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FurGodWurLivin -> RE: The questions Christians will ask! ; ) (4/20/2008 9:00:44 PM)
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I guess what this really comes back to is why we were created. We were not created to sin. We were not created primarily to give leadership to the earth (that job was not given to man until the man had a wife). So why were we made? Quite simply, to love God. We were told to "tend the garden"... but there were no weeds, there was no rain, and everything grew pretty much of it's own accord. So what was God after when He said to tend the garden? Make it look nice. It is my belief that man was created primarily to commune with, bring pleasure to, and derive pleasure from God. And yet, God finds pleasure in us even when we are spiritually immature, dealing with sin, and clueless about His immense beauty (Song of Solomon 1).quote:
To assume we won't have a reaction of some kind to enjoying God though is very limited understanding IMO. Do we have a right as in a DEMAND to enjoy God? No. But then I almost think it's a given as a believer to enjoy Him. Wouldn't it be odd not to? SavedbyGrace, excellent post... you have driven pretty close to the heart of what I am getting at (and yes, Bernard of Clairveaux is an amazing source of doctrine on this)...quote:
Are there such things as SAD Christians who don't enjoy God? (And who aren't bothered by that?) I suppose there are . . . Maybe long ago in dark, medieval monasteries, I don't know. This is the one thing I would argue with from your post. Thanks to the idea of Sola Scriptura (which has it's merits) many are more in love with their Bible than they are with God. As for those in the monasteries, quite a few of them were the most passionate, "on fire" God people you will ever see. They were so violently anti-"spirit of the age" that they fled the influences of society to take vows of poverty, silence, solitude and many others as a way to flee the carnality and sinfulness of the world around them. But that is a different topic, IMO.quote:
We do have the "privilege" to "delight ourselves" in the Lord (Ps.37:4), but along with that privilege comes the responsibility to (1) "trust in the LORD" and (2) "do good" (Ps. 37:3).
There is also a subtle difference between "enjoying God" (which is hedonism) and "delighting ourselves" in God (which is worship). Hedonism is only promoted in heathenism.
See, this is what I'm talking about. You have placed the idea of enjoying God is the catagory of sin, but if we DO something (delighting ourselves) it is Godly? Due to the doctrine of depravity, I would place those two ideas in exact opposite catagories. If we enjoy God, we are deriving pleasure from who He is, what He is, and what He has done... wheras if we derive pleasure from doing "godly things", we are attempting to fill the void where we want to feel God with all of our righteous acts that will never satisfy. Faith without works is dead... yet works without faith are useless in the longrun.quote:
Nowadays people stress their "rights" while ignoring their "responsibilities". This has become commonplace, and may have something to do with Christians talking about their "right" to enjoy God.
But our relationship is NOT a right, but a privilege, since what we have received from God is the gift of Himself, the gift of His Son, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Our relationship is a priveledge. That relationship also bears certain rights (such as coming before the throne of grace with boldness) because we are no longer slaves, but sons.quote:
And if it is not a "right" then it is a privilege. Not necessarily. If it is not a right, it could be a duty, a priveledge, an invitation, or even a side-effect. It is an overly narrow view that you are taking of rights and priveledges.quote:
I would say it's actually a responsibility Agreed... but what a responsibility!
Adam
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