-mortal egg at a given point on Wednesday afternoon to explode into the universe expect of an outside source.  This would mean that physical matter was a consequence.  But an evolutionist does not wish to go there because to deny an outside force they must then also deny their own science (law of inertia: things that stay at rest until acted upon).  This is the classic irrationality and hypocrisy that the idea of evolution and evolutionist have hanging around their necks.  As a theologian if I spoke like this I would be mocked to scorn, but these people get away with this nonsense. Now I do not believe in any form of evolution and will not discuses this issue at length here.  The point I am making is that even the faulty idea of evolution cannot escape the logical conclusion that creation or all physical mater is simply a consequence.

[20] Just the other day I was watching a program on my local PBS TV channel about the universe and at one point the narrator said 13 billion years ago the universe came into being!  What was it before, nonbeing!  If the universe came into being then it is a consequence showing the necessity of an eternal infinite wise God.

[21]  The way some people use the word chance they make it out as if chance has being!  They throw it around foolishly in this manner.  For example I will hear at times that "the universe by chance came into being 13 billions years ago or that a creature by chance  evolved into something."  In this context chance is spoken of as if it had being so that by its power made something happen!  If I spoke like this as a theologian or writer I would be mocked to contempt.  Nothing happens by chance, because chance has no power or being.

[22] I have written a lengthy article about the Biblical Epistemology at my website, www.osheadavis.com

[23] Hebrews 6:18 "It is impossible for God to lie."

[24] Joshua 10:11-14

[25] Proverbs 19:14 "A prudent wife is from the LORD." See also Genesis 2:22

[26] Psalm 104: 10-30

[27] Isaiah 63:14, "As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the LORD causes him to rest."

[28] Psalm 18:27, "For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks."

[29] Luke 4:18-19, "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."

[30] 1 Peter 1:19

[31] 1 Samuel 21-22

[32] Psalm 115:1

[33] Colossians 1:18

[34] John 5:26 "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself."  Only to God and His Son is the concept of have self sustaining power ascribed to.  This therefore, teaches us that self-sustaining power only, and I mean only, belongs to Deity or to infinite existence.

[35] Isaiah 37:16 "O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth."  Yahweh and His Son Jesus Christ is alone God containing self-sustaining power.  This power belongs to no other, because all others, as the verse indicates, were made or created and upheld by God and His power for they have none in themselves. 

[36] Someone might say at this point: if that is the case then shouldn't be ok to say "on the relative level" man determines his destiny.  The answer is no for two reasons.  First, destiny because it speaks of the future automatically puts God into the picture for that is a power that exclusively belongs to Deity.  It would be like saying "on the relative level" a fish is able to swim to catch its prey while pretending there is no lake or ocean, which is nonsense.  Secondly, Divine revelation clearly indicates the future as only belonging to God.  Moreover, when the scripture talks about salvation it gives it as a free offer to men and does not say your destiny is in your hands so be a wise good person. 

The scripture when merely talking about one hour or one day into the future goes so far as to say only if God wills, will you do such and such.  James 4:13-16,"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil."

[37]  This is to say it lightly, for God says that He took from the formless lump of mankind, which indicates before people had done any good or evil, and determined some to be for destruction and mercy; and then prepared it to happen as He intended.  Here God is not permitting or allowing but having a pre-desire about what He wants (before History was written) and then He sets out to accomplish it.

[38] Vincent Cheung.  Found in his book, Author or Sin, page 16, 2005

[39] Vincent Cheung.  Found in his, Commentary of 1& 2 Thessalonians, pages 112-113, 2008.  Emphasis added

[40] 2 Peter 1:20-21

[41] John 11:51 (NAU) New America Standard

[42] Psalm 138:5-6

[43] See also Exodus 34:6-8

[44] Deuteronomy 29:29, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever."

[45] Jonathan Edwards, Concerning the Divine Decrees in General & Election in Particular.  Quoted from the book, The Divine Decrees, Oshea Davis editor, 2007, PublishAmerica, pages 28,46,73,74.  Emphasis added.

[46] Vincent Cheung, The Author of Sin, 2005, pages 6-7.

[47] KJV

[48] Ephesians 2:4

[49] Titus 3:4

[50] Romans 3:21-25

[51] God deserves all the Glory for all good in the world and the world to come, which came at the cost of Christ's gospel.  But how can this be if God only used the evil produced by Adam and Eve and not planned that they should sin? Did God get lucky?

