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kill or don't kill - does God change?
sj:
If i could, I would like to offer an analogy...
There was a women preacher that use to come to a "campmeeting" that my church held... she would always get up and say "Isn't Jesus getting sweeter and sweet as the years go by?" The audience would clap and say amen in total agreement... then with a big smirk on her face she would yell "Gotcha! Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever!"
To be honest, this always kinda got on my nerves... because there seemed to be a huge difference in the way God dealt with humanity between the OT and the NT, even between the period where Christ walked on the earth and after He left... even between what is one of the main topics of this site "First the physical, then the spiritual" this seems to be a monumental change.
From the receiving end, it definitely seems like a change, doesn't it? I mean, there is no longer a temple or physical sacrifices... it seems like everything about how God wishes to relate to us has changed! But has God changed?
The way I have come to understand it is that this has been God's plan all along. He declares the end from the beginning and in order to do this He must also know all what lies between the end and beginning.
Like a master chess player, His purpose is victory... even though all of his moves may not seem to "match" or have the same motive... His over all plan remains the same. The changes in the way God interacts with man is not a change in reaction to mans actions, but rather is a planned action in order that man may react to God's shift. Kinda like a rutter on a ship, it directs mankind where we should be going according to God's plan.
No, He does not change... His plan remains the same, but that plan requires both the knowledge of good and evil, light and darkness, physical and spiritual... so that we can be created in His image.
Hope this helps...
God's Peace
Josh
YellowStone:
Hey Pax, you answered your own question?
Pax wrote:
OK. Joking aside. If we put this in terms of strategy and tactics, where strategy is the plan and the tactic is the manifestation of that plan, then I am hearing that only God's tactics changed -- His strategy being the divine plan. That's a change, nonetheless.
If I understand you correctly, you assume that God's tactics cannot change. Why? Is it not beyond reason that God planned it this way, hence being the reason that the Scriptures speak with such distinction.
Although, your use of the word "Tactics" is correct based on our understanding of the word; I refuse to believe that God thought, "uh Oh, it's not working" ;D
We know that God did not change, he is who is was, is and will be, but are we so naive to believe that God's plan has only one phase? We know this is not true, hence there would not be the three recorded phases: Is, Was, and and Which is to come.
We must never simplify God to our level of understanding. I do not mean this disrespectfully, because our Father orchestrated everything from Super Nova's to the tiny atom which is the building block of all matter. He gave us joy, love, laughter, rainbows, flowers and everything else. He gives us understanding on his time, not ours.
My last point is that you say: "His strategy being the divine plan. That's a change, nonetheless." I am not saying you believe this, because I take it you do not, so I will put this "changing strategy" in a different light.
God's Grand Master Plan for His Kingdom and Mankind
Phase 1. (The Physical)
* Create the Heavens (including the universe as we know it),
Populate it,
Create man,
Introduce the Law,
One chosen people,
Teach man the foolishness of his wisdom,
Promise a Saviour
Phase 2. (The Spiritual)
* Introduce the Saviour (Christ Jesus)
Fulfill the law,
Introduce Spiritual matters
Call for a seperation from the world by his called
Promise the saving of all mankind,
Promise the becoming of the Kingdom of God in Heaven and Earth
Phase 3. (Which is to Come)
* (Yet to be announced) :)
Pax, as you can see that this is a very simplistic plan, that has three distinct phases. The strategy (in our minds) may change, but the plan does not. God is not going back and rewriting the plan.
So is it fair to say that changing strategies means a changing plan? In our world, perhaps, in God's realm, NO!! :)
I hope this helps a little, comments welcome
Much Love to you and yours,
Darren
Kat:
Hi Pax,
I'm going to give a little analagy,
it's not going to be exact of course, but just see it helps.
I'm a mother, I have 3 children.
My main objective has always been to raise them to be mature adults.
When they were babies, I had to do everything for them, because they were helpless.
As they grew to be small children, I did not have to do the same as when they were babies,
but had to do a lot for them, to keep moving toward my objective.
As they became teenagers, I was not doing the same as when they were younger,
but again my objective was still the same as from the beginning.
Now that they are becoming mature adults,
the things I am doing for them now is nothing like the things I did as they were growing up.
I may have dealt with them differently along the way,
but not because I'm different, because they are.
But I can tell you I have not changed my objective or the ideas on how to reach it.
Of course I've had to deal with them in different ways over the years,
to make sure my objective was met.
I think you can see what I'm trying to say, my objective has been the same as from the beginning,
I have not changed that at all.
As a human mother I made mistakes and learned along the way.
But God is not like that, it has been said many times already,
He knows the end from the beginning, so He does not need to learn as He goes.
He does everything perfectly the first time and every time.
So if you can see He has not changed who He is at all,
but the world is changing as times goes by,
and so He make have been doing things differently to accommodate the changes in the world.
But that is the way He has ordained it to be, from the beginning.
I hope this was of some help :)
mercy, peace, and love
Kat
gmik:
--- Quote from: John on January 05, 2007, 11:29:12 PM ---TRUTHSEEKER,
I am OK with being confused with the Topic, but thanks :)
Peace,
John
--- End quote ---
I am so glad you got a good nites sleep!! ;D
gena
John:
--- Quote from: gmik on January 06, 2007, 10:33:04 PM ---
--- Quote from: John on January 05, 2007, 11:29:12 PM ---TRUTHSEEKER,
I am OK with being confused with the Topic, but thanks :)
Peace,
John
--- End quote ---
I am so glad you got a good nites sleep!! ;D
;D Me too! While going over the replies to this subject with my wife this morning she made a comment on it that made it even more clearer. She said, 'His methods changed, not His purpose' , this works for me.
Peace,
John
gena
--- End quote ---
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