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What Is God Like?
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:26-27 (NASB)
What is God like? What are His attributes, His character? The first book of the Bible tells us that He created man in His image, in the image and likeness of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Adam and Eve were created perfect, clothed in the glory of God, and made in the likeness of God. Then, through the fall, because they disobeyed God, their perfection was lost until Jesus, the Son of God, shed His blood for the sins of all mankind on the Cross.
Since we are usually more aware of our own characteristics and traits, we can look at mankind and see some of the attributes of God. Let’s begin with love. We love God, our spouses, children, parents, families, friends, and, as Jesus instructed us to do, we are to love ourselves. “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Matthew 19:19) He tells us to love our enemies and pray for them. (Matthew 5:44) God’s nature is love, (1 John 4:16) and He gives us the ability to love. (Rom. 5:8)
Another trait, which we have in common with the Lord, is mercy. “But God, being rich in mercy…” (Eph.2:4) It’s because of the mercy of God that we are not consumed. Without the mercy of God, there would be no one yet alive on earth, because we have all sinned against Him. But God is rich in mercy. Has anyone ever wronged you, and then asked your forgiveness? When you forgave that person, you showed him mercy.
God is a God of joy. “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17) The joy of our salvation, as we repent and receive Him, growing up in Him, is indescribable. Also, in our natural lives, we experience joy at the birth of a child, the joy of family and friends, the joy of freedoms won for us by someone else’s honorable sacrifice of their own lives, as some of our troops have so willingly done, for which we are eternally grateful. We need to pray for them daily.
We have seen that both God and man are multi-faceted in personality. God is a God of justice, while at the same time, He is a God of love, mercy, grace, joy, holiness, and too many attributes to name in one message. He is All in All. In seeing God as a God of justice, we only have to look at the judiciary systems of the nations of the world, including our own. Romans 13 tells us that the powers that be are ordained of God. If we obey the laws of the land, then there is no reason for us to be apprehended by the justice system, but when a person breaks the law, that one is dealt with according to the laws of the land. Man was created to require justice within human communities. Without justice, murderers, thieves, and people who commit crimes of every description would run rampant and unrestrained all the time.
This God-given trait of mankind is seen in the Lord’s character. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. Psalm 19:9
Every human being who has reached the age of accountability has broken God’s laws, therefore, justice must be served. For this reason, Jesus went to the Cross to face God’s justice for you and me. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid upon Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
All who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, have already had their sins judged in Jesus, and God’s justice has been satisfied for the redeemed. We, as Christians, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, where our works will be judged and rewarded accordingly, but Jesus bore God’s judgment for our sins. Likewise, all who have not trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior must yet face the justice of God.
Have you ever experienced the emotion of wrath or anger? Maybe it was when your three year-old, playing with a tube of lipstick, ruined your new, expensive dress. Or it may have been the day your teenager took the car keys without permission and you received a call from the police station that he or she was being held for driving 55 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone, and that the fine is four hundred dollars. We’ve all experienced wrath or anger. That is because we are made in the image of God. He is a God of love and a God of wrath and anger at the same time, just as we can experience love and anger in the same day.
Our Father’s love is toward his children. As we follow Him, and become “imitators of Him,” He sees us as beloved, as friends, as dear children. For those poor souls who can’t relate to God as Father because they’ve rejected His love in Jesus Christ, they will have to face His wrath and anger unless they repent and receive Jesus. During the great tribulation, the wrath of God will be poured out on all wickedness and wicked people. “and (they) said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6:16-17
Our God is an awesome God! Bow before Jesus in repentance, follow Him, and you won't have to face God's wrath.
by Betty Seiley
www.bettyseiley.multiply.com
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