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4 The Nature of the Reign of God
Psalm 90:2
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and
the worla, jrom everlasting to everlasting you are God.
John 4:24
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
Revelation 4:11
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and
power for you created all things, and by your will they were created
and have their being.
Exodus 34:6-7 Isaiah 46:8-11 1 Corinthians 1:9
Nehemiah 9:6 Jeremiah 10:10 2 Corinthians 13:14
Job 38-41 Timothy 2:4
1 Timothy 6:15-16 Jeremiah 18:1-11
Psalm 33:6-9 Daniel 2:20-21
Psalm 103:13-14 Matthew 28:19 James 1:17
Psalm 139 Romans 4:17 Revelation 14:7
Isaiah 6:1-6 Romans 8:28
78
thing that exists belongs to On "In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth" (Gen 1:). The first verse in the Bible is basic to
one other of these categories: It is the or the creator or creature.
As creator, is the source of all reality. He alo God
alone everything that follows. In highly
compressed form, 1t containssa
comprehensive view of God's
relation to the world. The assertion
exists independently; everything owes its existence to him. Moreov what is creaturely is always creaturely. A creature can never
else that God brought the universe into existence in an act of personal freedom illuminates the essential qualities that distinguish God from everything else, God's fundamental disposition toward his creatures, the way God affects his creatures, and the way God's creatures affect him. To understand the nature of God's
become a divine being. This basic distinction between God and the world, between creator and creation, rules out two other world-views that have had great influence in human history: monism and dualism.
As the word suggests, monism is the belief that all reality is one. It also affirms that all reality is divine, so everything real is a part of God. According to monism, the distinctions that seem so important on the level of ordinary experience between different persons, between pain and pleasure, life and death, good and evil, even past and future- all these differences are illusory. They arise from our failure to grasp the true nature of things.
The way of salvation this world- view implies is one of self- realization. It consists in discovering
sovereignty, we must therefore examine the following topics: God's identity, God's character, God's activity in the world, and God's experience of the world. First, however, we need to take a look at the fundamental relation between God and the world which the biblical concept of creation provides.
GOD AND THE wORLD
The word "world" can refer to the planet Earth or to the entire universe. We will use it here in the second one's essential divinity, and usually
includes a method for overcoming sense. Gen 1 and 2 describe the origin of life on this planet, but they also provide a basis for understanding God's relation to all of reality.
As we saw in chapter 3, the idea of creation draws a sharp distinction between creator and creation. Every
the distinctions suggested by ordinary
experience. The great religions ot the East typically embrace a monistie
view of reality. As a religious force, dualism is
not nearly as influential as it once was, but at times it has presented a
THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
79
cerious rival to the biblical view of
God and the world. According to
dualism, there are two ultimate principles, rather than one, and they
good, and what he creates is essentially good, too. Evil doesn't belong in the scheme of things. It isn't something God created. In fact, it isn't a "something" at all; it is a distortion of what was meant to be.
are engaged in pemanent conflict
with each other. One principle is
good, usually symbolized by light. The other is evil, or darkness
Dualism provides a convenient
As creator, God enjoys universal sovereignty over the world, as state
ments like the following affim: "The earth is the Lord's and the solution to the problem of evil,
because it attributes all suffering to
the evil principle in reality. In its
pure form, it promises no end to
suffering, since evil is just as
powerful as good. But almost al1 dualistic religions, such as
Zoroastrianism, affirm the ultimate
victory of good over evil. With its affimation of the
fullness thereof, the world and those
who dwell therein" (Ps 24:1).
Everything belongs to God. Because
God's sovereignty is all-inclusive, he
is the only being who deserves to be
worshiped. As we saw in the pre- vious chapter, God's universal
Sovereignty is closely related to
divine oneness, the central theme in
the Old Testament. Because it creaturely world, the doctrine of
creation excludes monism. On the
one hand, the world is real, even
though it is not divine. Our
emphasizes that God is one, the
religion of the Old Testament is often identified as "monotheism," in contrast to "polytheism," the belief
that there are many gods. In polytheism reality is divided
up, or parceled out, among many di-
vine beings. Each god has a different
sphere of influence, or a limited
range of power. One is in charge of
the sea. Another is responsible for
war. Still others preside over
hunting, planting, building, and so
on. In ancient times, for example, each nation had its favorite god, which looked after its interests.
experience of things in time and
space is not an illusion. On the other
hand, the world is not evil merely because it is not God. The distinc-
tion between God and the world does
not coincide with the distinction be-
tween good and evil. The created
world is good because it expresses the will of a good and loving God.
The doctrine of creation also conflicts with dualism in two ways. First, it allows for only one supreme being: God. He is the single source of all that exists. His power is
unrivaled, so there is no chance of a
When one country defeated another
in war, the people attributed this to the superiority of one god to the permanent conflict between God and other. anything else. Second, God is wholy
REIGN OF GOD
80
The Old Testament therefore According to monotheism, a
single divine being rules over
everything and everyone. Reality is
not divided up among different centers of divine influence, competing with each other for human
allegiance. Reality is *of a piece."It forms a coherent whole.
reveals a developing understandin of God's true status. At times, God is described as greater than other god ods, a sort of first among many: "Now T all
know that the Lord is greater than: gods" (Exod 18:11); "There is non one like thee among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like thine" (Ps 86:8). But eventually the recognition emerged that if God is infinitely greater than all others, then he must be the only God there is: "They [idols] were no gods.. Thou alone art the Lord" (Isa 37:19-20).
This means that our personal, individual lives can have coherence, too. The various facets of our
existence find unity in a single object of devotion: the one true God. This is precisely why the so-called first great commandment directly follows the confession of faith in the oneness of God: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deut 6:4-5). The universal sovereignty of God makes it possible to love him with every fiber of our beings, because every activity we engage in, and every object that interests us, lies within his domain.
