God Is Not A Man
God Is Not A Man
There are many pages at this website and the sister website (Heaven Coach) that focus on understanding God. Below we see Paul providing the Athenians with some characteristics of God in contrast with their views of God. The information is a small piece of what God has revealed about Himself that nonetheless tells us quite a bit about God. It is very valuable to have this God-given perspective of God’s character. So many irreverently talk about, blame and even reject God without ever trying to understand God as He has so graciously revealed Himself.
There is one thing that causes many people to be misled and they have no one to blame except themselves. This misconception is seldom stated, but it is in the background of many arguments that oppose God and God as the God of the Bible. It is not stated because many of the subsequent complaints about God would be less effective and should be non-existent. It could be stated that God knows what He is doing infinitely better than we do and the arguments and complaints people make are really done without that consideration. The scriptures make it clear and it should be obvious that God is infinitely greater than man in every regard.
Isaiah 55:8,9
8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
A logical person sees God in creation, but for some reason many defer to (choose to follow) some person who rejects God as the creator. Unfortunately, this is an eternal mistake since the man or woman we place confidence in has extremely finite capabilities and frequently harbors a great deal of prejudice in this matter. God provided man with some characteristics like God’s, but in an infinitely lesser quality and quantity.
Romans 1.20
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse
Hebrews 11:3
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
God is not a man and yet men speak of God as though He must be mistaken in this or that. They reject the Bible because they do not agree with God as though their way would be better. How many times have you heard people say, “If there were a God He would not have allowed THIS.” Do you think you understand God well enough in your minute wisdom that you have figured out what HE MISSED IN HIS INFINITE WISDOM? Have you determined God is evil, less considerate than you? You believe certain scientists and certain media and certain institutions of higher learning when they teach creation occurred as the result of a Big Bang. Likewise, you believe humankind evolved from apes because this is what is taught and accepted by many as the best way (so far) to explain intelligent man’s existence without a creator. Neither big bang THEORY or the THEORY of organic evolution are proven, but are scientific THEORIES with many missing pieces and hundreds of assumptions that make them extremely weak THEORIES.
Did you ever consider that the various explanations of creation and life may be limited to how God limited us in our creation? Why would God limit us in this manner? Simply because life is not about man understanding the mechanisms of creation, but about something much more significant, namely your soul and where you spend eternity. In God’s perfect plan to achieve His purpose there is a mystery around creation and yet man can see a Designer, a Creator and do that as God says by the, “things that are made.” Man can search to find a non-God explanation for creation and intelligent life, and of course He will find it. Just as man seeks truth, as man seeks God he will with persistence find those also. As I said, God created a perfect test for the kind of person He seeks.
God Has Laser Focus
Men work at being focused on the “task at hand.” At times we do pretty well, but in general we slide “off-point” from time to time. Many people cannot focus very well and accomplish very little. God is perfectly focused and that focus is on His purpose. When in some way we think of God as though He were a man we can easily think that God could change His rules to accommodate our special circumstances. Men and women have to adjust the course as circumstances dictate a change, but not God. God’s plan is being executed exactly as God determined. Man has a free will and that is a central part of God’s plan. Regardless of man’s choices, God’s focus, God’s plan will not change. The plan was predestined by God and if man aligns with God there will be a very good result but if he does not there will be a very bad outcome. In one area man needs to have a laser focus and that is having a love of the truth and having found it the focus shifts to pleasing God. There are many people who want to please God but first they need to find and obey the truth. God tells man that He is a spirit and those that to worship Him must do so in spirit and truth. He tells man that if you love me, keep My commands. Those who wish to please God, to worship God often want to do it THEIR WAY and that is THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WORSHIP.
God has indicated very strongly that it is within His word that man will find truth. God’s focus was to deliver His word, His truth, His reconciliation in Christ to mankind and all this was accomplished. In a spiritual sense the world was WINDING UP until all that was accomplished sometime near the end of the 1st century. Now, the world is WINDING DOWN and at some time will end. God’s part has been completed – the rules have been established. Your laser focus needs to be simply to get to heaven. This is not a selfish focus because as you understand God and His word you will realize that is the only way you can help others. YOU need to get on the right road. If you doubt God, you are looking at God as a man and thinking of all the difficulties, all the issues related to fairness, all the human reasons why we cannot be sure that God provided His word accurately to mankind. Of course, no man could accomplish and overcome your concerns, but God is not a man! Again, God’s plan is perfect in accomplishing His purpose. You are at the center of that purpose and in essence YOU will decide your eternal fate by the choices YOU make – that is the plan!
