7.25.20 - Hidden Treasures & Pearls; Who is God the Father?

This is the last of the Last Kingdom Parables in Matthew 13. They are very short but, as usual, they have great meaning. The OT reading is 1Kings 3-5,7-12, when God asks young Solomon to make a wish. Below all this, we begin tackling "Who is God the Father?"

Gospel: Matthew 13:44-46,51-52

Jesus said to his disciples:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.

“Do you understand all these things?”

They answered, “Yes.”

And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

Q: Why did the person who discovered the treasure in the field bury it again? Wouldn't most people who found a treasure just take it?

Q: Why did this person sell everything to buy the field?

Q: Why did the merchant sell everything he had to buy the one pearl? Even if it was of great value, what can he do with a pearl? He can't eat or wear it.

If the Apostles truly understood everything like they said, Jesus surely took care of that in his next statement.

Q: What is a "scribe who is instructed in the kingdom of heaven"?

Q: Why does a wise scribe bring out the old and the new? Old and new what?

Past, Present, Future

Q: We spoke last week of how the mind can travel into the past and future, but that the goal of this capability was to serve us in the present, which is the only reality. How well do you think people you know appreciate the present?

Q: If you were Satan, what would you try to convince humans to believe about the past, present, and future?

Q: In the Kingdom Parables, is Jesus focus on the past, present, or future?

God the Father

Side note: when God is referred to as He, that is simply customary biblical language, similar to how Man refers to mankind. God is not any gender because God is spiritual; nor is the Son/Logos or the Holy Spirit; nor are the angels. Gender is a physical requirement for the procreation of living, physical beings.

We have discussed who Jesus Christ the Son is: the Logos-Mind-Word of God, through whom the seen and unseen universe was made.

We have discussed who the Holy Spirit is: the Will and Love of the Father who imparts (breathes) Life and Grace.

Now it's time to discuss the Father, Yahweh (the "I AM"), the Author of existence and all its coetaneous spiritual and physical laws of nature.

Q: We have a good idea of what the physical laws of nature are, but what are the spiritual laws of nature? [Hint: physical laws govern the material world which is finite and entropic (everything dissipates over time or with use). Spiritual laws are infinite and increase with use.]

God, as the author of existence (or being), is technically not a being, either. Said differently, God is not a being in the sense of any other being, for all other beings must have their existence in, or from, something. All being has its existence in/from God.

One of the spiritual laws of nature is justice. Justice gets its existence, meaning, and functionality from God. In this sense, God is not so much just as He is justice. Love is another. God is love. Same for truth, etc.

God is not limited by time. He knows the past, present, and future as one reality. In time, we know a story (from a movie, book, or whatever) from beginning, to the middle, to the end; in logical sequence. God sees it all at the same time.

Q: Does the fact that God knows the future affect our free will?

A: Not at all. Why?

Q: God is both transcendent and immanent. What does this mean?

Q: In physics, God is the First Cause. What does this mean?

Last Question: Since God knows the future, He knew that humans would eventually rebel against Him and go on to cause more hatred and violence against themselves and the world than can almost be imagined. Yet, He still allowed us to come into existence anyway. Why? What could possibly have been worth all this trouble? Was He crazy?