We Were Meant for Something More

“I am God.” This is possibly one of the most arrogant claims that any one person can ever make. It is so blasphemous that religious groups have the most horrible punishments for it. Stoning, burning, torture, crucifixion, all these things are what await those who make the most blasphemous claim available to humanity. What is it then that compels so many to make such claims on divinity? Could it possibly be because divinity is what we were actually made for? Perhaps those blasphemers aren't all wrong, perhaps God likeness should be our goal. Let me explain.

First lets talk about this from a purely logical point of view. As has been drilled in to the foundation of pretty much every single blog post I have written, it is clear that God is not like us. God is not created, God does not exist, He is something else entirely. My pastor reminded me a few weeks ago, in His sermon, how the Israelites understood this concept. The name of God uses the Hebrew letters Yod, Hay, Vaw, Hay. They are all vowels, and written as they are they are the root letters for the word "To Be." That isn't the most amazing part about it however, the letters were not meant to be sounded out but rather breathed. Try it with me, breathe in Yo, breathe out Hay, breathe in Vaw, breathe out Hay. The name of God is the sound of breath, the sound of life itself.

The Jews understood a very important concept that much of the religious world has since lost. The Jews recognized that God is not a being. In fact, all of creation spells the name of the God we believe exists. He cannot be named because no name accurately describes what "He" is. The only way we can understand God is through creation, and yes that includes each other. Why do you suppose the Bible states in Genesis 1:26 "So God created man in his own image..."? It isn't because God literally exists within a body just like us, such a concept is absurd. It is because God created us to demonstrate something about His character. All creation is a demonstration of the character of God. Jesus is a revelation of God in a way we can understand, Michael, the arch angel, was a revelation of God in a way that other beings, that we call Angels, could relate to. And it is the same with every creation God has saw fit to create. It is all a revelation of the character of God.

Why do you think humanity has such a concept as beauty? Why do you think every society from the beginning has had an infatuation with beauty? It is because we were meant for something more. We are here to reveal something of the character of God, and we know it. We desire that perfect beauty that we were intended for. It is not an evil desire to want to be beautiful. It is not an evil tendency to desire to cover up our blemishes. Makeup is not an invention of the devil, jewelry is not Satan's master plan to damn people to hell. No these things were invented by humanity in an attempt to bring ourselves back to the ideal. Albeit we do a poor job of it because we cannot of ourselves achieve what God has in store.

"You will be like the most high." The amazing thing about that first lie is that it actually wasn't a lie at all. It was the truth. God did indeed intend for Adam and Eve to become like Him, just not in the way Satan led them to attempt. The fact of the matter is that the Bible talks a great deal about humanities destiny to be equal with God. You might want to stop me here and say that I am completely off my rocker, after all, the Bible does not teach heresy. Well, let's just look at a handful of texts that will seem to say otherwise.

"He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he has set the world upon them." (1 Samuel 2:8)

So what's so incredible about this verse? Here it shows God setting mankind in a place it does not seem he deserves.  God wants us to sit on the thrown of glory? Who alone is able to sit in the place that only God has the right to occupy? I'll share with you a little insight purely from my own observations. There are many stories in history and the Bible when people sat on thrones that they were not entirely entitled to. Joseph sat on a throne in Egypt, not as Pharaoh but as one who represented Pharaoh to all the people. Daniel sat on a throne in Babylon, not as the king but as someone who represented the Kings interests to all the nations around Babylon. Both of these men did not deserve the throne, it was not their right to take, both were captive slaves from other lands, yet both ruled as kings. Could it be that God has something similar in mind for humanity? Let's look at a few more verses.

"But as many as received him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. (John 1:12) John here is saying that we are the sons and daughters of God! He doesn't just say that God will make us rulers in heaven, what John is really claiming here is that we will have a place in heaven equal to that of Jesus! I'm not making this up! Are you still doubtful? Check out these other verses.

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8:14-17) What! Can you believe what this is saying? The author of Romans is stating that we will be joint heirs with Christ! Can you even comprehend what that means? Jesus is God and we are going to be joint heirs to the throne of God! What does this even mean?