GOD'S IDENTITY
The biblical view of creation gives us a basic concept of God's relation to the world. To expand our
understanding, we need to explore further the complex interaction between God and the creatures. As we noted earlier, theologians traditionally develop the concept of God by expounding on a list of divine attributes. This traditional list
Although the oneness of God is basic to biblical religion, it
apparently took the Hebrew people a long time to grasp its meaning and importance. For many years polytheism posed a great threat to monotheism. The people of Israel were constantly tempted to
participate in the religious practices of surrounding nations, and they finally suffered Babylonian captivity because of their failure to worship God alone (see Jer 1:14-16).
has its value, but we are committed
to the central claim that God is the
one who revealed himself in Jesus
Christ. Let's see how the identification of God with Jesus affects these time-honored attributs and transforms our understanding of
his relation to the world. From a philosophical standpoint,
self-existence, or "aseity," as it s
sometimes called, is probably the
THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
81
fundamental divine attribute. It omniscience. As the source of most.
oresses the concept that God has reality, God must be supremely powerful, of course. But omnipotence means not merely that God is more powerful than anything else. It means that he could not be
life in mself. As the source of life,
Worh
God doesn't need the world, but the needs God. Its existence is
derivative, dependent; his is
underived, ornginal, and originating.
Because God is self-existent, he
is also eternal. He has always existed, and he always will. Nothing
could threaten him, because he is
more powertul than everything else.
There is nothing that he has not
made. The concept of eternity raises
the question of God's relation to
time, which has generated enomous discussion over the centuries. Two
more powerful than he is. In other
words, his power is perfect. The concept of perfect power,
like that of eternity, has provoked lengthy discussion. If we insist that perfect power is "power to do anything," we soon run into difficulties. Can God make a rock so
big he can't lift it? Can God add two and two and get five? Can God make a square circle? Can God create
uncreated creatures? If God can do contrasting views are particularly
noteworthy. According to classical philosophers and the many Christian
thinkers who follow their lead, divine eternity means timelessness. God
exists in a single timeless moment.
There is no past or future for God,
only an etemal present. Not
surprisingly, it is difficult to see how Such a being could have any kind of
relationship with a world that exists in time, or could even be aware of it.
The Bible presents a quite different view of God's relation to time. For the biblical writers, God's existence is not timeless, but everlasting. God has always existed, and he always will exist. There was never a time when God was not.
anything, then we have to answer yes to such questions, because there is
nothing God can't do. So this definition of omnipotence leads to
absurd statements about God. For this reason, most theologians
define perfect power, not as "power to do anything," but as "power to do
anything logically possible." In denying that God can do what is logi-
cally impossible, we do not limit his power. We simply insist that our
language about him make sense. The reason God cannot "ereate uncreated creatures" or do other absurd things is not because his power is inadequate. It is because such things aren't doable. They have no
meaning. We do not honor God by
attributing nonsense to him or detract from his glory by denying it.
Omnipresence describes God's
A number of other attributes follow from God's identity as creator. Among the best known are omnipotence, omnipresence, and
REIGN OF GOD
82
important considerations pres relation to space. Literally, it is the quality of being everywhere. Like omnipotence, omnipresence follows from the idea that God is the
from concluding that God exists us bodily fom. One is the Bible's condemnation of any attempt to God by physical means. The depict universal sovereign. If God's reign
includes all that exists, then there is no part of the universe from which
God is excluded.
commandment, prohibits the manufacture and worship of images (Exod 20:4.5) This seems to exclude the very idea that God exists in physical form. Another factor is God's status as creator of the universe. Since every. thing depends on God, since "in him we live and move and have our be. ing," as Paul stated (Acts 17:28), God must be everywhere. Nothing could exist in his absence. So, he must inhabit all reality, not just a part of it (see Isa 57:15). If God extends throughout the universe, we cannot confine him to a specific part of it. The religious availability of God also prevents us from giving him a
specific location. God is present to human beings everywhere. This is why Paul maintained that God does not dwell in temples built by hands (Acts 17:24). In answer to the question of where one should worship, Jesus said, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must
worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). God is no more available in
one place than in another. Since God
Is accessible anywhere, worship is a
matter of heart and mind-a matter
second for example.
One of the questions omnipresence raises is whether or not God has a body of some kind. Those who believe that God has a body often appeal to the biblical statement that human beings were created "in the image of God" (Gen 1:27), which seems to suggest a physical similarity between us and God. If human beings resemble God, they reason, and if human beings have bodies, then it is logical to conclude that God, too, exists in bodily form. Besides, the word "image" seems to point to a physical resemblance.
In addition, many biblical passages attribute physical characteristics to God. Adam and Eve heard the sound of God walking in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:8). Moses saw God's back as he passed by on Mount Sinai (Exod 33:23). Isaiah and Daniel saw God sitting on a throne (Isa 6:1; Dan 7:9). There are numerous references to God's eyes, his hand, and his mouth. He is often described as speaking, and sometimes as weeping.
On the other hand, many Christians attribute to God the quality physical location. Those who believe of personal attitude rather than.
of "incorporeality," to use the technical term. They believe that
that God is incorporeal appeal to
other considerations as well. THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
83
verywhere ifh had a body, they
reason, for to exist as a body is to be
creatures. This might explain the similarities among the various descriptions of God we find in prophetic visions.
Omniscience is "perfect knowledge." An omniscient God knows all things. This attribute, too, is a matter of controversy. Some
people insist that God knows every- thing, others, that God knows everything that is logically knowable. In either case, God knows everything there is to know. The question is whether certain things are logically unknowable, and therefore unknown even by God. No one doubts that God knows all things past and
resent. The crucial question is divine foreknowledge, or God's knowledge of the future.
If God is omniscient, a familiar
argument goes, then he knows all reality-past, present, and füture. He
not only knows everything that has
already happened; he knows everything that will happen as well. But if God knows the entire future, the counter-argument runs, then everything will happen just as God
foresees, and there can be no such
hard to see how God could be
somewhere in particular, it is to be
here, rather than somewhere else. In addition, a body as we know it
depends on an environment. All our
physical organs-eyes, nose, mouth,
hands, feet, etc.-enable us to func-
tion within our specific environment.
They wouldn't be necessary if we
didn't need to move around and
weren't dependent on things like
food, water, and air to survive. If we say that God has a body, we seem to imply that he is similarly dependent
on an environment, when the Bible
clearly indicates that God does not
depend on anything outside himself in order to exist. Consequently, many believe that we cannot identify God with a bodily form.
