WHAT IS GOD LIKE? (1 of 2)
Unchanging Faith ❧ Part 6
Selected Passages ❧ Pastor, Dr. John Denney
The Bible says we’re to be “contenders” for the faith; we’re to always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you(1 Peter 3:15). I don’t know if this story is true or not. But it certainly got my attention when I read it! It seems a college professor, an avowed Atheist, was teaching his class. He shocked his students when he flatly stated he was going to prove there was no God. Looking up to the ceiling he shouted: “God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I’ll give you 15 minutes!” The lecture hall fell silent. You could have heard a pin drop. Ten minutes slowly ticked by. Again the professor taunted God, “Here I am, God. I’m still waiting.” When the countdown got down to the last couple of minutes a Marine – fresh off of active duty and newly registered in the class – walked up to the professor, decked him full force, sending him tumbling from his smug platform. The professor was knocked out cold! At first, the students were shocked, sharing nervous looks of confusion with one another. The young Marine quietly took his seat in the front row and sat there silently. The class remained silent as well…awkwardly waiting. Eventually, the professor came to, greatly shaken. With a stunned look in his eyes he stared at the young Marine in the front row trying to regain his senses. When the bewildered professor was finally able to speak, he asked: “What’s the matter with you? Why did you do that?” The young Marine simply said, “God was busy…He sent me.” When Peter said we’re to be contenders for the faith, I’m sure that’s not the kind of contending he had in mind! My guess is that this young Marine probably had never read this verse because Peter goes on to say that in our readiness to give a defense, we’re to do give it with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15).
That’s what this series of messages: Unchanging Faith is about; being ready to give an answer for our faith yet with gentleness and reverence. Before we can give a defense for our faith though, we first need to know what it is we believe and second, why we believe it. Last week I mentioned one of my goals with this series is to grow our faith; deepen the roots of our confidence in God and His Word. Hand-in-hand, with this goal is to equip you to be able to give an answer to those who ask.
This morning we’re going to look at a one of the greatest questions people have puzzled over for thousands of years: What is God like? Two answers: He is real and He is knowable.
- God is real. First, we need to know that God is real. He in fact exists. The opening words of Genesis affirm this,In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth(Genesis 1:1). The Bible doesn’t cautiously debate God’s existence, it boldly declares it. Why? Romans tells us, Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them (Romans 1:19). God has engraved the knowledge of Himself on every human heart throughout all of history. There are no exceptions. While it is true that there are many today who, like the careless college professor, want to dispute God’s existence, it is because they, professing to be wise have become fools…they exchanged the truth of God for a lie(Romans 1:22,25). The evidence for God’s existence is so overwhelming Paul tells us we are without excuse(Romans 1:20). David writes in Psalm 14 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1). The word for “fool” is not someone who is intellectually deficient, but intellectually obstinate. They are always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7). We do not need to feel as though we must “prove” God exists in order for Him to be real. He has engraved His existence on every human heart.
The truth of the matter is, the majority of people don’t have a problem believing that God, or some version of God exists. That’s why we have so many religions. While growing up our family seldom talked about God. We didn’t go to church. We didn’t read the Bible. The only time we prayed was on special occasions like Thanksgiving. Our thoughts about God were foggy and distant at best. But we believed in God! We thought of God like a sailor thinks of the ship’s lifeboat. The sailor knows it is there but hopes there will never be an occasion to need it (Shelley, p.65).
You might think, “Yeah, I agree with what you’re saying. But if everyone knows God exists, then why is there so much confusion about who He is? Why are there so many religions? If the evidence of God’s existence is ‘engraved on our hearts,’ then why can’t we all agree on Who God is?”
Here’s why: While creation is God’s workshop displaying His impressive handiwork, it is not enough to tell us precisely who He is. The famous American playwright E. A. Robinson once wrote: The world is a kind of spiritual kindergarten where bewildered infants are trying to spell God with the wrong blocks. When we’re enchanted by the golden rays of an emblazoned sunset or a sunrise, or the breathtaking wonder of pristine snowclad mountains and their rugged beauty, what we’re looking at are God’s indelible fingerprints left on His creation. What we’re hearing is the echo of His voice when He spoke creation into being. Like displaying a beautiful painting on your living room wall; you know an artist painted it. You can see his or her great artistic skill, but you don’t know him or her personally. We need more information to tell us just who the Artist of Creation is. Thousands of years ago the question was asked in the book of Job, Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty? Such knowledge is higher than the heavens— and who are you? It is deeper than the underworld— what do you know? (Job 11:7-8, NLT). The answer is unless God makes Himself known to us, we’re only left with our vague ideas or impressions of Who He is. Fortunately, God has not left us to our own devices to figure out Who He is. Left to ourselves, we never could.
