Episode #211 God’s Invitation: Not Out of Need, But Love – Knowing God

Hey friends, it's Jen. Have you ever noticed how much it matters what you believe about God?

That may not be a question that a lot of us think about all the time. But I can look back over past seasons of my life and notice the change that happened when I believed or understood something about God to be better and different than I thought it was.

Even when I look at the understanding I have of relationship with God and how much I didn't know that that was an opportunity available to me. I thought God only wanted my performance, that he wanted my good behavior and hopefully I could earn my way to heaven as a Christian if I did the right things.

But that changed when I better understood who God is and what He's like and the invitation that He offers to us.
Well that's the reason behind this whole series. As we're looking to know God more, we get to take a fresh look at the beliefs that we have about Him. We get to take these beliefs and these understandings and hold them up to the light of Scripture and God's unchanging nature, to see if we might understand, know, and experience Him in a better way than we had before.

And today we're talking about how God is self-sufficient. He needs nothing.

God is able to take care of everything, including himself, without outside help.

In Genesis 1:1, God created the heavens and the earth. And before he did that, there was nothing. There were no building blocks or supplies for him to pull from and use to create the world that we know and live in.

There's a phrase that we use to describe this called Ex Nilo. Which is Latin for “from nothing.”

And so the term Creation Ex Nilo means that God created from nothing. God started from scratch.

The Bible never expressly states that God made everything from nothing, but it's implied in a lot of scripture, including Hebrews 11 verse 3, which says,

“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)

Our God is entirely self-sufficient and he can do whatever he pleases. I'm actually paraphrasing Psalm 115:3, “Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.”

We also see this in a time when Paul is in Athens and he's speaking to the crowd that's gathered there. And I'll read Acts 17:22 -25. And it says,

“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:22-25)

This is the God who loves us. This is the God that we worship.

And this passage can feel a little bit confusing to some of us. I know it has to me in the past because we serve him with human hands. But Paul says here, he's not served by human hands as though he needed anything. And the difference comes in the reason for our service.

We serve God with our human hands as acts of worship. But that invitation from God is not because he needs us. It's not because he is lacking or dependent on us, that he's incapable of doing what he needs or wants to do in the world. He chooses to involve us.

God does not need. But we often are exhorted to participate in God's missional work in the world with wording that confuses this truth about God. Maybe you've heard some of these statements:

God needs us to accomplish his work.
God can't move unless we pray.
God depends on your obedience to bring his kingdom.

Now the falsehood of these statements is that it makes it seem like God is limited. And that's simply not true.
God is fully capable of accomplishing his will without human help. Now he graciously Invites us to participate with him and he responds to our actions. He responds to our obedience. He even tells us throughout scripture, if you do this, then I will do this in response.

We get to participate in God's kingdom work, but his sovereignty, his power, his kingdom, they're not dependent on human efforts or human actions.
God's invitation for us to participate is because he's relational. It's not a call because he is lacking. It's an invitation because he is gracious and generous. And he invites us to know him more and to be part of what he's doing in us and in the world around us.

So why does God involve us?

Because he loves us.
Because he delights to do so.
And because he created us for himself.
And this has been part of his plan all along for how the world would know him.

And so let's take this question into conversation with God today. And I like to offer this reminder every once in a while, don't just assume the answer and so skip over asking God the question. Ask Him and wait, anticipating that He wants to reply. There's more that God wants to share with you. And so here's that question:

God, where have I misunderstood your invitation to life or ministry with you? What truth do you offer me instead?

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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