April 4 - Would I cease to exist if God stopped thinking about me?

April 4

You’re listening to OKY. The place where we discuss what we believe and why we believe it to be true! We have been in the book of Luke, studying the life of Jesus. But today wanted to break for a moment. I was talking with my daughter Ava yesterday, and she asked a pretty profound question that I wanted to answer. . . So, this is Ava’s question. “If God were to stop thinking about me, would I cease to exist?” 

 

I thought it was such a fun question to talk about, that I would bring it here and have this discussion with you. . . . 

 

So, here we go. 

 

At first, it was an easy answer. Of course not. God loves us and we exist because he made us full of life. We would exist simply because he would not want us to cease to exist. . . . 

 

But then. .  Is that right? 

 

Understanding the nature of our existence brings this question into an interesting conversation. 

 

So, follow me on a journey real quick as we open up this question. 

 

First, I love the words of Paul that explains the purpose of Jesus. Remember, we would be foolish to ignore what we know about Jesus whenever we are trying to figure out theology around God. Jesus shows us the Father. 

 

Listen to Colossians 1:15-22

 

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through I’m and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have supremacy. For God was pleased to have al this fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through is blood, shed on the cross. 

 

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in you minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move form the hope held out in the gospel. 

 

First off, the Son is the image of the invisible God. So again, he represents God. What you see about Jesus, is the same as what you can know about God. Jesus doesn’t live a separate life and have a separate authority than God. He IS God. They are one in the same. 

 

Second - what you see about him, is that he is the head of the church. This shows the position of where he wants to be. Not just that he is in authority over the church, but that he is closely attached to the church. Without the head, the church would die. So he is needed in order for the church to exist. 

 

And next, what was his pleasure? To come here and reconcile all things to him. This is a relational term. He made things right between us and him so that we would be in relationship with him. Why? Because this is how we were created. Reconcile means to bring things back to where they were supposed to be. God’s goal, was to make thing right so that we could be in relationship with him. 

 

And the result, we are reconciled and free from blemish. This allows us to be in his presence and be his people. 

 

Why is this important? 

 

Because this unfolds the heart of God. He isn’t just creator, he is an active participant in the world he created. Remember, that’s why we use the word spiritual instead of supernatural. He isn’t removed from creation, he is part of it. His goal is a created world in which he is at the center. When you read revelation, we read of Zion - the newly formed city. And what is at the center of it? The throne of God. God’s heart is relationship with mankind. 

 

And remember what the writer of Hebrews told us in Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

 

In other words, what we read about Jesus in Colossians is the same as the heart of God in Genesis 1 at creation, and is the same as Jesus on the throne in Revelation at the heart of the new creation. 

 

So the summary of this part, God is a God of relationship who created us to be with him. He always has been this way, and always will be. . . 

 

Which makes Ava’s question interesting. 

 

Because If God is about relationship, and he always has been and always will be, then if he forgot about you, then not only would you cease to exist, but so would he. See, the God who always has been in love with you, who has always wanted you by his side, and who is the same for all of eternity, would no longer be a reality if he forgot about you for one second. And as Elohim, he didn’t just create the universe, he created it with the hope of being at the center of it with you along side of him. If he forgot about you, he would no longer be that same Elohim. 

 

So by nature, if he forgot about you, he wouldn’t exist as that same creator. 

 

His nature would be completely different and would not be the same yesterday, today, and forever. That’s how much you mean to him! He would make his entire existence as creator around making an interactive masterpiece that not only revolves around him, but needs him, and he needs and wants us. . . 

 

But here is the good news friends, he will never forget about you. He will always love you and you will always be on his mind. 

 

I've read this before, but I want to end with one of my favorite Psalms. 139, the first 18 verses. 

 

You have searched me, Lord, 

And you know me. 

You know when I sit and when I rise; 

You perceive my thoughts form afar. 

You discern my going out and my lying down;

You are familiar with all my ways. 

Before a word is on my tongue

You, LORD, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before, 

And you lay your hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, 

Too lofty for me to attain. 

 

Where can I go from your Spirit? 

Where can I flee from your presence? 

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; 

If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, 

If I settle on the far side of the sea, 

Even there your hand will guide me, 

Your right hand will hold me fast. 

If I say, “surely the darkness will hide me

And the light become night around me,”

Even the darkness will not be dark to you; 

The night will sine like the day, 

For darkness is as light to you. 

 

For you created my inmost being; 

You knot me together in my mother’s womb. 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Your works are wonderful, 

I know that full well. 

My frame was not hidden from you 

When I was made in the secret place, 

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 

Your eyes saw my unformed body; 

All the days ordained for me were written in your book 

Before one of them came to be. 

 

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! 

How vast is the sum of them! 

Were I to count them, 

They would outnumber the grains of sand-

When I awake, I am still with you. 

 

 

Let that sink in today. You mean so much to God, that he would base his entire existence as Elohim, around the fact that he made a creation that he longs to be with. You, are the reason God chooses to be creator God. And he will not let you go!