God has made Himself personally knowable through two exclusive and reliable sources: The Bible, and His Son, Jesus Christ. Both introduce us to God personally and both show us what God is like. For our time this morning, I’m going to straight to the heart of how God is personally knowable.
- God is knowable. There is no greater Person of authority to tell us what God is like than His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us (John 1:18, NLT). Jesus exploded all the stereotypes about God, when He came to earth. He showed us that God is not some impersonal force or principle. Nor is God some angry capricious tyrant trying to make your life miserable. Nor is He some apathetic creator that really doesn’t care what’s going on in your life (deism). In fact, Jesus describes God in two words. One day Jesus taught His disciples how to talk to God. In what is commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus tells His disciples, here’s how you should pray:Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 6:9). Did you catch the two words He used to describe God? Our Father.
Jesus summarized how we’re to see God by saying Our Father. If you were to take a glance through the OT names for God, you probably would not have chosen this name. Other names like God’s great covenant name Yahweh stand out to me (Exodus 3:14). It’s used over 3000 times; more than any other. Jesus did not say though, “Our Yahweh who is in Heaven.” He said “Our Father.” This is the same God of wrath, smoke and fire, judgment and unapproachable holiness in the OT. Now, Jesus reveals Him in the most approachable, most personal, most amazing way possible, “Father.” This is a radical idea. In the OT God is only called Father 10 times. In Matthew 6 alone Jesus calls Him Father 12 times! Jesus calls God Father and told us to call Him Father over seventy times in the Gospels. God wants you to know Him as your Father.
I realize the moment Jesus tells us we’re to see God as our Father, some of you are tensing up inside. The term “father” stirs up a negative image. It was a bad experience. It brings back a host of unwanted childhood memories of anger, resentment, fear, frustration, and guilt. A lot of people don’t have good memories of the term “father.” It ignites a raging fire of deep unwanted emotions. Like when you were a little kid and your mom said, “You just wait until your father gets home!” Then you go to Sunday School and the teacher says, “God is like your father.” If that’s who God is like, then – No thanks! I’m not interested. I get that. But when Jesus spoke of God as being our Father, He is careful to say, that’s not the kind of Father God is. He is not your Earthly father. He is your Heavenly Father. Meaning God loves you with the love of a perfect Father.
In Luke 15 Jesus gives us a deeply moving picture of the compassion of God toward us as our Heavenly Father. Some people when they think of God, they see Him as being angry, filled with wrath. But that’s not true. One of the most amazing characteristics of God that stands out all through the OT and the NT is that He is a God of compassion. The reason we struggle with His holy wrath is because we underestimate the offense of our sin. It’s not until we look at our sin through God’s eyes that we begin to see how hideous it really is and how incredibly compassionate God in His dealings are toward us.
Jesus tells a parable (a Heavenly truth with an Earthly lesson) about a young man who got sick and tired of feeling tied down by his father’s rules and responsibilities of home (Lk. 15:11-32). The young man decides to ask for his inheritance from his father, which was a deeply cutting and cold request. Normally a son received his inheritance after the father died or was too old to manage his affairs. By asking for his share of the inheritance so soon, he was in effect saying to his father, “Dad, I wish you already dead.” I can only imagine the heartbreak of this father. What’s amazing is the father’s response. He gives his son what he asks for. No lecture. No reprimand. No conditions. Money in hand, the boy’s legs couldn’t carry him away from his father fast enough. Shortly after leaving home, after burning all his bridges, it says he squandered his wealth in wild-living (v. 13). To say that he squandered it was an understatement. He took it to the limit of excess! Later, his older brother tells it like it is and says he wasted all of his father’s hard-earned money to go sleep with prostitutes. Even though he had what seemed a great sum of money, it didn’t take long for him to burn through it. Isn’t that amazing? It’s still true today.
The point that Jesus makes in this parable is that this young man couldn’t have sunk any lower. And to make matters worse, he knowingly and deliberately made the decision to fall. That’s when Jesus shows the compassion of God. It says when the young man came to his senses, he decides to try and go back home and get hired on as a servant by his father (V. 17). To his absolute astonishment and delight, he discovers his father had been waiting and watching for him! Can you believe that? When his father sees him on the horizon he runs to him, embraces him, kisses him and then throws a huge party celebrating his son’s return. When the son tries to tell his father how sorry he is, the father seems to ignore him and tells his servants to get ready to throw a huge party. In verse 24 he says why:this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate(Lk. 15:24). That’s the compassion of the Father that Jesus is speaking of. It’s not until you see how bad your sin is before you see how good the compassion of God is. Come now, let us argue this out, Says the LORD. No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you white as wool (Isa. 1:18, NLT). That’s exactly what it means. No matter. What kind of Father is God? He is a compassionate father.
