One of the truths that Christians should accept, is that God is in complete control. On every issue, occurrence and on all matters, God is never, ever unaware or unprepared. Truth be told, God is omnipotent.
Knowing that God is all-knowing and infinite, should serve as a reminder that God does not need to react to anything, because He knows everything and He knows our heart. God’s will be done — in other words, God doesn’t need our help. I know quite a few well-meaning Christians who act as if God is somehow in need of our assistance — that He looks to us to “help Him.” No offense, but if that is what one believes, that person needs to change their perspective immediately. To ever think that God is reliant upon us, is pure arrogance and insulting to God.
Throughout the Holy scriptures, God has always shown that He is the Architect of the entire universe and that means here on earth too, because God has shown us that there is nothing and no one that can challenge His awesome power.
Starting in Genesis, God’s infinite power is shown as He spoke light into existence, even before the cosmos even had a name.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day…”
We also learn in Acts 17:25 that God is not reliant upon us, but it is we, His children, who are reliant upon Him: “nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything...”
God has dominion over all and that includes the elements here on earth. We know for example that in Exodus, God parted the waters of the Red Sea and in Job, He drew a boundary line for the oceans and commanded the storm exactly where to stop, saying “This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt.” Jesus also commanded a raging sea by a simple whisper: “When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm...”
“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” – Acts 17:24-25
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.” – Psalm 50:12
“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” – Psalm 115:3
“Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.” – Psalm 135:6
I believe that even with the best of intentions, some Christians talk and act as if they are needed as a warrior for God — as if God Himself anointed them to go forth and do battle against His “enemies.” This is of course extremely disconcerting, because God loves all of His children. God created all life and knowing this, it begs the question: Why would any Christian think that God wants us to go forth and do any harm to another of His children? My assumption is that they live in the Old Testament and pick and choose the parts of the Bible that suits their own agenda.
As Christians, we should celebrate the truth that when Jesus came to save us, it changed everything, because Jesus quite literally, saved mankind. Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life.” We have no need to make war. We have no need to judge and condemn others. Yet despite knowing this, that is what so many among us do. Despite our having been gifted with the insight to discern true evil from something which is mere action or words, too many of us harshly judge and condemn God’s children. In Matthew 7, we are taught, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” In John 7:24, Jesus teaches, “Stop judging by mere appearances and make a righteous judgment.”
We are meant to know the difference between that which is true evil — something that has an observable outcome or from actions that will invariably lead to deceit, destruction, harm or oppression of others. If a person is just different from ourself, such as by race, religion, sexual orientation or gender, who are we to judge and condemn them? Who among us is without sin? Who among us has been told by God that He wants us to be a “warrior” and cast out another of His children? Very few, if any, and of that we can be sure.
I believe that too many among us use God’s name to justify their own malice. They use God as a scapegoat to lash out at people who they simply don’t like. Fortunately, “you” don’t have to “like” them — but unless they are truly evil and doing harm, cruelty or violence to others, who are any one of us to condemn them? We are called to forgive and to love and to turn the other cheek — in fact, we’re told to love our enemies.
“For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:3-6
This of course does not mean that God doesn’t ask us to do things:
Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
I believe this means that we are to go out into the world with a heart full of love and compassion and to bring them to God through the sacrifice of Jesus — to show kindness and generosity and let God deal with the rest. We are not here to be warriors filled with anger and violence, but rather, we are meant to be “warriors” armed with love and understanding.
As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
