Expectancy

From the moral argument presented over the last few weeks, we determined that since the great designer and creator is necessary for moral values to exist in created humans, He must be a moral being himself who has imparted moral values to human beings —via the imago Dei—with the expectation that they are obligated to fulfill his moral standards.

God himself is an infinitely moral and infinitely just being, both attributes necessary for infinite love. In other words, the purposeful, spiritual, creator and designer of the universe, God, is a moral and just being who imparted moral values into the spiritual consciousness of human beings whom He created in his image and likeness with the expectation that they embrace and fulfill his moral law.

So how are we to think about this? The question is naturally this: why? Why was the universe so finely tuned for life? Why did human beings come to thrive and to populate the entire earth? And why were those human beings universally endowed with such capacities as consciousness, and reason, and an objective moral standard?

Why do humans have those attributes? We have only touched the surface as to how Darwinian evolution cannot explain how human beings came to have these capacities, let alone why humans are even endowed with these capacities, to begin with.

Why? One likely reason could be this: Christians hold that God created all men equal, in His “image and likeness” (Gen 1:29). That does not mean that Christians think they are gods, nor does it mean that God is human, but that they share many of the same “communicable attributes.”

These are some of the same attributes we have described as being warehoused in the human soul: attributes like consciousness, free will, moral suasion, justice, mercy, and love. If the creator of the universe is infinitely moral, and infinitely Just, then wouldn’t we expect the personal, intelligent, purposeful, intentional designer, and moral law giver, to want to communicate with the creatures he had created?

It turns out that there is a group of ancient people who claimed that very thing; that God had communicated with them through the prophets that lived among them going back to the most ancient of times. The Hebrew people; the Israelites claim that God has indeed revealed that he did create this fine-tuned universe, that he did create a soulish mankind, and that he did impart to them a moral law. But also, he revealed to mankind that he loved them, cared for them, and wanted to save them from their hopelessness.

One of the things that these ancient people say is that the creator God, YHWH would send a redeemer who would propitiate the sins of all of those who would believe. For the Jewish people the story that begins shortly after creation, has been compiled into a collection of writings most commonly called, The Old Testament of the Holy Bible.

Isn’t that what the Bible skeptic Michael is so opposed to? Doesn’t Michael believe that the Bible is just a creation of man and not God’s inspired Word? Well . . . yes. That is exactly what Michael, as well as countless other people around the world claim: the Bible is a collection of human writings about religious topics. So where do we find common ground? Have we run out of common ground on which to stand with Michael? I do not think so.

Since antiquity, society has held various manuscript histories of civilization that were written in ancient times including ancient manuscripts of some of the writings compiled in the Old Testament. But is this not history as well? At the very least the Old Testament is a collection of ancient, historical writings.

Through our cumulative case, we may reach a point with Michael that these writings turn out to be very much more than that, but they are certainly no less. As historical writings, they, at the very least, demand our consideration.

So, it is from the shared common ground of history, that if we approach what the ancient Israelites had to say in these ancient writings about the creator God, then we might have some understanding of what their claim actually is. And their claim is nothing short of astounding. Join us next week as we reach back in time, dig into the old manuscripts, and draw forward exactly what the Hebrews were expecting of God.

Specifically, we will look at the expectations of a holy one come from God to save mankind from itself. There was a time, and the time is still very much now, that the Israelites are absolutely convinced that God does exist and that He is very much alive. What say you: is God dead?

Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ and live in Ardmore, OK. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@ isGoddead.com.