Reddit, String Theory, and Why We Were Created

I have an issue. Whenever I find something funny, exciting, or awesome, I must share it with someone. The typical recipient of all of this is my wife. Many times she does not understand why she must stop whatever she is doing to watch this movie trailer, this youtube video, read this post on Reddit, or whatever else has created joy and laughter within me. I truly can't help it. I have an overwhelming desire to share the things that bring me joy with others. This applies to food, movies, music, family members, board games, even spiritual matters such as discernments, victories, and even just scripture.

But what if God is this way as well.

I am currently reading through a devotional that will apply various aspects of cultural (theology, history, philosophy, science, literature, arts, and contemporary culture) into a seeking of truth and God. The very first devotional revolves around the idea of string theory, creation, and a Christian theory of everything. There were two things that really stuck out to me from this devotion.

First why are we created. This has always been a struggle for me but today I believe God has shown me one possible answer. This idea is commonly used as a source of conflict between beliefs. Many ask how God can love us when He was so vain as to create people just to worship Him. But what if this was not His reason for creation. We know that God, the Holy Spirit, and the Son create an eternal community. We also know that God delights within this community and within Himself. Sam Storms, the author of the devotion puts it best. " The Father rejoices in the beauty of the Son and the Spirit, and the Son revels in the beauty of the Spirit and the Father, and the Spirit delights in that of the Father and the Son. God is his own fan club." Now back to my problem. What if God is like me? Or rather, what if I am like God? What if this innate desire to share my joy and the source of my joy with others is something He experiences? I think He does and I think that is why we were created. Sam Storms confirms this thought and writes it beautifully. "God created us out of this eternal community, this overflow of mutual love, delight, and admiration, so that we might joyfully share in it, to God's eternal glory. God doesn't simply think about himself or talk to himself. He enjoys himself! He celebrates with infinite and eternal intensity the beauty of who he is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we've been created to join the party."

This idea can revolutionize how we live. If we begin to realize why we were created, the way we live our life and our priorities will be viewed through this lens.

My second response also flows out of a struggle within myself. How do we enjoy God? The idea of finding joy within God has been difficult for me these past few weeks, months, and maybe even years. But I think God is finally showing me the beginning of finding my way into His joy. One of the best places in scripture for this subject is Psalm 16. This Psalm is one of six Psalms known as a Michtam, what we have translated to mean a Golden Psalm. The odd thing is that all of the other Golden Psalms are sequential, Psalms 56-60. This one stands alone. The last three verses of this Psalm says:

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The first thing I noticed is that we need to go back and see what the therefore is referring to so we can see why the writer's heart is glad. In the previous verses, the writer says he will bless the Lord and that he always sets the Lord before himself. These two things create hope within us. Through this hope our heart is glad. Then we can skip ahead to verse 11 where we can begin to chip away at the idea of enjoying God. Verse 11 explains that in God's presence is the fullness of joy. So one way to enjoy God is to be in His presence. This creates a circle that we must attempt to enter, in one of two ways. We can either experience God's joy and thus be thrust into His presence or we can be in God's presence and then experience God's joy. I think its also vital to point out the idea of God's presence in light of community. Jesus said that where two or more are gathered, He is in our midst. This means through community with other believers, we can very easily enjoy God. We should be quick to apply this to our ideas of the institutional Church. This should be one of reasons we fellowship with others and one of the reasons why we attend a congregation. Life grows stale without joy and through community with other believers we can enter into God's joy and God's presence. So maybe if we want to take time to enjoy God, one of the best ways is to spend time with those who also gather in His name and desire to enjoy Him as well.