What if God wasn’t like God?
Calvin and Hobbes was my favorite comic for many years. Still is, actually, even though Bill Watterson retired the strip some time ago. I have every one of the Calvin and Hobbes compilations except the huge, leather-bound complete set. (If you were wondering what you could do for my upcoming birthday…) A recurring theme is Calvin sitting in his sandbox, creating worlds. Lots of innocent people are going about their business in his worlds…but you know something is coming. Inevitably, what Calvin has created is destroyed in some violent way.
What if God was like that?
He could be, you know. He created everything that is, and did so for His pleasure–just as Calvin did. What if it was God’s pleasure to create us just to bring some Tyrannosaurus Rex larger than the Chrysler building to stomp and chomp what He had created? In Romans 9 we read: Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22 In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power…
God has every right to do whatever He wants with His creation. Let that sink in for a minute. What if…
I allowed myself to spend a fair amount of time contemplating that this morning, and it was truly terrifying. But then I started to think through all the biblical evidence that He is a God of love. I started to think of all the times He had shown that love directly in my life. I thought about what Jesus’ time on earth really meant. And I was overwhelmed with gratitude.
If you’re like me, your praise and thanks to God is often based on something He has done. Nothing wrong with that, of course. But this morning I found myself thanking God just for who He is. Thanking God for being the embodiment of love. Thanking God that that passage in Romans 9 doesn’t end there, but says, In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. 23 He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. 24 And we are among those whom he selected.
Because what if He wasn’t?
