In my previous posts, I considered whether God could be rightly called selfish, and the answer was yes; God's focus in always on Himself, because He is the highest and greatest force in the universe. Because He is infinite and perfect in all His attributes, God has every right to feel superior to anything and everything else that exists, because nothing else can equal or surpass Him. In fact, God’s supremacy almost seems to conflict with His humility; if anything, God’s humility comes from a false sense of inferiority—or does it?
All this talk of God's power and limitlessness has so far been unbalanced. Let me take some time to balance it out. God is not only a God of infinite highness (Is. 55:8-9); He is also a humble God. That is, even though He is infinitely higher than His creation, God is willing to lower Himself to its level and work within it and even serve it. This is because of God's selflessness; as the most morally perfect and righteous and holy being in the universe, God is completely selfless--He is focused on the needs of others, rather than His needs. Now while this might seem to be at odds with the entire point of this series (God is selfish), bear with me for just a moment.
In addition to being a holy God (Lev. 11:44-45; 1 Sam. 2:2), a God of justice (Ps. 50:6; Is. 30:18) and wrath (Rom. 1:18, 9:22) and integrity, God is also a God of love (1 John 4:8, 16). The nature of God is that because of His love, He must love another. That need was fulfilled in eternity past through union and fellowship with the members of the Trinity. After creation, God intended for man to join Him in that perfect community with the Trinity (Gen. 3:8). Thus, because God is selfless, He is focused on us, and He wants to give us the best and greatest thing to give in the universe. However, because God is both infinitely higher than His creation and infinitely perfect, the best thing He could give us is actually Himself!
Therefore, in order to give us what we need most, God calls attention to Himself as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). There is no god other than God; He is the only one we've got. God can not only demand our love and respect and fear and obedience because He is the one most deserving of it; He can also ask for it because He knows that that is what we most need. We must taste and see the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8)! God is not only "selfish" because He is the highest and greatest being in the universe, but also because He is the most filling and fulfilling being in the universe, and He is that way because He is the Most High!
I hope that this series of posts has satisfactorily explored and explained the question, Is God Selfish?However, there is always something more to be learned, and I hope these posts have encouraged you to use this question as a starting point for more study in God's Word.
All this talk of God's power and limitlessness has so far been unbalanced. Let me take some time to balance it out. God is not only a God of infinite highness (Is. 55:8-9); He is also a humble God. That is, even though He is infinitely higher than His creation, God is willing to lower Himself to its level and work within it and even serve it. This is because of God's selflessness; as the most morally perfect and righteous and holy being in the universe, God is completely selfless--He is focused on the needs of others, rather than His needs. Now while this might seem to be at odds with the entire point of this series (God is selfish), bear with me for just a moment.
In addition to being a holy God (Lev. 11:44-45; 1 Sam. 2:2), a God of justice (Ps. 50:6; Is. 30:18) and wrath (Rom. 1:18, 9:22) and integrity, God is also a God of love (1 John 4:8, 16). The nature of God is that because of His love, He must love another. That need was fulfilled in eternity past through union and fellowship with the members of the Trinity. After creation, God intended for man to join Him in that perfect community with the Trinity (Gen. 3:8). Thus, because God is selfless, He is focused on us, and He wants to give us the best and greatest thing to give in the universe. However, because God is both infinitely higher than His creation and infinitely perfect, the best thing He could give us is actually Himself!
Therefore, in order to give us what we need most, God calls attention to Himself as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). There is no god other than God; He is the only one we've got. God can not only demand our love and respect and fear and obedience because He is the one most deserving of it; He can also ask for it because He knows that that is what we most need. We must taste and see the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8)! God is not only "selfish" because He is the highest and greatest being in the universe, but also because He is the most filling and fulfilling being in the universe, and He is that way because He is the Most High!
I hope that this series of posts has satisfactorily explored and explained the question, Is God Selfish?However, there is always something more to be learned, and I hope these posts have encouraged you to use this question as a starting point for more study in God's Word.
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