Thoughts on God vs the Kingdom of God. What does it mean for "God" to do something?
A man falls in a lake and is on the brink of drowning. “God save me!,” he cries out. Another man with a boat rushes to the rescue. “Thank God,” the rescued man exclaims, shivering safely in the boat and looking at the one who saved him. “You are a Godsend!”
A woman in a country torn by war is struck down by a random bullet, fired from a combatant’s gun. “Why did God let this happen?” the family questions. “God must be angry with us to have allowed this tragedy.”
Did God really do all these things? Does God sometimes unfairly get blamed, and other times perhaps wrongly get credited? What do we mean by “God,” and the actions of God? God the Father is commonly thought as unified person or entity that directs the events of the universe. One day He may decide to do this, and another day that. But like the laws of physics that are acting everywhere, all the time, simultaneously, I think the truth about the actions of God might be more nuanced. I contend that the actions of God and His kingdom are hierarchical and somewhat decentralized.
Imagine I decide to drink a glass of water. What actually happens is that the frontal lobes of my brain send commands to other parts of my brain, and my cerebellum then figures out what muscles need to move. And then the signal is sent to my spinal cord as an “upper motor neuron” command. My spinal cord takes this message and sends the signal out through a “lower motor neuron” to my muscles indicating a needed positioning. Special proprioceptive neurons in my muscles send back actual position signals, and my spinal cord keeps working with my muscles until they are in the correct position — independent of my higher neurologic functions. All of this is wrapped up in the concept of “I am drinking a glass of water.” “I” did all these things.
Imagine next a government of a country. In the old days the top of the government was a king who would issue decrees. This command would then trickle down through the various levels of organization until actual carried out. Modern governments may have more moving pieces, hopefully working better, but there is still the hierarchical flow from top-level command down to the lower officials.
Now let’s think about the Kingdom of God. We know from the Bible that God the Father issues commands, and that His servants carry them out. There are numerous examples of this in scripture. Daniel prays in Dan 11, and an angel comes to him saying, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.“ And Jesus, speaking of little children says, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” Thus in God’s government, in the Kingdom of God, there likewise seems to be a hierarchy with the Father at the top, and servants carrying out his commands.
None of this should be controversial, but I have lately been considering the consequences of this arrangement. I especially want to focus on the role of God’s servants and their individual contribution to achieving God’s purpose. The angel that visited Daniel was obviously acting in accordance to the plans and will of the Father, but he was presumably also using his best personal abilities to achieve these goals. And when Paul (formerly Saul) was sent to spread the gospel to the Gentiles, he was given general directions, but parts of the implementation were up to him. We know that he had formulated an independent plan in accordance to his best understanding of how to follow God’s instructions, when he planned to go preach in Asia. But this plan was corrected by the Holy Spirit. “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.“ (Acts 16). Thus Paul had independence to work within the will of God, and was given a gentle nudge when he needed redirection. But all this would still be considered to be actions within the Kingdom of God.
So the Kingdom of God seems to be comprised of the Father giving top-level instruction and His servants solving on-the-ground problems to achieve these goals. Just like my brain wanting a drink of water, and the rest of my body figuring out how to achieve my desires.
Why am I spending so much time on this? Because I have often been inclined to think that following God’s will means to become an automaton, a robot with no independence. Yes, God’s commands set boundaries, but these are like what a parent would do when helping a toddler learn to walk, but not walk out into the street. God gave us drives to think and solve problems. And His desire is not to then frustrate us by dictate to our every move. A good summary is that God does not micromanage.
OK, I want to take this one level deeper. We know that the Father created the universe and set up its principles of actions. These apparent laws are so consistent that physicists can create mathematical formulas that will predict outcomes of experiments etc. Thus one could consider that the universe itself is yet another example of God’s servants — a mechanism of action that carries out His will. When the legendary apple fell from a tree, inspiring Isaac Newton to ponder the principles of gravity, the apple was following the will of God. And one could consider, in a certain point of view, that the apple was just another part of the Kingdom of God. And modern investigations into the realm of subatomic particles and quantum mechanics has shown that rather than operating like a machine or clockworks, that there is a randomness or uncertainty to all microscopic actions that may indicate that the Father, or other parts of the Kingdom of God, may be influencing the universe at this level on a second-by-second basis.
So what is proper to attribute to God, and what is not? If a Christian brother helps me out of a jam, is that the action of God? If a beautiful baby is born, I will praise God. But a baby born with a deformity is also formed in this same universe under God’s apparent control. And what about the fact that the child was conceived in the first place is under the individual control of the mother and father? I have a friend who believes that every element of the universe is under God’s control, and that therefore every action and every event is in direct accordance to the will of God. I disagree and believe instead that through the mystery of individuals having free will, events may occur that may be the result of the universe that God established, but that are not in accordance to His will. God did not want Cain to kill Abel. He personally came down and tried to talk Cain out of it, unfortunately without success.
I consider God’s universe to be like the surface of a pond. As a pebble thrown in causes an expanding ripple of consequences, so each action in the universe, following God’s rules of cause-and-effect, creates an ever-widening sphere of influence. When Adam and Eve failed to take God’s warnings seriously about the fruit on the tree in the Garden of Eden, they started a chain of events that ultimately led God’s son, Jesus, to surrender his life on the cross. The Father can see all these consequences and actively works to bring order and peace and love to His creation. He tried to dissuade Cain from murder (Gen 4), He gave His Son to save us from our sins, and He sends his angels to earth to hold back the winds of strife (Rev 7:1). If the Father, along with His Son, did not actively work for our benefit, the entire universe would devolve into chaos. Even seemingly innocent actions can cause ripples of unforeseen effects that cause big problems later. Every level of the Kingdom of God must rally around the leadership of the Father, who has the ultimate understanding on a best course of action. And the Father has the wisdom to allow each level of His government to make decisions on how best to work this out.
So to wrap this up, I conclude the following:
What do you all think? Am I off base? How do you think about the actions of God?
A man falls in a lake and is on the brink of drowning. “God save me!,” he cries out. Another man with a boat rushes to the rescue. “Thank God,” the rescued man exclaims, shivering safely in the boat and looking at the one who saved him. “You are a Godsend!”
A woman in a country torn by war is struck down by a random bullet, fired from a combatant’s gun. “Why did God let this happen?” the family questions. “God must be angry with us to have allowed this tragedy.”
Did God really do all these things? Does God sometimes unfairly get blamed, and other times perhaps wrongly get credited? What do we mean by “God,” and the actions of God? God the Father is commonly thought as unified person or entity that directs the events of the universe. One day He may decide to do this, and another day that. But like the laws of physics that are acting everywhere, all the time, simultaneously, I think the truth about the actions of God might be more nuanced. I contend that the actions of God and His kingdom are hierarchical and somewhat decentralized.
Imagine I decide to drink a glass of water. What actually happens is that the frontal lobes of my brain send commands to other parts of my brain, and my cerebellum then figures out what muscles need to move. And then the signal is sent to my spinal cord as an “upper motor neuron” command. My spinal cord takes this message and sends the signal out through a “lower motor neuron” to my muscles indicating a needed positioning. Special proprioceptive neurons in my muscles send back actual position signals, and my spinal cord keeps working with my muscles until they are in the correct position — independent of my higher neurologic functions. All of this is wrapped up in the concept of “I am drinking a glass of water.” “I” did all these things.
Imagine next a government of a country. In the old days the top of the government was a king who would issue decrees. This command would then trickle down through the various levels of organization until actual carried out. Modern governments may have more moving pieces, hopefully working better, but there is still the hierarchical flow from top-level command down to the lower officials.
Now let’s think about the Kingdom of God. We know from the Bible that God the Father issues commands, and that His servants carry them out. There are numerous examples of this in scripture. Daniel prays in Dan 11, and an angel comes to him saying, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.“ And Jesus, speaking of little children says, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” Thus in God’s government, in the Kingdom of God, there likewise seems to be a hierarchy with the Father at the top, and servants carrying out his commands.
