The Main Real Reason

It seems to me that lots and lots of Christians and religious people practice their Christianity without really knowing why. I mean really. I think a lot of people just do it because they feel they should, or it's what they've been taught, or even because they've experienced God and know He's real, and that their faith and even their relationship with Him is genuine, but they still maybe have never thought to think or ask WHY, ultimately we are doing it. So why are we? What is the goal of Christianity, or any religion for that matter? And if it really is the one true faith, and the real God is really in it and has even created it and set it up how it is, (which we really believe He has), what was He thinking? Yes we all know that he wants to save people, and that He loves us and cares about us, but isn't there more? Since we truly believe that the supreme, infinite, eternal Being, really, is behind it all, what does that infer? Can the entirety of the Real God be seen and found within Christianity then? And if so, what is that??

Well, in order to answer these questions, I believe we need to look at life. But we need to look at it from God's perspective. Since God created everything, what can we learn by looking at what He has created? Since He created everything, then everything must be a representation of Him. (By everything, I mean the entirety of what is created, not sin and bad stuff). Acts 17:24 states " The God who made the world and all things in it" So the world and everything in it came from the mind of God. So let's take a look at the world and everything in it to see if we can see what was on His mind when He decided to create all of this.

Now, the previous statement contains volumes. Volumes and volumes could be written on what God was thinking when he created all this. In fact, it could be almost endless. There is no way we could discuss all of that here. But the point is great. The point that we CAN look at creation to see what God had, and has, in mind. For this short essay though, I am going to focus on one area of creation, the one that I feel sheds the most light on the mind of God. The reason I am going to focus in on this area is because it is the most potent part of creation. It is the strongest part, the part that we want the most, enjoy the most, DO the most, and the part that moves us the most. I mean love.

Love is the strongest desire inside of human beings. If we are honest with ourselves about ourselves, and about the world, we will see that the cingular most driving force inside of human beings is the desire for love, specifically the desire for a mate. This desire is the most intense, the most satisfying, the most urgent, strongest pull we have inside of ourselves. Some people would call it nature's way of ensuring the survival of the species. We call it what is at the heart of God's mind. From this we can see that love must be exceedingly important to God. It must be what is exceedingly important to Him, else He would not have made it so that it is so exceedingly important to us.

Maybe God did this on purpose, so that we would not miss the point of what life is all about. I think that He very purposefully made this desire, this urge in us as strong as He did in order to illustrate for us what the purpose and meaning of life is. Since creation itself is a picture of God--us, the world, and everything--it all came from the mind of God--humanity itself came from the mind of God--and since this desire for love is the strongest expression of our humanity, then God must really be into love. It's very logical. Think of that. Humanity, in its pure form, I mean without all the gunky junk that we as a race have muddied ourselves up with, is such a tremendous and beautiful expression of life, of all that life can be, all the beauty, all the wonder, the mystery, the deepness, the undefinable inexpressable stuff that we all long for and yearn to touch, and to experience, and to be, all those things, all that indefinable something, is all an expression of the life of God. Everything! The late afternoon sun filtering through the redwoods on the Pcific coast, the feelings you get on Christmas eve, the way you feel when you step into the warm sunshine on the first warm spring day and you feel the grip of winter breaking, all of these things--the list is infinite--are expressions of The Life, God Himself. Since all of creation comes from the mind of God, is actually more of an expression of Him, who He is, we can know God just by looking at all of these things. Or at the very least we can know what He is like.

And what experience, what joy, what part of all of this creation is the best? What's the one, out of all the myriad expressions of His life that we live, causes us the most excitement, the most joy, the most everything?? What one area of creation is the best out of all of it? It's love!! I mean that thrill, that overpowering feeling that washes through your soul when you see that someone with whom you are falling in love. There is just no feeling like it in the world. The first kiss... there's just no comparison. There is something so magical, so strong, sooo the fullest expression of being alive... something stronger and more powerful than all the mists in twilight, all the snowy nights in the mountains, and all of the battlecries you can ever muster... is this rush of attraction to another being, the desire to come together, the desire to Know them, that nothing else in our existence can compare to. And here, more than any other place in our experiences as human beings, God's creation, is where we can see the heart of God the most, what is REALLY on His mind. It must be love!!

So we are created in the image of God. The thing that excites us the most is love. Logically speaking, what do you suppose excites God the most? Obedience? No. Work? No. Church attendance? Giving to the poor? Bible study, Prayer? I would have to say no. I would have to say, judging from the evidence that we have examined so far that what God likes most is love. Attention. Attraction. Appreciating Him just for who He is. Spending time with Him just to spend time with Him, in order to just get to know Him. Knowing Him.

