Divine Saturation
And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:31 NASB
It was very good – How much of God’s creation was good? Before you give the correct theological answer (“All of it”), contemplate the implications for your heart. How much of what God has done is good? How much of what He has done in your life is good? Are you able to recognize the divine saturation of your existence?
In his book Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, John Walton makes the following observations:
“Existence saturated with divinity. There is no dichotomy between sacred and secular. Everything is a function of the purpose of the gods. Our world removes the gods and consequently removes divine purpose. Divinity becomes one category of existence, not the intrinsic nature of the cosmos. In Hebrew thought, the cosmos is a manifestation of God’s sovereignty. All that exists are instruments of His purpose. He is not only the originator but also the one who establishes the control and the control attributes. He determines the destinies of all.”[1]
Think about his observation that our culture removes the spiritual from the physical. That little split (complements of Plato) changes everything. Now it seems as though our world operates on two different levels; one that is run by men and science and the other that is the distant realm of the gods or God. We compartmentalize our lives. Church on Sunday, business of Monday, fun on Friday. We do not live in the God-saturated existence of Genesis or of any of the ancient world. We are sophisticated. We control.
Our delusions about the structure of the universe lead to all kinds of personal disasters. We substitute planning sessions for prayer meetings. We create committees instead of compassion. We seek recognition rather than submission. We act as if we must invite God to join our worship services. No wonder! We have constructed a world without Him and claimed His territory as our own. We have made God a stranger in His creation.
Imagine how your life would change if you were saturated in divinity. Imagine if you saw everything as the handiwork of God. Imagine if God held you accountable for executing His purposes in every act. Would you be more careful with your commitments? Would you measure your responses differently? Would all those compartments you constructed have to be torn down so that His presence would be felt everywhere you go?
If the Bible is an ancient Near Eastern text proclaiming divine saturation of the world, what book have you been reading?
Topical Index: Near Eastern thought, saturation, John Walton, Genesis 1:31
[1]cf. comments pages 99-105.
Very true!
We were brought up in a culture that teaches worshipping God is on Sunday morning in a building by singing songs together. How can I worship God in any other way? Once I realised that I can worship God by obeying the dietary laws (for example), you start to “invite” God into every other day of the week. This goes for all the other instructions in Torah. You start to break down that division between Sunday and the rest of the week. Now we have to learn that God is part of every day of the week and we celebrate Him even more on Shabbat.
Once we view Torah as opportunities to obey/worship God and not as restrictions, I believe this dichotomy between sacred and secular will be removed.
Splendidly concise. Excellently put. Bravo!
Felt lost just dipping a toe in, I gonna dive in, looking forward to getting soaking wet!
I love this statement, “Existence saturated with divinity.” With this perspective ever before us we would live every moment with eternity in mind … may it begin NOW in our lives. Blessings!
All For One and One For All
For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: – to whom be glory for ever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)
Wow! “Who” is this, Rabbi Sha’ul is referring to?
“Who” (he inquired) is the Center? The Core. The Root?
Paul doesn’t leave us to wonder, or to guess, or to wish, for “here” is our answer:
~ “Here” there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all ~ (Colossians 3.11)
Next question, please.. – Where is “here?” (location, location, location!)
And the answer is ?? – **in Christ**
Ooh..somebody dun sent me a text message.. (one moment please..)
R U* in? Are you – *in Christ?”
It might take the entire third chapter of Colossians (or more!) for Paul to ‘splain this, but “why not?” God has promised to all- “My word(s) will not return unto Me empty”- so let’s do this:
(Since) you* were raised along with the Messiah, then seek the things above, where the Messiah is sitting at the right hand of God. Focus your minds on the things above, not on things here on earth. For you* have died, and your life* is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, (who is our life!), appears, then you too* will appear with Him in glory!
Therefore, put to death the earthly parts of your nature — sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed (which is a form of idolatry); for it is because of these things that God’s anger is coming on those who disobey Him. True enough, you* used to practice these things in the life you* once lived; BUT NOW, – put them all away — anger, exasperation, meanness, slander and obscene talk. Never lie to one another; because you* have stripped away the old self, with its ways, and have put on the new (self), which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its Creator. The new (self) allows no room for discriminating between Gentile and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, foreigner, savage, slave, free man; on the contrary, in all, – the Messiah is EVERYTHING.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; if anyone has a complaint against someone else, forgive him. Indeed, just as the LORD has forgiven you*, so you* must forgive.
Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly; and let the shalom which comes from the Messiah be your heart’s decision-maker, for this is why you* were called to be part of A Single Body.
And be thankful — let the Word of the Messiah, in all its richness, live in you*, as you teach and counsel each other in all wisdom, and as you* sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude to God in your hearts. That is, everything you* do or say, do in the Name of the LORD Yeshua, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Powerful stuff, Paul.. – but are you* talkin’ to me?
~ (Yes), You are worthy, our LORD and Our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because You have created all things, and by Your pleasure (and for Your pleasure) they exist and were created ~
WOW!!! What a beautiful message!! And a powerful one!! Thanks, Carl!
I have been fed Manna from on High this morning! And needed to be reminded of every “point” embedded in Carl’s message!
Helen
Eve saw that the world was good.
But she THOUGHT it could be better!
Self thought easily “misses the mark”.
What we THINK about this world so easily
misses the truth about what’s actually there.
Colossians 3 is a profound step by step way
to get away from our stinkin’ thinkin’!
“But above all these things put on love, which is
the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God
rule in your hearts, to which also you were called
in one body; and be thankful.” Verses 14-15
Thanks for the reminder, Carl.
Rich wrote: Self thought easily “misses the mark”.
You have ministered to a troubled soul this day, my Friend and Brother. Thank you so much.
Imagine how your life would change if you were saturated in divinity. Imagine if you saw everything as the handiwork of God. Imagine if God held you accountable for executing His purposes in every act. Would you be more careful with your commitments? Would you measure your responses differently? Would all those compartments you constructed have to be torn down so that His presence would be felt everywhere you go?
Imagine if you kept in the forefront of your mind, G-d’s ultimate goal for creating you in the first place.
http://artkatzministries.org/audio-messages/the-eternal-purpose-of-the-church/
Dear Pam,
I visited Art Katz website, browsed a bit, then listened to his message:
An Overview of the Mystery of Israel. Blessing to me was manifold, and I Iook forward to reading more in the days to come.
When I read about him and learned that he is with the Lord Whom he loved, I was saddened for us, but rejoicing for him.
Thank you for sharing the link!
Helen
I miss him very much. His wife just followed him to glory last Oct. If you listen to the message “The Eternal Purpose of the Church” You will get the connection between the message and today’s word.
Hi Pam,
I clicked onto the Art Katz link and listened to his talk entitled” And They
Crucified Him”. It was spirit-shaking, heart-stopping truth about the Cross.
I wish all could listen. Thanks for the link.
Art was an amazing evangelist and anything he preached on the apostolic foundations is worth listening to. If you listen to the message “The Eternal Purpose of the Church” You will get the connection between the message and today’s word.
What an amazing word for the day Skip – just awesome! Going to try to remember to saturate myself every minute of every day with divinity!
Superb!! 😀