None of this should be controversial, but I have lately been considering the consequences of this arrangement. I especially want to focus on the role of God’s servants and their individual contribution to achieving God’s purpose. The angel that visited Daniel was obviously acting in accordance to the plans and will of the Father, but he was presumably also using his best personal abilities to achieve these goals. And when Paul (formerly Saul) was sent to spread the gospel to the Gentiles, he was given general directions, but parts of the implementation were up to him. We know that he had formulated an independent plan in accordance to his best understanding of how to follow God’s instructions, when he planned to go preach in Asia. But this plan was corrected by the Holy Spirit. “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.“ (Acts 16). Thus Paul had independence to work within the will of God, and was given a gentle nudge when he needed redirection. But all this would still be considered to be actions within the Kingdom of God.
So the Kingdom of God seems to be comprised of the Father giving top-level instruction and His servants solving on-the-ground problems to achieve these goals. Just like my brain wanting a drink of water, and the rest of my body figuring out how to achieve my desires.
Why am I spending so much time on this? Because I have often been inclined to think that following God’s will means to become an automaton, a robot with no independence. Yes, God’s commands set boundaries, but these are like what a parent would do when helping a toddler learn to walk, but not walk out into the street. God gave us drives to think and solve problems. And His desire is not to then frustrate us by dictate to our every move. A good summary is that God does not micromanage.
OK, I want to take this one level deeper. We know that the Father created the universe and set up its principles of actions. These apparent laws are so consistent that physicists can create mathematical formulas that will predict outcomes of experiments etc. Thus one could consider that the universe itself is yet another example of God’s servants — a mechanism of action that carries out His will. When the legendary apple fell from a tree, inspiring Isaac Newton to ponder the principles of gravity, the apple was following the will of God. And one could consider, in a certain point of view, that the apple was just another part of the Kingdom of God. And modern investigations into the realm of subatomic particles and quantum mechanics has shown that rather than operating like a machine or clockworks, that there is a randomness or uncertainty to all microscopic actions that may indicate that the Father, or other parts of the Kingdom of God, may be influencing the universe at this level on a second-by-second basis.
So what is proper to attribute to God, and what is not? If a Christian brother helps me out of a jam, is that the action of God? If a beautiful baby is born, I will praise God. But a baby born with a deformity is also formed in this same universe under God’s apparent control. And what about the fact that the child was conceived in the first place is under the individual control of the mother and father? I have a friend who believes that every element of the universe is under God’s control, and that therefore every action and every event is in direct accordance to the will of God. I disagree and believe instead that through the mystery of individuals having free will, events may occur that may be the result of the universe that God established, but that are not in accordance to His will. God did not want Cain to kill Abel. He personally came down and tried to talk Cain out of it, unfortunately without success.
I consider God’s universe to be like the surface of a pond. As a pebble thrown in causes an expanding ripple of consequences, so each action in the universe, following God’s rules of cause-and-effect, creates an ever-widening sphere of influence. When Adam and Eve failed to take God’s warnings seriously about the fruit on the tree in the Garden of Eden, they started a chain of events that ultimately led God’s son, Jesus, to surrender his life on the cross. The Father can see all these consequences and actively works to bring order and peace and love to His creation. He tried to dissuade Cain from murder (Gen 4), He gave His Son to save us from our sins, and He sends his angels to earth to hold back the winds of strife (Rev 7:1). If the Father, along with His Son, did not actively work for our benefit, the entire universe would devolve into chaos. Even seemingly innocent actions can cause ripples of unforeseen effects that cause big problems later. Every level of the Kingdom of God must rally around the leadership of the Father, who has the ultimate understanding on a best course of action. And the Father has the wisdom to allow each level of His government to make decisions on how best to work this out.
So to wrap this up, I conclude the following:
- God does not micromanage. He sends out His instruction, His words of truth, and allows His created beings so implement His commands, for the benefit of all.
- What is commonly called “God” may not be the direct action of the Father, but may instead be an action of an angel, or even a fellow human being.
- When God establishes a system of universal principles, sometimes bad things happen. E.g. Cain using the laws of physics to murder his brother Abel. But it is wrong to attribute this to God, because He is actively working to prevent this.
What do you all think? Am I off base? How do you think about the actions of God?