The character of God

[foadle]

We are made in the image of God (Gen 1:27) and we are to be growing in his character daily.
This thread is devoted to the fleshing out of the entire character of God. I know the Bible says that God is love (1 John 4) but in its entirety what is the charater of God?
I will gradually post here as I find stuff but I would appreciate any other scriptures and thoughts people could give me.

 

[qh93536]

We made in the image of God (Gen 1:27) and we are to be growing in his character daily.
This thread is devoted to the fleshing out of the entire character of God. I know the Bible says that God is love (1 John 4) but in its entirety what is the charater of God?
I will gradually post here as I find stuff but I would appreciate any other scriptures and thoughts people could give me.

Over the past five years, I have come to know God on a personal level. I have learned that his true nature is not adequately described or depicted in the Bible. I believe that the reason for that is that through most of the OT, he was an angry God. He was frustrated as his people continued to turn their backs on him. Anger and frustration do not put one at his best. The God that I have come to know is neither angry or frustrated any longer. The God I have come to know is reaching out to us. He is reaching out to us, seeking those who are earnestly seeking him.

So, what is God’s true nature? LOVE - God has a love that is beyond human understanding. GOODNESS – Gods goodness is a perfection of the manifestation of pure love. MERCY - Human minds can not comprehend the magnitude of Gods mercy. He is doing things today in preparation for miracles of a global scale. PATIENCE, TOLERANCE and UNDERSTANDING-There are many Christians that believe that God has a problem, or an issue with trivial things. God is deeper than being concerned with things that are trivial. JOY-Gods joy will bring tears to those who share it. It is what some refer to “Full, or Complete Joy” Our God is slow to anger and quick to forgive. He is meek and humble. How can a God of strength and power be meek and humble? There are some of you who will view that as a weakness. It is not a weakness, but a strength, for out of his meekness and humility comes kindness, mercy and forgiveness. He is not a God who has an ego to feed. He is not a God who has to prove anything. He is what I call, a “Gentle Giant”. He has the power to create the heavens, yet the tenderness to touch one single hair on your head.

Since we were created in his image, he likes many things that we do. He likes many kinds of music. He likes dancing. He loves it when we enjoy ourselves in what we do. He has an incredible sense of humor. He is blessed when we talk to him throughout the day. He likes some movies. Particularly love stories. He is what I call a “cool God”

As his anger and frustration are gone, he will once again set foot on the Earth soon. When he does set foot on the Earth, he will make his will known. And his will is that the church, the entire church, every denomination, be united as one body, with one doctrine. The fighting, the arguing, the disagreements will all end. What is going on in the church today is what God views as a “sibling rivalry”. This “sibling rivalry” is not doing anything positive for The Body of Christ. As a matter of fact, there is documented proof that there have been many non-believers who have turned away from Christianity because of what appears to be an inability to agree on doctrine. That is all going to end!

Our God is a warm God. He is not cold. He is not rigid. He is not stubborn. What he has planned for us is not set in concrete. He can and will change his mind, if he finds a better way to accomplish a goal. He is not some computer in the sky without feelings. He has feelings. He has a personality. He is not that different than us. He wants to know all of us, and his desire is that we all will be his loving family. He wants to be our loving father, and he wants to give us everything.

It is important to realize that he did create us to be like him. We can be everything he is without the supernatural powers. That is, we can take on his character or personality, and that is his will for all of us.

 

[LittleRocketBoy]

We made in the image of God (Gen 1:27) and we are to be growing in his character daily.
This thread is devoted to the fleshing out of the entire character of God. I know the Bible says that God is love (1 John 4) but in its entirety what is the charater of God?
I will gradually post here as I find stuff but I would appreciate any other scriptures and thoughts people could give me.

Jesus is the exact image of the Father.
He came to show us the Father.
When we look at Him, we see the Father as He is.
He did not fail.
Did He show us everything?
No... obviously not.
But He did show us what He wanted us to see and all we needed to see.

Some of the greatest errors of doctrine are caused when people depart from the "Jesus revelation of the Father" and fall back into a "mere theistic" belief system. The "mere theistic" concepts are what we commonly call the "general attributes of God" or the "omni factors."

It is not that these "omni factors" are wrong... it is just that they are not how God intended for us to see Him. He intends for us to see and understand Him according to the Jesus revelation. Almost every element of doubt and unbelief in modern Christianity can be traced back to the misapplication of one of more of these "omni factors." When we hear the words of Jesus but then overrule what He said with one of these principles of mere theism, we are effectively denying the revelation of the Father that Jesus gave us in preference to the doctrines of the unknowable god.

