Our Existence

The past two weeks at theSWITCH, we've been talking about God and creation.  Specifically what God did before he created everything and why he chose to create in the first place.  I've relied heavily on Jonathan Edwards for guidance in these discussions, as he's a genius and I'm not.  Seriously, if you haven't read anything by him you should stop reading this now and go check him out, it will be much more beneficial for you than this post.  

Still here?  Well you're either too kind to stop reading or you already are familiar with Edwards, hopefully the latter.

So anywho,  we were discussing God before the act of creation.  Edwards believes, and I as well, that God exists as a Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and has existed as a Trinity for all of eternity; that means before creation.  So God existed in perfect relationship with himself for eternity past.  And this was all that existed, God in perfect form, living in perfect community with himself.  Not lacking in anything or wanting for anything.  God lived in perfection.

So why the heck did he create anything?  Edwards believes, and I as well, that God created (not just humans, but everything everywhere including the parts of creation we'll never ever even know about, let alone see) to communicate his perfect excellence, majesty, and glory outside of himself....and to redeem that creation; in the end sharing his divine and perfect love with his creation, drawing them in to perfect relationship with himself, making his creation part of his perfect family.  Edwards calls this 'God's Grand Design' but I like to call it 'God's Fantastically Awesome Design'  simply because I don't think 'Grand' does it justice...but then again 'fantastically awesome' sounds like a cheesy movie review for a Disney film, so on second thought we'll stick with 'Grand'.

Right, so 'God's Grand Design': where creation is the stage that redemption is played out on.

This whole discussion, that we've been having for the last two weeks at theSWITCH, and will continue with this coming Sunday night, has gotten me to thinking about our existence.

Just thinking about God existing before creation makes my brain short circuit because everything I know is finite.  I am finite, my wife is finite, the food I eat is finite...everything I know has a starting point and and ending point.  But God doesn't, He has no beginning or end.  And as a finite being it is impossible for my brain to grasp the fact that God is infinite.  It puts my finite existence into a startling perspective.

I came to exist because God chose to create me.  I exist because God chooses to sustain my life.  I will exist only as long as God chooses.  And then because God is truly Awesome, I will spend eternity with Him because he has allowed me to be redeemed.  His Grand Design includes my salvation and because of that my finite existence on this earth has meaning and purpose.

This is why I have hope.