What we learn in Genesis 1 is that the best place to be is in the midst of God's presence (in the 'good' garden) where true peace, rest, and wholeness exist. And so it would make sense that this is where God wants you and me to be! God desires nothing but the best for us! This is why God didn't want Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of 'the experience of good and bad'! He created and designed life to be good and to be experienced in His presence.
So let me ask you this...What would happen if God's name got a bad reputation? Would people want to pursue Him and live by His design for life? Or would people want to disregard and even run away from Him? I'm guessing God would lose some market share on earth if 'He got a bad name'. And if God's presence is, in fact, the best place to live, wouldn't this decrease of God's popularity constitute a travesty? I mean people would be running away from what is best for them to pursue what would essentially amount to a deficient life. That's sad to me! In light of this, do you think it is selfish of God to want to do things for His name's sake and to preserve his good reputation? I don't know about you but this doesn't seem to make God out to be much of an ego-maniac. If anything it demonstrates that God is love. But maybe I'm just missing something. What do you think?
The truth is that God is relentless in bringing humanity back to Himself because He knows that the best place to experience life is in His presence! And so God couldn't just turn a blind eye to the Godlessness that had entered His world. And so He initiated a rescue operation with a man named Abraham. The purpose of this rescue operation was to spread God's presence throughout the world and reestablish His good kingdom. So what was God's plan to accomplish this?
Genesis 12, 15, & 17 tell us that God was going to make Abraham into a great nation (i.e., a plethora of people), give Him a peaceful land in which to dwell (i.e., a protected property), make his name great (i.e., give him prominent popularity), and bless the entire world through him (i.e., give him a positive purpose).
So how has this plan worked itself out throughout history? Well, in Genesis we see God working out PHASE ONE of His plan. He makes Abraham and his descendants into a huge nation (despite the setbacks of barrenness, drought, and famine) so that by the time we reach the book of Exodus, the Pharaoh is concerned that the enormous size of his slave-force will encourage a revolt. In fact, once God frees Israel from slavery, He needs to give the Israelites a WRITTEN law because there's no way Moses can manage such a large amount of people on his own (Genesis 18). After Israel receives the law, God's presence then comes to dwell with the Jewish people in a place called the Tabernacle. Why would God do this? Well, like we said before, God knows that the best place for humans to live is in His presence (so when God moves onto the block, property values go UP). The arrival of God's presence brings PHASE ONE to completion.
The books of Numbers and Joshua describe the implementation of PHASE TWO of God's plan: Giving the Israelites a protected property in which to dwell. While God ultimately gives the Israelites the land He promised, they never experience complete peace and rest in this land because they didn't exactly follow ALL of God's instructions. But nevertheless by the end of Joshua, PHASE TWO is complete.
The books of Judges and Samuel as well as a large portion of Kings and Chronicles tell about the progress of PHASE THREE of God's plan: Making Abraham's name great. So after God gives Israel a land, we see in the book of Judges that the Israelites aren't all that capable of worshiping God if left to their own devices. Let's be honest, they're like most of us. They want to have their cake and eat it too. That is to say, they want God's blessings and also want permission to 'do what is right in their own eyes' (at the same time). Well, that's not how God rolls. So God solved the situation by giving the Israelites an earthly king to function really as a glorified babysitter.
After doing a little more housekeeping, God makes King David a promise: that he will make David's name great (2 Samuel 7). Now this promise is really nothing new because it links right back to God's original promise to Abraham. But why would God want to make David's name great? Isn't God most concerned about making HIS own name great? Well, let's be honest God is a genius...and so He knew that by making David's name great, His name would also be made great(er). How was this supposed to work? God wanted the nation that HE created to reflect HIM and as a result become so appealing to the surrounding world that people would be drawn back to HIM. And this is exactly how things worked out. When Solomon came on the scene, people were traveling from all over the world to gobble up nuggets of GOD'S wisdom from Solomon (1 Kings 4:29-34). This signaled that PHASE THREE of God's plan was complete.
Unfortunately, PHASE FOUR never really got off the ground in the Old Testament...why? Well, God's people put God's law into one of those self-storage units so they could ignore it and live however they wanted. As a result, God's name got a bad reputation. And so once again, God had to do a little disciplining and so he sent the Israelites to their room (I mean into exile). God had to do this because it's kind of hard to spread God's blessings when you're not living for God or experiencing His blessings yourself!
