I was recently reminded of the traditional theological view that God has no needs of any kind. The question posed was: does God need us? Good question. It touches on the nature of God and the nature of our relationship with God. I'll jump straight to the point: It seems to me that if God truly doesn't "need" anything, then the logical innevitable extension of this for us--is nihilism. Because ultimately, essentially, we are unnecessary, expendible, and mere accessories to ultimate reality. Any meaning we can possibly have is without foundation or ground.
But this idea of God needing, or not needing, also seems to presuppose God as a "being" -- as someone or something separate from things that God may or may not need. But this is where traditional Christian theology/spirituality seems to confuse our idea and experience of "being" with God's. The difference is that God is not separate or limited from anything. If so, God would be limited in knowledge, in control or in some form of contact. The "omni" of omnipresent, ominscient, omnipotent wouldn't be so omni. Nothing exists outside of, or separate from, God.
No. If God has no needs it's not because God is isolated, beyond everything, self-contained and self-satisfied. (God is not an old-man in the sky...). Rather, God has no needs because the question is of an entirely wrong category and premise.
God has no need because everything is (already) IN God!
Now if we define "need" as related to a real and true lack (or sense of lack), then God has no need(s) because by definition God IS FULLNESS. Numbers 14:21 "The Lord replied, ...as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth,..." and Ephesians 1:23 "the fullness of Him [God] who fills everything in every way."
God is love, and perfect love is said to cast out fear. Think about it. Fear is ultimately a fear of loss (loss of life, loss of possessions, loss of security, loss of control or loss of esteem). And how does love cast fear out? By filling!
So it's not just that everything is within God but that God fills everything. Or, if this panENtheism http://www.theopedia.com/Panentheism is making you uncomfortable, we can say "within God's sphere"). God fills everything. And one of the things God fills, is us.
Ephesians 5:18 "...be filled (literally: be continually filled) with the spirit." Not a one time event and also not a static reality because Spirit, like life, is dynamic, moving, changing, transforming... and filling. Overflowing.
And even though this spirit, God, is mysterious and in many ways hidden, like the wind, we only know of this God--we only know this God--via, through, in and because of... material reality. We only know of wind because we feel it on our skin, we see it move physical branches and tumbleweed. Think about it: you don't experience, you haven't ever experienced, and you cannot experience Spirit except through and in the physical realm--this body, these emotion, this mind, this heart, these relationships between people, between beings, between you and the world... the cosmos. This says something about the relationship of things, the structure of reality, the value of physicality. The idea of spirit and matter being two separate realities is non-sensical and totally unverifiable.
And here's the thing: If your faith is rooted in any sort of dualism then you can expect that your seeking God will always and forever be a struggle, an uphill battle, a never-ending quest because you are trying to experience or know God in a way that God is not. In a sense, you are a fish looking for water.
But this idea of God needing, or not needing, also seems to presuppose God as a "being" -- as someone or something separate from things that God may or may not need. But this is where traditional Christian theology/spirituality seems to confuse our idea and experience of "being" with God's. The difference is that God is not separate or limited from anything. If so, God would be limited in knowledge, in control or in some form of contact. The "omni" of omnipresent, ominscient, omnipotent wouldn't be so omni. Nothing exists outside of, or separate from, God.
No. If God has no needs it's not because God is isolated, beyond everything, self-contained and self-satisfied. (God is not an old-man in the sky...). Rather, God has no needs because the question is of an entirely wrong category and premise.
God has no need because everything is (already) IN God!
Now if we define "need" as related to a real and true lack (or sense of lack), then God has no need(s) because by definition God IS FULLNESS. Numbers 14:21 "The Lord replied, ...as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth,..." and Ephesians 1:23 "the fullness of Him [God] who fills everything in every way."
God is love, and perfect love is said to cast out fear. Think about it. Fear is ultimately a fear of loss (loss of life, loss of possessions, loss of security, loss of control or loss of esteem). And how does love cast fear out? By filling!
So it's not just that everything is within God but that God fills everything. Or, if this panENtheism http://www.theopedia.com/Panentheism is making you uncomfortable, we can say "within God's sphere"). God fills everything. And one of the things God fills, is us.
Ephesians 5:18 "...be filled (literally: be continually filled) with the spirit." Not a one time event and also not a static reality because Spirit, like life, is dynamic, moving, changing, transforming... and filling. Overflowing.
And even though this spirit, God, is mysterious and in many ways hidden, like the wind, we only know of this God--we only know this God--via, through, in and because of... material reality. We only know of wind because we feel it on our skin, we see it move physical branches and tumbleweed. Think about it: you don't experience, you haven't ever experienced, and you cannot experience Spirit except through and in the physical realm--this body, these emotion, this mind, this heart, these relationships between people, between beings, between you and the world... the cosmos. This says something about the relationship of things, the structure of reality, the value of physicality. The idea of spirit and matter being two separate realities is non-sensical and totally unverifiable.
And here's the thing: If your faith is rooted in any sort of dualism then you can expect that your seeking God will always and forever be a struggle, an uphill battle, a never-ending quest because you are trying to experience or know God in a way that God is not. In a sense, you are a fish looking for water.