Love is so important to God. We have our priorities so mixed up. Most christians I hear seem to think that the greatest expression of our Christianity, our faith, is obedience. You hear it everywhere. If obedience was a higher priority than love to God, then why would He create us differently? I mean, we, as human beings place higher value on just knowing each other and being friends than we do on obedience. Think about it. When we are with the people we love, friends, etc., just hanging out with our friends, which is our pasttime of choice, as in, when we are done working, and we have free time, what is everybody's choice? What is it that we want to do, and choose to do, over and above everything else? Be with our friends and family. The world over. This does not change. And when we are doing that, what we as a race choose to do as our highest goal, being with the ones we love, obedience is not an issue. I don't mean that we stop doing it, I mean that we don't think about it during those times, during the times of love. There is never any talk about obdience, because in that area of life, the highest expression of our lives, living in love, there is no need for it. Obedience has already taken place long ago and in THE RIGHT PLACES AND TIMES WHEN AND WHERE IT NEEDED TO, and so WE ARE NOW REAPING THE BENEFITS OF THAT OBEDIENCE-- WHICH IS LOVE. We are now experiencing WHAT OBEDIENCE IS FOR. OBEDIENCE IS NOT AN END, IT IS ONLY A MEANS TO AN END--LOVE.

Also, the relationship between a man and a woman. This relationship is a blatant, obvious, accurate picture of the way in which we are to be in love with God, and Him with us, but during the exchange in this relationship ( I mean all exchange, not just sexual ), there is never any talk of or allusion to or concern with obedience. If there is, it indicates something wrong in the relationship.It tells us that the ultimate expression of loving is something beyond obedience.

Obedience is not the greatest goal we can achieve for God.. Obedience is only to lead us to love. Again, I use us, humans, as the example. We require obedience from our kids all through the years they are growing up, and for good, healthy reasons. But when obedience is accomplished, and they are healthy, whole, responsible adults, with kids of their own, do we call them up and invite them over to dinner to see if they still know how to obey us? Do we call them over to make them do things for us? We can ask them, when they are at our house, but if they say no, we have to respect their wishes as responsible adults and let them be free. Because we have passed from the stage of obedience into the stage of love. Obedience worked! So there's no more need for it! Or rather, there is no more need to focus on it, because we're living lives of love formed from obedience. The things we needed to obey have become part of us, so there's no need to emphasize them.

Now this is us, human beings. Fallen, flawed human beings at that. Yet we recognize, choose, and live these principles with our kids and with our friends. So are we better than Him? Is it really true that we know how to love better than God? OF COURSE NOT!! DON'T BE SILLY!! It's just that there is SO much emphasis on obedience these days, that we are missing the point of WHY we even obey!!! Is obedience necessary? Yes! Is it the end, the consummation of our relationship with Jesus, with God, with the Holy Spirit? Is it what we will be doing for eternity? Is that why we exist and why He created us? NO. LOVE IS WHY HE CREATED US!!!! And if obedience has already finished its work in us, and gotten us to the place where we are responsible and living in love with Him, and with our brother, THEN OBEDIENCE IS NO LONGER AN ISSUE. We've come to an understanding, as mature people do, of the reasons for obedience. It's no longer an issue for us. In fact, we've even taken to doing the right thing ourselves, WITHOUT HAVING TO BE TOLD!!!!!!!!!! In fact, we've even come to understand what the Bible talks about when it says that we are new creations in Christ, ones who are dead to sin and alive to God, ( See 2 Cor. 5:17 and Romans 6) and consider it true! So it's not even an issue whether or not we obey. We ARE new creations, ones who are dead to sin and alive to God. 1st John even says that we cannot sin , being born of God.

So what's my point in all of this? Well, the same point as in all the rest of my posts. Which is that the purpose of life is love.We are created for love. It is apparent from creation, when we look around us, and it is apparent when we read the Bible. God is into love more than He is into obedience. It is evident from just looking at what He himself created, us and everything else around us, and it is evident by logically asking ourselves the reason for obedience. It's all for love. Love God. Obey Him? Sure, but just be sure that you understand that obedience is only a small, beginning tool that's necessary right now in this short, brief space of time that we have here on earth, (and not even all the time here, hopefully, if we grow like we're supposed to) to get us to the place where we live permanently in love. This is what God is after. Do not make obedience your primary goal. Make LOVE your primary goal! It's what you're going to be doing forever anyways, so you might as well start practicing now!

I believe that God is a sucker for love, just like you and me are. Here again, all you have to do is look at us to see Him. Since we ourselves are suckers for love, and we are created by Him in His own image, then it only logically makes sense. I think it's what He's after more than anything else. Just like it's what you and me are after, more than anything else. Try loving Him, and see what happens.

God is not looking for perfection, He is looking for affection