600 Years later Jesus said:
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing”. (Luke 15:3 – 5).
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep . . . I am the good shepherd and I know My sheep . . . Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again . . . My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand”. (John 10:11 – 17, 27 – 30).
You will have realised that my writing is not a theological paper on the doctrine of God. But, depending on your honesty and openness of heart, you will have picked up some ‘vibes’ from the heart of God. But you will also have detected the intrinsic difference between our views of God, and probably also begin to understand or even appreciate my enthusiasm for Him. Of course, in a letter like this one can only touch on minute aspects of the nature of God, and even that only briefly.
Let me in closing try to sketch with a few words the essence of our differing perceptions of God:
In an effort to honour God, you, as a Muslim, emphasise His power and might. Islam demands submission under the rule of God, and you try to oblige by submitting to its demands. Yet due to your view of God, you cannot have any assurance whatsoever about your standing before God – until Judgement Day.
While Islam maintains that God is tansih, (transcendent in His majestic glory, and detached from all else) the Bible depicts God, while also transcendent, as the immanent One who condescends in love and compassion toward all who seek Him with their whole heart. It is He who in and through Jesus created the way to rescue all who come to Him (without prescribing to Him how He should be) and how to perform his rescue.
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