Matthew 9: 13
Despite all the momentum and the fresh perspective and analogies I had for the first several parts of the Lord's prayer, it's sad to say that these last two parts kind of fizzled out. I really thought I'd have more to say about the Deliver Us From Evil part, and maybe it was just the headache keeping me from being creative, or maybe I was allowing myself to get distracted, but I really disappointed myself back there; not having anything to say.
And this part looks like it might go down about the same way. Maybe I'll come back and re-do these when I actually have something unique to say about them, but for now, I'm just going to state the obvious and/or grasp at straws.
When I started this mini-series, I said:
Though we may strive to cultivate a Father-son or Father-daughter relationship with Him, and though He is our Heavenly Friend who helps us in our times of need, we must never forget that He is, and always will be, our God, not just our "Dad," or an emergency responder to call when we're in trouble.
Today, in light of the words "for ever" in Matthew 9: 13 above, I'd like to put an emphasis in he word "always." "He is, and always will be, our God."
I haven't thought much about godhood in the eternities. Mostly, I've just been trying to get my soul into a good place by the time I pass through the veil. Taking my spiritual life one day at a time, as it were. But there was a time when I was less worried about where my soul is right now, and then I did like to think about eternity and infinity, and I remember having the thought that we will never be equal to God. Sure, we may eventually grow to the point where we would be equal to how great God is now, but by then, God and His kingdom would have grown even greater, and here's why:
Picture a beach ball and a basketball each made out of a strong, yet incredibly elastic form of rubber, like a balloon that will never pop. Now, put the basketball inside the beach ball, and run an air pump to the basketball so you can pump more air into it. Now pump it up.
As more air is added to the basketball, it becomes bigger, but it will never reach the same size of the beach ball, because as the basketball grows bigger, it displaces more air in the beach ball, causing the beach ball to grow larger as well.
Maybe (not probably, but maybe) that could serve as an explanation for why God will always be greater than us. We are part of His kingdom. As we grow, His kingdom grows. Even as we grow to the level of Godhood and we have Spirit children who eventually grow to the level of Godhood as well, our God will still be a God compared to us.
I'm not sure where I'm going with this, other than speculating deeper and deeper into the deepest "deep doctrine" I know of, but one lesson I guess we could all learn from this is that God will always be our God. No matter how big we get, God will always be bigger. No matter how much we learn, God will always know more. No matter how wise we get, God will always be wiser. And that may sound a bit discouraging - like we'll never measure up - I personally find it encouraging. This means that we'll always have a Heavenly Father we can look up to. Someone who can give us good advice and guidance when our own wisdom falls short. Someone we can always pray to when we feel the need to pray.
Now, I'm not sure this is the way it actually is, but it makes sense to me. I won't count it as gospel truth until one of the Apostles say it, but it gives me a happy ending to hope for. I personally think that I'll always need some help, and I'd like to think that God will always be willing and able to provide such help. And I'd also like to think that any growth that I achieve will help to make God's kingdom greater, as a small way to pay Him back for everything He does for me. This level of deep doctrine is probably deeper than we have to worry about in this life, and it'd probably be better if I just stuck to the basic principles of the gospel (which I need to remind myself of occasionally), and focus on learning those for now. Speculation is fun, but it's not likely to help us because A) we don't know whether it's true or not, and B) even if it is true, what are we supposed to do about it? What lesson can we apply from the knowledge that God will always be on a higher level than us? Humility? There are simpler ways to teach that principle, and the simpler methods are usually best.
I think it's time for me to go back to the basics. Again.
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