The character of God
I don’t know how or why I ended up making this conclusion when I was younger, but I used to think that God was like some big, angry God that held a stick, just waiting for me to stuff up and whack me . . . CRAZY BUT TRUE! I lived much of my life viewing God like that.
Let me say from the outset, that that perspective and view of God is WRONG.
As we begin this series, it is important that I lay a clear and solid foundation of WHO God is. His heart, His persona, His character.
By way of summarising what we shared on Sunday, know that God is:
GOOD
You can often tell a lot about a person by what they create and do. In the very beginning, God made the heavens and the earth and all living things . . . and as He made them, He made them GOOD. His inate self is GOOD at heart.
ABOUT MULTIPLICATION AND INCREASE
As the Lord made things, He blessed them to “. . . be fruitful and multiply . . .” (Genesis 1 + 2). Note that He was all about the things He made, include us as humanity, to go well, to increase and to prosper. And when He had to start all over again with Noah, He gave him the same blessing - “. . . be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 9). His heart is revealed yet again - He wants us to do well and exponentially at that!
FAIR - KIND OF
In Dueteronomy 28 we read of the blessings for choosing God and the curses of going against Him. That’s super clear and super fair. Yet, God goes waaaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond and deciding on His own accord that He will have consequences for those how hate Him, yet maaaaaaaaaaaaaasively pour our blessings on those who love Him . . . like waaaaaaaaay unproportionately bless those who love Him. How? In Deuteronomy 7 and Numbers 20 we read of how God decides to punish those who hate Him to the 3rd and 4th generation . . . yet He has also decided to bless those who love Him to the 1000th generation! That’s not equal! Hahahaha. Yet, this is His heart. To bless, and to bless exponentially at that.
LOVE - LIKE CRAZY LOVE
I can understand loving someone who loves you right back. But I struggle to love those who hate me . . . and yet this is what He does and has done for me. Despite my sin, despite my filth, despite my anger, attitude and heart that has at many times been anti-God, He STILL chooses me. That’s crazy love. He demonstrated that when He sent His one and only Son to earth in order to reconcile us all to Himself. He demonstrated His love when, even whilst dying on the cross, chose to forgive those around Him even though they had not even said “Sorry”. And He still does it today. That’s love. Crazy love.
In summary today, there are many, many characteristics to who our King is. Know this:
HE IS GOOD.
HE WANTS YOU TO DO WELL - REALLY WELL.
HE IS SUPER FAIR - ALMOST UNFAIRLY KIND.
HE LOVES YOU.
HE LOVES ME.
AND THAT WILL
NEVER CHANGE.
NEVER EVER.