Those who affim God's
incorporeality usually interpret biblical passages which attribute physical characteristics to God as "anthropomorphisms." An
anthropomorphism describes God as if he had human qualities. It is a
figure of speech, not a literal
description. Perhaps we can harmonize these
diferent views of God if we
thing as freedom. Freedom
presupposes that we have genuine
alternativesi assumes that our
distinguish between "having a body" and "assuming a physical form." This enables us to say that God himself is not essentially physical, but he may assume a characteristic form from time to time when he
choices really contribute something to reality. But if God knows all our actions in advance, then everything
about us is already settled, and there is nothing left for us to decide. Indeed, if God knows all our choices in advance, we do not really make manifests himself to physical
REIGN OF GOD
84
to this question. By lookine a way his ministry them when we choose; we merely
find out what they are.
We cannot settle this complicated
issue here. But it is important to note
that supporters of both views agree
that God's knowledge is perfect.
They differ as to whether future free
decisions can be genuine objects of
knowledge. If so, then of course God
knows them. If not, then God cannot
know them, for the same reason that
he cannot do things that are logically
impossible-not because he is
somehow deficient, but because
divine knowledge, like divine power,
must be logically coherent.
lf you sense something missing from this discussion of God's
illuminates d's and knowledg power, presence, can develop an rstandingof intellectual depth and religiousva
We these divine qualities that has both
It is not difficult to find manifestations of divine power in t ministry of Jesus. Miracles are he clearest example. Jesus demonstrate power over the forces of nature
er, stilling the storm, walking on water multiplying loaves and fishes, changing water to wine, healing the sick, and raising the dead. Two things strike us as we look at the list of things he did. One, of course, is the ability to pertorm these dramatic
feats. Clearly, extraordinary power is attributes, you can understand why
people like the French thinker Blaise
Pascal insist that the God of involved.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not the God of the philosophers. We don't
find expressions like "omnipotence," "omnipresence," and "omniscience" in the Bible. We don't use them in
The other striking feature of these phenomena, however, is the
fact that they all benefited human beings. None of them was a mere show of superiority. Jesus was no
wonder-worker; he was not a magician entertaining the crowds. He came to minister-to meet human
our hymns and prayers. They are
highly impersonal and abstract.
Instead of promoting our relationship with God, they seem to get in the
needs, to serve and to bless. AAs
displayed in the life of Jesus, then, divine power expresses God's
commitment to our well-being. way.
On the other hand, these attributes deal with issues that people often raise out of deep religious interest. So, it won't do for us to dismiss them as inconsequential to faith. The question is whether they have any distinctly Christian content. Our commitment to Jesus Christ as
God's power must be more than
unfathomable force. The mere
possession of overwhelming force
represents a tremendous threat.
Could we ever be at peace if we
believed that one being in the
universe has the power to annihilate
everything else that exists? Sheer definitive of God provides an answer
HE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
85
gives us no basis for security.
wer represen As we see God's
wer in the life of Jesus, it is always
from your presence? IfI go up to the
heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. IfT
rise on the wings of the dawn, if I
settle on the far side of the sea, even
The crucial question is what that
plied in the framework of love.
God's power is always power for us.
Seen in this light, ivine power is not there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast" (Ps 139:7-10). God is inescapable. No
a threat, but a source of immense
reassurance
A similar transformation occurs matter where circumstances find us, we can be confident that he will be
when we look at eternity,
omnipresence, and omniscience in
light of Jesus life and ministry. Eternity and omnipresence give us
confidence that nothing in time or
space can separate us from God's
love. Jesus promised his disciples he would never leave them; he would be
there for them wherever and
with us. Nothing can separate us
from him. Omniscience, too, has important
religious significance. The idea that
God knows us thoroughly is an awesome thought. It reminds us that
he is aware of everything about us.
He knows things about us that we
don't even know about ourselves. He
has numbered the hairs of our head, whenever they called on him.
"Surely I will be with you always, to
the very end of the age" (Matt
28:20). His promise echoes
for example (Matt 10:30). He also
knows things about us that we would
prefer to keep hidden-our innermost thoughts and intentions, and our wildest dreams and most private
fantasies. He knows the secret things (see Ecel 12:14).
By itself, the idea that someone
knows everything about us is no
source of comfort. Since nothing is hidden from God, he knows all those
things we want to keep entirely to
ourselves. He knows enough about
each of us to condemn us for eternity.
The thought that God knows us
perfectly is frightening .. until we
see what Jesus did with the extraordi-
assurances we find in the Old
Testament. "Lord, you have been our
dwelling place throughout all
generations. Before the mountains
were born or you brought forth the
earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God" (Ps
90:21-2). The idea here is that God is a permanent refuge for his people. If he lives forever, from time
immemorial and for all time to come, then we can be confident and secure in him.
In the same way, God's
"omnipresence" refers to his constant nary knowledge he sometimes
companionship. "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee
displayed. Consider the woman a
the well in Samaria, for example
REIGN OF GOD
86 Person
her personal
life, her marriages
and
romances,
but he did not use
the
information to
embaass
her. He
Because God is free and self.
determined, we can speak of him as a
one of the most significant ideas "person. The concept of person
revealed his
knowledge in order to
show how completely
he understood
and cared for her. God's knowledge,
we have. It plays an important role
our understanding of both God and humanity. "Person" is a difficult
concept to define, but it seems to
involve several fundamental qualitie
ole in
then, is another
manifestation
of his
ledge to shame or harm us. He
desires to know everything about us
because he deeply cares for us.
Taking Jesus as the key to our
understanding of God, transforms
the divine attributes. Instead of
love. God refuses to use his know
A person IS first of all a unity
an individual being, not a mere
collection of being. A forest, for
example, is not a person. To be unified, something must have a
center which organizes and
determines its activities. The central
presenting us with a list of philo-
sophical problems to solve, they
provide us with a wealth of
reassurance. Believing that God
is what Jesus revealed him to be,
nervous system, including the brain, determines the activities of the entire organism in higher forms of animal
life and human beings. In addition to unity, or individuality, a person is also characterized by self- consciousness. It is not only a unity; it is also aware of itself as a unity.
Another important aspect of
personness is relationship, or
reciprocity. Unity and self- establishes God's essential identity; it consciousness enable a person to
we welcome the thought that he
is eternal, omnipresent, and
perfect in power and knowledge.