The Father intended for us to know and understand Him according to the revelation of Jesus. We should never overrule that revelation with the "omni factors."

 

[franky67]

Jesus is the exact image of the Father.
He came to show us the Father.
When we look at Him, we see the Father as He is.
He did not fail.
Did He show us everything?
No... obviously not.
But He did show us what He wanted us to see and all we needed to see.

Some of the greatest errors of doctrine are caused when people depart from the "Jesus revelation of the Father" and fall back into a "mere theistic" belief system. The "mere theistic" concepts are what we commonly call the "general attributes of God" or the "omni factors."

It is not that these "omni factors" are wrong... it is just that they are not how God intended for us to see Him. He intends for us to see and understand Him according to the Jesus revelation. Almost every element of doubt and unbelief in modern Christianity can be traced back to the misapplication of one of more of these "omni factors." When we hear the words of Jesus but then overrule what He said with one of these principles of mere theism, we are effectively denying the revelation of the Father that Jesus gave us in preference to the doctrines of the unknowable god.

The Father intended for us to know and understand Him according to the revelation of Jesus. We should never overrule that revelation with the "omni factors."

One of my favorite verses is in red,

"When you have seen me, you have seen the Father."

And this is what has bugged me from the time I have been saved, and it's this;

I can't fit Jesus into Job chapters 1, and 2,

Like having a chat with satan about Job,
Proving to satan what a righteous man Job is,
telling satan that he(satan) moved Him (God) against Job without cause.

Now this may be off subject here, if so, just ignore me.

I do believe it's part of the study of God's nature though.

 

[JimfromOhio]

I am reminded that God's character is altogether impeccable. We are to be in praising God all of His works and all of His attributes, NOT PARTS. We cannot ignore one part of God and focus only the other part of God, because if we do that, we are NOT following EVERY word of God as truth worshippers. God is absolutely powerful, that God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, that God is immutable, never changes, that God is all wise, perfectly just, holy, righteous. God is causing all things to work together for our good, which means our eternal glory because we love God because He first loved us and purposed to bring us to His Great Glory. God is eternal, not temporal therefore His promises are ETERNAL. Psalm 16:11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. True adoration of God is to attribute worth to a real Being, one who is truly there and who is truly worthy. Who God REALLY is, and not part of our images of Him.

Great is the Lord
Psalm 48:1 Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. Psalm 86:10 For You are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. Psalm 95:3 For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. Psalm 96:4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. Psalm 135:5 I know that the LORD is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. 1 Timothy 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. 1 Timothy 6:6 Godliness with contentment is great gain. Titus 2:13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:20 For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. Revelation 15:3 and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages."

 

[KingZzub]

One of my favorite verses is in red,

"When you have seen me, you have seen the Father."

And this is what has bugged me from the time I have been saved, and it's this;

I can't fit Jesus into Job chapters 1, and 2,

Like having a chat with satan about Job,
Proving to satan what a righteous man Job is,
telling satan that he(satan) moved Him (God) against Job without cause.

Now this may be off subject here, if so, just ignore me.

I do believe it's part of the study of God's nature though.

Actually satan accuses Job. God then tells Job, "everything he has is yours" God is not giving Job to satan, he is merely stating a fact. Job was walking in fear, and had let his protection down by this. God had presumably spent mucho time trying to put some faith into Job.

Remember also what James 5 says: "Behold the end of Job". Jesus is certainly there: And the Lord turned the captivity of JOB and gave him twice as much as he had before.

Now, that is GOD!!!

 

[JimfromOhio]

The Lord's purpose of the Book of Job is at the end of the book, is that HE is the all-powerful Creator. He is the loving Sustainer. And he is the perfect Ruler. He created the Universe, and he knows how to govern it as well. No matter what happens when a Christian suffers, God is there. Ezekiel refers to Job along with Noah and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14,20). And James draws upon the example of Job to comfort the suffering, proving the point that God is merciful. He commends the endurance of Job (Jas. 5:11).

Fear of the Lord in the Old Testament used as a designation of true piety (Prov. 1:7; Job 28:28; Ps. 19:9). It is a fear conjoined with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather filial reverence. (Comp. Deut. 32:6; Hos. 11:1; Isa. 1:2; 63:16; 64:8.) God is called "the Fear of Isaac" (Gen. 31:42, 53), i.e., the God whom Isaac feared. A holy fear is enjoined also in the New Testament as a preventive of carelessness in religion, and as an incentive to penitence (Matt. 10:28; 2 Cor. 5:11; 7:1; Phil. 2:12; Eph. 5:21; Heb. 12:28, 29).

 

[Trish1947]

If we see the Father in the face of Jesus Christ, and we know we did, but move away from His goodness, as seen in the goodness of Jesus, into His severity where we dwelt before we were saved, then scripture says we will be cut off. This is pretty important I would think. We keep our eyes on Jesus and abide in Him, and we see the Fathers intent towards all of us is goodness, as seen in the life and words, ministry and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in [his] goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

 

[justinstout]

Jesus is the exact image of the Father.
He came to show us the Father.
When we look at Him, we see the Father as He is.
He did not fail.
Did He show us everything?
No... obviously not.
But He did show us what He wanted us to see and all we needed to see.

Some of the greatest errors of doctrine are caused when people depart from the "Jesus revelation of the Father" and fall back into a "mere theistic" belief system. The "mere theistic" concepts are what we commonly call the "general attributes of God" or the "omni factors."

It is not that these "omni factors" are wrong... it is just that they are not how God intended for us to see Him. He intends for us to see and understand Him according to the Jesus revelation. Almost every element of doubt and unbelief in modern Christianity can be traced back to the misapplication of one of more of these "omni factors." When we hear the words of Jesus but then overrule what He said with one of these principles of mere theism, we are effectively denying the revelation of the Father that Jesus gave us in preference to the doctrines of the unknowable god.

The Father intended for us to know and understand Him according to the revelation of Jesus. We should never overrule that revelation with the "omni factors."

AWESOME!

Thank you for your post LittleRocketBoy

 

[justinstout]

Actually satan accuses Job. God then tells Job, "everything he has is yours" God is not giving Job to satan, he is merely stating a fact. Job was walking in fear, and had let his protection down by this. God had presumably spent mucho time trying to put some faith into Job.

Remember also what James 5 says: "Behold the end of Job". Jesus is certainly there: And the Lord turned the captivity of JOB and gave him twice as much as he had before.

Now, that is GOD!!!

Very true, Zzub.
Thank you for clearing things up around here.

 

[LittleRocketBoy]

You are so right T47. This is what makes us CHRISTians and not mere theists. We follow the Lord and His revelation of the Faith and not foolish dead work doctrines devised by theologians and wishy washy doubters who deny Jesus and glorify themselves and their abilities to be "faithful" instead of God and His gospel and the power of the cross to save us to the uttermost!
Thank you for your continual testimony that is stalwart for God and His word and seeks to glorify Him via the gospel and JESUS!

If we see the Father in the face of Jesus Christ, and we know we did, but move away from His goodness, as seen in the goodness of Jesus, into His severity where we dwelt before we were saved, then scripture says we will be cut off. This is pretty important I would think. We keep our eyes on Jesus and abide in Him, and we see the Fathers intent towards all of us is goodness, as seen in the life and words, ministry and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in [his] goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

 

[KingZzub]

I love your post about the goodness and severity of God, Trish. To us it is goodness: why? We stay on the goodness side. Why would we want to go on the severity side?

As I have told my three sons: you could live your lives in such a way I never discipline you again... all you have to do is make wise choices.

This to me is the essense of the fear of the Lord that Jim talks about. The fear of the Lord is that if I act foolishly, I will inherit the whirlwind.

So, I act wisely, and stay on the blessings side.

Wonderful. And I behold the goodness of God.

Blessings all,
|ZZ|

 

[foadle]

Over the past five years, I have come to know God on a personal level. I have learned that his true nature is not adequately described or depicted in the Bible. I believe that the reason for that is that through most of the OT, he was an angry God. He was frustrated as his people continued to turn their backs on him. Anger and frustration do not put one at his best. The God that I have come to know is neither angry or frustrated any longer. The God I have come to know is reaching out to us. He is reaching out to us, seeking those who are earnestly seeking him.

This is very true but I don't belileve that we should at the same time disregard what the Bible can reveal about the character of God - It is still more that helps us in our relationship with Great I Am

It is not that these "omni factors" are wrong... it is just that they are not how God intended for us to see Him. He intends for us to see and understand Him according to the Jesus revelation. Almost every element of doubt and unbelief in modern Christianity can be traced back to the misapplication of one of more of these "omni factors." When we hear the words of Jesus but then overrule what He said with one of these principles of mere theism, we are effectively denying the revelation of the Father that Jesus gave us in preference to the doctrines of the unknowable god.

Why would God give us the Bible if not to know more about him. It will never do away with that personal relationship I agree but I believe that there is a theistic side that will increase our personal understanding.
An example I have found is in the Bible's first verse:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
From this we know that God is outside of time because to do the creating the creator had to be there in the first place - from this I can be certain that God has all my tomorrows worked out (this is of course stated more clearly in other parts of the Bible)
He created two levels of living - the heavenly and the earthly - the spiritual and the physical. While we are in the physical world we need to get a better understanding of and be constantly seeking the spiritual - these two realms go hand in hand.
God is a creator - I am made to also create and to bring things into being (his kingdom on earth)

Now you can see that each of these things are backed up by other parts of scripture and each of them I believe is an intergral part of our relationship with God. Obviously these are some very basic points but has anyone come across anything else?

