WHAT IS GOD LIKE? HOW CAN WE KNOW HIM?
John 17:3 – This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You ave sent.
A close relationship with God is the most important thing you can develop in life It is important to get to know God personally, to learn what He is like. If you know the Word of God and the character of God, you will know His will.
How can we know God?
How can I know Him? How can I know what He is like?
People may have many experiences and opinions as to what God is like, but this is not where I can learn accurately about God.
All truth must be measured by the Word of God, the Bible. I must study the word for myself and learn to view God according to what I see there.
We can to get to know God’s character. What is God like? How can we know Him?
Character – essential qualities, an individual’s pattern of behavior; personality.
Matthew 13:35 – Jesus came to show us things about God that had been hidden since the foundation of the world.
God made Himself a man in Christ so we can see Him. We must look at Jesus to accurately see God.
Jesus came to show us God. He is the full and entire expression of God’s character.
Hebrews 1:1-3 – God spoke in the Old Testament in many portions and ways, but in the New Testament He spoke through the Son, the exact representation of His nature or character.
The Passion Translation – Throughout our history God has spoken to our ancestors by his prophets in many different ways. The revelation he gave them was only a fragment at a time, building one truth upon another. But to us living in these last days, God now speaks to us openly in the language of a Son, the appointed Heir of everything, for through him God created the panorama of all things and all time. The Son is the dazzling radiance of God’s splendor, the exact expression of God’s true nature—his mirror image!
V. 1 – How God dealt with men before Christ.
V. 2 – How God deals with men now.
V. 3 – Jesus explains God to us and shows us what He is like.
We must renew our minds from an inaccurate picture of what God is like by studying the life, words, compassion, healing, forgiving, loving of Jesus.
Jesus came to enlighten us to the Father’s true nature. If the Old Testament view of God is different than what we see in Jesus, we must adjust and accept the New Testament view as shown in Christ. It is more sure and accurate; Jesus is the EXACT IMAGE of God.
We will need to separate and remove the traditional lies out of the truth and begin to see God as He really is. Let the Word convince you. Let Jesus who revealed God perfectly show you what God is like.
John 1:1, 14 – The Word (logos – the thought or concept, expression or utterance of that thought) became flesh. Jesus is the utterance or expression of the person and thought of God expressed in the flesh! The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.
CEV – The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
NLT – So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
God’s glory is full of grace and kindness, unfailing love and truth.
From Him all the kindness and all the truth of God have come down to us.
John 1:16-18 – For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ. No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known].
Jesus explained the Father. Moses gave the law, but Jesus showed us what God is like). Jesus revealed God to us and brought Him out where He can be seen. He has interpreted Him and made Him known.
WE CAN SEE GOD PLANLY AND CLEARLY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST.
Colossians 1:15, 19 – [Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation. For it has pleased [the Father] that all the divine fullness (the sum total of the divine perfection, powers, and attributes) should dwell in Him permanently.
TLB –Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for God wanted all of himself to be in his Son.
Message – We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created.
TEV – Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. For it was by God’s own decision that the Son has in himself the FULL NATURE of God.
CEV – Christ is exactly like God, who cannot be seen. He is the first-born Son, superior to all creation. Everything was created by him, everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen, including all forces and powers, and all rulers and authorities. All things were created by God’s Son, and everything was made for him. God himself was pleased to LIVE FULLY in his Son.
Phillips – Now Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God. He existed before creation began, for it was through him that everything was made, whether spiritual or material, seen or unseen. It was in him that the full nature of God chose to live,
BBE –For God in full measure was pleased to be in him.
He is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He is the visible representation of the invisible, the visible expression of God. He is the visible image of the invisible God, the visible likeness of the invisible God. We look at the Son and see the God who cannot be seen. Christ is exactly like the God who cannot be seen. God Himself was pleased to life fully in His Son.
We look at this son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. In Him the sum of divine fullness dwells, all of the divine perfection, powers and attributes. It was by God’s own decision that the son has in Himself the full nature of God. It was in Him that the full nature of God chose to live. For God in full measure was pleased to be in Him.
John 14:7, 9-10 – If you had known Me [had learned to recognize Me], you would also have known My Father. From now on, you know Him and have seen Him. Jesus replied, have I been with all of you for so long a time, and do you not recognize and know Me yet, Philip? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say then, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? What I am telling you I do not say on My own authority and of My own accord; but the Father Who lives continually in Me does the (His) works (His own miracles, deeds of power).
If you know Jesus, if you see Jesus, you know and see the Father.
John 17:25-26 – O just and righteous Father, although the world has not known You and has failed to recognize You and has never acknowledged You, I have known You [continually]; and these men understand and know that You have sent Me. I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them.
Jesus revealed the character of the Father that His love may be in us.
Ephesians 4:21 – Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as [all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him]…
All truth is in Jesus, embodied and personified in Him. We can see the truth of God in Jesus, in what He said and what He did. Jesus is perfect doctrine, and we should mold our beliefs accordingly.
