November 03, 2015

What Is God Like?

                                               FreeImages.com/Mike Johnson


What's Your Relationship Like With God?
TAKING IN THE BIG PICTURE

This will be a six part series. Included will be:
  1. What Is God Like?
  2. How Good Do I Have to Be?
  3. The Extreme Extent of Jesus' Love For You!
  4. How Can I Get In On It?
  5. Can I “Know” I'm Saved?
  6. What Does The Future Hold For Me?

The Holy Bible is a unique book given to us by our Creator-God. This amazing book tells about the most important things of this life and the one to come. This book unfolds to us the character of God, His expectations of us, and declares all we need to know about the future too. What an incredible book! Let us touch on some of the most vital subjects it contains. Are you ready? Let's go!


WHAT IS GOD LIKE?
PART 1

The first words God chooses to share with us are, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) We know then, that God created everything – it was not left to chance, or an accident – God designed it! All these things He fashioned in six literal days. On day six, the climax of God's epic creation - people. He made both a man, Adam, and a woman, Eve. These would be the first two people, and they would be husband and wife. From these two, come the rest of humanity! These two human beings, God would place in the most awe-inspiring place, the garden that He personally designed for them - Eden. They had need of nothing, all was perfect. God had proven Himself to be a God of love! Yet, did the first man and woman reciprocate that love?

I wonder now, if you were to get out a canvas and paint a masterpiece, who you would say it belonged to, and who would have the right to do with it as they pleased? I'm sure you'd respond, “It's mine, I can do with it whatever I want!” Ah, you're right! So it is with God! He made you and me and then wrapped around us His marvelous creation for us to enjoy! Wow, what an awesome God! Who could we possibly compare Him too? The Bible says of Him, “I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.” (Isaiah 45:5) Yes, we are answerable to God, because He made us. He has every right as such, to tell us how things must be done, and in some sense, the Bible He gave us, is His instruction book for us!

So what is God like? Can we chat with Him? Can we go to live with Him in His home called Heaven when we die? Is He an angry God, or a caring and loving God? Well, we already noted that God is loving. However, we want to get a fuller picture of God, and we will get to these answers soon enough, but for now, we want to look at the fact that God is holy.

First of all, what does “holy” even mean? Well, it means to be without sin. “What is sin,” you ask? It is that which misses the bull's eye of a target. You see, God has placed certain rules for the people of His creation. We'll be looking at this subject more in another segment, but for now, we'll see that these rules show us the absolute perfection of our Creator-God. God has never sinned and the truth is, it is impossible for Him to sin. Now, not only is God holy, but His dwelling place, called Heaven, is also holy. For the Bible says, “His holy heaven.” (Psalm 20:6)

We further read of God that He is, “Holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.” (Hebrews 7:26) Yet God's desire is that we have a relationship with Him and worship Him. For we read, “But this command I gave them, 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.'” (Jeremiah 7:23) We see then, that God is holy, that we are sinners, and that God is “separate from sinners. Yet, we see too, that God desires a real relationship with you and me. That is what God has always intended and desired. He desires to shower His love and blessings upon us!

So, we are beginning to get a little understanding of God and His holiness, but just what does this imply for you and me? We'll dive into next time! See you there!


Victor J. Reimer

*All Scripture taken from the ESV.


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