Looking at God and Thinking He is Like A Man – Dangerous
We are dealing with God when we consider such things as creation and how man came into existence. Actually, if we are wise we are dealing with God in everything. Looking at God’s plan you do not see God in any way as a man. God’s plans are perfect and perfectly aligned with His purpose.
Many unfortunate things happen when you “deal” with God as though He were a man. Just a couple of examples:
Example 1:
If you are dealing with God as though He is a man you might believe there will always be a way to escape your mistakes in life. Men/Women have escaped justice through various means, albeit frequently by legal means. A criminal can receive a reduced sentence, can be eligible for parole, can get a new trial. There will be no negotiations, no excuses acceptable to God – He knows all things and makes no mistakes. Man may be more tolerant and also can make mistakes in judgment but not God. So, look at God as He has reveled Himself and know what to expect and then of course, do something about it.
Example 2:
Many people believe they can do the minimum in life and be found acceptable to God, maybe even be evaluated on a comparative basis with others. The words below like “living sacrifice” are not minimalistic in nature but point to great effort, diligence and this is your reasonable service (actually your reasoning service). You look at God and reason regarding God’s seriousness in terms of sending His Son and His emphasis on living in accordance with His word!
Romans 12:1
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
It is true few will seek God with the intensity needed, nonetheless YOU should seek God and understand Him. Anyone can find and understand God. Those who find God will know doing the minimum equates to failure and God’s judgments are definitive and not based on relative performance. So again, do not think of God as a man.
Example 3:
It is amazing how people can be impressed by man’s science and as a result reject God. God created all things and that includes all the principles that man struggles to comprehend that we call science. You will see man continually collecting data and changing the current theories relating to creation and man’s existence. I have come to believe many fear the obvious conclusion of God’s existence and God as the God of the bible. Men fumble around in areas related to origins and as a result confuse many people. God makes no mistakes but everything in creation is exactly as God planned. All the spins of the planets, the thickness of the atmosphere, the seemingly endless galaxies, the genetic character of mankind are part of billions of things that God put in place for mankind. One thing that is very strange is the concern man has for the planet being able to sustain mankind’s existence as though there is a delicate balance. They claim it would be easy to upset the planet such that mankind could not survive. We are so worried about the planet, about preserving it for future generations and not so concerned about what life is really all about. If we were properly concerned about future generations it would be to leave them a legacy of truth, honesty, and moral character as examples. As Jesus pointed out frequently in different ways:
Matthew 10:28
28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
I would not argue that men should be good stewards of the earth. We just have our priorities confused. If we took care of the moral and ethical issues there would be less problems associated with the “green-ness” of our planet. God’s purpose is being played out on the stage of His creation, primarily on a little spec we call earth. Our children are well versed in the “green-ness” of the earth but are taught to believe when they die they go out of existence since we are just a cosmic accident. One day God will destroy the earth He made for the great test and then the relative importance of the soul will be universally understood. You see God is not a man and what you MIGHT conceive about the Creator is not correct unless you understand God, His purpose and His plan.
God Has Left The Door To Perdition Wide Open
He Wants You To Choose The Door To Heaven
He Calls That Way Difficult And Few Choose It
There are many different ways men/women can fail. Something that is an obstacle for one person presents no problem for someone else. Sometimes there is just this one thing that is a problem for a person and that is all it takes and as a consequence they reject God and/or never seek God. They end their lifes and are just a “million miles” from the truth – they never got close.
A woman sees the bible as a “sexist” document created by a man because God is referred to as He, as the Father, Jesus came to the earth as a man, and man (Adam) was created first and woman (Eve) was created from man. It is always pride as God says that comes before destruction. If a woman cannot get past this and the role God has given her then she ends up a “million miles” from the truth. Life is about the soul and you can succeed as a man or as a woman. God in fact is not a man or a woman and is not physical in any way. God is a Spirit. God brings clarity to how He views differences in people regardless of their state in life.
Galatians 3:26-29
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
God has clarified this for all time by indicating that in Christ Jesus, there is no difference between people and this includes between a man and a woman – albeit He has given them different roles in their physical existence. Nonetheless, a woman stumbles and fails in life for such a worthless, prideful reason and carries that with her into eternity. Both men and women fail due to pride for different reasons as well as for many of the same reasons.
Can you see the danger of thinking of God as you would a man? You do not like the role of a woman that God has given you but understand God gave that role, not some man.
What God Looks For In His Children
God’s plan sorts people on their true character and as a result of your choices your character is revealed. You must truly be the person God looks for in order to succeed, to achieve heaven. That person can be roughly outlined as humble, having the strength to do the right thing, distinguishes the value of God’s way, has a love of the truth, is open minded, has a sincere love of God and man and demonstrates a forgiving spirit. Someone might think God is like men and will accept less than He has indicated in His word. You should know that such an idea comes from man and not from God.
The Door To Perdition Is Indeed Wide Open
Your Life-Test contains many ways for you to stumble and reveal your true character, here are a few:
1) Some will see God’s SEVERITY and reject Him. They will think they have a better way or that God is wrong – God is not a man – A man might very well be wrong but God is not a man.
2)Some will see the confusion in the religious world and either accept all beliefs (do your own thing religiously) or they will deny God altogether. If they knew God, they would understand that God is not the author of confusion.
3) Some will have a problem with God’s definition of sin. They cannot live without this certain sin. Therefore the God of the bible cannot be God and you look to find flaws in scripture effectively fooling yourself and perhaps others.
4) Some cannot sacrifice their possessions, their riches and that may interfere with doing the right things. Your love of those things, really your nearsightedness for this present time defines how you live.
5) Some will see the historical cruelty of religions which they believe are associated with God and reject God/religion. The religions of man that have acted in these unspeakable ways to preserve their authority are not of God. Because you do not understand God (as He has revealed Himself) you have not made this critical distinction. That is, the religion of God or the religion from man.
6) Some will reject God upon observing the self-righteousness of many “religious” persons. Of course, they reject God because they associate such self-righteous people and/or their religious organizations with God. It never occurs to them that God has nothing to do with such people, such religions.
7) Some will reject God because He rejects people for their lifestyle. If you think in terms of a man making such decisions you can question his motives, his accuracy, his authority. Many think liberality should define God because that is their belief or something they were taught. God, however has defined himself and life’s purpose and sin plays a pivotal part in your success or failure.
It is interesting how at times people look at God’s rules and reject them because they are thinking of God as a man. At other times they look at religions that are man-made and reject God because they associate God with those people and their practices. Of course, such people do not possess a love of the truth for these things are not complicated.
If you looked at God as the Almighty, as the Creator you might understand that He makes the rules, that He both gives and takes lives, and that He will judge all men by those same rules. If you tried to understand God as He has revealed Himself you would be seeing everything from God’s point of view, that is as associated with His purpose. Then life makes sense and you understand the eternal importance of living according to God’s rules.
“Christians Believe God Failed”
So-called Christians believe God failed to set up the kingdom as Jesus indicated and the kingdom is now postponed. God is not like men and does not fail but to help support various of THEIR “Christian” doctrines they conclude the kingdom is not in existence today. As a result they do not understand the kingdom as the church and frequently believe in a fabricated series of end time events. Even more serious for these so-called Christians is that their flagrant mishandling of scripture follows a pattern that keeps them from realizing the salvation offered in Christ.
More On God’s Character
Not only is God not a man but we understand God must be treated with the utmost respect, honored and indeed worshiped. God is loving, benevolent and perfectly just. He possesses emotions and His anger at those who reject His Son and chose to wear themselves out to receive gain in this world will be rejected by God. The verses below are helpful in understanding God and likely in a way which you will not like to know. God is very serious about His creation and all those people who reject Him will receive His wrath and there will be no mercy. The mercy, the grace, the love, the benevolence of God were all on the cross. God reveals His character in these verses in Proverbs and that will not change. His wrath was poured out in the days of Noah, it was poured out on the Jews resulting in captivity and then in the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem. God’s plan was centered on reconciliation and was costly (the suffering and death of Jesus) and people reject His Son, laugh at and mock His Son even in this present age. So, once again God reaches out His hand and mankind refuses, invents new God’s and new religions. God, really for your benefit describes His character in this matter.
Proverbs 1:24-30
24 Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
25 Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
27 When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “ Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the LORD,
30 They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
Final Thoughts and Summary
Is there anything more foolish than rejecting God, His existence, and rejecting God as the God of the bible? There is such one-sided evidence for those things that to live with the clarity that surrounds you but that you rejected would be exceedingly unfortunate. In the final analysis, there will be no one to blame because eventually you will realize it was YOUR CHOICE and you choose poorly and now suffer the eternal consequences.
A truly sad outcome that many will suffer will be the result of listening and believing what many have said about God that is NOT true. An important part of that is blaming God for things done by individuals, groups, churches who claimed to be directed by God but who have done things, have taught things that were in fact abhorred by God. Men may say the Bible cannot be accurate with all the different versions, with all the different authors, with all the time that passed during its recording but God is not a man. God can do what He said and when men think of God as a man they see all the problems in delivering His word accurately to mankind. In that scenario they rightly believe it would be impossible. Yet, it was not even slightly difficult for God! This whole process of looking at God and applying the characteristics of mankind could be considered idolatry as the authority of men is valued higher than God. Man is saying, since I (mankind) cannot do these things or I do not understand how this could be possible or I would not allow such suffering or I would not be so severe and unthoughtful thus “THIS” cannot be God. The “THIS” is either God in general or more typically the God of the Bible.
In summary, life is very short. Billions of people have lived and died and billions live today. God in His wisdom consistent with His purpose has seldom outwardly revealed Himself (outside “seeing Him” in the creation) except in limited ways “speaking to the fathers” such as Adam, Abraham, Moses and others and then in the miracles of Jesus and finally in confirming the word with the apostles via the Holy Spirit. God says His power (to save) is in His word and in that confirmed word (Hebrews 2.3) we can have confidence. At the end of the world, all those alive and all those who ever lived will be fixed in their final destination. God will be revealed openly (every knee will bow) because all is complete except the “immediate to follow” final judgment. That judgment, your judgment is certain, unchangeable and perfectly aligned with God’s word.
For additional insight that will help you understand God – see link below:
Understanding God: Astonishing Differences from your current thinking
8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
A logical person sees God in creation, but for some reason many defer to (choose to follow) some person who rejects God as the creator. Unfortunately, this is an eternal mistake since the man or woman we place confidence in has extremely finite capabilities and frequently harbors a great deal of prejudice in this matter. God provided man with some characteristics like God’s, but in an infinitely lesser quality and quantity.
Romans 1.20
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse
Hebrews 11:3
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
God is not a man and yet men speak of God as though He must be mistaken in this or that. They reject the Bible because they do not agree with God as though their way would be better. How many times have you heard people say, “If there were a God He would not have allowed THIS.” Do you think you understand God well enough in your minute wisdom that you have figured out what HE MISSED IN HIS INFINITE WISDOM? Have you determined God is evil, less considerate than you? You believe certain scientists and certain media and certain institutions of higher learning when they teach creation occurred as the result of a Big Bang. Likewise, you believe humankind evolved from apes because this is what is taught and accepted by many as the best way (so far) to explain intelligent man’s existence without a creator. Neither big bang THEORY or the THEORY of organic evolution are proven, but are scientific THEORIES with many missing pieces and hundreds of assumptions that make them extremely weak THEORIES.
Did you ever consider that the various explanations of creation and life may be limited to how God limited us in our creation? Why would God limit us in this manner? Simply because life is not about man understanding the mechanisms of creation, but about something much more significant, namely your soul and where you spend eternity. In God’s perfect plan to achieve His purpose there is a mystery around creation and yet man can see a Designer, a Creator and do that as God says by the, “things that are made.” Man can search to find a non-God explanation for creation and intelligent life, and of course He will find it. Just as man seeks truth, as man seeks God he will with persistence find those also. As I said, God created a perfect test for the kind of person He seeks.
God Has Laser Focus
Men work at being focused on the “task at hand.” At times we do pretty well, but in general we slide “off-point” from time to time. Many people cannot focus very well and accomplish very little. God is perfectly focused and that focus is on His purpose. When in some way we think of God as though He were a man we can easily think that God could change His rules to accommodate our special circumstances. Men and women have to adjust the course as circumstances dictate a change, but not God. God’s plan is being executed exactly as God determined. Man has a free will and that is a central part of God’s plan. Regardless of man’s choices, God’s focus, God’s plan will not change. The plan was predestined by God and if man aligns with God there will be a very good result but if he does not there will be a very bad outcome. In one area man needs to have a laser focus and that is having a love of the truth and having found it the focus shifts to pleasing God. There are many people who want to please God but first they need to find and obey the truth. God tells man that He is a spirit and those that to worship Him must do so in spirit and truth. He tells man that if you love me, keep My commands. Those who wish to please God, to worship God often want to do it THEIR WAY and that is THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WORSHIP.
God has indicated very strongly that it is within His word that man will find truth. God’s focus was to deliver His word, His truth, His reconciliation in Christ to mankind and all this was accomplished. In a spiritual sense the world was WINDING UP until all that was accomplished sometime near the end of the 1st century. Now, the world is WINDING DOWN and at some time will end. God’s part has been completed – the rules have been established. Your laser focus needs to be simply to get to heaven. This is not a selfish focus because as you understand God and His word you will realize that is the only way you can help others. YOU need to get on the right road. If you doubt God, you are looking at God as a man and thinking of all the difficulties, all the issues related to fairness, all the human reasons why we cannot be sure that God provided His word accurately to mankind. Of course, no man could accomplish and overcome your concerns, but God is not a man! Again, God’s plan is perfect in accomplishing His purpose. You are at the center of that purpose and in essence YOU will decide your eternal fate by the choices YOU make – that is the plan!
Looking at God and Thinking He is Like A Man – Dangerous
We are dealing with God when we consider such things as creation and how man came into existence. Actually, if we are wise we are dealing with God in everything. Looking at God’s plan you do not see God in any way as a man. God’s plans are perfect and perfectly aligned with His purpose.
Many unfortunate things happen when you “deal” with God as though He were a man. Just a couple of examples:
Example 1:
If you are dealing with God as though He is a man you might believe there will always be a way to escape your mistakes in life. Men/Women have escaped justice through various means, albeit frequently by legal means. A criminal can receive a reduced sentence, can be eligible for parole, can get a new trial. There will be no negotiations, no excuses acceptable to God – He knows all things and makes no mistakes. Man may be more tolerant and also can make mistakes in judgment but not God. So, look at God as He has reveled Himself and know what to expect and then of course, do something about it.
Example 2:
Many people believe they can do the minimum in life and be found acceptable to God, maybe even be evaluated on a comparative basis with others. The words below like “living sacrifice” are not minimalistic in nature but point to great effort, diligence and this is your reasonable service (actually your reasoning service). You look at God and reason regarding God’s seriousness in terms of sending His Son and His emphasis on living in accordance with His word!
Romans 12:1
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
It is true few will seek God with the intensity needed, nonetheless YOU should seek God and understand Him. Anyone can find and understand God. Those who find God will know doing the minimum equates to failure and God’s judgments are definitive and not based on relative performance. So again, do not think of God as a man.
Example 3:
It is amazing how people can be impressed by man’s science and as a result reject God. God created all things and that includes all the principles that man struggles to comprehend that we call science. You will see man continually collecting data and changing the current theories relating to creation and man’s existence. I have come to believe many fear the obvious conclusion of God’s existence and God as the God of the bible. Men fumble around in areas related to origins and as a result confuse many people. God makes no mistakes but everything in creation is exactly as God planned. All the spins of the planets, the thickness of the atmosphere, the seemingly endless galaxies, the genetic character of mankind are part of billions of things that God put in place for mankind. One thing that is very strange is the concern man has for the planet being able to sustain mankind’s existence as though there is a delicate balance. They claim it would be easy to upset the planet such that mankind could not survive. We are so worried about the planet, about preserving it for future generations and not so concerned about what life is really all about. If we were properly concerned about future generations it would be to leave them a legacy of truth, honesty, and moral character as examples. As Jesus pointed out frequently in different ways:
Matthew 10:28
28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
I would not argue that men should be good stewards of the earth. We just have our priorities confused. If we took care of the moral and ethical issues there would be less problems associated with the “green-ness” of our planet. God’s purpose is being played out on the stage of His creation, primarily on a little spec we call earth. Our children are well versed in the “green-ness” of the earth but are taught to believe when they die they go out of existence since we are just a cosmic accident. One day God will destroy the earth He made for the great test and then the relative importance of the soul will be universally understood. You see God is not a man and what you MIGHT conceive about the Creator is not correct unless you understand God, His purpose and His plan.
God Has Left The Door To Perdition Wide Open
He Wants You To Choose The Door To Heaven
He Calls That Way Difficult And Few Choose It
There are many different ways men/women can fail. Something that is an obstacle for one person presents no problem for someone else. Sometimes there is just this one thing that is a problem for a person and that is all it takes and as a consequence they reject God and/or never seek God. They end their lifes and are just a “million miles” from the truth – they never got close.
A woman sees the bible as a “sexist” document created by a man because God is referred to as He, as the Father, Jesus came to the earth as a man, and man (Adam) was created first and woman (Eve) was created from man. It is always pride as God says that comes before destruction. If a woman cannot get past this and the role God has given her then she ends up a “million miles” from the truth. Life is about the soul and you can succeed as a man or as a woman. God in fact is not a man or a woman and is not physical in any way. God is a Spirit. God brings clarity to how He views differences in people regardless of their state in life.
Galatians 3:26-29
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
God has clarified this for all time by indicating that in Christ Jesus, there is no difference between people and this includes between a man and a woman – albeit He has given them different roles in their physical existence. Nonetheless, a woman stumbles and fails in life for such a worthless, prideful reason and carries that with her into eternity. Both men and women fail due to pride for different reasons as well as for many of the same reasons.
Can you see the danger of thinking of God as you would a man? You do not like the role of a woman that God has given you but understand God gave that role, not some man.
What God Looks For In His Children
God’s plan sorts people on their true character and as a result of your choices your character is revealed. You must truly be the person God looks for in order to succeed, to achieve heaven. That person can be roughly outlined as humble, having the strength to do the right thing, distinguishes the value of God’s way, has a love of the truth, is open minded, has a sincere love of God and man and demonstrates a forgiving spirit. Someone might think God is like men and will accept less than He has indicated in His word. You should know that such an idea comes from man and not from God.
The Door To Perdition Is Indeed Wide Open
Your Life-Test contains many ways for you to stumble and reveal your true character, here are a few:
1) Some will see God’s SEVERITY and reject Him. They will think they have a better way or that God is wrong – God is not a man – A man might very well be wrong but God is not a man.
2)Some will see the confusion in the religious world and either accept all beliefs (do your own thing religiously) or they will deny God altogether. If they knew God, they would understand that God is not the author of confusion.
3) Some will have a problem with God’s definition of sin. They cannot live without this certain sin. Therefore the God of the bible cannot be God and you look to find flaws in scripture effectively fooling yourself and perhaps others.
4) Some cannot sacrifice their possessions, their riches and that may interfere with doing the right things. Your love of those things, really your nearsightedness for this present time defines how you live.
5) Some will see the historical cruelty of religions which they believe are associated with God and reject God/religion. The religions of man that have acted in these unspeakable ways to preserve their authority are not of God. Because you do not understand God (as He has revealed Himself) you have not made this critical distinction. That is, the religion of God or the religion from man.
6) Some will reject God upon observing the self-righteousness of many “religious” persons. Of course, they reject God because they associate such self-righteous people and/or their religious organizations with God. It never occurs to them that God has nothing to do with such people, such religions.
7) Some will reject God because He rejects people for their lifestyle. If you think in terms of a man making such decisions you can question his motives, his accuracy, his authority. Many think liberality should define God because that is their belief or something they were taught. God, however has defined himself and life’s purpose and sin plays a pivotal part in your success or failure.
It is interesting how at times people look at God’s rules and reject them because they are thinking of God as a man. At other times they look at religions that are man-made and reject God because they associate God with those people and their practices. Of course, such people do not possess a love of the truth for these things are not complicated.
If you looked at God as the Almighty, as the Creator you might understand that He makes the rules, that He both gives and takes lives, and that He will judge all men by those same rules. If you tried to understand God as He has revealed Himself you would be seeing everything from God’s point of view, that is as associated with His purpose. Then life makes sense and you understand the eternal importance of living according to God’s rules.
“Christians Believe God Failed”
So-called Christians believe God failed to set up the kingdom as Jesus indicated and the kingdom is now postponed. God is not like men and does not fail but to help support various of THEIR “Christian” doctrines they conclude the kingdom is not in existence today. As a result they do not understand the kingdom as the church and frequently believe in a fabricated series of end time events. Even more serious for these so-called Christians is that their flagrant mishandling of scripture follows a pattern that keeps them from realizing the salvation offered in Christ.
More On God’s Character
Not only is God not a man but we understand God must be treated with the utmost respect, honored and indeed worshiped. God is loving, benevolent and perfectly just. He possesses emotions and His anger at those who reject His Son and chose to wear themselves out to receive gain in this world will be rejected by God. The verses below are helpful in understanding God and likely in a way which you will not like to know. God is very serious about His creation and all those people who reject Him will receive His wrath and there will be no mercy. The mercy, the grace, the love, the benevolence of God were all on the cross. God reveals His character in these verses in Proverbs and that will not change. His wrath was poured out in the days of Noah, it was poured out on the Jews resulting in captivity and then in the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem. God’s plan was centered on reconciliation and was costly (the suffering and death of Jesus) and people reject His Son, laugh at and mock His Son even in this present age. So, once again God reaches out His hand and mankind refuses, invents new God’s and new religions. God, really for your benefit describes His character in this matter.
Proverbs 1:24-30
24 Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
25 Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
27 When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “ Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the LORD,
30 They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
Final Thoughts and Summary
Is there anything more foolish than rejecting God, His existence, and rejecting God as the God of the bible? There is such one-sided evidence for those things that to live with the clarity that surrounds you but that you rejected would be exceedingly unfortunate. In the final analysis, there will be no one to blame because eventually you will realize it was YOUR CHOICE and you choose poorly and now suffer the eternal consequences.
A truly sad outcome that many will suffer will be the result of listening and believing what many have said about God that is NOT true. An important part of that is blaming God for things done by individuals, groups, churches who claimed to be directed by God but who have done things, have taught things that were in fact abhorred by God. Men may say the Bible cannot be accurate with all the different versions, with all the different authors, with all the time that passed during its recording but God is not a man. God can do what He said and when men think of God as a man they see all the problems in delivering His word accurately to mankind. In that scenario they rightly believe it would be impossible. Yet, it was not even slightly difficult for God! This whole process of looking at God and applying the characteristics of mankind could be considered idolatry as the authority of men is valued higher than God. Man is saying, since I (mankind) cannot do these things or I do not understand how this could be possible or I would not allow such suffering or I would not be so severe and unthoughtful thus “THIS” cannot be God. The “THIS” is either God in general or more typically the God of the Bible.
In summary, life is very short. Billions of people have lived and died and billions live today. God in His wisdom consistent with His purpose has seldom outwardly revealed Himself (outside “seeing Him” in the creation) except in limited ways “speaking to the fathers” such as Adam, Abraham, Moses and others and then in the miracles of Jesus and finally in confirming the word with the apostles via the Holy Spirit. God says His power (to save) is in His word and in that confirmed word (Hebrews 2.3) we can have confidence. At the end of the world, all those alive and all those who ever lived will be fixed in their final destination. God will be revealed openly (every knee will bow) because all is complete except the “immediate to follow” final judgment. That judgment, your judgment is certain, unchangeable and perfectly aligned with God’s word.
For additional insight that will help you understand God – see link below:
Understanding God: Astonishing Differences from your current thinking