Jesus is the way, the TRUTH, and the life. JESUS AT ALL TIMES SPOKE AND ACTED GOD’S THOUGHTS, God’s perfect will for mankind! Jesus expressed perfect truth in expressing the nature of God.
We must accept these things we see clearly in the Word and put aside the things we have thought in the past that are contrary. If you have been taught some-thing different than what you see in Jesus or if you believe something contrary, change it to match up with the Word.
Titus 3:4 – But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.
His kindness and love appeared in Christ. The kind and loving God we see in Jesus IS God, our God and Father.
God is best known in the life of Jesus Christ. God revealed Himself to us fully in Jesus. Jesus isn’t the nice side of God but the clearest definition God wanted to make of Himself. He is the EXACT imprint of God’s divine nature. Jesus enlightens us to the Father’s true nature.
We can see with new eyes. Our God is loving – full of mercy and grace. God didn’t reveal Himself as an angry, out to judge mankind kind of being, but as a self-sacrificing Father, known for taking our sin upon Himself rather than punishing us for it.
Luke 23:34 – And Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
These aren’t just empty words; they are God’s thoughts concerning the world who would kill the Son of God. God isn’t out to GET us; He is ready to forgive us and bless us and meet our needs.
John 3:16-17 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 – But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him]. It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor). So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
God was personally present in Christ reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against men their trespasses but cancelling them and has committed to us the message or reconciliation.
God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge, reject, condemn or to pass sentence on the world but that the world might find salvation through Him.
John 3:16-17 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
When James and John asked if they should call down fire from heaven to consume those who wouldn’t welcome them, Jesus turned and rebuked them severely that they didn’t know what sort of spirit there were of and told them that the Son of Man didn’t come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.
This attitude and nature of Jesus is very lacking in traditional religion and Christianity. Much of Christian teaching has emphasized the Old Testament rather than the new covenant of grace that we are under.
Do we do away with the Old Testament? Of course not! That is part of the process of God revealing Himself and the evil of sin. But we must move on to see the FULL EXPRESSION OF GOD AS REVEALED IN CHRIST.
2 Corinthians 3:6 – He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant of salvation through Christ not ministers of the letter but of the Spirit for the law kills but the Spirit gives life.
People say they know God and the Word of God but if they don’t even know the difference between the old and new covenant and how God’s focus changed, they don’t know as much as they think they do.
Love not judgment, grace, mercy and kindness, not judgment without mercy, is the commandment and life force of the New Covenant.
God’s intention for mankind is not for us to live always fearing the retribution of a vengeful God. We should wake up every day basking in His pleasure over us.
Jesus not only taught us about God He demonstrated God to us in what He did and taught while on earth as well as in giving His live as a sacrifice for our sins.
THE MINISTRY OF JESUS REVEALS GOD’S NATURE
John 10:10 – His purpose in coming (1 John 3:8).
Acts 10:38 – His ministry summarized.
How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him.
Notice He met needs of all who came. He never turned any down or told them to wait.
Jesus always demonstrated God’s will. He acted on every occasion how God the Father would have acted.
John 5:19- Then Jesus answered and said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
John 5:30 – I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
John 5:36 – But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish–the very works that I do–bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.
John 8:26, 28-29 – I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him. Then Jesus said to them, when you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, FOR I always do those things that please Him.
John 8:38 – I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”
John 10:25 – Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.
John 10:32 – Jesus answered them, many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?
John 12:45 – And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
John 14:7-9 – If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
John 17:6 – I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
John 21:25 – So many other things that books couldn’t contain them but summarized in:
Acts 10:38 – He went about doing good and healing all…
Jesus was moved with compassion
Compassionate – to love tenderly, pity, show mercy, full of eager yearning, sympathetic feeling, pity, mercy.
Mark 1:40-45 – Jesus moved with compassion healed the leper and expressed His willingness.
Matthew 14:13-14 – Jesus went out by Himself to pray. Multitudes followed Him, and He was filled with compassion and healed their sick and fed them.
Matthew 20:29-34 – Jesus had compassion and healed the two blind men.
Mark 5:19-20 – Jesus delivered a demon possessed man, showing how He had compassion on him.
Matthew 15:30-31 – Great multitudes came to Im with the lame, blind maimed and many others, and Jesus healed them. V. 32 – He had compassion on them and fed them too.
Matthew 9:35-10:28 – Jesus went about preaching, teaching and healing ever sickness and every disease. He was moved with compassion for the people and asked His disciples to pray for more laborers. And then they joined His ministry.
Luke 7:11-17 – A widow’s son had died. Jesus was moved with compassion and raised him up.
His compassion is the same today and as He looks upon our infirmities, He is still moved with compassion and yearns to help us.
In Conclusion:
JESUS SPOKE AND ACTED GOD’S THOUGTS, GOD’S PERFECT WILL FOR MANKIND! Jesus is the mirror image, the exact representation of God.
We must accept what we see Jesus doing in the Word. We must base all of our knowledge of God on the Word – not tradition, not religion, not what others say – but on the Word itself!
If you have been taught some-thing contrary or if you believe something contrary to what we see of Jesus in the New Testament, change it to match up with the Word.
