Turning the Scope Around

When I was a kid I used to love looking through my dad's binoculars backwards.  I would hold the large lens opening up to my eyes and then hold out my hand.  It was like my arm stretched out in some eery kind of way and then my hand was so small.  I'd wiggle my fingers and feel very long.  I could entertain myself for hours just looking backwards through those lenses.

Telescopes, spotting scopes, binoculars, scopes of all kinds fascinate me still.  I still find myself turning them around at times.  What's interesting is the image is the same image no matter which way you look through the scope, it's the depth that changes.  Looking through the scope backward leaves much blackness in your field of vision, removes the image far from you and keeps you from seeing much detail in it.  Looking through the lenses as they are intended to be looked through fills your vision, gives you much to look at, much detail and brings the image in very close.

In the bible we are given two primary lenses in which to view God, who God is and what God does.  Both lenses give us much information about God, allowing us to see Him as He really is, allowing us to look on the physically unseen reality of God.

In one lens we see who God is, His character and person are revealed, God is named:

El Shaddai - God almighty, or God all sufficient
Jehovah Rophe - The Lord who heals
Jehovah Shalom - The Lord our peace
Jehovah Rohi - The Lord our Shepherd
Abba - Father, Daddy
Emmanuel - God with us
Holy Spirit - Named as Comforter, Counselor, Spirit of Truth, Sanctifier and more
God is:

• Love
• Good
• Kind
• Faithful
• Righteous
• Just
• Wise
• Sovereign
• Omniscient (able to know everything)
• Omnipresent (everywhere)
• Omnipotent (able to do anything)

...and many, many more.

The other lens is what God does, what He engages in in the world:

• God pours out His wrath
• God exercises judgment
• God will heal all peoples
• God sent His one and only Son
• God is the giver of good gifts
• ...we could go on and on with this as well.

How we look through the lenses, which is placed in front of the other, greatly affects how we view God.  Are we trying to understand who God is through the lens of what He does, or are we trying to understand why God does what He does through the lens of who He is?  Which way we look through our scope greatly affects how we view God.

If I see God's wrath and judgment first, then I struggle with Him being a good and kind and loving Father.  If I see Him as being the giver of good gifts then I struggle with His omniscience and omnipotents when it comes to evil in the world.  In this view, God looks distant, far away, small, limited in His actions.

However, if I am looking through the lens appropriately, understanding what God does in light of who He is, then I will understand that His wrath can only be exercised in His love and kindness and goodness.  I will understand His plan to heal all peoples in light of His omniscience and omnipotence (in other words I will trust that He knows what He is doing and will not hold him to my time frames or my limited understanding).

Looking through the lens appropriately does not mean that I will all of a sudden have full clarity in my knowledge and understanding of God, He is infinite after all.  What it will help me to do is trust Him when some circumstance in life does not seem to add up.  (God, I may not understand why you allowed such devastation in Japan, but I do know that You are Good, that You are Kind, You are Love, You are capable of doing anything, You are capable of knowing everything and You are our Father.  Because I know who You are, I will choose to trust what You are doing, and even maybe what You are not doing when I think You should be doing more.)

I heard it said once, you cannot fully understand the depths of God's love if you do not first understand the magnitude of His wrath.  I think that is a backwards scope.  How can I possibly understand what God is doing if I do not first seek to understand who He is.  

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." - John 17:3