God: a Self Portrait

Welcome

Curious about God? If you answered yes to this question, then you are a seeker, and I welcome you to this look at who God is and what He is like.

There are some people who are still trying to find God. Then, there are those who have found Him and are still seeking a deeper relationship with Him. The first is a new seeker, the other a veteran. But, both are seekers.

For thirty-four years I have followed God. And yet, I still seek a deeper relationship with Him. It is my desire to know God better every day. You might think that is impossible after a person grows up in church, graduates from a Bible college, and becomes an ordained minister. But, if doing this project has shown me anything, it is that God is so deep, I will always find something new to amaze me.

This book is for seekers. It is intended for those who are at the beginning of their exploration of God. If you have never been to church, or maybe you just started, I hope this book will benefit you. With this in mind I have tried very hard not to allow myself to use church speak or Christianese language without properly defining it first. There is no reason for the language to not be clear, even though we will be tackling some difficult concepts.

But, while the language is understandable, and the intended reader is new to the whole idea of God, this is still a book that can touch the veteran seeker. There is nothing new here. I will not be presenting any new truths about God. But, hopefully, the truth has been presented in a fresh way that will cause even the veteran seeker to see God in a new light.

We are not going to waste time by trying to prove the existence of God. From its very first words, In the beginning God, the Bible assumes the existence of this Deity, and so will we. Besides, other authors, much more learned than I, have taken on this task, and their books are available.

This is not to say that if you do not believe in God that you need to throw this book down and run to another. The fact that you picked up this book shows that there is something within you that wants to seek the truth about God. You are on the front end of your exploration. I encourage you to read this study. Think about it. Mull it over and chew on it for a while. Let this be the beginning of your search. After all, you have to start somewhere, why not here?

The title of this study is a little different: God: A Self Portrait. What does that mean? It means that I believe there is a God, and that He is far beyond our capability to see or understand. The only way we could ever know that God existed would be for Him to reveal Himself to us. The only way we could understand His characteristics would be for Him to show us. God would have to create a self portrait because man could never paint an accurate picture of the unimaginable God with watercolors or words.

God chose to reveal Himself, to paint His portrait, in two ways. First, there is general revelation, better known as creation. What He has created; this universe, this earth, each and every person; is a reflection of some characteristic of God. We see His intelligence and orderliness. We see His attention to detail and His love for beauty. His imagination and power are evident everywhere. Each and every creation can teach us something about its Creator, but none more so than God’s greatest creation, humans.

The portrait has also developed through God’s giving us specific revelation, written words to describe Himself and His ways. We call this the Bible. No other book gives us such an accurate picture of God. For this particular study we are going to focus our attention on what the Bible has to say about God instead of trying to beg glimpses from creation. The Bible is believed to be God’s word to man. As such, it is our greatest reference for fleshing out this portrait God has given to us. What kind of a portrait of God do we find in the Bible? Is He the kindly old man on a throne granting wishes, or the cosmic killjoy making rules to keep us from having fun, and zapping us with lightning bolts? We will see.

This study divides God’s characteristics, or attributes, into three sections. The first section will look at the physical characteristics of God. What does God look like physically? How old is God? How big is God? These are some of the questions we will try to answer as we look into God’s physical characteristics.

The next section deals with God’s moral characteristics. We have all probably heard that God is good, but what makes Him that way? What are the moral absolutes in God’s character? Are they just ideas He holds to, or are they part of His actual being? We will try to answer those questions.

The final section deals with characteristics of God that I believe involve the combination of both the physical and moral attributes. Included in these characteristics are God’s right to rule, and His wisdom. We will also discuss the fact that all of the physical and moral characteristics of God are absolute and cannot change.

As we go through this study, it will be important for you to read the scripture references given in the text. If you are like most people today, you might be a little stumped when it comes to trying to find things in the Bible. Let me give you some hints that might help. First, like most other books, the Bible has a Table of Contents. Use it as much as you need to help you find the books of the Bible. Some people call it the most important page in the Bible.

Second, allow me to show you how to read a reference to scripture such as, Exodus 20:3. The Bible is divided into books, with most of the books having chapters, and all having verses. Exodus is the book of the Bible. The number in front of the colon is the chapter of that book, and the numbers after the colon are the verse or verses to be read.

Finally, it is a good idea to find a Bible that you can understand when you read it. There are many translations out there for you to choose from. Usually a Christian bookstore is more than happy to help you find one that fits you. I have purposely just used references to texts instead of quotes from a particular translation. That way you can read the words for yourself, and get used to your own Bible.

The Bible tells us in Genesis that man was created in God’s image. As such, the more we know what God is like, the more we will understand what we are to be like. So, as we go through this study we will also be developing our own self portrait. Each characteristic of God will be related to us in a section I will call Brush Strokes. Here we will see how the perfections of God are to be fleshed out in imperfect humans. Hopefully we will be able to come to a better understanding of ourselves, as we see the awesome portrait of God revealed before our eyes.

This is not an all inclusive look at the portrait of God. At best, it is little more than a child’s crayon drawing. But, this study has broadened my understanding of God and myself. My hope is that it will do the same for you. So, once again, welcome. Enter into this gallery displaying the self portrait God has given us.

DRAWING THE LINES: THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD

SPIRIT TRINITY ETERNAL/SELF-EXISTENT EVERYWHERE PRESENT/ IMMENSE KNOWS EVERYTHING ALMIGHTY

God Is Spirit

It must be completely understood as we begin our study that God is not like us. Over the centuries people have come to picture God as this wise old man with special powers who sits on a throne in heaven. They see God as a kindly grandfather granting wishes, and then are disappointed when things do not go the way they expected. But, God is not a man. He does not look like a man.

John 4:24 clearly states that God is a Spirit. What does this mean? When we think of the word spirit, we often get a picture of a ghost in our mind. We see a human form that is disembodied, floating through the air, and transparent. Is this really what God is? Let’s study this out and see how God has described Himself in His word.

God is above His creation

We find the Ten Commandments in the book of Exodus, chapter 20. These are the famous commandments given to Moses by God on the tablets of stone at Mount Sinai. The commandments tell us how we are to relate to God and to each other.

The second commandment is found in verses 4-6 of that chapter. God commands that we not make any kind of image of anything that has been created in order to bow down to worship it. This means that worship of the stars and the sun and moon are out. Worship of trees and animals is out. Worship of any fish, or the ocean, is out. Worshipping man is not allowed, and neither is worshipping the earth. We are not to worship anything that God created, and we are not to make any kind of representation and say that this is what God looks like.

In verse 5, God declares that He is a jealous God, and will not put up with such actions. God understood that such false worship would be passed down from generation to generation. He declares that He will never allow it. Even after several generations of this false worship, God would still be against it. He will never say, OK, if that’s the way you want to think about Me, then I will go along with it. God is 100% against us making representations of Him. It makes Him angry and vengeful, and He will never compromise on this point.

But, God goes on in verse 6 to declare that those who worship Him the way He has prescribed will be blessed. They will be shown love and mercy. This means that if the father worshipped a fish as God, but the son realized the truth and started worshipping God in the way he was supposed to, God would show mercy to the son, and love him.

Moses repeats this commandment in Deuteronomy 4:15-24. This is one of Moses’ farewell speeches to the people of Israel, who he had been leading for 40 years. He prefaces the repeating of this commandment by reminding the people how they got the commandments in the first place.

The people were at the mountain, and what looked like fire appeared on the mountain. Moses went up and God gave him the commandments to give to the people. Moses points out in his speech that the people did not see any kind of a shape, or form, to this manifestation of God. It was just a shapeless glowing mass, like fire. So, he reminds the people of the second commandment to not make an image and say that this is what God looks like.

