- He is a good, good Father. Very good, full of grace and mercy. Steadfast love and faithfulness are the pillars of his throne. He is full of grace and truth. He is known for his love. He is a safe place, a strong tower. He is a Father. He wants a close and intimate relationship with us. We are adopted sons and daughters. We are family of God. But that doesn’t mean He can be manipulated. The fact that we come are family of God, doesn’t make us a bit more “God” and Him a little less “God”. We quite often appreciate the Fatherhood of God more than we appreciate his Godness. His Fatherhood gives us confidence and security, his Godness causes us to walk softly and humbly in his presence. A god who is only a father and only good, but not holy, sovereign, omniscient, ever-present and almighty, is harmless and weak. Such a god has no strength in which I can find refuge. He is just as helpless as I am against the evil in, and brokenness of the world. A weak father cannot punish me, can be manipulated and will not be able to enforce justice and righteousness. Such a father can listen to me, have compassion, but not help me. Such a father barely concern me when I have to face “real life”. Such a God cannot rule, bring justice, heal people, deliver from demons, raise people from death, forgive sins. Some people see the difference between “god” and me as merely the fact that he is older than I am, has more experience, know some things that I do not know. But that is about it. To such a father, however, I cannot entrust my life or eternity.
- He is untamed. But he is also dangerous. He is God and does not owe an account of his ways to anyone. Not to the atheist, the sceptic, the mockers – not to you or me. The question is not if you understand everything he does, but if he is God. A god that you have figured out, is not really a god. It is an idol. The apostle Paul put it like this: “Who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?” (Rom.9:20). Who do we think we are that we can judge God Almighty, his deeds, his ways? We are finite, God is infinate – the finite cannot judge the acts of the infinite, simply because we who are finite do not have enough information or wisdom to challenge any decisions of the Infinite One. Our limitations disqualify us.
- He is not weak. He is not biased. He cannot be bribed. He will not change his will and commands for anyone. He doesn’t have different sets of rules for different people. Neither for you, nor for me. He rules the universe from a throne where angels day and night say: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.” From the “beginning” of eternity, the angels cannot get passed these words: “Holy, holy, holy…” They cannot yet proceed to any of God’s other attributes. To have an intimate relationship with God, doesn’t mean you can be blasé with God. Walk softly and circumspectly in his presence. Be careful: he is God. He is called the Terror of Isaac. Do not ignore the reality of the severity and wrath of God. He doesn’t participate in sin or tolerates rebellion.
- For many decades a God and Father were preached who was stern, far away, not loving, just judging, not merciful, not easy to appease. But now we have flipped it around – we think we have tamed him. We created for ourselves a religion that suits us. We make this “god” not too big; otherwise, we cannot control him. We brought him down to our level. We can argue with him and challenge him, and quite easily win an argument against him. We backchat, tell him how to change his ways and that his Book is not relevant anymore. We challenge his truths. There is, however, one problem: we pulled God down to the realm of the finite – a realm that we understand. But such a God is a creation of our own limitedness, our own finiteness – not the infinite God of Scripture.
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