 

[justinstout]

I am a born-again, Spirit-filled, totally recreated child of God. When God looks at me, He sees Jesus. He doesn't see my imperfect flesh. God loves me, He's never mad at me or displeased with me.
Knowing that does not make me want to live in sin, at all.
There's no way that I could ever not be on the "blessing side of God". God has called me blessed, and that's all that I'll ever be. If I act foolishly, I will only experience the mercy of God. I may experience something negative in the natural, but it is not from my Father. It would be a result of sowing and reaping, and not God's fault. Jesus already bore the punishment that I deserved, and I will never experience punishment from God. If reading that statement makes you want to sin, then you need to get born-again. Hearing that Jesus already bore God's anger and wrath for me makes me want to live holy, not live in sin. The only "side of God" that I'll ever experience is His blessings, goodness, kindness, gentleness, mercy, love, grace, and forgiveness.


in Christ,
Justin

 

[KingZzub]

I am a born-again, Spirit-filled, totally recreated child of God. When God looks at me, He sees Jesus. He doesn't see my imperfect flesh. God loves me, He's never mad at me or displeased with me.
Knowing that does not make me want to live in sin, at all.
There's no way that I could ever not be on the "blessing side of God". God has called me blessed, and that's all that I'll ever be. If I act foolishly, I will only experience the mercy of God. I may experience something negative in the natural, but it is not from my Father. It would be a result of sowing and reaping, and not God's fault. Jesus already bore the punishment that I deserved, and I will never experience punishment from God. If reading that statement makes you want to sin, then you need to get born-again. Hearing that Jesus already bore God's anger and wrath for me makes me want to live holy, not live in sin. The only "side of God" that I'll ever experience is His blessings, goodness, kindness, gentleness, mercy, love, grace, and forgiveness.


in Christ,
Justin

AMEN AND AMEN!!

 

[qh93536]

This is very true but I don't belileve that we should at the same time disregard what the Bible can reveal about the character of God - It is still more that helps us in our relationship with Great I Am

Why would God give us the Bible if not to know more about him. It will never do away with that personal relationship I agree but I believe that there is a theistic side that will increase our personal understanding.
An example I have found is in the Bible's first verse:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
From this we know that God is outside of time because to do the creating the creator had to be there in the first place - from this I can be certain that God has all my tomorrows worked out (this is of course stated more clearly in other parts of the Bible)
He created two levels of living - the heavenly and the earthly - the spiritual and the physical. While we are in the physical world we need to get a better understanding of and be constantly seeking the spiritual - these two realms go hand in hand.
God is a creator - I am made to also create and to bring things into being (his kingdom on earth)

Now you can see that each of these things are backed up by other parts of scripture and each of them I believe is an intergral part of our relationship with God. Obviously these are some very basic points but has anyone come across anything else?

It is IMPOSSIBLE to have a relationship with God through scripture alone. That is only the accumulation of knowledge and has nothing to do with a relationship. You can not even know him through scripture alone. All you can have through scripture alone is knowledge of what has been written about him. And what has been written about him is a grain of sand compared to what he is.

 

[KingZzub]

Well, of course, if the Scripture was living, then you could have a relationship with God through a living book.

Oh yeah...

 

[qh93536]

Well, of course, if the Scripture was living, then you could have a relationship with God through a living book.

Oh yeah...

I have heard the expression that the scripture is living. That is totally nonsense. People force themselves to believe that because that is close as they can get to a relationship with a living God. They will substitute a "relationship" with an inanimate object for a relationship with the living God. The reason that they do that is because they do not know how to have a true relationship with God.

 

[KingZzub]

In a word: rubbish.

This book is alive. It speaks to me. It tells me everything about God.

I know God through His Word. I know Jesus through His Word. That is how I know them.

You cannot know God through feelings, you cannot know God through reason: you know God through faith and faith comes through hearing, and hearing by the WORD OF GOD.

Cheers,
|ZZ|

 

[Joy]

In a word: rubbish.

This book is alive. It speaks to me. It tells me everything about God.

I know God through His Word. I know Jesus through His Word. That is how I know them.

You cannot know God through feelings, you cannot know God through reason: you know God through faith and faith comes through hearing, and hearing by the WORD OF GOD.

Cheers,
|ZZ|

Great ZZzub