{"id":90294,"date":"2024-11-07T07:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/?p=90294"},"modified":"2024-11-07T09:10:18","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T15:10:18","slug":"is-gods-authority-good-enough-for-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/is-gods-authority-good-enough-for-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Is God\u2019s Authority Good Enough for Us?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"90294\" class=\"elementor elementor-90294\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-29625399 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"29625399\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;jet_parallax_layout_list&quot;:[]}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-231fa8f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"231fa8f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Have you ever pondered the magnificence of God\u2019s creation and how it reflects on His authority? The perfect working order of the circle of life, the wonder of mathematics, science and space, and the mystery of life, which thrives in the depths of the sea, all exhibit power and intelligent design. The diverse geography that spans the globe and the endless array of colors, fragrances, and textures display such grandeur and creativity.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">God made man &#8211; in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">His own<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> image. \u201cSo God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them\u2026\u201d (Genesis 1:27). Man was created with significance. Nothing else was made after the likeness of God or to have His characteristics.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Genesis 1:31 reads: \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u201d There lacked no good thing. Everything was perfectly constructed &#8211; not only to provide basic necessities &#8211; but that life and culture on earth would be richly pleasant. He lavished beauty and blessing upon it. The authority of God, evidenced by all of this &#8211; is good. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But is it good enough for <\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">us<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">? <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019d like to share five thoughts to consider.<\/span>\r\n<blockquote><a href=\"https:\/\/www.josh.org\/two-easy-ways-to-reveal-the-wonder-of-god\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Related resource: Two Easy Ways to Reveal the Wonder of God<\/span><\/a><\/blockquote>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>God provided all life with sustenance.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Days one through five of creation were spent preparing the earth so that life could thrive on it. During this time, the earth was formed and supplied with water, various forms of vegetation, and oxygen &#8211; everything required to meet life\u2019s basic needs.<\/span><b><\/b>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>God provided man with companionship &#8211; with each other &#8211; and with Himself.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A relational being, God knew that Adam would need a companion &#8211; a helper &#8211; and He obliged that through the creation of Eve. Adam and Eve had one another to relate to and navigate life with.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not only did Adam and Eve have each other, but in the beginning, there was no barrier between them and God. What they got to experience with the fullness of His presence, uninhibited by sin, is difficult to imagine. Mere words wouldn\u2019t be able to describe the abundant joy and fullness they must have felt as they interacted with God\u2019s world.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>God gave man the blessing of living in and amongst beauty.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The embellishment that God adorned the earth with is even spelled out in the creation account described in Genesis: \u201ca river flowed out of Eden to water the garden\u201d (2:10), and \u201cthe gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there (2:12).<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Desiring to bless Adam and Eve, God chose to place them in the garden amidst its fragrant beauty, to live. It was the beginning of culture.<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>He gave Adam and Eve honor, purpose, and authority.<\/b><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">God\u2019s plan for mankind wasn\u2019t just that they would exist on earth. He values us. Genesis 1:26 says: \u201cThen God said, \u2018Let us <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">make man in our image, after our likeness<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. And <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">let them have dominion<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.\u2019\u201d He gave us honor by creating us in His image and positioning us with authority over all living things on the earth. He granted us this purpose as He tasked us with dominion over it.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A great responsibility and purpose was given to us to steward and care for the earth. Even today He is our guide to do this with the same heart in which He created it.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>God blessed humankind.<\/b><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The provision of God up to this point was abundant and designed to meet all of our needs. However, He continued in His goodness toward Adam and Eve. He<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> blessed<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> them. Genesis 1:28 says: \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And God blessed them. And God said to them, \u2018Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\r\n<blockquote><a href=\"https:\/\/www.josh.org\/attributes-of-god\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Related resource: Attributes of God<\/span><\/a><\/blockquote>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The intelligent design, abundant provision and blessings with which God created the universe and life on earth reveals that His authority is good. He desired the best for humankind. His provision was over and above what Adam and Eve could ever ask for. It was everything they needed to live perfectly content in His presence. Their hearts fell into temptation which drew their eyes to things outside of God\u2019s design &#8211; and away from His presence. They suffered a great loss by falling into it.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">God\u2019s heart is unchanging, which means it\u2019s still good today. <\/span><b>In His grace He offers us a choice to love and trust Him &#8211; to seek Him &#8211; or to seek other things that fail to bring the joy and fulfillment that we desire. God\u2019s authority is not only good enough for us &#8211; it\u2019s best for us.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It\u2019s the only thing that will heal our brokenness and restore our souls.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you feel that God is not enough to heal your brokenness or restore your soul? We were created with longings which His perfect design for relationships was intended to meet. If we seek fulfillment in things, leaders, peers, or others outside of that design, our longings go unmet. To learn more about your God given longings and how to meet them to find healing, check out our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.josh.org\/resolutionvideo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Resolution video series<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5c79e92 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5c79e92\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;jet_parallax_layout_list&quot;:[]}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37e3d9b elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"37e3d9b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/store.josh.org\/product\/how-to-know-god-exists\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2023\/03\/How-to-Know-God-Exists-web.jpg?w=400\" title=\"How to Know God Exists web\" alt=\"How to Know God Exists web\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3e4300f content-align-cta-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-eael-cta-box\" data-id=\"3e4300f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"eael-cta-box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"eael-call-to-action cta-basic bg-lite cta-preset-1\">\n        <h2 class=\"title eael-cta-heading\">know someone who needs to know why they can trust God?<\/h2><p>Check out <em>How to Know God Exists <\/em>by Josh McDowell.<\/p><a href=\"https:\/\/store.josh.org\/product\/how-to-know-god-exists\/\" class=\"cta-button cta-preset-1  \">View Now<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever pondered the magnificence of God\u2019s creation and how it reflects on His authority? The perfect working order of the circle of life, the wonder of mathematics, science and space, and the mystery of life, which thrives in the depths of the sea, all exhibit power and intelligent design. The diverse geography that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50255,"featured_media":90297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"The Bible emphatically states that God\u2019s authority is better than any other authority we seek to follow. Do we functionally believe that? Read five reasons why we should.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[80,1],"tags":[1236,537],"translator":[],"blog-author":[74],"class_list":["post-90294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apologetics","category-uncategorized","tag-authority-of-god","tag-sovereignty","blog-author-jen-davis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2024\/11\/Blog-Authority-SunCloud.jpg","meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90294"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90306,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90294\/revisions\/90306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90294"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/translator?post=90294"},{"taxonomy":"blog-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-author?post=90294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}