What is God like?
I have been thinking about this question for the last few years, because it seems like every denomination and ism believes that their view of God is the right one. Whether it is Calvinism, Arminianism, Universalism, denominationalism, non-denominationalism or any other ism. So which one is right? Is God like any of those systems of thought, or is God like all of them? I have traveled enough around the World to also realize that what God looks like to an American can be very different then to someone in Europe, Central America or Africa or Asia.
We tend to view God thru the lenses of our upbringings, our experiences, our education, and our interpretations of scripture. Is God like the way the movie "The Shack" portrays Him? How about the way the old testament portrays Him or the way religion has portrayed Him? Is He like Zeus, Aries, or Poseidon? Or how about Oden, Thor, and Asgard as Heaven His home? Is He like Dante and Milton describes Him or how the medieval dark ages portrayed him or how the Koran paints Him? So what is God really like?
There is only one sure fire way to know what God is like and that is to emulate the one who is the EXACT representation and the fullness of the Godhead bodily: JESUS!!!! God is like Jesus for Jesus said, "if you have seen me you have seen the Father", and we are told in John 1:18, "No one has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father; He has made Him known". So no man had clearly seen God even though several times in the old testament men saw God, yet they were still looking thru a veil and they could NOT clearly see Him until Jesus manifested.
He came to show us what The Father has always looked like, even though we were unaware and unsure about it. Jesus showed us how God responds to sin and sinners. Jesus showed us how God responds to anger and enemies. Jesus showed us that Gods desire is to serve His creation and not control it. Jesus showed us how God loves unconditionally. Jesus showed us how God forgives. Jesus showed us what Gods Kingdom is like. Jesus showed us that God gets angry at injustice and religion that excludes the marginalized. Jesus showed us that God is full of grace and truth and moved with compassion to heal a sin sick humanity. God is like Jesus and anything that doesn't look like Jesus and calls itself God or God-like is a false image and icon. Jesus also came to show us what a human is supposed to look like with God inside. He revealed to us what love towards our fellow humans is supposed to look like and how we are to love, serve, and honor one another.
The older I get the simpler my theology is getting, God looks like Jesus, and that is my interpretive lens when it comes to scripture as well as answering any question I may have about God. If it doesn't look like Jesus then I question if it looks like God, period! I do not believe that we can go wrong with a gospel and life that is Christocentric and Christological at its core, because you can't preach to much Jesus. So my friends pull out those old "wwjd" bracelets and then add a new one, "wdjd" (What did Jesus do) and live like Him, and treat your fellow man like He would. In doing this you cannot help but have an amazing life for Paul tells us in Galatians that true freedom is loving and serving one another. Love you all!