WHAT IS GOD LIKE

"Jesus is the image of the invisible God....God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Jesus." -Col 1:15 & 19

The idea of God is a strange one isn't it? We say that he is all-knowing, all-powerful, and perfect and but we cannot physically see or touch him. How is a person supposed to "believe" in or "follow" a God so mysterious?

From the beginning of time, man has attempted to make sense of this invisible yet powerful God and we have largely failed. Our understanding of God today is incredibly splintered with more variations of God to choose from that there are colors of the rainbow. Belief in God right now is viewed as an every man for yourself activity where choosing what to believe is no different that choosing what to wear. We try on traits of God for size and analyze how they feel much like we mix-match outfits to wear. If we don't like God's justice in sending people to hell or disapprove of his sovereignty because of something bad that's happened, we either throw out those parts of God, try another religion, or throw out God altogether.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his divine nature and eternal power - have been clearly seen, and can be understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." - Romans 1:20

Although there are many aspects of God that are difficult to wrap one's mind around, his unequaled power and the fact that he's not human like us, but divine, seem indisputable. If you disagree, I challenge you to go stand on the top of a towering mountain or sit on the shore of a roaring ocean and ponder God. Any man who can do these things and still believe that man is the greatest being in the universe is either lying or a fool. Psalms 19:1 says that "the heaven declare the glory of God the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Ever looked up into a star filled sky? What more evidence of God could you ask for than that? While there are no doubt parts of God such as his bigness that we will never fully understand, our inability to define God's boundaries or limitation should never get in the way of us seeking to know him. Hebrews 11:6 says that "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists." This makes me think that not having all the answers is the way it was meant to be from the beginning and that choosing to believe in God bases on logic and reason alone is virtually impossible. God doesn't operate on human logic but on a greater logic that we don't understand. We need to either come to grips with this or stop talking about the idea of God altogether. It is because of this obvious evidence for God present everywhere we look that there will be no excuse for unbelief when we stand before God one day.

God doesn't ask that you and I come to him with all our ducks in a row and everything figured out. Actually he prefers the opposite, those who have lots of issues, questions and doubts, these were the people Jesus spent time with. Being a Christian though, or a Christ follower, requires more than a halfway belief in God or belief in only parts of Him. Jesus said in Luke 9:24 that "whoever holds onto his life [ a.k.a. his reputation, his status or whatever he cares about more than Christ] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." It's hard to give up your life for something you only partly believe in.

Who are you following? Are you following a mix-matched God of your own making, a religion that man made up, or the one true God? God might be invisible, but Colossians 1:15 reminds us that God has given his son Jesus to portray exactly what he's like. "Jesus is the image of the invisible God." The way that Jesus lived, loved, how he forgave and the compassion he had on people demonstrates the way that God loves, forgives and has compassion on you and I.

Want to learn more about God? Look to his son. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, located right in the middle of the Bible, tell us exactly what Jesus was like. Will you spend some time reading about Jesus so you can better know God today?