GOD'S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE WORLD
God's creative activity not only
also indicates the kind of being he is and reveals his attitude toward the world he made. God brought the world into existence by a free, crea-tive act. He created because he chose
experience relationships with other
persons. When you and I encounter 3
person, we encounter something we
can interact with. A person can arrec
us and be affected by us in similar to do so, not because he was com-pelled to. We see God's freedom in the fact that his creative activity ended when it reached its conclusion
ways. A personal being is also free or
self-determined to some extent. It is
never entirely the product of tacto outside its control. Each person is a east partly the product of his or her
(Gen 2:2). It didn't go on indefinitely.
THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
87
Own yn choices. This s why we hold craftsman's or artist's interest in some for their product of her ingenuity. God not
only admires and values what he has made; he commits himself to its welfare. Moreover, in the fact that God created human beings in his
image we see that God seeks to establish a personal relationship with
his creatures.
perso
behavior.
Because a person is free and self
rsons responsible
determined, there is always an
element of mystery in a person's
behavior. ersonal. actions are neveer
entirely edictable. Persons can
decide to do things they have never
done before. They can express
themselves in original ways. Think
of people you know well and admire.
One of the things that make them
interesting is their capacity to
surprise you. The more you know
them, the more you appreciate their
God's personal interest in creation separates the Christian view
of God from two other concepts of
God's relation to the world, namely, deism and pantheism. Both affirm
the reality of the world and the oneness of God, but each view in its
own way denies that God is
personally related to the world. creativity.
Finally, a person has dignity and
value. We place a higher value on
persons than anything else. We
typically refuse to express their
importance in quantitative terms. We
would never compare the value of a
person to that of a building, or an
automobile, for example. Personal
worth is incalculable.
Deism According to deism, God is responsible for bringing the world into existence, but that ended his
involvement with it. Since then he has taken no further interest in it. Deism is often associated with two
l0 summarize, a person is self-
conscious and free, capable of
relationships and characterized by responsibility, mystery, and dignity. When we speak of God as a person, we think of him as free and as
popular metaphors, the master craftsman and the absentee landlord.
Since God designed the world
perfectly, deists maintain, he never
needs to adjust its operation or
interfere with the natural course of
capable of relationships with us that are somewhat similar to our
events. The universe runs entirely on
its own, and everything operates
according to the fixed laws of nature.
Consequently, there is no place in a
deistic world-view for miraculous in-
relationships with each other. The Bible attributes many
personal qualities to God, and it describes his attitude toward his Creatures in personal terms. God's nterest in creation goes far beyond a
tervention or supernatural revelation.
In fact, there is no place in deism for
any divine-human interaction. Like
REIGN OF GOD
describe ditterent concepts of relation to the world. Immanence
88
an absent owner,
God is unaware
of
and unaffected by anything
that hap-
pens in the world. The world is en-
tirely on its own.
bod's refers to God's participation
or in-
dence refers to the ifference distinction between God and the
volvement in the world. Transce or
Pantheismn world. To use spatial language, Whereas deism separates God from
the world, pantheism goes to the
opposite extreme and identifies God
with the world. For pantheists,
God" and "world" are references to
immanence refers to God's closene to the world; transcendence, to Sod's distance from the world.
Theism the same all-inclusive reality. Pantheism maintains that God is the The God of deism is wholly
transcendent, and the God of pantheism is wholly immanent. For one, God is utterly beyond the world For the other, God is in- distinguishable from the world. Each view emphasizes one attribute to the exclusion of the other. In contrast, Christian faith attributes both
power which sustains all reality, but
t denies that he is anything more
than this. So, it reduces God to his
function within the world. Like deism, pantheism excludes
any personal relationship between God and creation. God obviously has no relationship with the world if, as ieism claims, he is totally unaware of
it. But if God is essentially identical
to the world, his relation to it could never be truly personal, either. He would be related to creatures in the
qualities to God. God indeed transcends the world. He is unlike anything he has made and infinitely superior to everything else. At the same time, he is immanent to the world as a human being is related to
the cells in her body. He would be sensitive to their experiences, but the reciprocity, the conscious interaction, characteristic of personal relation-ships, would be impossible. If God is merely the whole of the reality that includes us, he cannot be an "other," a "counterpart," who interacts with
world. He is actively involved in the
world, momentarily sustaining t operation and guiding it toward the fulfillment of his purposes for it. i term "theism" is often used to refer to
this view of God. Of the three, only theism
provides a way to conceptualize tne
loving reign of God. God does no reign from a distance. Because Goa
1oves and cares for the world, hes
deeply involved with it. In other words, he must be immanent to l it.
At
us.
Immanence and transcendence Serious thinkers often use the terms "immanence" and "transcendence" to THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
Ine same time, if his love is truly
89
aconditional, God must be infinitely
greater than any aspect of the world.
For his love to be everlasting, for
example, he must be everlasting, He
cannot depend on anything else for
his existence. Moreover, if God's
love is universal, it cannot be
restricted to any specific location. God must transcend all finite entities.
In this way we can see why the central claim that God is love favors
certain philosophical ideas over
The idea that God's creative work continues has an intensively personal application. God is not only creator of the world, he is the creator of each individual in the world. As
Martin Luther observed, to say, "I believe in God... maker of heaven and earth," is really to say, "I believe that God has created me."2 In terms of our guiding theme, we have not
grasped the significance of divine sovereignty if we think of God only as Lord of the universe. We must others.
These different concepts of God
set the stage for another essential part
of this doctrine. Because he is
each think of him as "my Lord."
Providence keenly interested in his creatures and
deeply committed to them, he takes
an active part in the world he made.
The word providence" refers to God's ongoing involvement in the
world. As described in the Bible, this
activity takes several different forms.
First, God sustains and guides the natural order on a moment-by-GOD'S ACTIVITY IN THE moment basis. Divine power main
tains the universe. "Thou hast made WORLD
heaven, the heaven of heavens, with
all their host, the earth and all that is
on it, the seas and all that is in them; and thou preservest all of them" (Neh
9:6). According to many thinkers,
the concept of cosmic or universal
power is basic to the idea of God. In
this vein, Paul Tillich defines God as
the "ground of being," or the "power
of being." The idea of nature that figures
prominently in Westerm thought is
closely related to the Christian view
of God's relation to the world.
