by László Balogh

I actually didn’t believe in the existence of God till I was 17 years old. But somehow I always had a God-picture in me. I don’t know where I got it from, but I imagined, that if there is a God, He must be the “best and most and top of everything”. I don’t know if this is normal and everyone is like that, but that’s how it was for me. I think as people grow up and see, hear and experience things, that’s when this God-picture gets twisted somehow. We don’t understand why things are not the “best and most and top of everything”. I might get to touch on that in this article, but I wanted to start somewhere else.

It’s not so easy to define God by any means. Originally there should be nothing wrong with it, yet using Christian terms turned into a hindrance in most people’s minds in understanding God and godly principles. Christianity is actually quite logical if you can move your blockage out of the way. It sometimes helps if we look at the definition of words. It is through words we understand things after all. So, what does it mean that God is the best of everything? I think we all understand what best is, but just for the sake of it, let’s pull out a dictionary definition: it’s “…of the most excellent sort; surpassing all others”. One way to understand God is through His attributes. One of these attributes is love. So if God does everything the best, then He is able to love the most. God is also all-knowing; He’s the most intelligent. We could go on and on with these attributes, but I think you’re getting the point.

If we look at the world, we see that things are not the best. There seems to be something that is always trying to ruin and destroy this best. We somehow always have to fix something that’s broken. God didn’t abandon this world, He actually cares very much, even though it may not seem like it to most people. The Bible says He wants us to “be partakers of the divine nature”. It means He actually wants us to be like Him. He wants to make us the best. He wants us to be “of the most excellent sort, surpassing all others”. He also wants the world to be the best. The most fruitful Earth, the cleanest air, the safest sunshine, the purest water, the nicest weather. For you to have the most optimal living conditions, the friendliest neighbors, the most loving family, the most just government, the fairest economy. God’s nature is Divine, He cannot do any less than that “of the most excellent sort, surpassing all others”. He cannot possibly end up with anything that is not “surpassing all others”.

To reach this wonderful goal, He decided to share His divine nature with us. He’d like His people to be “of the most excellent sort”. The above described best world conditions can only be reached by the most excellent intentions. Good intentions will not do, only the most excellent ones will.
I think what people take a lot of offence in is when Christians call them sinners. Sure enough, it sounds bad, I admit. I’m not saying that there is no such thing as sin, but I would like to clarify one important thing. The original Greek word used in the Bible for sin is “to miss” or “missing”, in the meaning of “missing the mark”, or “falling short”. God’s heart is not to put us down and call everybody a wretched miserable sinner at all! He just wants to draw attention to the fact that everybody is missing the mark somewhere and everybody is falling short somehow. We in ourselves are not of the “most excellent sort”. I think that should be reasonable for anyone to admit.

God’s future world is inevitably approaching and God would love you to be a part of it. He would love you to have the best, so He has decided to share His divine nature with you. A pivotal step for you would be to admit that you are not of the most excellent sort, you are not the one who surpasses all others, you miss the mark and fall short sometimes. God on His part came up with an excellent solution. He can plant His divine nature in you, by you deciding for it, asking for it with a few simple words and then just simply accepting that God is able to hear, love, answer and give. The swiftest to hear, the most affectionate in love, the most ready to answer, the most generous to give. He does those things the best of all.

This first step on your part, this acceptance, enables God to start working. Just as a potter needs clay to work with, God needs the right kind of material to work with. The human nature that misses the mark and falls short of the goal will not survive in the coming perfect world. It cannot; it’s insufficient. We also need to keep in mind that God thinks in the long-term. For us to grow up to live out the divine nature will take time, but there is nothing wrong with that. As long as you have the right foundation, as long as your inner nature is of the divine sort, you are on the right path. In an upcoming article I will talk more in detail about how to receive God’s own nature, what takes place when it happens and how it affects our lives.