For example, if a businessman says, "I just got lucky with an awesome deal."  In reality, what he is saying is that he does not deserve all the credit.  If the other person didn't goof up so bad on his end, he would have never pulled it off.  Accordingly, if Adam and Eve did not goof up so badly, then God would have never been able to plan our redemption as He did through His glorious Son.  God got Lucky and now, because of Adam and Eve's sin, He is able to display the Glory of His mercy in perfection, so that if there were no evil at the expense of Adam and Eve's sin, this Glory of God would not have been as perfectly displayed.

A person is looked upon as more wise if a great amount of good was produced because from the very beginning they planned, from their own power, for it to be this way.  They are looked on as less wise if they merely got lucky then planned from that point.  Many men plan from their own resources, from the beginning, to produce a great and good end.  Accordingly, if this is true and God-as some say-merely used something but did not plan from His own part, then I ask is man wiser than God? Is this not the definition of paganism, that man is as great as their God?  By God's plan Christ has become an infinitely perfect communication of God's Glory and Grace to mankind, which would have never happened if man never sinned. (Oshea Davis, The Divine Decrees, 144-145)

[52] Romans 8:18

[53] Romans 9:12-13

[54] Romans 9:11

[55] Romans 9:23-24

[56] Romans 15:8-9

[57] What I mean by, face value, is the apparent or noticeable value, beauty or significance of something.  So that as you first glance at something what is the first impression of its value, significance or even its responsibility. 

[58] Hebrews 11:32,  "Time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets."

[59] Romans 1:25-29

[60] Romans 9:6-23, and Romans 8:7

[61] For the saint, because there have been united to Jesus Christ's soul, they are not viewed as a private person anymore by as always "in Christ" their Lord, their husband, the branch they have been grated into. 

[62] We are born of the Holy Spirit and in filled to the point of overflowing of the Holy Spirit with the nature of God and Christ, but as our own heart.  We don't become the Holy Spirit but reborn with God's nature and presence overflowing our own hearts and souls.  1 John 3:9, "Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he has been born of God."

[63] Luke 9:62, "But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

[64] John 4:14

[65] Jonathan Edwards from his unpublished essay on the Trinity.  Emphases and light copyediting by Oshea Davis

[66] Proverbs 18:14, "The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?"

[67] Galatians 4:4-5y

[68] Proverbs 15:30

[69] John 3:16

[70] Ephesians 3:18-19

[71]  This is a profound point about this very quoted verse in 1 John concerning that "God is love."  In this statement its main message is not that God loves humans above all things.  But God the Father loves Himself or loves His Son Jesus Christ above all things.  But, not only this but all other things the Father loves, are loved through the love, which He loves His Son.  This is why God the Father loves the church because the church is covered with His Son's blood and are apart of Him.  God is love because He loves that which is most beautiful and wonderful Himself, or in particular His glorious Son, Jesus Christ.

[72] John Owen, The Works of John Owen, The Person of Jesus Christ.  Published by, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2000, pages 143-150.  Emphases and copyediting by Oshea Davis.

[73] Colossians 1:19

[74] Romans 3:25, "God set forth [Jesus] as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

[75] Deuteronomy 7:8

[76] NIV John 5:30

[77] John 3:16

[78] That is, among other things, to lovingly obey His Father and pursue the cross.

[79] John17:19

[80] John 15:9 and 13

[81] Ephesians 2:4

[82] Deuteronomy 7:8

[83] Romans 9:17, "The Scripture says to Pharaoh." But is was God not the scriptures that spoke to God.  What this means is that God's vies His word as Himself.  This is why Jesus Christ in, Luke 21:33, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."  God does not pass away there His word which is Himself also does not pass way.  God's choices have behind them God's infinite energy, and infinity cannot pass away for that would be a contradiction.  Therefore, God's words being the infinite energy of God, cannot pass away, for they are God.  God is not a physical being you can just point out with your finger.  Behind God's invisible choices is the infinity of God's invisible being and therefore, in this sense His scripture or word, or choices is God Himself.  The reason I say God's infinity is behind His choices or word is because Hebrews 1:3 says "the word of His power."  God's word is the expression of God's power or infinity and therefore is God Himself.

[84] Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."