God Can't?

I have talked to some people about my views of the openness of God and his decision to enter in to our world to have a relationship with us and in so doing, gives up the ability to know the future. I have stated a true statement by my standards in saying that God knows all that can be known. If you wrap your mind around this truly, you will agree with me. So I have been accused of limiting God in my beliefs. I mean, saying that God cannot know something (even though that is not what I say) is a harracy isn't it? I have struggled with these accusations considering that there is one belief that seems very common among Christians that came about from misinterpretation. The belief that God cannot look upon sin or even be near it.


There is no passage in the Bible that ever states that God cannot be near sin. There is talk about a separation from God that is mended by the death of Jesus, but nowhere does it say anything about God having the inability to go near because we sin. The most common passage used to keep this notion alive is when Jesus cries out, "eloi, eloi lama sabacthani!" He asks why God has forsaken him so some people conclude that God turned his back on Jesus because he could not look at him anymore because he was carrying sin. Once again, it does not say this anywhere in the text.



Once looking at the big picture, one can see why Jesus would say this. It is an obvious quote from Psalm 22 (it even says it in the footnote). If you read Psalm 22, you will find such quotes as: "All who see me mock at me; my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. They have pierced my hands and feet;"
I bleive that Jesus was quoting this Psalm on the cross. All the people there were good Jews. But they knew scriptures not by number or verse, but by the first line of the psalm. So Jesus does not say "Psalm 22!!" but says the first line so that they would run the lines I quoted earlier in their minds and realize the connection.

They say that I limit God, I think that this is a huge limitation on God! God certainly can look upon sin if he wants to. He can look at it all day if he wants! God did not turn his back on Jesus. Jesus says that statement to open the minds of the people there and make them think about what they have done. A more puzzling question about sin is that if God is the creator of all things, did he create evil? Did he create sin? If he didn't, then there is something in the world that man created that God had nothing to do with. Don't think too hard.