THE BLESSING OF THE LORD !

THE BLESSING OF THE LORD ! A few years ago, I was studying about whether and came across the turn "absolute zero". That's the term used to describe conditions when there is no heat present whatsoever. It absolute zero, cold is all there is. It's as cold as cold can't get. Nothing could be colder because absolute zero is 100% cold. If you could measure it on a thermometer, it would be more than 450° below zero. When I read about absolute zero, it occurred to me that God is "absolute good." He is as good as good can be. He is absolute good, absolutely love, absolute compassion, absolute mercy, kindness and long-suffering. His goodness is so all-consuming that bad cannot exist in His presence. That's the reason He had to hide Moses in a cliff behind a shield of rock when He let His goodness pass before Moses. Through a great prophet of God, Moses was still a fallen man, contaminated (as all have been since Adam) with sin. If God had passed his That goodness in front of Moses without protecting him, God's absolute goodness would have heard of the bad in Moses, and he would have made an early exit from the earth. But God didn't let that happen. He did what was necessary to reveal Himself to Moses while at the same time protecting him. His goodness made a way.THERE'S GOOD NEW IN THE FIRST VERSE OF THE BIBLE: Now, let's go again at (Genesis 1:1 ) "In the beginning God created the heaven and earth." Keep in mind what we've just seen about who God is, we could also read the verse this way: in the beginning, Love created heaven and earth. Or, in the beginning, Compassion created heaven and earth. Or, in the beginning, Goodness created heaven and earth. To strike our thinking with maximum impact, we could put them all together and say, In the beginning the God who is absolute Love, Compassion And Goodness created heaven and earth. We haven't gotten past the first verse of the Bible and we're already seeing good new ! We've already learned that Compassion made the universe and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if Compassion is behind Creation, then Compassion is the reason for Creation. We suddenly know not only that God created all things, we know why. He did it because He needed someone to love. If you know anything about real compassion, you know that's the truth. Compassion can't be satisfied with selfish endeavors. It needs someone to fellowship with, give to and BLESS. Compassion needs someone on whom it can pour out its goodness. Compassion needs a family. That fact gives us a whole new perspective on (Genesis 1:1). It lets us know that the God of Love is about to create something for the purpose of love. He isn't just making a universe, He is planning a family on whom He can lavish His goodness, and preparing a place for that family to live. God didn't design the universe just for His own enjoyment. He already has a fine dwelling place of His own called heaven. He wanted to build a place for His children that was as wonderful and glorious as His own. He wanted a place where He could visit them, and where He could eventually go and live with them. So he decided to build one. How Did He begin ? Verse 3 tells us: "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." God set things in motion with His Word. The New Testament says it this way: "In the Beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God, and The Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:1-3). Read those verses again, making the scriptural substitutions we made before and you'll see in them, as we saw in (Genesis 1:1), thrilling evidence of what God had in mind at Creation. In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with Compassion, and The Word was Compassion. . . All things were made by Compassion; and without Compassion Was not anything made that was made. . . And Compassion said. . . Love said. . . Goodness said. . . Light be ! Think of it: Love's Word created the universe ! The earth, the heavens and everything in them were created by Love, with love, for the purpose of love. (That revelation alone wipes out a lot of the lies religion has sold us.) In a More Literal Way, God built His family a home out of His own love. He brought forth out of His own essence and glory, a place that would reflect His all consuming desire to BLESS that family and surround them with goodness. And He did it by saying , Light be ! "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." (Psalms 23:6).