I have always wrestled with who and what God is, as I still do now. But I have come to a point where my understanding of God aligns with how I experience God. I am not claiming a way to know God - he is beyond my ability to systemize. Regardless, I strive to seek God as best as I can and share with you my seeking.
From an individual human point of view, what one values the highest is their god. That has been the wrestle of humankind for a very long time - what should be valued the highest, what is our god? The battle of values, of gods, has resulted in the revelation of the god of gods in scripture. The gods that are false are temporal. The true god, God, is eternal - embodying value(s) that withstand time, that are everlasting, infinite, transcendent. With eternity and my human perspective in mind, I will discuss God in three aspects: object, relation, and action.
In my human reality, there is the domain of what I do not know (infinite), and the domain of what I do know (finite).
The proper object to value the highest is what I do not know, because it is eternal. It increases the domain of what I do know, so my growth is continuous - the unknown keeps on giving (by nature it is love, but I will not address this in this article). Valuing what I do know as the highest is temporal and will therefore inevitably lead to death. If I value only that which I know, ultimately, there is no growth.
Other objects can be considered. Let’s take power as an example. Power can also be eternal. The problem is if power is the highest value, above the unknown, once power is within the domain of what I know, it becomes temporal and finite. The eternal aspect of power is in the unknown potential. So for power to be eternal, it must be valued below the unknown.
So for me to live towards eternity, I must value the unknown as the highest object.
Establishing that God is the unknown, there is a problem: how do I know what to aim for? With power, it’s easy to understand how I can aim for more power, but can I aim for more unknown? Is it just sitting back and let God do his thing?
The aim is important because being aimless in life leads to hell, which I think is the primary factor for poor mental health, but I will not tackle this claim in this post (but feel free to dispute it).
As I see it, the solution is that through understanding that God is the unknown, we have something to relate to. And in the relating is where I can find my aim: what is the highest way to relate? As revealed so clearly through Jesus Christ, it is love, which also fulfills the criteria of eternity because love builds up ad infinitum.
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”
1 John 4:9 ESV
But love of the finite is still finite. The love of God (the unknown) maintains eternity.
In every moment, as the unknown reveals itself to become known, there are two ways to respond (I will tackle why I think there’s only two ways to respond in another post): with love (acknowledgement to dying for), or with destruction (indifference to killing). Responding with destruction is valuing what I know as the highest, which leads to death. Responding with love is valuing what I do not know as the highest.
So for me to live towards eternity, I must value love as the highest relation, with the unknown as the highest object.
Now that we have the object and aim, a third question arises that pertains to practicality: how do we move forward in our aim? How do we love?
“But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that what he has done has been accomplished in God.”
John 3:21
I think scripture has revealed how we love: we live in truth. It is to live in a way where my own reality is communicated clearly - my motives, my aims, my vulnerabilities - so that I can keep growing by being corrected where I am mistaken, and encouraged where I am righteous. It is faith in being vulnerable and accepting what God wills with gratitude.
An example for living in truth: if there is some enmity between myself and a friend, I should not force myself to keep being friendly. It is to gracefully tell the friend that I have enmity towards him/her with the hopes of having the issue resolved, but with the possibility of being rejected. This takes faith, but allows God to work in the situation.
Imagine if we all had the strength to live in truth - what would the world look like?
So for me to live towards eternity, I must value living in truth as the highest action, because it is demanded by valuing love as the highest relation, with the unknown as the highest object.
Glory to God in the highest.
Some extra thoughts: