I like this reply. Please elucidate if possible.
I AM
- Thread starter LearningToLetGo
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NO!
God, who alone is uncreated and eternal, has formed and given existence to everything outside of himself. He did this from nothing by the word of his power.
"In the beginning, God".
The first four words of the Bible place immediate emphasis upon God. They tell us from the very beginning that before anything else in the universe existed, God already was. Nothing brought him into being. Nothing gave him existence. He was around long before anything else was. He was around long before there was even such a thing as time itself.
This is how I see GOD..... I AM that I AM.... to me.... means.... GOD has ALWAYS BEEN.... HE is EVERYTHING... HE is EVERYWHERE.... HE is outside of space and time. HE was NOT created.... HE is the CREATOR. HE is the GOD of the BIBLE.
I AM that I AM is the FULL definition of HIMSELF. HE IS.... HE WAS.... HE WILL BE FOREVER and EVER.... EVERYTHING about GOD is encompassed within His name.... I AM THAT I AM.
It is the PERFECT expression to encompass WHO GOD IS.
He is everything. Let's explore that a bit. What are some ramifications of God being everything?
For me.... it is COMFORT..... SECURITY... PEACE and GREAT JOY....because GOD is EVERYTHING..... I SHALL NOT WANT for anything. BECAUSE my SALVATION is SECURE ( Paid for in full by the blood of CHRIST).... I am able to REST in HIM completely... which means.... I have no need to be ANXIOUS or AFRAID for ANYTHING.
Not only is HE EVERYTHING..... THAT FACT becomes personal for those who BELIEVE in HIM.
Not Panthestic God though, as he eternally exists, before creation, and still outside and inside his creation, not fully in it and stuck
If God is everything, is God the flower you walk past in the garden? Is he the squirrel you watch frolicking in the tree in the park? Is he the face that looks back at you in the mirror?
No, that would be pantheism
NO NO NO.... God CREATED the flower....He created the earth for the garden.... HE created the squirrel species.... HE created humans.
HE is the MASTER.... the LORD.... ALMIGHTY GOD.
I agree, but he is also everything, no?
NO... HE is NOT the CREATION...... but HE is the CREATOR.
I have never heard of pantheism.... and I don't know what it is... but I don't like the sound of it. HA.
My friend believes that GOD is EVERYTHING meaning... HE is everything that lives.... so... HE is the cat... the dog... the tree... the flowers...
It's very confusing to try and understand... She believes that when she dies... she will just go back into the light ( which she calls God ).
That is NEW AGE belief.
I'm not speaking of pantheism. There's only the one, triune God. There's no "cat God" or "frog God". That's not what I'm saying. I'm trying to investigate idea of "God is everything". Is that just a poorly worded way of saying "God is in everything" or is it more than that?
I think I don't see this as others do. When I hear..... GOD is EVERYTHING.... I think of I am that I am.
I will let someone else try and explain it. I am not doing a very good job. HA.
I am on my way out... so I will check in the morning to see what GREAT minds had to say about this.
Panthgeism is the belief that The Universe and God are same thing, as God eternally as existed in the Universe, and God is in every thing in Universe
Thank you for pointing out this additional meaning. I had only known pantheism in the context of a pantheon of gods.
"Stuck" is a strange idea. I would never suggest that. If we eliminate that, can God be in creation, indeed can creation be by God and of God? I mean, what else is there?
Agreed! God is not stuck in creation. He is sovereign over the whole of creation.
There are three views that must not be confused with one another.
(1) God and the universe are one and the same (i.e. Pantheism).
(2) God is the universe, but he also beyond it (i.e. Panentheism). In other words, there more to God than just the universe.
(3) God is omnipresent. This is the Christian view with Biblical support.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! (Psalm 139: 7-8)
Agreed! This is what I was asking before. When you look at, whatever! Is not God also there?
Just was saying a Pantheistic God would be anchored into the Universe, part of it and "stuck" in it, would not be existing outside of it.
There in Presence, but not there is in everyting, not part of the trees, animals, planets etc