Hello everyone, here at Critical Thinking Aloud we cover many different topics. Of coarse the bible is our main focus but under that banner there are a lot of sub topics we have and are eager to discuss as a part of our ministry.

While talking about different and opposing views are helpful and needed in discovering the truth of what the bible is communicating about God and people, we here at Critical Thinking Aloud want to stay grounded in the ultimate truth that the bible proclaims.

As we have said before this answer can be found by asking our selves one simple question, that is What does God want? Check out the video of this teaching here.

Family

If God has created us, and created us in His own image to boot, then we should be wondering what He created us for? We feel that the answer to this question will not only clarify faulty thinking about God (Theology) but also fill the image bearers life with meaning unsurpassed by any thing else.

Remember God does not need anything. If that were the case He would not be God. He is complete in Himself. While God doesn’t not need anything, God wants a family. The creation narratives throughout the bible teach us that God is not satisfied with only a small family. God is not satisfied with only a spiritual family.

God wants a big blended family of both spiritual and physical beings that He lives in relationship with while sharing His authority to spread His kingdom.

His intention was that all of His family members, by the use of their own free will, would choose to love and obey Him. This is want God wants and in the end He will get it, but not with out much pain and suffering.

Free-will

While God placed Spiritual and Human beings alike in exulted positions over the rest of the creative order He also endowed them with an ability that is directly related to being created in His likeness.

Obviously God has a free will, not even the most staunch believers in the idea of everything being predestined would go so far as to say even God Himself is predestined to do anything.

We believe that our ability to act freely (free-will/ freedom of the will) is directly tied to being created in His image. Only spiritual beings and humans possess this quality. Being an image bearer of God is less an attribute (although we do recognize that this is what free will is) and more of an action.

With our God given free will we are to represent God by the way we live. We reflect God as his statues here on earth. This is why there was a law in the Old Testament that you must put to death the one who murders another image bearer, because they have killed God in effigy.

“Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death.”

Leviticus 24:17

*How the spiritual beings are created in His image as well and human beings are is a massive topic we will cover on Critical Thinking Aloud another day.

Rebellion

While the possibility to love God freely and obey His commands using our free will which was granted to us as a gift by our loving creator, God knew that the opposite was possible and inevitable.

“Why then did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.”- C.S. Lewis

CSLewisDoodle

As the famous author C.S. Lewis says in his book Mere Christianity Chapter 3 “of coarse God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way, apparently He thought it worth the risk. God wants His family to love and obey Him by their own desire not His predestined will.

Apotheosis

In the end God even places mankind above the spiritual beings. If you think back to our last session of Critical Thinking Aloud we talked how the Devil planned his rebellion against the most high on the mountain of God, by staging a coup using the human beings. While all three were subsequently thrown off the mountain God only prominently banished the Spiritual Rebel. Check out the teaching referenced above here.

Though the Humans suffered separation from Gods mountain with all it provided as well as a separation from the maker Himself, He promised that one day from Eves’ lineage, a man would be born who would reserve the aftermath of this revolt.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis 3:15

This became reality in the death, life, and resurrection of Jesus. By the Sacrifice of the God-Man who was born of a woman, from the lineage of Eve, the promise to restore Gods family back to His original desire of all creation living in harmony with one another and their creator for eternity was accomplished.

We gain entrance back into the family of God only by placing our believing loyalty in the Son who was slain. By trusting in the fact that Christ Jesus sacrifice and that alone can restore our relationship back with the Father we are welcomed back into Gods big blended family.

Back to the Mountain

The bible ends in the same we we see it started. Finally after all the dust of the second coming of Christ settles, we see those who have chosen to love God and place their believing loyalty in His provision to be made right with him, Living in harmony with their creator.

Once again Gods human family will inhabit the mountain of God, this time in a global Edan where they will serve the Lord forever along side their loyal Spiritual siblings.

God has moved heaven and earth to bring His wayward children back into his loving arms. His call to be reconciled continues to go out to all human beings and anyone who desires to place their trust in Jesus will be brought back into the family of God.

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

2 Corinthians 5:18-19

I hope you find this teaching and new platform to be helpful. Please let us know what you think in the comment section.

Check out this short video series on Spiritual beings by our friends over at The Bible Project by clicking here. They are amazing and super helpful to better grasp what we will be covering in this series.

Call for action: Help us out by learning more

Our Favorite Bible

U.S. Link: NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible- Hardcover Bible, Bonded Leather Bible, Bonded Leather: Thumb Index, Imitation Leather Women’s, Imitation Leather Men’s, Kindle Edition

Our Favorite Book

U.S.- Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World And Why It Matters- Paperback book, Kindle Edition, Audiobook

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