Characteristics of God

[Zerubbabel]

This subject has held much concern for me for many years.  There are many reasons for this and contains much variable information that reaches into several areas that are not understood by us nor even discussed, primarily because there are many subjects in the Scriptures (and in SOP) that are considered to be unsearchable or unknowable--perhaps not until we have reached the other side of eternity.  I love mysteries and the Scripture tells us that God gives us mysteries to command our faith.  The first mystery I want to address on the nature of God is a little-known (or understood) term that has been commonly used by the world; but for whatever reason, has been supplanted by another that holds an entirely different meaning with seemingly deceptive results.  The three words that are commonly accepted by the world are:  Omniscience, Omnipotence and Omnipresence.  However, the SDA use of the word ETERNAL has supplanted to a great degree the word Omnipresence.

 

As humans, we can understand to a certain degree what Omniscience is all about.  It has to do with knowledge and we can relate to exhausting sources of knowledge (in writing a thesis, for example).  The same applies to Omnipotence.  We can have a general knowledge of having all power in specific situations, so it is somewhat understandable by us as to what being all-powerful really means.  However, when we search out the third term, Omnipresence, all experience escapes us except in theory.  Not one of us understands (nor can even conceive) of being in two or more places at once.  The word Eternal gives us an idea of the SCOPE of His Omnipresence, but it does not even come close to explaining what His capability IS in this respect.  Not surprisingly, science is discovering this principle to be a strong factor in understanding our universe and the forces contained within the theoretical black hole in the center of galaxies.

One of the characteristics of an object entering within this black hole would be that the object (because of the crushing forces within) would be squeezed into a spaghetti-like object and would exist in simultaneous places at once.  This is a simplified version of their view, but it generally shows what would only be seen as a God-like characteristic.  We tend to think that God the Father somehow is constrained to CONTIGUOUS THOUGHT as we are and has to WAIT for anything to occur before HE can act.  He is constrained by NOTHING--not time, not space, not matter nor any of our actions.  He is Creator of all and is in control of all to His good pleasure.  It is not inconceivable to us (when we actually give it some thought), that one MOMENT with God could span ALL moments--including the Creation event, itself, the entire ministry of Christ, all the works of the Saints throughout the ages--even up to and including the Second Coming, the gathering of the Saints and the setting up of the Heavenly Kingdom and beyond.  If He could SPEAK the universe into existence, He could just as easily speak the Kingdom into place--all the while seeming to be contiguous to our senses--cause and effect.  Science is now finding that effect may come before cause in this strange universe of ours.  Current experiments such as the dual-slit,  non-local events, quantum entanglement and other esoteric knowledge is showing that there is just as much possibility for a young earth as there is to a billions of years one.  In other words, the limiting factor of the speed of light in a vacuum is no longer a correct measuring rod in determining the extent of the universe, nor the time it would take to traverse it.

 

The 6000 year-old earth is no longer held to be foolish in the eyes of science.  Elegant design is also another factor as with many other discoveries, to show a DESIGNER.  However, it is the CHARACTERISTICS of this Designer that is changing everything--including some very central things that testify of mysteries that have plagued us since the beginning of time.  The answers are coming fast and furious and they tell a story that is in complete harmony with the Scriptures--even revealing those things which we thought we could never understand until we reach the Heavenly Kingdom.  For example, they have come to the conclusion that there are eleven dimensions and are currently trying to prove this hypothesis within CERN which smashes particles together to understand the forces involved.  These dimensions are located at what is called Planck-length (within the scope of an atom) and that it would take a Type III civilization to access it (all the power a galaxy could produce).  We, by comparison, are not even Type I yet (the power of an entire planet).  Simply said, it would take the power of God, Himself, to access His Heavenly Kingdom.

 

We have opened a can of worms, but it is not the ONLY can of worms we are addressing here.  I can recall a sermon by Morris Lewis (now deceased) in Maine about 40 years ago.  His question to the crowd was whether the blood of bulls and goats could atone for sin in Old Testament times before there was the shed blood of Christ.  His answer was yes---no.  Again, here was a mystery that the Scriptures gave us without supplying an answer in practical terms.  It didn't just take the shed blood of Christ to atone for our sins.  It literally took every aspect of His Ministry--from His Incarnation to His Ascension to provide all the tools which we need to come to an understanding of His Sacrifice for us.  The Bible uses the word TAWMID to explain the perpetual sacrifice which Christ does on our behalf to cover for all sin past, present, and future.  This is an AMAZING mystery.  Sister White speaks of this same PERPETUAL sacrifice that is at the very heart of the mystery of the 1844 event and the investigative judgement.  By FAITH, we accept this (at least as historical Adventists), but an entire generation of Adventists were taught differently by Desmond Ford and others that this was not an actual event and became a stumblingblock for the generation of pastors that live today.  The entire message we carry is now under fire--primarily because of the inability of us to determine the practicality of the literal perpetual sacrifice of blood as represented in tawmid.

