Who Is God, and What Is He Like?
Begin Here
Most of us already have a picture of God.
For some, God is a disappointed father who is never pleased.
For others, He is distant and mostly uninvolved.
Some imagine Him as angry, watching for every mistake.
Others see Him as kind but powerless, willing to help but unable to change anything.
And some picture God as little more than a larger version of themselves, agreeing with their opinions and supporting their plans.
But what if the God we have rejected is not the God who actually exists?
What if our picture of Him was shaped more by painful experiences, religious people, family relationships, or popular culture than by God Himself?
The most important question is not, “What do I imagine God is like?”
It is, “How has God revealed Himself?”
Read
Read Exodus 34:1–8 in the ESV slowly.
Pay close attention to verses 6 and 7.
In this passage, God describes His own character.
Notice the words He uses:
- Merciful
- Gracious
- Slow to anger
- Abounding in steadfast love
- Faithful
- Forgiving
- Just
Exodus 34:1–8 · ESV
1The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” 4So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.
The Story Behind the Passage
Moses had already seen God do extraordinary things.
God had confronted Pharaoh, delivered Israel from slavery, divided the sea, and led His people through the wilderness.
But while Moses was meeting with God on Mount Sinai, the people made a golden calf and worshiped it.
They had been rescued by God, yet they quickly turned away from Him.
Their sin was not a small mistake. They rejected the God who had saved them and gave their worship to something they had made.
Moses returned to the mountain knowing the people deserved judgment. Yet he also pleaded for God to remain with them.
Moses wanted to know God more deeply.
He asked God to show him His glory.
God answered by passing before Moses and declaring His name and character.
God did not first describe His appearance.
He described His heart.
The God Who Describes Himself
God says He is merciful and gracious.
Mercy means He does not treat His people only as their sins deserve. Grace means He gives goodness that no one can earn.
God is slow to anger.
This does not mean that sin does not matter to Him. It means He is patient, giving people time to turn from sin and come back to Him.
God abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness.
His love is not fragile, temporary, or dependent upon our performance. He remains faithful because faithfulness is part of who He is.
God forgives sin.
He welcomes people who honestly repent and come to Him for mercy.
But God also says He will not clear the guilty.
He is loving, but He is not careless about evil. He is merciful, but He is never unjust. A God who ignored abuse, cruelty, corruption, and sin would not be good.
God’s love and justice are not enemies.
They meet perfectly in Jesus.
The God Jesus Shows Us
Jesus did not come to persuade an unwilling God to become loving.
Jesus came because God is loving.
Jesus said that whoever has seen Him has seen the Father. When we look at Jesus, we see what God is like.
- Jesus welcomed people who knew they were broken.
- He touched those others avoided.
- He showed compassion to the suffering.
- He confronted proud religious leaders.
- He forgave sinners.
- He told people the truth, even when the truth was uncomfortable.
Then He willingly gave His life on the cross.
At the cross, we see that God does not ignore sin. Jesus bore its judgment.
We also see that God does not abandon sinners. Jesus came to rescue them.
God is more holy than we imagined and more merciful than we dared to hope.
What May Have Shaped Your Picture of God?
Perhaps your father was absent, harsh, unpredictable, or impossible to please.
That can make it difficult to trust God as Father.
Perhaps you were hurt by a church or by someone who claimed to represent God.
That can make God seem unsafe.
Perhaps you prayed for something important and did not receive the answer you wanted.
That can make God seem distant or uncaring.
Perhaps guilt has convinced you that God wants nothing to do with you.
But people are not always accurate pictures of God.
Pain does not get the final word about who God is.
Guilt does not get to define His willingness to forgive.
God has shown us what He is like through His Word and most clearly through His Son.
Knowing God as He Is
God is not asking you to trust a caricature.
He invites you to know Him as He truly is.
- He is holy enough to confront what is destroying you.
- He is merciful enough to receive you when you return.
- He is sovereign over what you cannot control.
- He is patient with your questions.
- He is faithful when your feelings change.
- He is near to those who call upon Him.
You may not understand everything God has done or allowed.
Faith does not mean pretending every question has been answered.
It means beginning to trust the character of the One who has revealed Himself.
One Question Worth Sitting With
How might your life change if God is truly as merciful, holy, loving, and faithful as He describes Himself?
Do not answer only with what you think you should say.
Consider the picture of God you have been carrying.
- Where did it come from?
- Does it match the God revealed in Scripture?
- What might you need to unlearn in order to see Him more clearly?
A Simple Prayer
God, I know that my picture of You may be incomplete or distorted. Show me who You truly are through Your Word and through Jesus. Help me see Your holiness, receive Your mercy, trust Your faithfulness, and know Your love. Amen.
Take This With You
God is not the distorted picture created by our fears or experiences. He is the holy, merciful, faithful God who has made Himself known and invites us to come near.
Something you want to ask?
Anything at all — including the skeptical ones. Pastor Jim reads and answers these himself.
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