Jesus shocked His audience when He told them about the potential of man. At the same time, He confirmed who He was. “I am the Son of God,” He said, “and that should not surprise you, because your own law says that you are gods.” The Jews viewed this as blasphemy, and they were willing to seize and stone Him for saying this.
It is no different today. Just tell someone that it is our destiny to become “gods”—born-again members in the Kingdom of God and immortal God beings in the very Family of God—and be prepared for the reaction of disbelief, outrage or open hostility and persecution. But the biblical teaching is so very clear and convincing—if one has eyes to see. Not only the New Testament teaches this; so does the Old Testament, and the Jews in Jesus’ time should have known this.
In Psalm 82:6, God (“elohim” in Hebrew) tells human beings that they are (to become) “gods” (“elohim” in Hebrew). Jesus quoted this very Scripture in John 10:34, where the Greek word for “gods” is “theos”—the same word which is also used for Almighty God and Jesus Christ. God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are God of gods and LORD of lords (Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalm 136:2-3; Revelation 19:16). And so, we are (to become) “gods” and “lords” under the Father and the Son. We will be praising God “before the [other] gods” (Psalm 138:1). And God stands in the congregation of the mighty (literally, God) and judges among the gods (Psalm 82:1).
Of course, there are hundreds of additional biblical passages, proving what our human potential is. But how often do we remind ourselves of our awesome destiny—especially in times of trials? The archbishop of Canterbury said recently that there are moments when he questions God’s very existence. Maybe none of us has ever reached that point—and then, some might have, especially before their conversion—but how many times do we ask ourselves whether God is really with us? And even if we do not express these doubts in words, do we show them through our conduct?
These moments of uncertainty are not uncommon to man—including the spiritual giants of the Bible. Abram did not think that God would be with him in every circumstance—so he and his wife Sarai agreed to lie continuously about their true relationship (Genesis 12:11-13; 20:2, 9-13). They also doubted that God would be with them THAT MUCH that they could bring forth a child—given their age (Genesis 16:1-2). Moses did not believe at first that God would be really with him in Egypt to deliver Israel from slavery, and when the first attempts seemingly “failed,” his original doubts were confirmed in his mind (Exodus 5:22-23). And even though God had promised Jacob that He would be with him wherever he went (Genesis 28:15), Jacob had his doubts (verse 20).
God had assured Jeremiah that He would deliver him from his troubles (Jeremiah 1:8, 19), but when things got tough, Jeremiah began to question how “reliable” God really was (Jeremiah 15:18-19). Are we so much different today? Do we not also have moments when we question whether God is really with us—whether He really knows what we are going through? Of course, we do! When we do not see HOW God could possibly work out the seemingly impossible (Psalm 78:19), then we might feel somewhat forsaken and alone. But God HAS promised us to be with us always—never to leave us nor forsake us (John 14:18; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5). He promised us to deliver us from all evil (Isaiah 43:2; Psalm 91:15). We are always on His mind—there is no place where we could go; no thought which we could think; no word which we could say; which God does not see or know or hear (Psalm 139; Matthew 6:8; Ephesians 3:20). And God acts for us in ways which are far beyond our ability to imagine (Psalm 77:19).
Still, moments of doubts might come—questions such as: Why did God let it happen? Why didn’t He intervene? Why didn’t He make the impossible possible? We might not get a full answer to all these questions in this life. But we have THE overriding answer, and that is the most important truth we can ever embrace in those moments: God is our Father. We are His children. Jesus Christ is our Elder Brother. The Father and the Son want to enlarge the God Family. They want us to be IN Their Kingdom. It is our potential to become gods—God Beings in the very Family of God. God will see to it that we will make it—whatever it takes. As long as we do not forsake Him, He will NEVER forsake us. Even if we do not fully understand now—God is there to carry our burdens and give us strength, and He will always be with us. With THAT assurance, ALL doubts should fade away.