 

This is where the Omnipresent characteristic of God comes into play and it brings to mind another mystery--namely the Seven Thunders.  We do not even have a basic understanding of  what seven thunders represent.  It has long been a mystery to me why we have not even attempted to understand these things.  It is obvious to me now that it was not time for it to be revealed because we could not have understood it without the limited understanding we had of our universe at the time.  Even Uriah Smith's contemplation of the time question and concluding that the TIME mentioned in the Scriptures had to be prophetic time and NOT literal time because there were still events to follow.  He could not POSSIBLY have known at the time that in this day and age, the LITERAL subject of time would be scientifically discussed in terms of gravity, curved space, and other equally important subjects.  The subject of time is being experimented upon in several different venues.   The National Ignition Facility in California is addressing this as well as CERN and other formats as well.  This subject of time is discussed in the Scripture in relation to the FINISHING OF GOD'S WORK.  Uriah Smith saw this period as CRUCIAL and should take every bit of our energy to understand this because it affects our salvation at the very time it occurs.

 

It is common knowledge that the Scriptures (and SOP) consider THUNDER to be proclamations of God.  even a cursory study will show this to be.  The question now becomes central as to what seven PROCLAMATIONS by God were made that is pertinent to this subject.  We could find many proclamations by God throughout the Scriptures, but it is the subject of perpetual sacrifice we are discussing and this is entirely about the shed blood of Christ.  Were there seven proclamations by God during His life?  There certainly was and they are:  the Incarnation (a son will be born), the Birth (a son is born), the Baptism (this is my Beloved son), the Transfiguration (this is my Son),  the Crucifixion (surely this was the Son of God), the Resurrection (He is risen) and the Ascension (He will come in clouds).  All these periods were proclamations of God of His Son and what He will  accomplish through Him.  These Seven Thunders were proclaimed by the Omnipresent God and they were ALL THE SAME MOMENT TO HIM.  This was woven into the very creation event itself and is a PERPETUAL ministry of the Son (moment-by-moment).  It is in this context that the blood of Christ was VIABLE in the shed blood of bulls and goats which was (By Faith AND LITERALLY) the blood of the Messiah.

 

There is much more to this which involves other mysteries, but it is far beyond most of us to search these things out with our current knowledge.  There is a HUGE mystery which involves the cleansing of the sanctuary (and the very reason we exist as a church).  To set the tone for the next study (if there IS one), the word used in Daniel 8-14 for CLEANSING (the basis of our understanding of the Sanctuary Service) at the end of the 2300 days/years is DIFFERENT than the traditional understanding of what cleansing the sanctuary means to us.  That particular word involves a forensic study of the Sanctuary, itself using several tools which include a measuring line, line of flax, the plummet (plumb-bob) and other things which imply that it is not just US which are under investigative judgement--it is God, Himself which is under a forensic study to prove His Sovereignty and the viability of His methods by which we are considered worthy.  We are told to measure the temple (and by extension the creator of the temple) AND the  worshippers therein.  The whole entire system is brought into play and has far more in it than we can imagine at the moment--probably far more than we WANT to imagine.  The Sanctuary Service is the central pillar of Adventism.   This one pillar will collapse all others if we allow it to be removed (which is under fierce attack)  Sister White tells us that all the workings of darkness will be EXPOSED.  The Apocalypse is, by definition, a REVEALING TIME.  The Dark Ages is seeking to encroach upon us and return us to a time where darkness will rule.  It is somewhat amazing that it is having the success it is.  This is not a time where we go whimpering off into the darkness.  WE win this fight.  Most of this material has been put on worldly forums and it is surprising how well it is being received.  The one time I put it on an Adventist site, the response was: this is not as crazy as it sounds.  I have to admit, it all sounds crazy--yet, we have just scratched the surface of what all this represents to us.  Without SOP and our understanding of the Sanctuary Service, I wouldn't even have a clue about any of this.  Without the experience of the Colporteur work and the Holy Spirit's part in it, I probably wouldn't even be an Adventist today--let alone a Christian.  There is very little evidence of the SDA church in the world today.  Few people still, do not know who we are and what we represent.  We have the most powerful message in the world and it will become more apparent as time passes.  The world, in spite of its darkness, is preparing to seek every bit of light available.  They are becoming more and more ready to receive the truth as it is in Christ.  Unfortunately, we have separated ourselves from the world for so long that we have lost sight of how to deal with the world.  No matter.  The world will come looking for US when they realize that we really do have all the answers.