What is God Like?

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What is God Like?

Kingdom Perspective

May 14, 2024 • Don Willeman

Transcript:

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

What is God like? In one sense, this is a very difficult question. Why? Well, whenever we ask what something is “like”, we are trying to make a comparison to other things. But God is not like anything in creation. The most fundamental theological distinction is between the Creator and the creation. There is an infinite gulf between the Maker and the thing made. As God says in Isaiah: “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him?” (Isaiah 40:25, ESV). God, by definition, is a being like no other.

However, though we cannot fully comprehend God, this doesn’t mean that God is unable communicate Himself to us. God longs for us to know Him, and so, He has stooped to make Himself known. We may not be able to make sense of God, but God is able to make sense of Himself to us.

So, what are some things that God has told us about Himself? God has told us that He is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, love, purity, and truth. He has told us that He is not constrained by creaturely limitations. God is not limited in knowledge; He’s omniscient. He’s not limited by time and space; He omnipresent. He’s not limited in power; He’s omnipotent. Although we are limited by all sorts of things—time, matter, space, the will of others—God is not. He is totally free to do all His holy will.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Isaiah 40 (ESV)

9 Go on up to a high mountain,

O Zion, herald of good news;

lift up your voice with strength,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

“Behold your God!”

10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

and his arm rules for him;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.

11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

he will gather the lambs in his arms;

he will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

and marked off the heavens with a span,

enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure

and weighed the mountains in scales

and the hills in a balance?

13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,

or what man shows him his counsel?

14 Whom did he consult,

and who made him understand?

Who taught him the path of justice,

and taught him knowledge,

and showed him the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

and are accounted as the dust on the scales;

behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.

16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

17 All the nations are as nothing before him,

they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

18 To whom then will you liken God,

or what likeness compare with him?

19 An idol! A craftsman casts it,

and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

and casts for it silver chains.

20 He who is too impoverished for an offering

chooses wood that will not rot;

he seeks out a skillful craftsman

to set up an idol that will not move.

21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

23 who brings princes to nothing,

and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

when he blows on them, and they wither,

and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

25 To whom then will you compare me,

that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:

who created these?

He who brings out their host by number,

calling them all by name;

by the greatness of his might

and because he is strong in power,

not one is missing.

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our website by clicking here.

Questions for Kids: A Basic Catechism for Children

9. Where is God?

He is everywhere.

10. How long has God existed?

Forever. He has always been.

11. Does God know all things?

Yes – God knows all things.

12. Can you see God?

No, but he can always see me.

13. Can God do all things?

Yes – God can do all His holy will.

An Advanced Catechism

7. What is God?

God is Spirit, (John 4:24) infinite, (Job 11:7) eternal, (Psalm 90:2, 1 Timothy 1:17) and unchangeable (James 1:17) in his being, (Exodus 3:14) wisdom, power, (Psalm 147:5) holiness, (Revelation 4:8) justice, goodness, love, purity and truth. (Exodus 34:6,7)

The Leaky Balloon of Self

June 13, 2024 • Don Willeman

Transcript: Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. One of the marks of contemporary life is our fragile sense of self. We are easily offended and thrown off by lack of affirmation from others. This is strange since we claim, quite proudly, that we are self-made people. Supposedly, we find our identity by looking within and not to others; “I have a unique identity!” However, social commentators have long noted that this ethos of self has led only to an even more impoverished sense of self. Why? Well, we are incurably social creatures. Swiss-born philosopher and writer, Alain de Botton, put it this way: “…amid such uncertainty [about our self-identity], we typically turn to the wider world to settle the question of our significance. We seem beholden to affections of others to endure ourselves. Our ‘ego’ or self-conception could be pictured as a leaking balloon, forever requiring the helium of external love to remain inflated, and ever vulnerable to the smallest pinpricks of neglect.” Now, why is this the case? Well, the gospel tells us. We crave affirmation because we were made for affirmation. We were not made for ourselves, but for God. Our happiness and contentment with ourselves (a quite legitimate desire!) can only come from knowing our Creator’s pleasure in us. We are incurably social creatures because we were not made for ourselves, but for another; we were made for the pleasure of God. And this means, we were made in the image of relationship—the eternal love relationship of the Triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” ~ John 15:5-11 (ESV)

Finding Your True Self

June 11, 2024 • Don Willeman

Transcript: Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. There have been deep and dramatic cultural changes in the past 75 years or so, unmooring much of what our civilization took for granted. Nowhere is this more evident than in our sense of “self”. In traditional cultures, one gained an identity either by pedigree (being born into a particular family, tribe or nation) or by proving oneself according to the values of your family, tribe or nation (e.g., sacrificing for the greater good of the community). However, in the past 50 years or so, we no longer become a somebody by looking to our family, tribe or nation, but by distinguishing ourselves from them. Belonging to a community is seen as an obstacle to being my “true self”. You can see this in the change of the advertisements for the US military. A century ago, you had a rather stern looking Uncle Sam pointing his finger at whoever deigned to look, saying: “Your country needs you!” The subtext was you had a duty to serve your nation because you belonged to it. Your identity was bound by your duty to tribe and nation. However, back in the 1980’s all this changed with a much more consumer/individualistic-driven ad. Join the Army and “Be all that you can be!” we were told. In this new world it is all about you. You create yourself. You are the manufacturer of your identity. This new ethos has not saved our “sense of self” but only impoverished it even more. We were never meant base our identity on our pedigree or performance but on God who created us in His image and redeemed us for His glory. And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” ~ Colossians 3:9-15 (ESV)

Making Your Way in the World Today…Without God

June 6, 2024 • Don Willeman

Transcript: Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. According to the Bible, ultimate reality is love. The source of all that exists is the eternal love relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The God we learn from Jesus is a God who from all eternity is Triune—Father, Son and Holy Spirit living in eternal self-giving love without any hint of self-centeredness. There is no envy or insecurity on the part of any member of the Trinity, but all exist in a deep sense of personhood without being threatened by the personhood of the other. In the being of God, we have clear boundaries of personhood but no walls. Each person losing themselves into the life of the other without ever losing their individual sense of personhood. Now, such a vision is mind-boggling to us because it is so foreign to our sense of self and our experience of relationship. But why? Why do we so struggle with such a deep sense of personal insecurity and relational dysfunction? Here's the reason why: the Bible calls it “sin.” My friends, sin is not just the little, bad things we do. But it's this: it's trying to find life in ourselves, apart from the love of God—apart from the Trinity. We are seeking to make a life for ourselves apart from our Creator. Therefore, we are driven to prove and defend ourselves instead of trusting in God. We are driven to make an air brushed image of ourselves and then construct walls to defend and protect that image. And these things keep us from true love connection with God and one another. And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” ~ 1 John 4:7-12 (ESV)