Loving God
there are two principle metaphors used throughout the bible to describe the relationship between man and God. the father and son metaphor with God as the parent is used repeatedly in the new testament - often by Christ in his parables. the ardent bridegroom and fickle bride metaphor is more common in the old testament - used by the prophets trying to call israel back into right relationship with God.
does God use existing relationships to help us get a handle on how we should relate to Him, or did he design our biology so that our relationships with others would pattern after our relationship to Him? and why do i suspect that the answer is "yes"?
the parent/child relationship is easy for me - in terms of humility and obedience. not that i have them mastered by any stretch of the imagination, but i can understand the principle sufficiently to desire the actuality. a child obeys a parent because the parent is wiser and generally posesses information beyond the child's capacity. duh. and who could be more wise or posess more information than God Almighty?
but the bridegroom/bride relationship . . . love God? i have issues with that. oh, i want to want it, but it scares the living crap out of me. there's a part of me that can completely trust Him in the abstract, can trust Him enough in actuality to obey Him even when it doesn't make sense to my eyes, but is terrified to trust God enough to love Him. and honestly, my rational mind can't even wrap itself around the problem.
somewhere in there, i'm still terrified of getting burned.
posted by tali @ 4/13/2005 12:24:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Hope you don't mind a stranger peaking into your mind.
I do agree with you on the warped and confusing feelings when it comes to the bride/bridegroom relationship. And I am not certain how to think about the fact that man was the creature created in his own image - then woman was a variation on man (if you are going to take the text literally and not assume 'man' should encompass all humankind). And the Bible continually speaks of relationships between man and woman in almost parental roles - respect honor obey the husband, which is the role God would take on, obviously.
And then there is the equally interesting thought concerning how completely against divorce the scriptures are. Looking at marriage in terms of a pattern for a future relationship with Christ certainly helps divorce become a direct affront to our creator. If it is so easy to dispose of a partner we chose, what happens when God drops his defenses and brings us to his bosom ... and on and on.
Which – sort of echoes your final thought on fear of being burned. Of course God has the ability to see all of the times we will turn from him – decide against him – abandon him – but he still must be around when it happens. The old testament describes a God that walked with Adam in the woods – speaking with him for hours, all the while knowing that it was limited, that this beautiful time where he could interact with his creation would end by man’s own doing. I can’t imagine the immense heartbreak behind that reality, the day he came to speak again with Adam to discover his creation was now hiding from him.
At this late hour and with this big a mystery, I think I’ll end before madness sets in.
Not that anything I have written helps you see anything any differently, but at least you know someone else is right there with you.
interesting. especially this bit:
The old testament describes a God that walked with Adam in the woods – speaking with him for hours, all the while knowing that it was limited, that this beautiful time where he could interact with his creation would end by man’s own doing. I can’t imagine the immense heartbreak behind that reality, the day he came to speak again with Adam to discover his creation was now hiding from him.
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