So do you see what's going on here? Since making His promise to Abraham, God has been working out His plan to bring his GOOD kingdom back to this earth. He wants to establish a contagious community that passionately reflects His presence and as a result becomes so appealing to the surrounding world that people are drawn back to God and His design for life! In fact, this is what Jesus was trying to do while he was on this earth! Jesus came to make God's name great so that people could have the opportunity to be blessed by living in God's presence!
So how does all this relate to the community (the church) that Jesus created and that still exists today? Stay tuned...
Genesis 12, 15, & 17 tell us that God was going to make Abraham into a great nation (i.e., a plethora of people), give Him a peaceful land in which to dwell (i.e., a protected property), make his name great (i.e., give him prominent popularity), and bless the entire world through him (i.e., give him a positive purpose).
So how has this plan worked itself out throughout history? Well, in Genesis we see God working out PHASE ONE of His plan. He makes Abraham and his descendants into a huge nation (despite the setbacks of barrenness, drought, and famine) so that by the time we reach the book of Exodus, the Pharaoh is concerned that the enormous size of his slave-force will encourage a revolt. In fact, once God frees Israel from slavery, He needs to give the Israelites a WRITTEN law because there's no way Moses can manage such a large amount of people on his own (Genesis 18). After Israel receives the law, God's presence then comes to dwell with the Jewish people in a place called the Tabernacle. Why would God do this? Well, like we said before, God knows that the best place for humans to live is in His presence (so when God moves onto the block, property values go UP). The arrival of God's presence brings PHASE ONE to completion.
The books of Numbers and Joshua describe the implementation of PHASE TWO of God's plan: Giving the Israelites a protected property in which to dwell. While God ultimately gives the Israelites the land He promised, they never experience complete peace and rest in this land because they didn't exactly follow ALL of God's instructions. But nevertheless by the end of Joshua, PHASE TWO is complete.
The books of Judges and Samuel as well as a large portion of Kings and Chronicles tell about the progress of PHASE THREE of God's plan: Making Abraham's name great. So after God gives Israel a land, we see in the book of Judges that the Israelites aren't all that capable of worshiping God if left to their own devices. Let's be honest, they're like most of us. They want to have their cake and eat it too. That is to say, they want God's blessings and also want permission to 'do what is right in their own eyes' (at the same time). Well, that's not how God rolls. So God solved the situation by giving the Israelites an earthly king to function really as a glorified babysitter.
After doing a little more housekeeping, God makes King David a promise: that he will make David's name great (2 Samuel 7). Now this promise is really nothing new because it links right back to God's original promise to Abraham. But why would God want to make David's name great? Isn't God most concerned about making HIS own name great? Well, let's be honest God is a genius...and so He knew that by making David's name great, His name would also be made great(er). How was this supposed to work? God wanted the nation that HE created to reflect HIM and as a result become so appealing to the surrounding world that people would be drawn back to HIM. And this is exactly how things worked out. When Solomon came on the scene, people were traveling from all over the world to gobble up nuggets of GOD'S wisdom from Solomon (1 Kings 4:29-34). This signaled that PHASE THREE of God's plan was complete.
Unfortunately, PHASE FOUR never really got off the ground in the Old Testament...why? Well, God's people put God's law into one of those self-storage units so they could ignore it and live however they wanted. As a result, God's name got a bad reputation. And so once again, God had to do a little disciplining and so he sent the Israelites to their room (I mean into exile). God had to do this because it's kind of hard to spread God's blessings when you're not living for God or experiencing His blessings yourself!
So do you see what's going on here? Since making His promise to Abraham, God has been working out His plan to bring his GOOD kingdom back to this earth. He wants to establish a contagious community that passionately reflects His presence and as a result becomes so appealing to the surrounding world that people are drawn back to God and His design for life! In fact, this is what Jesus was trying to do while he was on this earth! Jesus came to make God's name great so that people could have the opportunity to be blessed by living in God's presence!
So how does all this relate to the community (the church) that Jesus created and that still exists today? Stay tuned...
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