Hey everyone welcome to Critical Thinking Aloud’s study on what does Yahweh want? This is a continuation of our what is the bibles main character series, which is a part of our ongoing foundational series on what is the bible.
Context is key to any content and the same is true with these teachings so if you haven’t gone through the previous content in this series yet do so first now by clicking here.
Our Purpose
We love to teach the ancient Near Eastern context of the biblical authors. This passion comes from our own realization of how helpful knowing more about this context can be for gaining a better understanding of the biblical narrative. We hope that some of our teachings have helped you experienced this value for your selves.
While we love to pursue this calling Critical Thinking Aloud wants to stay grounded in the ultimate truth that the bible proclaims. Since we are coving the main characters of the Bible we felt it would be appropriate to draw attention to this truth now since it effects each main character equally, as well as being the main theme of the scriptures.
Discovering the main truth of the Bible is as easy as asking our selves this one simple question, What does Yahweh want?
*Check out the video of this teaching here
Family
If Yahweh 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 Yahweh does not need anything. If that were the case He would not be God. He is complete in Himself. While Yahweh doesn’t not need anything, He wants a family. The creation narratives throughout the Bible teaches us that Yahweh is not satisfied with only a small family, nor is He satisfied with only a spiritual family.
Yahweh 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 is that all of His family members, by the use of their own free will, would choose to love and obey Him. This is want Yahweh wants and in the end He will get it, but not with out much pain and suffering.
Free-will
Yahweh endowed Spiritual and Human beings with a freedom of the will, which is an ability that is directly related to being created in His likeness. This special ability puts both spiritual and human beings in exulted positions over the rest of the creative order.
Obviously Yahweh, the supreme being, has a free will. Even the most staunch believers in the idea of predestination wouldn’t go so far as to say Yahweh lacks a free will.
We believe that our ability to act freely (free-will/ freedom of the will) is directly tied to being created in Yahweh’s image. Only spiritual beings and humans possess this quality. Being an image bearer of Yahweh is less an attribute (although we do recognize that this is what free will is) and more of an action or state of being.
With our God given free will we are to represent Yahweh by the way we live. We reflect Yahweh 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 in essence they have killed Yahweh in effigy.
“Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death.”
Leviticus 24:17
*How the spiritual beings as well as human beings are created in His image is a massive topic which will cover as we continue our series on What is the Main Characters of the Bible in the upcoming installments of Critical Thinking Aloud.
Rebellion
While the possibility to love Yahweh freely and obey His commands using our free will that 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”.
Yahweh wants His family to love and obey Him by their own desire not His predestined will.
Believing Loyalty
The Bible is amazingly consistent in its message of what it looks like to love and obey God. The Old Testament is full of examples of people who morally fail miserably, but they are still loyal to Yahweh. This is because loving God is not about reaching moral perfection but about placing your trust to be made right in Him alone.
The New Testament isn’t any better at installing a hope that humanity will achieve any kind of moral perfection on its own. But Yahweh never changes and He remains the same throughout both Testaments. This is what we call Covenant Theology (a consistent message about God across the Old and New Testaments).
In both Testaments Yahweh requires the same action to join His family. Loyalty. By placing your believing loyalty (trust) in Yahweh alone to make you right with Him, you can be apart of Yahwehs big blended family that He shares His authority with to spread His kingdom on the earth.
So what does Yahweh want? You!
What are you waiting for? The opportunity is yours and only by exercising your free will can you choose to Place your believing loyalty in Yahweh.
“For he says,
‘In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.’I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
2 Corinthians 6:2
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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