Here are some pertinent excerpts but I would recommend reading the whole article here.
Young said these words in a book written by C. Baxter Kruger titled The Shack Revisited where Young wrote the foreword. He also stated in the foreword:
If you want to understand better the perspectives and theology that frame The Shack, this book [Kruger’s] is for you. Baxter has taken on the incredible task of exploring the nature and character of the God who met me in my own shack.
Contrary to what I have described about the Trinity in my book, Baxter’s (and Young’s) view of the Trinity is not just about the shared deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Rather it encompasses all of humanity and all of creation:
From all eternity, God is not alone and solitary, but lives as Father, Son, and Spirit in a rich and glorious fellowship of utter oneness. . . . The trinitarian life is a great dance of unchained communion and intimacy . . . This life is unique, and it is good and right. . . . And this love, giving rise to such togetherness and fellowship and oneness, is the womb of the universe and of humanity within it.
End quote. (bold, italics, my emphasis)
Oppenheimer goes on to note what else Kruger states:
"The triune God, the human race, and all creation are not separated but together in relationship. Jesus is the relationship. In his own being, the Father, the Holy Spirit, and all creation are together."
This is classic New Age panentheistic thought that teaches that God is in all things and all people, that everything is sacred (filled with divinity), and that there is no gap between God and man and God and creation. While we would expect this kind of belief in the New Age, it is absolutely contradictory to biblical Christianity.
End quote. (bold, italics, my emphasis)
Scripture states, however, that God is distinct from His creation (transcendent):
Isa 40:25 "To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One.
Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.
Psa 57:5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.
Eph 1:20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Job 38-42 is entirely about the absolute distinction & superiority of God from all His creation. In Genesis 1-2 we also see God, who is Yahweh (the I Am, the Self Existent One), who created all things that then necessarily makes Him separate from creation. In fact, at the very end of history, He who is the Righteous Judge will destroy all things:
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
2Pe 3:11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
As Creator of all things, as Yahweh, He is self existing & independant of all creation. He needs nothing. His existence is not determined by creation. Rather creation is dependent upon Him:
Heb 1:2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Heb 1:3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Col 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Col 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Rev 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Rev 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Also, Kruger and Young do not have a basic understanding of God's holiness and man's total depravity, therefore they have the Trinity ("trinitarian life") indwelling all people and creation. However, Genesis 3 shows that when Adam sinned, it made a separation between God and man:
Gen 3:10 He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."
Rom 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
Rom 3:10 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
Rom 3:11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
Rom 3:12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."
Rom 3:13 "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS";
Rom 3:14 "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS";
Rom 3:15 "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,
Rom 3:16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,
Rom 3:17 AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN."
Rom 3:18 "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."
Rom 3:19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
Rom 3:20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Rom 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
Eph 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Eph 2:2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Eph 2:3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Rom 8:7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
Rom 8:8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Col 1:21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
Col 1:22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--
Not all are His children either, but only those who are truly saved through the biblical Christ Jesus the Lord. John shows the distinction between true Christians and the world:
1Jn 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;
1Jn 3:8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
Rom 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
Even creation fell into the slavery of corruption since Adam. Only after God destroys all things, will He make things new again:
Rom 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope
Rom 8:21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
Outside of faith in the biblical Christ Jesus and His salvation which is not by works but true, living faith from God alone, we are still dead in our sins and alienated from God, hostile toward Him. That necessarily means we are not at peace with Him nor He with us.
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
Eph 2:15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
Eph 2:16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
Col 1:19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
Col 1:20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Col 1:21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
Col 1:22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--
Col 1:23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
So man outside of salvation in the biblical Christ Jesus is not at peace with God. At all. In any way. Quite the contrary:
Psa 5:4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You.
Psa 5:5 The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.
Psa 5:6 You destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.
Psa 11:5 The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.
Psa 11:6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
Psa 11:7 For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.
Psa 7:9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.
Psa 7:10 My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart.
Psa 7:11 God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.
Psa 7:12 If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready.
There are two kinds of people, saved and not saved. All who die in unrepentant of their sin will be judged by Christ Jesus the King and then put into Hell and then the Lake of Fire forever as their state for eternity is one of unbelief thus earning forever their due punishment. Those who are saved by God through Christ Jesus, who have repented of their sins and in humility turned to the biblical Jesus Christ who alone is the only way to the Father, the only truth and life, will have eternal life and peace with the biblical triune God of Scripture, rewarded by His abundant grace and good pleasure.
Mat 25:31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
Mat 25:32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
Mat 25:33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
Mat 25:46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Neither Kruger nor Young have any inkling of these most crucial truths and realities. Instead, they deceive many by using Christian words like "Trinity", "Jesus", "the Father", "the Spirit", but have entirely different meanings of all those words. They are of another spirit, an unholy one and these men, their books, and theologies should be entirely and completely rejected by the true Christian.
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