Moses goes on to give a list of specific creatures or objects that were not to be used to represent God. Unfortunately, throughout the centuries all of these have been used by people in worship. Several cultures have had gods and goddesses that looked like men and women. Among these were the Egyptian, Roman, and Greek religions. Neither the male, nor the female was to be worshipped, or held up as a representation of God. Animals were worshipped in past civilizations, and even today some of the tribal cultures still worship animal deities. Some cultures even created mutations of animals and man and worshipped them. Astrology is still prominent today as people check their horoscopes believing that the stars are what control the universe instead of God.

Once again, Moses reiterates the fact that God is a jealous God. He will not tolerate us worshipping something He has created instead of worshipping Him.

God poses a question in Isaiah 40:25 and 26. He wants to know what part of creation is equal to the Creator? Obviously the Creator is above His creation. So, how could we possibly take something from that creation and make it represent God? It would be like a computer taking a hard drive and saying, This is what my creator looks like. God is far above His creation. Nothing is equal to Him in power, intelligence, or form.

So, why is God such a stickler about this point? Why is it so important that we not represent God in some way by making a shape to represent Him? Because, when we represent God with an object, we make Him equal with that object. God is adamant that His true being not be cheapened or reduced by portraying it as one of His creations. God is unique, distinct, and unable to be reproduced.

God is beyond His creation

The Bible teaches that God is beyond the physical perception of that which He created. Jesus says that No one has seen God (John 1:18). Later on Jesus states that No one has seen or heard God (John 5:37). The true being of God has never been seen by the human eye. The true voice of God has never been heard by the human ear.

In his writings, the Apostle Paul calls God invisible (1 Timothy 1:17 and Colossians 1:15). Paul was saying that God cannot be seen by human eyes. He is invisible to us, yet His presence is still there.

Remember that God is a Spirit. He is not like us. When Jesus was resurrected from the dead, He presented Himself to the disciples in the upper room. He actually walked through the wall, or the closed door, of a locked room. The disciples were scared when He did this. I can’t say I blame them. But Jesus calmed them down by telling them to touch Him. He wanted them to see that He did have flesh and bones. He was not a spirit, or ghost. The implication is that a spirit is not bound by flesh. It is a different substance than the physical bodies we find here on earth. Without flesh a spirit is free and limitless.

God is a free and limitless being. We can never see His true being because he is beyond our realm of comprehension. This point has to be understood, or else the rest of this study will be confusing. God is not bound by anything. As we go through this study we will see that this is true.

Allow me one more, important quote from God, which is definitive on this matter of God being beyond His creation. It also leads into the next point we need to look at concerning God being a Spirit.

The story is related in Exodus 33:18-23. Moses has spoken with God, and received the Ten Commandments, among other instructions for the people of Israel. Of all the people who have lived since Adam and Eve, Moses has had the closest relationship with God. And yet, in this encounter, Moses is asking God to reveal His face. Moses wants to see the true being of God in all His glory. No one can see me and live, God replies (v.20). Any human who actually saw the true being of God would not survive. It would be too much. God is definitely beyond His creation.

God is revealed to His creation

Let us stay with the Exodus 33 account as we begin to look at how God reveals Himself to His creation, specifically humans. It is obvious that something has appeared to represent God’s being at various times, including this point in Exodus. Abraham saw God in human form and spoke with Him about Sodom and Gomorrha (The Angel of God in Genesis 18 and 19). Moses had already seen God in the form of a pillar of fire and a pillar of a cloud when He led them out of Egypt (Exodus 13:21 and 14:19). Moses also had seen the fire on Mount Sinai when he received the commandments. Later, Moses would see the presence of God enter the tabernacle as a fire and cloud (Exodus 40:34-38). So, if no one can see God, then what is it that Moses and others are seeing?

What Moses and others saw were physical manifestations God used to reveal His presence to the people. God allowed His presence to be made known through forms that we could see and understand. Fire, clouds, dove, and even a human form are just some of the ways God made His presence known. It seems that