Moden science rests on the presup-
position that reality is orderly and
We have seen that the idea of
creation expresses the Bible's
distinctive concept of God's relation
to the world. It also points to the
most fundamental activity associated
with God. "In the beginning," reads
the first verse of the Bible, "God
created .."(Gen 1:1). Although "Creation" brings to mind the origin of the universe, the word also refersS
to God's subsequent actions in the World. And this may actually be its
most basic meaning. For God not
only brings the world into existence he continues to participate in its
affairs. REIGN OF GOD
consummate act of human injusti saved the world. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the lawned
having
90
predictable.
This idea emerged
from
the belief that an orderly
God is
responsible
for its operation.
He
constructed
the world to
behave in
was the very means by which
become a curse for us-for it is
written, "Cursed be every one who certain ways;
and by carefully using
our minds, which he also created, we
can figure out what they are.
Although it can
refer to God's
relation to the natural world,
"providence" usually designates
God's relation to human history. God
directs the course of history toward
the fulfillment of his purposes. For
the most part, he suggests, intluences,
and responds to human decisions and
actions. But he can also take a more
direct role and work through
hangs on a tree (Gal 3:13).
our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we miohs
"For
become the rignteousness of God
Cor 5:21). So great is God's ability to wort
for good that there 1S nothing, how
ever bad in itself, that cannot
ultimately serve his purposes. Paul
expresses this conviction in the most
famous biblical statement on divine
providence: "We know that in
everything God works for good with
those who love him, who are called according to his purpose" (Rom 8:28). The assurance that God can
work for good in every situation, no matter how negative it may be, has
been a tremendous source of strength to Christians throughout history
We must be careful to distinguish divine providence from divine determinism, which makes God directly responsible for everything that happens to us. Some people have the idea that God specifically plans every event in their lives. They
believe that nothing takes place tha
he has not intended. They may even
Tind support for this view in another
translation of Rom 8:28: "And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according
circumstances to bring about specific
developments. Often apparently negative, even
disastrous events contribute to God's
purposes. In a fit of jealousy,
Joseph's older brothers sold him into
slavery. Years later, as a powerful figure in Egypt, Joseph was able to save his family from starvation. God thus used an act of treachery to bring about something beneficial. At least, this was Joseph's conviction. "Do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves," he told his brothers. "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God" (Gen 45:5-8).
The crucifixion of Jesus is the most dramatic instance where God used something negative to fulfill a positive purpose. Here the THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GoD
91
his purpose" (KJVv).
But this view makes God respon- future, sees what is going to happen, and shares his knowledge with us.
An alternative approach views prophecy primarily as an expression of God's intentions. From this
sible for all the suffering and evil in
Christian ith emphatically denies.
It is true that God works through
the world-something which
events, even negative ones,
good. But he is not himself t the cause
of all the events he uses. God
perspective, prophecy tells us what God's plans are. It is not a forecast of what must inevitably take place.
There are biblical passages that lend support to each approach to
prophecy. The remarkable fulfillment of certain predictions recorded in the Bible corroborates the
for our
frequently works in spite of
rcumstances, as well as through
them God's role in superintending the
course of human history is most evi-
dent in the prophetic books of the
Bible. Here we see God actively in-
volved in national and international
developments. The prosperity of a
nation is shown to be the resuit of
divine favor; conversely, its
view that prophecy is God's
announcement of what lies ahead. Seventh-day Adventists see a close correspondence between the prophecies of Dan 2 and 7 and the course of ancient history, with its
succession of four great kingdoms.
For many, this provides strong evi-
dence that the Bible is divinely
inspired. In addition, certain features of
misfortunes are a form of divine
judgment. The overall theme of
Daniel, for example, is God's
ultimate supremacy over every other
power, including the mightiest na- Jesus' life recall specific statements in the Old Testament. These include tions on earth.
Prophecy The phenomenon of prophecy is
closely related to the concept of
providence. Prophecy expresses God's perspective on the future, and, like many aspects of the doctrine of God, it is interpreted in different
his mother's virginity (Isa 7:14), his place of birth (Mic 5:2), and the Circumstances surrounding his death
(Ps 22:16-18; Isa 53:7,9).
Perhaps most striking are various
predictions of individual behavior.
Isaiah, for example, foretold Cyrus role in repatriating the Jewish people
and restoring Jerusalem well over a
hundred years before he lived,
according to conservative biblical
reckoning (44:28-45:4). On the eve
of his crucifixion Jesus described the
ways. A familiar approach sees
prophecy as an expression of divine
foreknowledge. Many people think of prophecy as "history in advance." They believe that God looks into the future activities of disciples, in
REIGN OF GOD
92
in nature. A conditional prophecy is what human beings decide to do.
On
cluding Judas' betrayal and Peter's
threefold denial (Matt 26:21, 25, 31
34; John 13:21, 26). In light of such predictions, we
can see why many regard prophecy as an announcement of what is bound
one whose fulfillment depends on
The clearest description of conditional prophecy appears in the book of Jeremiah:
"If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerningg which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do to it. And it at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will repent of the good which I had intended to do to it" (Jer 18:7-10).
Since God modifies his plan to accommodate human decisions, many prophetic predictions are not an ironclad forecast of the future.
to transpire. However, there are also
passages which base God's announcement of what is to come on
his intention to take personal action and directly cause things to happen. One example is Isa 46:9-11: "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from
ancient times things not yet done"
(vv. 9-10a). By themselves these verses suggest that God is a passive observer of the future. But the next few words give us a different picture: "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purposes... I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it" (vv. 10b-11). In this passage, what God foretells will not happen on its own; he is going to make it happen.
According to this second view, then, the basic purpose of prophecy is loves, respecting their choices yet
Instead, they describe what God will do in the event that certain things happen. Like providence, conditional prophecy portrays God as an active participant in human affairs. It shows him interacting with those he
to express God's intentions to accomplish certain things. In prophecy, God reveals his ultimate objectives for human existence and presents the course of action he plans to follow in order to reach them.
doing everything possible to help them fulfill his glorious purposes tor
their lives.
God often changes his course of action in response to human behavior, and for this reason we speak of many biblical prophecies as "conditional"
In spite of their differences, the
wo Views of prophecy just described
are not incompatible. We can harmo0
nize them by observing that there are
different kinds of prophecy. Some prophecies describe God's knowledg of things that will inevitably come t
THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
93
Other prophecies express God's like logical rules which allow no exceptions. They simply describe the customary way God operates. Mir- acles are not violations of nature's
pass
fulfillment is not itable, because intentions to do certa things. Their
God to human actions.
may change his plans in response
laws; they are simply departures from God's ordinary way of doing things.
