July 25, 2009
Psalms 103: 11
For so high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. (NASB)
The grand message of this verse is not a measureless description of God’s love. The Psalmist declares that the love of the Lord of Israel is targeted. The great loyal love of the Father targets not Hebrew genetic purity but those Hebrew's who “fear Him”. In other translations, “fear” means to revere, worship, or in modern lingo to respect. It is the awareness that the physical world is incomplete and pointless, as Solomon confessed,"all is vanity".
In our three dimensional space time world, all measurements are but relative. There are no “pat” answers to any question, there will always be exceptions or explanations and the resulting confusion. Any potentially complete understanding of manhood must include “faithing” into the boundless heavens. To be fully human, we must have a healthy respect for the God of the fourth dimension.
In Scripture, God has revealed His ever widening targeting plan for touching humanity. Abram was the first target who was called to follow, to set a different rational of life. He was called to explore the fourth dimension, ignoring the prescribed path expected of him. Instigated by the mercy, pleasure and targeting plan of God, Abram and all succeeding generations have been progressively targeted and given the choice to respond with the yes of faith.
The sons of Israel and Christianity have preached this reality but devised coping mechanisms to avoid giving “due respect”. Instead, we find it easier to give respect to the God’s of this dimension. They include the God’s of survival,legalism,wealth, relationships, money and success. Reigning high on the list is the God of the institutional church, the God’s of Dogma and the worship of the Holy Scriptures as God. Our comfort zone is to hide in these distracting bushes as depicted in the beginning parables.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) critiqued the professional state church of his day for such nonsense. Called of God to write instead of preach, he trumpeted the necessity of a personal individual choice for the God who targets us. His teachings were shelved and lost to the church world into the twentieth century. Once exposed over the succeeding years, modern revivalism may have overreacted, taking the needed voices of individualism to a scattered dysfunctional state. A spiritually superior individualistic attitude infected the community of believers. Naturally, the condemnation of the individual masses of unbelievers followed.
Kierkegaard was right on. He refused to be “that spiritual pattern” worthy of emulation by the sea of humanity. An attempt was made to present himself as a party animal or the man about town. His writings were anonymous, rejecting any possibility of praise or negativity. Also rejected were the pattern status of the ministry and marriage. Appearances are deceiving. He believed that he was specifically targeted by the love of God to give clarity to divine targeting. Jesus so ministered in disguise.
As a church, are we projecting condemnation or the God who has each of us in the crosshairs of His Love? Are we communicating the inexpressible and unreplaceable blessing of faith in response to God‘s targeting? What of the billions of our fellow humans who have known death and the vicissitudes of life without an awareness of the Love of God? Is damnation their fate?
Some would stupidly attribute the supposed wrath of God to these questions. If so, we really don’t believe the popular and right theology, God hates the sin and loves the sinner. Thank the Lord for His targeting Love. To all those who have not yet experienced the targeting, there will come a day in some dimension for all to choose aright. In the meantime you are in the destiny of a God of Love.
G.Goslaw
Victorville, Ca.
