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Why is it Good to Know God is Infinite?

1/16/2019

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 Why is it good to understand God theologically?  It is a very good thing to understand Who God is.  It will protect you from error and from erroneous living.  Let me give you an example from my own life this past week.

Earlier this week I was wrestling with a few things in my life.  They were not exactly earth-moving issues – but they were at the time a challenge for me – and were dominating a lot of my time.  As I wrestled with this I had a thought come into my head.  “Why are you so stuck on such a little thing?  Do you really think you need to waste God’s time on this?  You need to drop this and get busy with far more important things.”  At first I wondered if this was God?  When I did receive it as if it were from Him – I felt a little ashamed at my wrestlings.  Certain God has more important things to work on in life that these reasonably small issues.  So in response to this – I took all I had been thinking upon and shoved it down to the “seriously unimportant” shelf in my mind.

Later in the week I was reading of Who God is in the book of Isaiah.  He is infinite.  There is a theological truth.  God is the infinite God.  There are no limitations to God – EVER.  He is infinite in power, strength, wisdom – and just add whatever else comes to mind.  My earlier wrestlings came back to mind – but this time with this verse about God’s infinite nature attached.  Then some new questions came to mind.  Does God have a finite number of things He can deal with each day?  Does He have some schedule where unless I have something important – He doesn’t have time for it?  Is it taxing to God to have to deal with – oh, let’s say, the conflict in Syria – and other wars – and then to have to deal with my little pittance of a problem too?  Can God ever get tired – or worn down – or exhausted with too much to do?  

It didn’t take long for me to realize that God, being both infinite in power – and eternally timeless, is not annoyed with the wrestlings of my heart.  When I come to Him – He is concerned with the big things as well as with the little things (at least what I was calling little).  Being infinite, He is never taxed or worn down – even if He had a million different problems voiced by a 7 billion people a day!  He is infinite – and whatever number I put before Him (thinking it to be a real stunner) – it is infinitely small in comparison to Who He truly is.  He does not have some schedule with a limited number of spots available for His time – like I do.  He is limitless!  

Why was it good to understand God theologically this week?  Because in grasping Him as He is – an eternal, infinite God – I came to grips with the fact that there is nothing too small for me to bring to Him.  He is great because He can handle the big things!  He is also great because He can handle a trillion little things – and never feel like He’s too busy to listen to me when I come to Him.  

What was the result of grasping God theologically this week in the midst of wrestling with my issues – even though they seemed a little small and trivial to me in the moment?  It was to grasp that God is infinitely more than able to handle every big thing, every little thing – actually . . . everything that I have.  Oh, and by the way, He is infinitely more than able to handle that for every single person on this planet . . . and not feel rushed, frustrated, overwhelmed, overtaxed, or over-committed.  He does it all – every day of every year – every year of every decade – every decade of every century – every century of every millennium – and He never grows tired or weary!  THAT, MY DEAR PRECIOUS SAINTS – IS GOD – THEOLOGICALLY AND PRACTICALLY REALIZED!  

HALLELUJAH!

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God and Computers by Greg Smith

6/21/2012

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“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
“… he upholds the universe by the word of his power. …” Hebrews 1:3

Modern computers and computer games give many useful examples that point to what God said thousands of years ago. Of course, life is not a game and God is not a computer. But, Jesus often used every day things as examples of God’s truth. Like a painting or statue, a computer game “world” is just a weak imitation of the real world. A computer image of a sunset may be complicated to make and beautiful to see, but it is nothing compared to the beauty, power and genius of a real sunset. In spite of that, let’s do some comparisons.

In a computer game, the computer can make an electronic “world” where game characters can move around in game “places”, use game “things” and talk with other game “people”. The computer is the creator and upholder of the game world, in a sense. The computer can exist and work without the game, but the game can’t work without the computer. Likewise, God doesn’t need us, but we are totally dependent on Him. So, it was known long ago, “… In him we live and move and have our being …” Acts 17:28 

If the computer closes a game program, the game stops going. Likewise, human life (and the universe itself) can’t exist without God constantly holding it together. So, it is written, “If he [God] should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.” Job 34:14-15. In other words, God could “close the program” of human life and it would immediately stop.

If a game character could think, he could know about the computer by being told about it and even by details about his game world. Again, it is written “… his [God’s] invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. …” Romans 1:20. So although we can’t see God directly, there are things that are known about Him by what He made.

But a character could not step out of the game to experience the computer directly. From the game character’s point of view, the computer would be both far away and at the same time the closest thing of all. It would be everywhere present and nowhere visible. In fact, the computer would also go beyond all bounds of the game world. It would be separate from the game world, but the game world could not be apart from it. This is very similar to what was written long ago, “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.” “… he [God] is actually not far from each one of us,” "… heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you [God] …” Jeremiah 23:23-24, Acts 17:27, 1 Kings 8:27

Since the computer makes and upholds the game world, it not only supplies the power for them, but it must know and keep track of every detail whether large or small. God also knows all details, as was said long ago: “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.” “But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” Psalm 147:4, Matthew 10:30

Though the game character can’t come out of the game world to see the computer, the computer could show itself in the game world as an image that the character could see and partly understand. God did something like this by temporarily appearing in a pillar of fire, or like a man or some other form, but the greatest way was in Jesus Christ. Though God forbade people to make an image of Him, He provided a living image of Himself in Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “… the Word was God … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us … No one has ever seen God; the only God [or Son], who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.” “… [Jesus is] the very image of his substance …” John 1:1, 14, 18, Hebrews 1:3 (ASV). 

God can do anything except deny Himself (see 2 Timothy 2:13). God will not stop being God. A man could never become God. But, nothing stops God from becoming a man if He wants to be both God and man at the same time. God permanently became a man in Jesus, but He didn’t stop being God. Maybe something like a computer could be the computer and yet keep a permanent image of itself in the game world at the same time. So, the Bible teaches that Jesus existed before His human birth and that Jesus is the Creator & Sustainer of the world. If you want to know your Creator, who has all the answers for life & all the power to live, you need to know Jesus. (Bible quotes from ESV except as noted) 
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    Biblical Articles

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