I was pondering the angels, and how some of them rebelled against God, and how God then created us humans, taking another risk. I was pondering what God's motivation must have been for that - why create another being, also with the potential to rebel? And when we rebelled, why did he leave within us the potential to keep rebelling? It seems that the angels were divided...those that rebelled along with Lucifer were eternally separated from God, and those that did not appear to have been eternally "locked down" into obedience. Why not do that with us? He could have let Adam's race die in the flood, and then create some other man who was protected from sinning.
On a tangent, I suddenly think of Isaiah 57:1-2. The Bible doesn't explicitly say that Adam's race were the only humans (or only sentients) created on Earth. What if there was a race of "locked down righteous" that God let perish in the flood? Probably not, but it's a weird thought...
Anyhow, as I was pondering the whole angel/human question, it occurred to me that perhaps rebellion against God is in the natural order of things. Perhaps there is something fundamental about the God/creature relationship that leads to a propensity to rebellion? Maybe that's why both races (both angels and humans) seem to have fallen (in part)?
The idea doesn't seem quite right to me, because I think that that would mean that there is some fundamental force outside of God in opposition to him - a sort of evil God or something. Either that or that God's creation itself is somhow broken.
I pondered what heaven was like. If it was true that rebellion was the natural course of things, and since we know that we will be sinless in heaven, then it would seem that heaven would have to be a place where we were fundamentally chained down in such a way that our natural tendencies were held in check. Yet the Bible doesn't speak of relationship with God in that way. It speaks not of a chaining down (although the "slaves to righteousness" phrase comes to mind) but of a filling up with the Holy Spirit, a new aliveness that was not possible before, of a freedom and joy more than we can currently conceive. Even more importantly, it speaks of us becoming more and more like God - and I do not believe that God is chained down. Certainly, as we conform more and more to God, we are getting more and more free.
I think that there may be something fundamental about the process of being filled with the Holy Spirit and becoming conformed to His likeness. Perhaps it is this likeness that removes in us the desire to rebel? That would mean that there is something fundamental about God - something that we lack until we are filled with Him - that loves to live in submission and trust. Surely, this is not the view of God that I heard of when I grew up. The old God that I was taught of was a God of power and authority, condescending to live with man, perhaps, but doing so primarily for his own glorification and enjoyment. But if it is the very nature of God that makes us no longer lust for power and self-sustainability, then God Himself must surely reflect this. Surely this must mean that He is willing to be weak, not just in appearance or in a temporary theophany so as to acheive a purpose, but fundamentally for the sake of loving and being in relationship with others. |