Tuesday, February 16, 2010

What Is God Like?

16 February 2010

What is God like? Look at Jesus Christ and you will know what God is like.

Hebrews 1:3 says this about the Lord Jesus Christ:
"who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person ..."

Colossians 1:15 says this about the Lord Jesus Christ:
"He is the image of the invisible God..."

John 8:58 says,
'Jesus said unto them, "Most assuredly I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM." '

In John 10:30 Jesus says, "I and My Father are one."

In John 14:9, Jesus tells Philip, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father; ..."

Why is this important?

The Lord God is exceedingly good. This is foundational. Psalm 106: 1 says:
"O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever."

Nevertheless, hurts, pains, and disappointments come. No one seems immune. When this happens we are tempted to think, "Where is God right now, when I need Him?" And some people have blamed God for their misfortunes.

When God is blamed for something, barriers go up between that person and the Lord God, making praise, worship, and intimacy either very hard or impossible. "If God speaks, I don't think I want to hear what He has to say", they say.

But we know what Jesus was like while He walked on Earth.

He wept with Mary when her brother died - and then raised him from the dead.
He ate dinner with anyone, even those the establishment condemned.
He did not inflict any pain on anyone, except for some of those in the establishment.
He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery.
He healed all that came to Him.
He had mercy on the people that hung Him on a cross.
He was compassionate, approachable, and tender.

Jesus demonstrated what God our Father is like!

And why is this important?

It's important because we are needy people - all of us. We need to come before the Lord God to ask for salvation, deliverance, grace, mercy, and help. We need an approachable Father God. And since our Father in Heaven and Jesus the Son are one, we have an approachable Father God!

Hebrews 4:14-16 says:
14.
Seeing that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Another reason this is important concerns our personal spiritual growth or development, that is, whether we will be transformed into His likeness or not. We become like whom, or like what, we worship. We become more and more like the Lord God in His presence. We enter His presence as we worship Him.

If we feel alienated from the Lord God, we will have no appetite to draw close to Him, or worship Him, or seek His face - and we will not become more and more like Him. We will remain carnal and behave as "mere men", as it says in First Corinthians 3:3.

And finally, it's important because we need to hear and get to know His voice.

There is a growing interest in hearing the Lord God speak to us, fellowshipping with Him, experiencing Him, moving well beyond theoretical knowledge (as good as this is) only.

And why is that?

Because relationship implies two-way communication and even interaction. We will not pursue a relationship with one who causes us pain and is difficult to live with.

So what is God like?

He is our lover. ---

"Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away,
For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth her green figs,
And the vines with the tender grapes
Give a good smell,
Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away!"
(from Song of Solomon 2:10-13)

He is our shepherd. ---

In John 10 we read:
3. To him [the shepherd]
the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4.
And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
14.
I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
27.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

He is our dear friend. ---

And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.

He is our peace. ---

Hallelujah!


Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quoted is from the New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Larry Carroll

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