God Descending

by Rebecca Bynum (May 2014)

Just as we, in our limited ability, ascend toward God, so does God descend toward us, invading and encompassing his entire creation. Though God exists as an absolute, eternal being outside the confines of time and space, there must be some part of God, or level of God, that exists within those self-imposed and self-created confines – a God of time and space. Thus creation remains a part of God, not separate from him. A God of spacetime is required to create, uphold and maintain The Father’s vast material creation.

The Sombrero Galaxy NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA)

Ultimately of course, God the Father is eternal, absolute and unevolving, but within spacetime, he exists as actualizing potential – he is both actual and potential. Therefore, as we participate in our own self-realization by growing in the spirit, that is to say, as our God-given potential becomes actual in time, we are adding our own small mite to the great actualization of the evolving God. We have been created as unique beings – there is no one else who can contribute exactly the same bit of actualization to God and thus in a very real sense, God is dependent upon our growth, and our increasing ability to bear the fruits of the spirit, for his actualization.

There is a tension in the universe. We are presented with two fundamental ways to become – either to grow toward God and toward reality and thereby to become ever more real in the universe, or, we can reject the divine plan and move away from God and toward unreality, thus becoming more and more unreal until we cease to exist as an active part of the evolving universe – the death from which there is no resurrection. This is the essence of our duty. The great question becomes whether or not we will fail the great soul of creation and defy all that is great and good in the universe by choosing the path of self-destruction. Disloyalty to love and truth carries a heavy price.

On the other hand, if we decide to participate in the great evolutionary adventure and to grow toward God, we will not only discover who we truly are in the here and now, but also begin to glimpse that great immortal being we will eventually become. Once our will becomes consecrated to doing the will of the Father, our purpose becomes one with God and thus unchanging and eternal. The meaning of life is then found.

As we move through time and mature, we are able to reflect upon more and more of the past and thus project further and more accurately into the future, and by doing so we evaluate potentials and uncover possibilities. Wisdom and judgment come with maturity and begin to release us from our slavery to the present. When the evaluation of potential is coupled with spiritual insight and guidance, then a higher plane of living is attained and the myriad difficulties of the present are more easily endured. True wisdom is dawning as our mortal minds begin to comprehend deity and we meld our purpose to his.

God the Father sends a part of himself to journey with us through this life. He experiences as we experience and loves his children with us and through us. As we love one another, we demonstrate God’s love and fulfill his purpose, our purpose, in life. The real beauty and majesty in life is only discovered through partnership with the eternal God; a God so good he has condescended to come down into our hearts and minds and wait patiently for the tiniest flicker of faith to which he unfailingly responds. Sometimes the onrush of his love is overwhelming, the brightness of his truth is blinding and the realization of his goodness, shattering. And yet, the old ego-self must be shattered if we are ever to find our true selves.

Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
– John Donne

If we give God everything we have and are, then he will make us new. That is the Father’s eternal promise to his children, but more than that, he will go through the valley of the shadow of death with us. He will descend through time and space to live with us through the extent of this short life and then will slowly lead us back to Paradise from whence he came. 

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Rebecca Bynum's latest book is Allah is Dead, Why Islam is Not a Religion. Her next book, The Real Nature of Religion, will be published this winter.

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Rebecca Bynum contributes regularly to The Iconoclast, our Community Blog. Click here to see all her contributions, on which comments are welcome.