"Be holy, just as I am holy", said YHWH to Yisrael in the early books. Curious that the nation's name, and that of its ancestor (Israel) has sometimes been interpreted "struggles with/against God", as though we may be at odds with YHWH and company.
Genesis 32:28 -
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.That guy combated an angel and survived - by no means do I understand that in practical terms, but I can imagine it'd be rather an outstanding experience. He fought a messenger of God and stood his ground. The point of the passage is that he has social, physical, and spiritual power. And he was blessed. A society was named after him. ... Makes you wonder.
As I've pondered in some of my posts on this blog in the last couple years, godly power is not beyond the reach of mankind. Forgiveness is an exercise of godly power. Jesus specifically stated that He expected us to do miraculous works. That means healings, no shortage of sustenance, and whatever "moving mountains" means. I'm curious.
God is primarily loving. God created us in His/Their image, in likeness. God designed us to be like Him, and thus, primarily loving. Humanness ought therefore be measured in terms of love, foremost among other things. The more we love, the more human we are, the more godly we are. Loving less makes us less human.
Love is oft forgiving. Forgiveness is the essence of Christ's covenant - He forgave us, we are obligated to forgive ourselves and others. Forgiving less makes us less human. Forgiving more makes us more godly.
I believe love and forgiveness are the seeds of establishing credibility of Spirit, by which we can exercise more of God's power.
We are not so unequal to God. We can be godly, and He/They expect us to be! That's not just in living a clean life, but in how we treat others - and it also bears the duty of exercising godly power... something I'm still working on ;)
Abraham reasoned with God, as did Moses. These men convinced God to change His/Their mind on more than one occasion. Clearly God sees our input as worthy of consideration - as though we could be, in some manner, equals. ... Though I recall some rhetorical question from the book of Job regarding who might advise God - I suspect that has more to do with false pride than godly equality.
As such, perhaps there are areas where I might legitimately disagree with God, and thus reason with Him. That doesn't make me implicitly right, of course, but it does allow me to pose questions and learn (when I'm wrong).
So, in the spirit of Yisrael, I will pursue holiness, and I will by all holy means pursue godly power, and I will pursue whatever Jesus meant of miracles. [Luke 16:16 - and I will take it by force.]
PS: I'm not talking about floofy "love" here, I'm talking about really caring for people, helping them when they need, doing right by them, and being a benefit to society... in James' terms, "true religion" is helping the orphans and widows, the poor and needy and powerless. While I could rant on how the stereotypical [American] Christian often fails to conduct him/herself in this manner, that's not my job - judgment is not mine - I would say simply that these things [love and forgiveness] are critical to being a good person, regardless of religion, and I do hope all who read this would consider these principles regardless of their religious background.
