Who Is God to You?

Every person has at least a little different view of God. The reasons for those differing perspectives can vary greatly, based on background, family, society, education etc. No one perceives God completely as He truly is because none of us has every fully known Him. He is vastly different from us in so many ways that we could never in this life fully know or understand Him. But how many of our perceptions of God are actually wrong? How important is it to have a correct view of God?

The answer is that it matters greatly how we view God. Our perception of God determines our view of everything else, especially our faith. If we see God as a lovable teddy bear, we will imagine Him turning a blind eye to our sin and just wishing us happiness. On the contrary, if we see God as a harsh, critical tyrant we will imagine Him scolding horribly over every little mistake. The first view ignores God’s justice and holiness. The second ignores His mercy, grace and lovingkindness. We need a balance of both to see God correctly. And those are only two of God’s many aspects which can all be viewed incorrectly.

Creator

One of the most important aspects for us to acknowledge about God is that He is our Creator. He made everything, literally. Nothing has come into existence aside from Him.

Isaiah 66:1-2 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Thus says the Lord,

“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where then is a house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that I may rest?
“For My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord.
“But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

Did He make a computer? No. But He made the materials a computer is made from. He made the people who created the technology and put the pieces together. Man can only make things using materials God has already created. We cannot make something out of nothing.

Job 38:4-7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding,
Who set its measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the line on it?

On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,

When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

This was God speaking to Job. The account goes from chapter 38 to 41, in which God expounds His greatness, power, vast knowledge and understanding. God made everything and He has a purpose for everything. He did not make anything that was useless, worthless or without purpose. This knowledge will greatly change how we view, not only God, but ourselves and others. Viewing every human and creature as something that God made for a purpose puts an incredible amount of value on life. On the flip side, seeing everything as created by chance with no purpose yields life as being completely worthless.

Almighty King

Another very important aspect we often forget about is that God is the Almighty King of the universe.

Revelation 17:14 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

These will wage war against the Lamb [Christ], and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.

He didn’t just create everything and then let it all go without a second thought. He carefully, thoughtfully, purposefully orchestrates all life. He doesn’t make us behave a certain way, but He is in overall control. He is also our Lord, whether we acknowledge that or not, and one day we will all stand before Him to give an account for ourselves.

2 Corinthians 5:10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

His understanding and knowledge is greater than we could ever fathom, He not only knows what has happened but also what will happen and what would have happened. We could not possibly presume to comprehend His plans, nor should we attempt to counsel or correct Him (read those chapters in Job for more on that). He created everything with a word. Imagine what He could do with the blow of His hand!

We so often forget how truly awesome God is. We have lost our awe and reverent fear of God. As a result, we have lost our abhorrence of sin.

Romans 12:9 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

Our view of God is proportionate to our hatred of sin. Because of God’s holiness He cannot be in the presence of sin. Sin is what caused our separation with God in the first place. That is why He had to send Jesus to die for our sins. Jesus is the only one without sin. Only His sacrifice would be acceptable. Half-hearted commitment is evidence of our lack of understanding of God. If we truly knew and loved God, we would hate sin (others’ and ours) as He does. We would realize how truly horrible it is. We need to bring back that reverent fear and awe of God. We need to stop seeing Him as ignorant, uncaring or tolerant, because He is not. He knows, He cares and He will not tolerate sin. He actively punishes sin now, in individuals and in the world, and He will permanently punish the unrepentant. It is a big deal. And our view of it all goes back to our view of God. These are only a few of His many attributes, but they are a foundation for our knowledge of Him.

How do you view God? Does it line up with what the Bible says? How do you view your own sin? Does it grieve you as it does God? Will you commit to search the Bible so that you can have a correct perception of God?

Some books which go into the attributes of God are:

The Attributes of God by AW Tozer
Knowing God by JI Packer
Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem