Are you “being” what God created you to be and to become?

A sprouting bulb breaking the surface of the spring rain-soaked ground.  The wings of a soaring eagle navigating the pathless highways of the sky.  The uninterrupted blobs of oil oozing through the surface of the ocean floor.  Those distant orbs of light penetrating the darkness of the celestial night.  Those various creatures occupying the hills and valleys of an unfenced earth.  The cry of a newborn soul announcing its presence in an already existing community of other souls.  All of these realities resulting from a creative declaration from an eternally existing being!  That’s the affirmation of the Genesis creation story!  “In the beginning GOD…”

Then two additional dynamic events took place.  That “In the beginning God…” spoke!  And all that was in the mind of that “In the beginning GOD…”, in that creative moment, God’s will  became a reality by his “Spoken Word”!  And all that was in the creative mind of that “In the beginning GOD…” began to be!

Now, the significance of that creative moment and process must be acknowledged and properly understood from the creator’s perspective.  In the Hebraic linguistic context the term “God” is not a noun!  It is in reality a verb!  “God” is not a static entity!  He is not a person, place, or thing!  He is Spirit!  He is the essence of all Being!  As a matter of fact, the Hebraic term “God” actually comes from the Hebrew verb “hayah”, which means “to be, to exist”!  And since verbs linguistically express the idea of “being” and “existing”, then the appropriate name of God is “the Being One”!  The One Who is continually in the process of “Being”!

Then too, the linguistic form of that Hebrew verb (Qal Imperfect) indicates that that specific action of “being” is “incompleted” in the past!  Said action does not indicate a “beginning” nor an “ending”.  Thus God’s “being” preceded and extends beyond whatever else that may subsequently come into “being” after Him!  That’s how and why the Hebrew expression of the Creation had to start with God – the “Being One”!  The “One” who was already “being” before anything else could “be”!

Interestingly enough, the Hebrew language also includes another form, or “tense”, which indicates “acts” or “actions” which result from some object, or other “being”, which was being “acted upon”!  That Hebraic verb form (Hiph’il Imperfect) indicates “causative” action.  That means that whatever subsequent “action” that occurs “results from” the one who “initiated” or “caused” that action!  An action which was initiated in the past and still continues is an “incompleted” action!  It was started in the past and continues into the present!

Thus, not only is God the original “Being One”, but God is also the “causative” entity in Genesis 1:3ff, “Let there be…”!

In that Hebraic narrative of the Creation, God “caused” everything in the created order to “exist”, to “be”!  Whatever was in the mind of God to become an existing reality in the creative process became that respective reality according to the mind and will of God!

In other words, all of Creation is the result of God’s Will being expressed by God’s Word in order to actualize and function according to and in harmony with God’s way!

All things – animate and inanimate, physical and spiritual – is, has become, and will continue to be - whatever the mind of God intended and intends for it and them to be!

God has a specific plan and purpose for everything that existed, still exists, and shall exist within and beyond this realm of time, space, and matter!  And since God’s existence transcends time, space, and matter, then whatever is in the mind of God also shall be – shall exist – within the perimeters and parameters of God’s will!

Now the Hebraic creation account also includes the existence of the created elements and living creatures functioning as divinely intended according to the will, the word, and the way of God!  God’s word, will, and way also framed the creation of man with that divine declaration, “Let Us make Man…in Our Image and after Our Likeness”!

Thus God infused his own spiritual nature into mankind.  And in every case of the created order, compliance to and with the will, the word, and the way of God received the blessed affirmation of God.

But, in the case of Satan and man, that which fails to and/or seeks to operate in defiance and resistance of God’s creative purpose is subject to the consequences of disobedience of God!  That’s why the Hebraic Creation Story includes the affirmation of God’s word to Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:17.  Obedience to God’s word, God’s will, and God’s way results in present and future, and temporal and eternal blessings!

John 1:1-14 also affirms that Hebraic Creation account.  Once again, the word of God affirms that the will and the way of God for the “beings” who desire to “be” in harmony with God in time shall also Be with God throughout eternity!

So, the question comes!  How “BE” you in harmony with and in obedience to God?  Are you “being” what God created you to be and to become?

You Is Also What You Be!

The Rev. Samuel W. Hale, Jr. is the retired pastor of Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Are you “being” what God created you to be and to become?