A follow-up question then - Do you think it better to observe life, or to live it? In essence, is it better to be an observer on the periphery, or a participant with a purely subjective viewpoint of life? And which of these criteria does God fill (or does He come into a third category? (which I'd hope He does))?
I am sure the only way I can answer that, is to be completely sure of my answer, and here i want you to be completely sure of my response.
If I was brought before the Lord and given that question I would always choose to live life. I would never want to as you put it "be an observer on the periphery". Anyone who does I must say you are sadly deluded. yes it may seem interesting at first, but it gets lonely real quickly being on your own, watching others in friendship and love. And if I don't have friendships then I don't have love, because it requires two participants for love to exist.
I must clear up an issue here though "a purely subjective viewpoint" sounds to me as if you are only looking at one part of life. But the very meaning of living cannot be grouped into one class, one area, as it is all-encompassing. Imagine a diamond. In it's rough form it has a certain attractive quality, but once the jeweller has worked his skill on it, it is beautiful. Each facet, each side are all part of the diamond, but when they are alone they do not emphasise the diamond as much as when they are united. In the same way life cannot have one subjective viewpoint. It can however be the development of one soul in three areas: life, love and eternity.
Only when these three develop together can we begin to really understand and enjoy life.
Some people say "there is a wasted mind", when they see someone going against the law or not achieving their potential. True, but to me a wasted mind is also someone who spends their entire life seeking knowledge, or fitness or spiritual enlightenment, but never seeks friendship or love. That is a wasted life, sure intelligence is great, but physical experiences and memories of great times are surely just as good.
Forgive me if I seemed to drift off topic, but here is the clinch and the answer to your question.
God created man, just as men can create statues. Jesus was begotten by God not created, just as children are begotten of men. Follow this through and we can see that while a statue is a very good representation of a man, it can never be a man. Thus as humanity is created in God's image (like the statue) it can never be God because it was made without something and with an expiry date (i may elaborate on this point later, but it is off topic here). God isn't. God exists in eternity, we don't; so God is able to look beyond time and situations because that's where he is. he is also not restricted by emotions or paths of thought, since he knows all things and thus is able to create them.
If you imagine a line on a paper to represent your life, God is the paper. He is all around but he is also what your life in written on, so not only does he observe from the periphery, but he is also deeply involved in the moments of life. This is because God is within all of us. He inhabits our bodies, like our souls do, but completely surrounding. So although God is able to view from the periphery, he is also intrinsically involved in our day to day lives, because a part of him is part of us. i can only help thinking that this sounds degrading to the infinity of God, but it is the best explanation i can convey.
And so the third category is created. Where God sees all of time, and where he understands every decision he makes and the effects, and the only reason he chooses to do them is because of his Love for us. He has seen every moment of your life and he ha heard every prayer. He has blessed us where he sees fit and has advised us where he knows best. Every deal he has entered he knows the outcome, and the only thing he seeks to gain is our love our praise, and that we can know him more.
The rest he leaves to us. That is why we have freewill, choice. So we can see God's Love and come to understand that what he gave is beyond our repayment. But he only wants our love in return, because he Loves us. This seems logical to me on the basis, if you spend time making something, you put effort into it, you put love into it, you come to cherish it. It becomes special. Like that table you made, or that picture you painted. It will always be special to you no matter what people think, because to you it is more than a table or a picture, it represents a success in your life, or it captures a feeling that you feel every time you look at it. We are the same to God. And that is why he is able to give everything for us to live in eternity with him. Because he loves us, and is delighted every time we choose to stand up and fight "the good fight". Because he believes in us, just as we believe in him.
I hope this answers your question at least in part. And i hope you can see where i am coming from in each part. I would delight in further questions, whenever you feel you need ask.
Thank you very much for this reply. It is possibly the most eloquent and well-thought-out description of God I have come across. To just clear up a small point of contention, I think you misunderstood part of my question. When I mentioned a subjective viewpoint, I was not referring to the existence of a single subjective viewpoint of life, but the fact that, being mere mortals not gifted with God's omniscience, any viewpoint we have on any situation or topic must necessarily be fallible and subjective, because we can never see the full picture. But thank you very much for this post. Of all your posts, I find this the best and most insightful.
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