What is the Most Important Thing in God's Creation?

[Vine Abider]

8 hours ago, Marilyn C said:

Hi VA,

Yes, God shed His precious blood to purchase - those who would be in the body of Christ, and also for Israel and the nations.

God is NOT partial. He does not have favorites. 

We are not the center of God`s purposes, Jesus is. And His shed blood is the MEANS  to God`s purposes - that His Son be pre-eminent over the Body of Christ, Israel and the nations. 

Let us lift our vision higher, (than us).

Amen sister.  Without Christ we are nothing.  And without us, He has no children.

And Christ will be preeminent in us and through us, as we express the unseeable God's image and likeness to the universe.

[Dennis1209]

8 hours ago, Marilyn C said:

God is NOT partial. He does not have favorites. 

Hi Marilyn,

John 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

Hebrews 11:1-40 Hall of Fame.

I know I am preaching to the choir here, but there are various Greek words for love with different meanings (agape -  agapaō,, phileō – philia -  philostorgos – Philadelphia, erσs).

I wholeheartedly agree that God is impartial, but does God love some more than others?

As a parent, I always strived to love my children equally, not showing partiality or favoritism, which is tricky, especially in a father-daughter relationship. There seems to be something special about a daughter(s). Is there such a thing as loving your children differently, in different ways, and for various reasons? I love my bride for other reasons and ways, and we are to be one.

Do you suppose the Lord loved King David and John, as mentioned above, differently?

There is an interesting exchange of Greek word meanings and a lesson for love between Jesus and Peter in John 21:15-17, which is too lengthy to delve into.

[Edward429451]

36 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

I wholeheartedly agree that God is impartial, but does God love some more than others?

As a parent, I always strived to love my children equally, not showing partiality or favoritism, which is tricky, especially in a father-daughter relationship. There seems to be something special about a daughter(s). Is there such a thing as loving your children differently, in different ways, and for various reasons? I love my bride for other reasons and ways, and we are to be one.

That's a darn good question. and have taken of that into consideration before and did quite a bit of pondering on it.  I think that sometimes it's good to look at the world to see what's similar that we may draw potential conclusions from that. Sort of like types and shadows. I think God gave man a Woman and the Marriage covenant as a dry run for our relationship with the Lord! 

 

So the question is does God love some more than others?  God's word says no, God is no respecter of persons. But God's word also seems to say that God hated Esau and loved Jacob, so there's that...??

I am a Parent too and that is a great place to look to to add understanding, lol. I have two sons and I always strived to love them equally also. If I wanted to buy one son a new gun, I had to buy two! and that's ok because why would I cut one out? Makes no sense.  I love them both. 

Nevertheless, the kids sort of carve their own niche over time and what I see in everyone's family is that (Not spoken about in front of the kids),  there's always a good kid and a bad kid. One gets more achievements one gets in more trouble than the other and so forth. That being truth, does not mean that you dont love the bad kid, more like, the good one is preferred? Along those lines. And much of it has to do with the actions of the kids themselves. Yes one kid got a scholarship that the bed kid did not. That's life, he achieved that and the other was busy out getting in trouble instead, not my fault, lol. Right? 

 

That's what is being conveyed in the story where it is written that God loved Jacob and hated Esau. That has to be a bad translation. I think it would read more accurately to say  He preferred Jacob and Esau He did not. That's my best conclusion that still allows the, God is no respecter of persons.

I'm not sure if a kid can do something so bad that the parent loves them less.  I've never felt that and my kids have come against me several times, and cost me money. But I do think it is possible that a kid can do so well towards a parent that the parent grows to love them even more than before. This seems clear and would be because the kid has grown into something good. Or did somethings that are selfless or spectacular show of humanity and having a heart. 

