In the beginning, God said, “Let us create man in our image, after our likeness.” Notice He says “us” and in “our” image. It’s plural. Some denominations teach that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, are one. The Bible shows us that they are three separate beings acting in concert. Most people identify with Jesus Christ throught the crucifiction. But do we really know who God the Father is?
God created man, and man sinned and was separated from God. A wall went up because of the unrighteousness in man, and Jesus had to mediate to bring the two back together. In the meantime, men grew up on the earth not knowing the truth; they grew up alienated from a god of mercy, love, peace and grace; they grew up with a distorted view of who God was, distanced from their Father, the one who could bring them the greatest blessing. He loves His creation, but He has to judge righteously. The Bible says there is no darkness in God; He is all light. Still today, most Christians don’t understand who God the Father is. I’ve never heard an extended, comprehensive teaching on Him, a complete understanding of God’s attributes. In the Bible, we see Him laughing. We see His arm reaching out to help people. We see a lot of different attributes that human beings can possess. We also see that He is a spirit. But how does God describe Himself? God is love. People weren’t looking for salvation. God sent Jesus. In John Chapter 3, He said that He so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son. We see a father who gives his son in love, for our redemption.
Unfortunately, we don’t see that in a lot of peoples’ eyes when we talk about the Father. Often, He’s misunderstood as a scolding master, as somebody who you don’t want to deal with. The result is that people push away from the greatest blessing. They are pushing away from a God who loves, and who wants to encompass you and bring you in.
In Exodus, after the Red Sea is parted and the people are delivered and loaded up with goods from the Egyptians; after they are in the place that God had promised their forefathers some 400 year before, God manifests Himself but the people don’t want to draw near:
Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin. So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
Exodus 20:18-21
They’re saying, “You know what, we don’t want to go there. We don’t want to draw close. Here’s what we want: We want the blessings but we don’t want the relationship. Because I just don’t know how to deal with that. I understand what He did for me. I understand that He parted the Red Sea; that the Egyptians gave us all this gold and sliver; that He delivered me and my family; that He killed the invading army behind me; that He brought me into this place that we knew about 400 plus years ago. I know all of that is true, and I know there must be a good side to Him, but I just don’t want to deal with Him because I don’t understand Him.” The one who did understand Him was Moses. What did He do? He drew near. He went into the presence of God. Moses said, “Don’t fear God. He wants to test you. He wants to bring you to a place where you respect and understand Him.” And the first thing God says is: “Listen, just go back and tell them what we said.” He still wanted them to know that by following His commandments, He could bless them. The effect of pushing away from God because you misunderstand Him is that you don’t come into the presence of the one who truly put the plan together to save you; the one who delivered you—and brought you out of the Egypt in your own life.
We see God bringing judgement and often we think that’s all He is—that He’s just looking for us to trip up, so He can come step on us. But He has no pleasure in judging wickedness. What He wants is for people to turn from their ways so that He can have a relationship with them. In Ezekial chapter 18:31, He says: “Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O, house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore, turn and live!”
These scriptures show us the heart of God. If you think about the big picture: He sent Jesus to die so that we can all come together and learn the word of God. So that we have the blood of Jesus to ask forgiveness for sins and so we could be seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He sent Jesus, His son, to die for us, to heal us, to bring us back to a place where we could have this relationship. We should be running to Him. We should be communing with Him, praying to Him, worshipping Him, praising Him, because He’s worthy of our praise. He wants the best for you.