But even if there is a power superior to nature, capable of intervening in its operation, the possibility of miracles remains in question. For why would God want to intervene? Wouldn't miracles
Miracles
Although Christians believe that God
is involved in the entire course of
human history, they also attribute
certain events to specific divine
activity. We usually refer to such
events as miracles. A miracle is a
definite occurrence which happens as
the direct result of God's power and
frequently interrupts the normal
course of events.
In the modern world much of the It actually obscures the nature of
discussion about miracles concerns
the possibility of such events. Ina
well-known book on the topic, C. S.
Lewis observes that the possibility of
miracles presupposes two things:
There must be a power capable of
somehow repudiate or invalidate the order he created? If he set things up the right way to begin with, why
would he want to alter their
operation?
miracles to define them as interTup- tions in the natural course of things, because this focuses on the excep- tional character of the events. As the
Bible describes them, however, mir acles are never merely extraordinary
intervening in nature, and this power occurences, or displays of supernatu ral power. They always serve a
attitude toward miracles thus depends religious purpose. They are part of
God's larger work in human history.
Our understanding of the reign of The essential purpose of miracles is to
God certainly fulfills the first of these awaken and strengthen human faith in
God. They focus attention on the real
source of all that is good in the world;
must be willing to do so,4 Our
on our concept of God.
conditions. It affirms both God's
Superiority to what he has made and
the ongoing interest he maintains in
Creation. As sovereign, God is not
bound to act upon the universe he
created in only one way. He may
vary from his normal course of
operation if it suits his purposes.
In this view of God's relation to
tne world, the laws of nature are not
they remind us that God is indeed
alive and well.
Miracles played a prominent role
in the ministry of Jesus, where they
illustrated the nature of the kingdom
of God. In feeding the hungry,
healing the sick, casting out demons,
and raising the dead, Jesus provided
REIGN OF GOD
94 GOD'S EXPERIENCE OF THE vivid examples
of what takes place
when God's reign is realized in this
world. His miracles
were previews
of
WORLD
According to Christian faith
kingdom of God is fully
established.
When God reigns, human life will
reach fulfilment. It will not be
only affects the world: th world
od has what life will be like when the
an effect on God. The convictio ha that God experiences the world sharply
threatened by hunger, illness, demons, separates the Christian
narply
or death.Víewed in this way,
miracles are not violatontions of God is totally inditferent to the worla
separates the Christian view from other perspectives. Greek philoso-
phers such as Aristotle believed that miracles are not
violations of nature,
as is often thought, but revelations of
it. They provide a window on what
reality was meant to be.
Although miracles play a role in
God's activity, we should be careful
not to exaggerate their importance.
God occasionally interrupts the
normal course of events with dramatic aware of the finite world and in-
displays of power, but this is not the
way he customarily exercises his
sovereignty. Instead of directly im-
posing his will on events, he prefers to intense interest in this world. He is
allow his creatures to make their own the supreme actor on the stage of decisions and then respond in the way history, as we noticed in the previous
that best serves his purposes. The way God characteristically
acts in and through the actions of
others points to the central feature of the divine character. Because he loves takes note when a sparrow falls (Matt
us, God values everything about us and regards our decisions with utmost seriousness. Because he loves us, God condescends to interact and
For them, the creaturely world is un.
worthy of God's. attention, so he exists in the splendid isolation of etemity. where he thinks of nothing but him.
self. But for Christians, God is acutely
timately involved in its events. This
is certainly the biblical view. From Genesis to Revelation, we see God's
section, and he is keenly interested in
what happens to his creatures. In-
deed, according to Jesus, he numbers
the very hairs on our head and even
10:29-30). While Christians universally
believe that God knows and cares
cooperate with us. His actions do not nullify ours, they incorporate them within a higher synthesis. We therefore have the privilege of participating in God's work in the world. We are among the means by which he establishes his reign.
about his creatures, they do not agree
on the precise nature of his exper-
ence. Many hold that God's
experience of the world is static.
They maintain that God experien the course of history all at once
single, timeless perception. From all the
all
THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
vantage point of etemity, he sec
95
reality-past, present, and future.
Others are convinced that God's
experience of the world is dynamio
related to his creatures that he experi.
tnat his experience is static, because it excludes the possibility that he could change in any way. A God who changed in the slightest, even in his experience of the world, cannot be perfect, they maintain; he cannot be the greatest possible being.
This is because something can change in one of two ways-either for better or for worse. If God could
They believe that God is so closely
lives in a temporal way. ences thei
other words, he experiences the In events of this world as they occur
rather than all at once. This means
that things make a contribution to
God's experience precisely when they happen. Interestingly, there is biblical evidence for both ideas.
Texts like the following play an important role in this discussion: "I
the Lord do not change" (Mal 3:6); "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever" (Heb 13:8); and Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no
variation or shadow due to change" (Jas 1:17).
When the Bible speaks of God as the behavior of certain individuals, changeless, it seems to support thee idea that God's experience of the world is static. Because a dynamic experience is one that grows or develops, a changeless God must remain the same in every way no
matter what happens. The Bible also states that God is
"perfect" (Matt 5:48). Indeed, "perfection" is the essential attribute of God. It means that God is the greatest being imaginable; nothing about him could be better than it is. In the thinking of many people, God's perfection supports the idea
improve in any way, then he must be less than perfect now; if he got worse, obviously, he would become less than perfect. Consequently, a
perfect being cannot change, and everything about God, including his experience of the world, must therefore be forever exactly the same.