I honestly have a hard time wrapping my mind around this one. The same God that does not exist, does not have a body, does not have such thing as a brain or any such human understanding of existence, this same God has destined us to inherit the entire universe and to sit on his throne and rule with Him! This isn't just an isolated text; this theme is repeated over and over again. Check out Galatians 4:3-7, Revelation 3:21, or Revelation 21:6. These verses make some massive claims. We will be sons, we will be heirs, we will be sitting on the throne of God, etc. these are the things that the Bible promises. The Bible makes claims that only a fool would believe! The Bible is full of some of the most diabolical blasphemy ever written!

See, the truth is that Satan did not lie. Satan merely told the truth and led Adam and Eve to seek to obtain the promise by their own power. What was the original purpose of humanity? I'll tell you a theory I have, it may be a little far fetched and you may not like it, but hear me out and tell me if it makes sense. Humanity was created to reveal something of the character of God. Our purpose was to reveal God to everything around us. Our very first assignment was to reveal God to this earth, to the animals and all things living. We were meant to guide this creation in an understanding of absolute love. That was our job, to teach animals the knowledge of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of love.

Here is the real kicker of the story. Guess what Satan's job was? He was created to reveal the glory of God and His absolute love to the universe and the Angels. Satan was created to teach others of God's ultimate character of love. What did Satan do instead? I think we all know the story. Does this change your understanding of the depth of meaning in Satan's fall? Rather than revealing the love and character of God to the universe, Satan turned from his purpose, possibly after billions of years of following the perfect law of love. So what did God do? God sent Jesus.

Jesus' purpose was to reveal the ultimate character of God. Jesus took the job that was originally intended for Satan! That was supposed to be Satan's job! Satan was supposed to be the Christ to this world; He was supposed to be the one to reveal the true character of God. Instead, he led humanity away from believing.

So what does this have to do with everything else we have looked at? According to the Bible, humanity is now destined to be Christ to the rest of the universe. Our job for all eternity will be to reveal God to the inhabitants of this universe. We will have the authority of God himself. Dale Leamon once asked me to imagine the following scenario: imagine you are in heaven. Let's say you are sitting on the back patio of your home right next to the sea of glass. The sun is shinning bright, it is a perfect 80 degrees and the smells of blooming flowers and the fruit of the tree of life is filling the air. Birds by the dozens fly through the air singing their songs of cheer. You close your eyes taking in all the wonders God has prepared for you, and then suddenly you hear a voice in your mind. It says, "Timothy, I have a job I need for you to do. Planet X is ready to have the complete revelation of my character revealed to them. Will you go and share with them who I am?" You jump in your spacecraft, wormhole or however we travel in the future, and in several hours or maybe days, you arrive on Planet X. 

The people of Planet X have been prophesying of your coming for centuries. They have developed culture, religious beliefs and governments. When you arrive they come before you and bow down to worship you as the one sent from God to reveal the everlasting gospel. You tell them, as did the Angels in the Bible, do not worship me, but let me point you toward the creator of heaven and Planet X, and allow me to teach you of his character.

What a sobering thought that is that we will be the Christ to the universe. We will take the place of Satan and we will do the work that Jesus was sent to do on this earth. We were meant for something more. We were meant to ascend into heaven, we were destined to have our throne exalted above the stars of God: We were supposed to sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: We were meant to be exalted above the stars of God, and we were meant to be like the most high.

John sums this up very poetically, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:1-2) We do not yet know what our future will be. We do not yet know just exactly what God has prepared, but we do know, that when His character is fully revealed, we will be changed to be as He is. It is not the physical image of Christ that changes us; it is the full and complete revelation of the character of God himself that changes us. We will be like the most high. We will be able to say to the other inhabitants of the universe, "Follow me, because I follow Christ." We will be able to say, "My prayer for you is that you will be one like I and my father are one." This change starts now. Will you allow your understanding of God to change? Why not allow the revelation of God's ultimate character to mold you in to a perfect representation of Love?