“God is a mean kid with a magnifying glass trying to burn my feelers off!” People have wondered for years what God is like, and they have come up with some pretty messed up ideas. We learn from the Bible that Satan’s goal from the beginning of human history has been to cast doubt into the human mind about the goodness of God, and to call His word into question. Could that be why God is thought of as distant, and uninterested in human affairs by almost every people group on the face of the earth? They believe that God created the world and set it in motion, but then just sits and watches the world go round.
One source of truth that has not been altered from the time it was first penned is the Bible. God was very deliberate in preserving the Bible so that we could know what He really is like. We have a written account of God’s working in the world, so that there is no argument as to God’s goodness and love.
As we look in the Bible some very definite characteristics about God stand out. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The first sentence in the Bible establishes that God existed before anything was ever created, so he owns it all, is not dependent on any of it, and has the right to do whatever he wants to with us. Afterall, he made it so he owns it. We see from creation that God is good and kind. He didn’t create man with one leg shorter than the other, or with eyes that don’t open, or sex organs that don’t work together… He was kind and created everything for a purpose and with order and complexity. Just from creation we learn that God cares and is powerful! He spoke it all into being in six days. I can’t even create a mess by speaking it into being!
Once God created man and man sinned, we learn that God is pure and hates sin. He hates it so much that he cannot be around it, and it cannot be in his presence. We also learn that God is just, and must judge sin. The only suitable penalty for sin is separation from God…and God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden, and the penalty was carried out, for they eventually died, and every one of their children has suffered the same penalty ever since.
However, we also see that God is loving. He made permanent clothes of animal skin for Adam and Eve after they sinned. He covered their shame (evidence of their sin) by spilling the blood of an innocent animal so that Adam and Eve could have the shame of their sin covered. God also promised that one day, a permanent sacrifice would come and take their place, so that the relationship between God and men could once again be restored.
So these attributes that God displays in only the first couple of pages of the Bible create some interesting problems. We will do well to recognize that God cannot compromise one attribute for another. They are all a part of Him. God is not obligated to help man, because he is their creator and owner. God is holy and hates sin. God is just, and loving a the same time.
Many people feel that God can just accept an apology for their sin and then they can start over with a clean slate. The trouble with that idea is that God’s love compromises his holiness and character. In other words it isn’t even legal or just for God to forgive sins based on even the deepest heartfelt apology. To do so would be a compromise of the attributes that make Him God.
Other people are counting on God’s love to cover their sins, that God might overlook them, and allow them into His presence anyway. Once again, God is pure and just, and that isn’t legal or holy. So what can we do to be saved from our debt of sin that we owe?
The truth is that we are hopeless! Nothing we can bring to God will qualify as payment for our sin nature. Thus our dilemma is this: we must pay for our sins, and the penalty for sin is death and separation from God for eternity. We have no case before God.
But God demonstrates his love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The Bible tells us that God’s love prevails! But how can it compromise God’s other attributes? The truth is, that God accepted a substitute as payment for our debt.
In God’s holiness he had to judge sin. In His justice he demanded it be paid in full. In his love God initiated the plan, and paid it himself! He wasn’t obligated to pay it, because he owns us and can do whatever he wants with us. God sent his only Son, Jesus, to the earth 2000 years ago. Jesus took on human form so that the payment would be one human for everyone else. Jesus lived a perfect life, and because he wasn’t descended from Adam, he didn’t have the “sin gene” in him. He died on the cross, and finished the plan that God set into place way back with Adam and Eve. God approved of the payment for our debt, raised Jesus from the grave and restored him to His rightful place in heaven.
So what is God like? He is Holy, Just and Loving all at the same time. His love was so great that eventhough He didn’t have to, He took our place and paid for our debt in His own blood. What does that mean for us? Our position as God’s friends has been restored and we no longer have to carry around our debt of sin! Our record has been cleared, and our tickets into God’s presence have been purchased, and we couldn’t do anything about it…God did it all for us!