Many biblical prophecies seem to indicate that God experiences the future ahead of time. Certain prophecies chart the general course of coming history (Dan 2, 7; Matt 24; Rev 13). Others accurately predict
such as Pharaoh, who rejected God's demand to release the Israelites (Exod 4:21), and Cyrus, the Persian king who supported the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Isa 44:28-45:4). Jesus predictions of Judas' betrayal and Peter's denial belong to this category (John 13:21-30; Mark 14:29-30). Perhaps most remarkable are the numerous "messianic" prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in the life of Jesus (e.g., Ps 22; Isa 7:14, 53; Mic 5:2). We could extend the list considerably, but the pattern of prediction and fulfillment
REIGN OF GOD
96
convinces many that God experiences different emotions to God times. They support the idea thar exem
God at differens idea that his
the future, the past, and the present
experience changes in response to i what happens in the creaturely world
all at once. Personal religion seems to
require a changeless God, so this,
too, contributes to the idea that God's
experience is static. If God changes, how can we trust him? How can we
The many "conditional" prophecies of the Bible present as responding and reacting to event
God in human history (see Jer 18:7.10 The most tamous is Jonah's prediction of Nineveh's destruction
be confident that he will not alter his Pre
(Jonah 3:4). The city's inhabitants repented when they heard this message, and "when God saw whar they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it" (3:10). This statement gives the strong impression that God decided to spare the Ninevites in direct response to their repentance. In other words, he experienced their repentance when it happened, not before.
During his ministry, Jesus heightened this portrait of God's sensitivity to his creatures. In his most dramatic stories, Jesus
attitude toward us? In order to commit ourselves to God completely, many believe, we need the assurance that nothing about him could ever be
different, including his experience of the world. To use traditional language, he must be "immutable."
Evidence that God's experience of the world is static is impressive, but there is significant evidence on the other side of the discussion, too.
Numerous biblical passages seem to indicate that God's experience of the world is dynamic. These texts describe God as reacting to events as they occur. They also show that God is highly sensitive to his creatures. What they do and what happens to them have a powerful effect on him.
At creation, for example, God
was delighted with what he had
made; he saw that it was "very good" (Gen 1:31). Before the flood, however, he was sorry that he had created human beings; indeed, "his heart was filled with pain" (Gen 6:6). Later on God was distressed by Israel's apostasies (Jer 3:20), and he was anguished with the thought of having to give his people up (Hos 11:8). Such passages attribute
described God's reaction when Sinners return to him (Luke 15).
According to Jesus, God feels what
the shepherd, the woman, and the
father in these stories felt when they recovered what was lost. In his
words, there is "rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents" (LUKe
15:7). Further support for the view that
God's experience is dynamic comes
rom the important biblical statement,
"God is love" (1 John 4:8). AS We
THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
97
have seen, Christians believe that
fundamental to the plan of rather than timeless. It involves successive experiences, not just one
all-encompassing experience. The question of God's relation to
the world is closely related to the question of divine foreknowledge. Most Christians who believe that
love is salvatio and central to the very nature of God (John 3:16). If God's basic. cic attiude toward his creatures is
Jove, then he must be one oz
love is nothing if not sensitive to its
Human relations demonstrate this that his experience of the world is
responsive to their experiences, for
God's knowledge of the future is not exhaustive are committed to the view objects.
principle. The greater our affection for someone, the more responsive we
are to that person s experiences. When two people are deeply in love,
they care about the slightest fluctua-
tions in each other's moods and
feelings. Nothing can happen to one
of them that does not concern the
other. Now, if God loves us more
than any human being does, then he must be infinitely sensitive to ev erything that happens to us. And our experiences must have a greater
effect on him than on anyone else.
These considerations lead many Christians to conclude that God's
dynamic.5 Creaturely events make an ongoing contribution to God's inner life. To be consistent, it seems, those who believe that God knows the future in all its detail should maintain that God's experience of the world is
static, since he sees the entire future in a single glance.5 However, many Christians today hold another view. They believe that God knows the entire future in advance, but is nevertheless affected by events as they occur.7 In other words, God's knowledge of the world is static, but his experience of the world is dynamic. Knowing that something is
xperience of the world is dynamic
rather than static. They believe that God responds to events in the
creaturely world with appropriate
feelings or emotions precisely as they
happen. God sorrows when the sparrow falls,; he rejoices when the Sinner repents. This means that God
feels our joy and suffers our sorrow exactly when we do. He has the
experience when the event takes place, and not before. Accordingly, God's experience of the creaturely world is best understood as temporal
gOing to happen, they maintain, is not
the same as actually experiencing it3 These are complicated issues, to
say the least, but they deserve careful
attention. Besides their intellectual importance, they can profoundly
affect our atitude toward God and our relationship to him. Let us pull
together some of the strands in our
discussion. We made several important
distinctions as we developed our doctrine of God. We discussed the essential being of God, God's basic
REIGN OF GOD
98
unseat him from the throne of the universe. Nothing will ever weake his commitment to the welfare of
attitude toward the world, God's
activity in the world, and God's
experience of the world. These cate-
gories enable us to assert that God is
changeless in some ways and yet changing in others. Certainly, God's fundamental being and character could not change. It is inconceivable that God should not exist, or that the quality of his knowledge, goodness, and power should be less than perfect. Nor can Christians think of God as ever changing in his attitude toward his creatures; constant love is an essential quality of his character.
At the same time, we must regard God's activity in the world as dynamic. It is impossible to do otherwise, because to act is to bring about a change. And we muust similarly think of God's experience of the creaturely world as dynamic. He is sensitive and responsive to the experiences of his creatures.
Now, we can speak of God as both changeless and changing, provided we apply these qualities to different aspects of God. The funda-mental qualities of divinity, the things that make God God, never change. His essential being and fundamental character are always the same. In contrast, his activity in the world and his concrete experience of the world do change. In fact, they are constantly changing. We can express this point in relation to the reign of God. The reality and the quality of God's reign never change. Nothing will ever
creatures. It is the same "yesterda today, and forever" (see Heb 13:8 13:8). Yet the precise course of God's administration changes in response the actions and experiences of his ereations. What he decides to do depends in large measure on what his creatures decide to do, and on what happens to them. God is responsive to all their feelings and experiences The underlying reason for this
to
complexity in God's reign is the fact that his essential character is one of love. In constancy and consistency God's love never changes. The level of his commitment to our welfare could never be greater, and he will never become more or less loving than he has always been. At the same time, God's concrete responses to our experiences are always changing. The ongoing events of our lives contribute to God's experience, and he reacts to them with a wide range of emotions.
