Home » Programs » A World of Difference » Understanding God

Understanding God

You only have to take a cursory look at the religions of the world to notice that many conceptions of God exist. Only a few religions are monotheistic - having just one God. Most have more, even many. The idea of all of the complexities of divinity wrapped up in one divine personality is just too much.

Christians look to a God who has revealed Himself as a single personality (though in three persons). He is so beyond our grasp that early in the scriptures He commanded that no carved image be used to represent Him. Such a thing would, of necessity, be misleading because it would be sorely lacking in dimensions. No single representation could do Him justice.

Since God is Spirit, an image made of material of any kind would be inadequate. Yet, at the same time, I don’t want to give the impression that God does not reveal Himself, nor does He shrink from using word pictures. In fact, there are dozens of images through which God reveals various aspects of His personality. He shows Himself as Father, Husband, Lord, Provider, King, Judge, Healer and many more.

From a human point of view, God faced a challenge. How could One who is immaterial, holy, powerful, self-existent and so on, make Himself known to us. After all we are the antithesis to everything He is, being material, sinful, weak and dependent.

God used three ways to show us what He is like. Through the natural creation, He demonstrates His creativity and power. Through the words recorded in the Bible, He speaks of His holiness, justice, grace, mercy, love and more. But these proved to be inadequate to give us a solid and comprehensive understanding. So God took an unimaginable step as far as we are concerned. He chose to become human. The eternal Son of God for a time became a Son of Man.

Jesus entered our world through the medium of a human mother without the aid of a human father. He grew up and in early manhood became a teacher. Among the first things He said was “No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” [John 1:18] With these words, Jesus announced that He had come to show us once and for all just what God was like. This was no impression to be picked up by observation. It was not merely dry facts to be learned by reading ancient texts. This was God in the flesh. The invisible made visible. The remote brought near. The unknowable engaged in earnest direct conversation about Himself. The embodiment of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

When it comes to understanding God, there’s a world of difference between the inscrutable, holy, majestic God of the universe and His revelation of Himself as a humble, simple, loving man named Jesus.

Ron Hughes
© September 2008