He created the universe and people for his pleasure. He wants us to choose Him. If everyone automatically chose Him like little robots, where would the fun be?
Perfection does not logically preclude a demand for respect or being angry when people disobey.
Concentrate on the New Testament more than the Old Testament.
Why would "perfection" obviate any desire for pleasure? He isn't lacking in pleasure, because He created it.
We were created with free will so that we can choose Him freely. A bunch of robots would not be fun for very long.
God can know everything that will happen, but does He choose to know? We are less than God and can never fully understand. That is one of the reasons for faith. We know God exists and created the universe. We must have faith that whatever has been stated to have been revealed to men actually was.
Great question. I suspect our understanding of 'worship' is a bit dull. I struggled with this also. Our understanding is corrupted and incomplete. It is more than we know, and perhaps the time to truly understand it is not yet. That's the best I can do, although I am confident it does not embody vain repetitions or many of the current forms of worship. I'm not so confident it is well taught in mainstream Christianity. I suppose, on this matter, I feel a bit like the child who constantly says "are we there yet". I have no idea on the length of the journey, nor the twists in the road. I have faith aplenty that this is the road I should be on, because a time or two, I took my feet off the path and spiritual darkness hounded me.
I suspect He loves us and seeks our love in return. Desiring our love is not a flaw. It is an intrinsic part of our nature, and we are created in His image.
You are trying too hard to impose your own limited understanding of perfection on a God you can't possibly grasp. If God indeed is as those in this thread are believing him to be, then it is folly for you to expect to grasp the notion of God's true character, powers, desires, whatever.
Those who insist on grasping God will never be satisfied because we just don't have the tiniest fraction of mental capacity required to create all of existence. I would argue that the chasm is greater than asking an ant to grasp humanity.
Well, in all honesty - it was a two minute video. She might be quite detailed in other videos. This was the first I have seen of her.
As to the age of existence? We are only informed about earths creation with a timeline [six days]. I agree, Father has 'always been' and He hasn't 'always been' in a vacuum. There has to be 'location '- whatever that entails, associated with His existence.
What if it isn't a lack, rather a desire to share the bliss? Could you embrace that possibility? I enjoy giving far more than I enjoy receiving, and I suspect most of us do. A gift received is a fleeting pleasure, but a gift well given is a lasting joy.
Perfect doesn't have to mean without need. He has a continual unchanging expectation for us to know Him. After all if you were perfect, wouldn't you kind of just expect people to acknowledge it and praise you for what you've given to them? What he asks for isn't for HIM. it's for US. To save OUR souls because He loves us despite all our flaws.
Jesus got angry. God can be upset. Why does anger imply a lack of perfection? We have free will to disobey a perfect creator. When we sinned agaisnt God in Eden, God has already known what was going to happen, but is still allowed to show anger. His gift to us was the choice to deny him if we so wish. We still have plenty of plausible deniability to do so. In exchange when people choose to follow God, it can mean that much more to him.
Yes.
He created the universe and people for his pleasure. He wants us to choose Him. If everyone automatically chose Him like little robots, where would the fun be?
Perfection does not logically preclude a demand for respect or being angry when people disobey.
Concentrate on the New Testament more than the Old Testament.
Why would "perfection" obviate any desire for pleasure? He isn't lacking in pleasure, because He created it.
We were created with free will so that we can choose Him freely. A bunch of robots would not be fun for very long.
God can know everything that will happen, but does He choose to know? We are less than God and can never fully understand. That is one of the reasons for faith. We know God exists and created the universe. We must have faith that whatever has been stated to have been revealed to men actually was.
Great question. I suspect our understanding of 'worship' is a bit dull. I struggled with this also. Our understanding is corrupted and incomplete. It is more than we know, and perhaps the time to truly understand it is not yet. That's the best I can do, although I am confident it does not embody vain repetitions or many of the current forms of worship. I'm not so confident it is well taught in mainstream Christianity. I suppose, on this matter, I feel a bit like the child who constantly says "are we there yet". I have no idea on the length of the journey, nor the twists in the road. I have faith aplenty that this is the road I should be on, because a time or two, I took my feet off the path and spiritual darkness hounded me.
I suspect He loves us and seeks our love in return. Desiring our love is not a flaw. It is an intrinsic part of our nature, and we are created in His image.
You are trying too hard to impose your own limited understanding of perfection on a God you can't possibly grasp. If God indeed is as those in this thread are believing him to be, then it is folly for you to expect to grasp the notion of God's true character, powers, desires, whatever.
Those who insist on grasping God will never be satisfied because we just don't have the tiniest fraction of mental capacity required to create all of existence. I would argue that the chasm is greater than asking an ant to grasp humanity.
Well, in all honesty - it was a two minute video. She might be quite detailed in other videos. This was the first I have seen of her.
As to the age of existence? We are only informed about earths creation with a timeline [six days]. I agree, Father has 'always been' and He hasn't 'always been' in a vacuum. There has to be 'location '- whatever that entails, associated with His existence.
What if it isn't a lack, rather a desire to share the bliss? Could you embrace that possibility? I enjoy giving far more than I enjoy receiving, and I suspect most of us do. A gift received is a fleeting pleasure, but a gift well given is a lasting joy.
Perfect doesn't have to mean without need. He has a continual unchanging expectation for us to know Him. After all if you were perfect, wouldn't you kind of just expect people to acknowledge it and praise you for what you've given to them? What he asks for isn't for HIM. it's for US. To save OUR souls because He loves us despite all our flaws. Jesus got angry. God can be upset. Why does anger imply a lack of perfection? We have free will to disobey a perfect creator. When we sinned agaisnt God in Eden, God has already known what was going to happen, but is still allowed to show anger. His gift to us was the choice to deny him if we so wish. We still have plenty of plausible deniability to do so. In exchange when people choose to follow God, it can mean that much more to him.