God Is Completely What We Are Partially

When we speak of “a person” we mean one who is a center of consciousness.  One “who is able to be aware, who is able to have purposes, who is able to know and to care.” I am aware.  I have purposes.  I am able to know and to care.  I am therefore a person.  If you are conscious, aware, have purposes and are able to know and to care, you are a person.  

Elton Trueblood wrote, “God may be more than a Person and probably is, though we do not really know what that means, but unless God is at least as personal as we are (aware, having purposes, one who knows and cares) God would be inferior to us.”  Jesus’ message was good news and a big part of that good news was that “God is completely what we are partially.” God is personal, not limited as we are limited, but marked by complete love, respect for persons, and complete consciousness of purpose.  God is aware of me.  God has a purpose for me.  God knows me.  And God cares for me.  But God is also aware of you and every other person.  God has a purpose for you and every other person.  God knows you and every other person.  God cares for you and for every other person.  God is aware, knows and cares not just for me, you and others, but even notices the sparrow falling from the nest.  With the psalmist I confess that to know this is beyond my ability to understand or to grasp it, but I do experience it from time to time.  

You have examined me (and my neighbor, my brother, my sister, my nation and every other nation). You know me.  You know me when I am alone, you know me when I am with others.  You know my thoughts.  You walk alongside me wherever I go.  You are familiar with all my ways.  You know every word I speak before I say it. You are behind me; you are ahead of me, and you have your hand upon me.  To know this is a wonderful thing.  It is beyond my ability to understand it or to grasp it.

Where can I go to escape your spirit, where can I flee from your presence?

If I climb up to heaven, you are there;

If I make my bed in hell, you are there.

If I travel to the limits of the east,

Or dwell at the bounds of the western sea,

Even there your hand will be guiding me,

You will be with me and my brother, my sister, my enemy, my neighbor, my nation and every other nation. (Psalm 139).

God is completely what we are partially.

"Now we see only puzzling reflections in a mirror...
My knowledge now is partial; then it will be whole,
like God's knowledge of me..."