Jacob did that so maybe God grew to love Him more than Esau. Esau liked playing cave man instead of staying home reading books. Esau loved the outdoors and liked to hunt animals and stuff, and I like those things too so I can relate. But there were times when I was a kid (the kid in me doesnt want to admit this, lol) that I skipped school to stay home and read my choice of book(s). (I never heard of anyone doing that before!) But I have always seen that the education system is garbage and isnt teaching the kids anything real good. I didnt even believe them when they tried to teach us that we came from primordial soup...a mud puddle. (So the joke to friends became:) Hey there's your Mom! and point to a mud puddle! But (being able to) live off the land is useful and fun with proper preparation, but feeding the kids brain in different ways makes a more well rounded capability base for the kids and by the grace of God I learned this on my own when I was just a kid. 

Sorry I started drifting. So Jacob was the good kid so God preferred him over his brother but does still love his brother. But the answer is yes God does love some more than others but that would be because of the individual's actions. Which is how David grew to become a man after God's own heart. He obeyed and brought glory and honor to the Lord. 

[other one]

19 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

What entity, in Acts 20:28, does it say God shed His blood to purchase?

Me

[Vine Abider]

1 hour ago, other one said:

Me

Actually "ekklesia" - which is all of us in Christ.

"The ekklesia (Greek) of God which He purchased with His own blood."  Acts 20:28

[Marilyn C]

10 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

Amen sister.  Without Christ we are nothing.  And without us, He has no children.

And Christ will be preeminent in us and through us, as we express the unseeable God's image and likeness to the universe.

Hi VA,

So glad we agree that the Lord is pre-eminent. So let us rephrase this - `And without us, He has no children.` I believe it glorifies the Lord this way - `And without the Lord we are not sons of God.` 

Then again this part `without us He has no children.` We need to remember the Old Testament saints, the nation of Israel which the Lord will restore. and those of the nations throughout the centuries and the great multitude that no one can count, plus those of the nations in the millennium that turn to God. 

Quite a number there.

[Marilyn C]

10 hours ago, Dennis1209 said:

Hi Marilyn,

John 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

Hebrews 11:1-40 Hall of Fame.

I know I am preaching to the choir here, but there are various Greek words for love with different meanings (agape -  agapaō,, phileō – philia -  philostorgos – Philadelphia, erσs).

I wholeheartedly agree that God is impartial, but does God love some more than others?

As a parent, I always strived to love my children equally, not showing partiality or favoritism, which is tricky, especially in a father-daughter relationship. There seems to be something special about a daughter(s). Is there such a thing as loving your children differently, in different ways, and for various reasons? I love my bride for other reasons and ways, and we are to be one.

Do you suppose the Lord loved King David and John, as mentioned above, differently?

There is an interesting exchange of Greek word meanings and a lesson for love between Jesus and Peter in John 21:15-17, which is too lengthy to delve into.

Hi Dennis,

Good thoughts there. Yes, the Greek has four meanings for the word love whereas we use is so loosely for anything. Good point.

Good that we agree that the Lord is impartial. So, the matter of those who come close to the Lord. People choose how close they are to the Lord, and we know some in God`s word are shown to be `after His heart, laying on His breast.` They chose the better part.

However, God still loves all His children the same, but those who come close to the Lord are able to receive more from Him, - His character, His thoughts, His authority etc. He is able to trust them with His heart.

[Guest maddy07]

I’d say mankind. God still knowing that some would never come to Him and would reject Him still handcrafted us. Not only that, we are such detailed and intelligent creatures that every part of us is proof of a creator. It even says that we were made in HIS image!!!

[Vine Abider]

1 hour ago, Marilyn C said:

Hi VA,

So glad we agree that the Lord is pre-eminent. So let us rephrase this - `And without us, He has no children.` I believe it glorifies the Lord this way - `And without the Lord we are not sons of God.` 

Then again this part `without us He has no children.` We need to remember the Old Testament saints, the nation of Israel which the Lord will restore. and those of the nations throughout the centuries and the great multitude that no one can count, plus those of the nations in the millennium that turn to God. 

Quite a number there.

You're always with an interesting perspective sister . . .  and so great a salvation certainly has multifarious ways to view and express it!

[Marilyn C]

41 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

You're always with an interesting perspective sister . . .  and so great a salvation certainly has multifarious ways to view and express it!

Thank you VA. And you are always a gentleman, so gracious and kind. An example to all.