Our fourfold conception of God achieves logical consistency. It also gives us a view of God that is faithful to the entire biblical portrait. And in
presenting us with a God who is completely reliable and at the same time loving and lovable, it helps to meet our deepest personal nee
THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
99
Appendix fo Chapter 4
SOME IMPORTANT
OUESTIONS ABOUT GOD
atritude is the influence of modern science on the way we look at the
world. Science operates on the
assumption that reality is uniform. If
we know enough about the present,
we can make reliable predictions about the future, and a procedure performed anywhere in the world will
yield identical results elsewhere if the
conditions are duplicated. Science
also directs its attention to the
The central Christian doctrine has
From ancient to modem times, it has
never been easy for people to believe
in God, with all that this means. At
the same time, every age poses its
distinctive challenges to faith. The
intellectual and cultural climate
surrounding Christians has changed
markedly over the centuries, and with
each major shift the question of God
takes a somewhat different form. WVe
cannot retail this fascinating history
here, but it is important for us to
know which way the wind is blowing
in our own time. In recent years,
thinking people have asked probing
questions about the reality of God, the nature of our knowledge of God,
and the appropriate language we
should use for God.
always en a source of ontroversy.
physical world, the world of matter
and energy. Scientific experiments
employ our senses, such as sight and
hearing, or the extension of our
senses by sophisticated instruments
like microscopes and telescopes. The achievements of science and
technology in Westerm culture are so
impressive that people naturally hold
the conclusions of science in very high esteem. The enormous prestige of moderm science tends to have a
negative effect on belief in God. For
some people scientific truth is the
only truth there is, and the only
reality is what science can
investigate. From this perspective, it is difficult to believe in God, because
THE REALITY OF GOD
he isn't an object for scientific
investigation. We can't see him, or
hear him, or touch him. Telescopes and microscopes have never detected
For most of human history, few
people questioned the existence of God. In biblical times, the presence of divine power in the world was evi-
dent to everybody. The great question then was not whether there 1s a God, but which God is the true God. Today things are different. Many people find it extremely difficult to believe in God.
him. Not only is God something that
science cannot examine, but people
no longer appeal to God to explain
how things work. For a while it was
common to assign God responsibility
for things that science couldn't One reason for this change in
REIGN OF GOD
100
explain. He
accounted
for the "gaps"
in our
understanding
of the world.
But scientific
advances have
done
perceived in the things he h made" (Rom 1:20). According to the Bible, huma
such a good job of filling in these
gaps that there is less and less for
God to do.
behavior also points to the reality n of
God. In his sermon at Athens, Paul referred to the religious practices of
his audience. "Men of Athens,
The problem of evil is an older
obstacle to belief in God than moderm
perceive that. in every way you are
religious, for as I passed along Science, and probably a greater
threat
to faith. Since Christians believe that
God is both supremely powerfül and
perfectly loving, the presence of suf
fering in the world he has created
poses a tremendous problem. If God
is all-powerful, he could prevent or
eliminate evil. And if he is all-
and observed the objects of your
worship, I found also an altar with
this inscription, "lo an unknown
God.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you
(Acts 17:22-23). Paul also found evidence that
everyone experiences God in the area
of conscience, or morality. Human
beings everywhere have a sense of
right and wrong. "When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature
what the law requires.. they show that what the law requires is written
on their hearts..." (Rom 2:14-15) Over the years, philosophers
have also found evidence for the
loving, he would certainly want to do
so. Yet evil exists. So, the
traditional argument goes, God must
be less than perfect in either power or
love. In other words, the God of
Christian faith cannot be real.
Because it is difficult for people
to believe in God today, an adequate doctrine of God must address the
question of his existence. The
writers of the Bible all believed that existence of God in nature and in
God exists, but they did not assume that trusting God would be easy. They mention several kinds of evi- dence that support the realty of God. One source of evidence is the wonders of nature. "The heavens are
human experience. The most popular
argument for God's existence begins with the complexity and intricacy we
see in the world around us. When we
look at the beauty of a starry sky or
telling the glory of God," David exclaimed, "and the firmament pro claims his handiwork" (Ps 19:1). Centuries later Paul asserted: "Ever
consider the intricate mechanism or
since the creation of the world, his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly
our own bodies, we find it difficult to
believe that such things happen by
mere chance. They give every
indication of being designed by an
enomous intelligence.
Careful thinkers also find
evidence for God in the mere THE NATURE OF THE REIGN OF GOD
101
xistence
off a wo
dinary experience
a world. In the realm of
ce everything gets mind? We are clearly capable of such loyalty. People often strive valiantly to achieve their personal goals. They will even make great sacrifices for other people or for causes larger than their own interest. But is there anything worthy of our total devotion, anything worthy of being served with every fiber of our
being? Is there anything in reality
xistence from mething else.
for the world as its what accounts a
But
whole?
hy is there something,
rather
thar nothing? This ultimate
ause of the universe can't be
omething that derives its existence else, for then it would
just be another part of the collection
of dependent things. Consequently, it that answers to this capacity for
from anything
must be something self-existent,
something whose existence does not
depend on anything else.
Philosophers have also found
evidence for God in religion and
morality-two pervasive factors in
human experience. Human beings
have a natural inclination to worship,
to invest something with ultimate im-
portance. The tendency to worship is
so deeply imbedded in our experience
that it seems logical to conclude that
it points to something in reality itself.
For many people, the existence of
God provides the best explanation for
this dimension of our experience.
Augustine put it this way centuries
ago: "Thou hast made us for thyself, and our hearts are restless until they
find their rest in thee."9
supreme loyalty? If so, its qualities would have to resemble those attributed to God. It would have to
be supremely loving, it would have to
exist forever, it would have to be
accessible everywhere, and so on.
On the other hand, if there is no such
being, then our own experience
apparently betrays us on a
fundamental level. It directs us to an
object that does not exist. Moral sensitivity is also an
essential characteristic of human ex-
perience, and many people believe
that it, too, is best explained by the
reality of God. Only personal beings can feel responsible, the argument
goes, and we can only feel
responsible to other persons. So, if
the universe is ultimately impersonal,
if reality is nothing more than the
arrangement of matter, then there is
no good explanation for our sense of
right and wrong. We have an
adequate account of our moral
experience only if there is a supreme
personal being who is the ultimate
source of our moral standards and
Our guiding theme, the reign of
God, suggests an interesting way to
pose the question of God's existence.
The notion of God's loving sOvereignty leads us to ask if there is
anything or anyone worthy of our
ultimate devotion. Does anyone deserve the allegiance of our entire Deing-the love of heart, soul, and who holds us accountable for our
REIGN OF GOD
