Theologians have made various arguments for the existence of God by arguing that since every effect is the result of a cause, and the existence of the universe is an effect, therefore a cause for the universe must exist. Moreover, since an infinite series of causes cannot be traversed to produce a present effect, there must be a first or beginning cause for the existence of the universe, and that cause is God.
While this may be a sound argument, the Hebrew Scriptures teach that the “first cause” of all that exists is not some sort of mechanistic or abstract power that sets the universe in motion, but on the contrary is a personal God who creates, sustains and providentially guides everything that exists. The Torah begins by revealing God as a “talking Intelligence” that creates all things by the agency of his verbal expression, or by means of his word. The first recorded word of God is yehi ohr, “let there be light” (Gen. 1:3). God speaks; he sees; he imagines, designs, orders, and executes his will in building the “house” (בּ) of the universe…
Torah teaches that God, the infinite and all-powerful Creator of reality, expresses himself as Person with a character that can be known… God is the great “I AM” (i.e., ehyeh: אהיה) who is the Source and origin of all that is real (Exod. 3:14-15). As I mentioned the other day, personhood is the essential feature of reality itself, and indeed, the structure of the “I” that constitutes the person is grounded in the Divine “I” that creates everything yesh me’ayin, “out of nothing.” The LORD (יהוה) is alone the transcendent and unsurpassed Creator of all things, and there are no other so-called gods besides Him (Deut. 32:39; Isa. 45:21-22).
Indeed God created people made in his “image” and his “likeness” for the very purpose that they would personally know Him and understand their special place within creation. The irreducibility of the self, the intuitions of logic, the ability to use language, the sentiments of value and beauty, and the inner witness of conscience, enable human beings to relate to God and understand truth. Therefore by virtue of creation people are endowed with the knowledge of God’s unsurpassing power and glory as well as the duty to act in accordance with his moral will (Psalm 19:1-2; Rom. 1:20). And while God created each of us individually, each individual is given life to be a member of the family of God, and that implies responsibilities to regard the sanctity of life and to respect the sanctity of others.
Hebrew Lesson:
So the language used in the Torah, the intuitions of logic and conscience, and the various messages delivered in the Name of God by the Hebrew prophets all reveal the personal character of the Creator before whom we owe our very existence. God is revealed not only as our Creator but also as our Lawgiver and moral authority. We have a moral and spiritual duty to walk in holiness and to honor God in our daily lives. Unfortunately we have turned away from God’s authority and idolatrously elevated ourselves to define good and evil. Our rebellion has caused a separation in our relationship with God which has resulted in the lethal condition called “spiritual death.” This is the essential problem of human existence, for unless we find healing from our spiritual condition we will abide in death eternally.
The Hebrew prophets foretold of a great mystery wherein the Creator God would come to be “with us” (עִמָּנוּ אֵל), not in some angelic form, but as a human being who would save us by giving us eternal life (Isa. 9:6). The incarnation of God as a man was the revelation of the Person “behind the curtain,” so to speak, who stepped out to show Himself to us (John 1:1-5; 14). God chose to “empty himself” of heavenly glory and to be born as “one of us” so that we could know God’s heart and be healed from our exile from his love. The Absolute Paradox is that the infinite and transcendent One became accessible within finitude, intimately knowable and vulnerable — even unto death. The divine “I am” (א) became a “sign” (ת) to all of creation, the “Direct Object” (את) of all of reality. This is why we celebrate the new covenant by remembering the incarnation: “This is my body… this is my blood” (Luke 22:19-20).
So God became a man to heal us from the lethal condition of spiritual death and to restore the original fellowship he desired when he created us.. The Lord came to us to bring us back to himself, that is, to bring us back to the honored place of being his beloved…
Our healing from sin required a tremendous sacrifice, however, and therefore Yeshua came to offer up his life in exchange for our own. He was born to die as the great “lamb of God” for his people. The great drama of the cross revealed God’s victory over sin and death. His shed blood, the just for the unjust, overruled the power of the curse and forever healed us from separation from God’s heart. “Christ crucified” is the ultimate expression of the love of God.
The gospel message, then, is the greatest love story of all, wherein God’s irrepressible love for his beloved so moved his heart that he gave up everything to go and find her, and in finding her he fought to the death to save her from perdition… Unlike philosophy or other religions that abstractly talk about God’s love, the passion of God for us is concretely demonstrated in the sacrificial life and death of Yeshua. The crucifixion of the Lord alone reveals that we are truly accepted and loved – despite our sin and our unacceptability; it is the most holy covenant, written in blood, that God has come to us to bring us back to himself – and therefore we can know ourselves as his beloved people… Amen!
Hebrew Lesson:
