It is a sad thing to say, but the world, and even many Christians have a distorted view of God. What do I mean by this? Well, let me elucidate by telling you my story.
I was raised in a very traditional denomination. It was a denomination where you obeyed the rules and anything and everything that concerned God was done piously, with precise dictates, orderly, formal and according to the dictates of worship. Now to be clear, I owe this denomination a great deal, because they were my initial introduction to Jesus. For that I am grateful. But sadly, in that atmosphere, I acquired a distorted view of God the Father. I grew up with the idea that God demanded "perfection" in worship and in my life. I saw him as some sort of harsh, cruel, taskmaster for whom I needed perform perfectly. Worship was rote, somber (we were not even allowed to clap in church) and, to a teenager, just plain boring. The idea of a personal relationship with such a demanding God was completely foreign to me, so when my friends talked about it, I dismissed it out of hand. Try as I might, this form of worship never really clicked with me. Somehow I knew there was more to church than I had experienced, but I had no idea how or where to find it.
To make matters worse, I was Biblically illiterate. I knew only what I heard preached in a 10 minute sermon on Sundays and sadly, what the world taught. And, as the world (which is under control of the evil one) continues to teach, I thought that I obtained salvation by doing "enough" to make God happy or doing "more good than bad", or as I was once told, "You do the best you can and hope for the best." This was hardly comforting to someone who wanted more of God and to be certain of his eternal salvation.
One particular Sunday we had a guest minister lead the service. He began teaching as he set up for communion and one of the things he said jarred me to the core. He said that we could never do enough to earn our salvation. We had to rely on the perfect work of Jesus to go to Heaven. I remember, very clearly, thinking to myself, "Well that's not right. We just have to do more good than bad." As I said, I was so Biblically illiterate.
This was the first time I remember hearing this basic, Christian truth. Perhaps it had been preached to me before, but if so, it went completely over my head. Sadly, I dismissed what this pastor taught out of hand. It wasn't until several years later that I recognized this truth and embraced it.
As a younger man my view of God was one where I felt that I was under his constant scrutiny - that he was looking for every little flaw and sin in my life and that I had to make up for each one of them. I saw God as vengeful and exacting and a God who demanded perfection. Please don't get me wrong, sin is very serious and God hates it. Why? Because sin hurts us. Sin itself is its own reward.
All I could see in my life was my sin - my inability to overcome it and my futile attempts to please God. All this because of my distorted view of God. I didn't know God as a God of love. I didn't really know God as my loving Father.
Honestly, I still struggle with this at times. But God in his mercy is showing me his heart - his heart for me and for others. He is showing me his perfect love and that I can do nothing to make him love me more or love me less because his love is perfect. His love is about him! His love is perfect because he is love.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7 CENT)
Love is God's nature. It's his character. All that he is is love. Everything that God does, everything he says, everything in the Bible is based on who he is: love.
Did you realize that God loves you as much as he loves Jesus? This one verse in the Gospel of John radically changed my view of God. See what Jesus says as he prays to the Father:
I [believers] in them, and you in me; that they may become perfectly one, and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:23 CENT)
I am united with them and you are united with me. I have done this so that they may be perfectly united together and so that the unbelievers may know that you sent me and that you love them, just as you love me. (John 17:23 UDB)
"I within the midst of and in union with them and You within the midst of and in union with Me, to the end that they may (or: could; would) continuously exist being folks having been perfected (brought to the destined goal; finished; completed; matured and purposed) into one – so that the System (world of culture, religion, economics and government) can (or: could; would) progressively come to know through experience that You commissioned and sent Me forth, and You love them correspondingly as (or: just as; in the same sphere and to the same level as) You love Me. (John 17:23 JMNT)
You may ask, "How can this be? Jesus lived perfectly, I sin. How could he possibly love me as much as he loves Jesus?" That was my question, but as I meditated on and studied this verse, I could not escape the truth, God loves me in the same amount, with the same passion, with the same Fatherly love, with the same fervor that he has for Jesus. And then it hit me. God loves me (and you) not because of us or our behavior, but because of who he is. It is not about me and what I do - it's about him! That's why he loves me (and you) as much as he loves Jesus; because his love (his character) is perfect and without condition.
I am still processing this truth. I still wrestle with this every single day. But, step by step, God is bringing me into the wonderful realization that no matter what I (or you) do, or have done, God loves me (and you) with an unconditional love that never wavers - not even when I mess up (sin). When I do sin he is not there shaking his finger at me and condemning me, rather he is there holding his arms out, picking me up and encouraging me to keep moving forward. No - he does not accept the sin, but he is more interested in helping me overcome it, than condemning me for it.
So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One. (Romans 8:1 TPT)
The believer has no condemnation. None - zip - nada. The slate is wiped clean for the believer. How often have we read this verse and kind of gleaned over it? As the Passion Translation puts it, "We are joined in life-union with Jesus." He loves us so much that he has joined with us. He has not just wrapped us in his love, he has chosen to join with us in a union of love and to live inside of us! The enormity of this truth is almost too much for us to absorb. God lives in us! His love is within us!
The Bible tells us that Jesus is the perfect representation of God the Father.
The Son is the dazzling radiance of God’s splendor, the exact expression of God’s true nature—his mirror image! He holds the universe together and expands it by the mighty power of his spoken word. He accomplished for us the complete cleansing of sins, and then took his seat on the highest throne at the right hand of the majestic One. (Hebrews 1:3 TPT) (Also see, Col 1:15, John 14:9, John 10:30, Col 2:9)
I am grieved when I see an earthquake or a tornado classified as "An act of God". It's bad enough that people have their lives destroyed by these terrible events, but then to blame our wonderful God for what the enemy has done is a terrible misrepresentation of God! This is a one of those topics that are too big to dive into in this short article, but I would urge you to study what the Bible says about the connection between man, man's behavior and consequences for the land.
In our attempts to reconcile all of this in our minds we must begin from the standpoint of the goodness of God. He is good. He is love. He is for us. If there is something in our lives or in the Bible that seems contrary to that truth, we need to question its source. Remember what Jesus said in John 10:10:
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10 ESV)
Sickness, disease, earthquakes, tornados, floods are NOT abundant life. Do they bring life or do they steal, kill and destroy? If it brings life it is from God. If it brings death and destruction it is from satan. It's as simple as that.
Yes, there are many things in the Bible that we do not understand, in particular, in the Old Testament. However, much of this is due to God assuming responsibility for what satan has done (David taking a census in 2 Sam 24:1 & 1 Chron 21:1), progressive revelation, the Hebrew Idiom of Permission (God said to do what he only allowed) and the principle of Biblical Accommodation (Matt 19:8). These subjects are much to big for me to cover in this short article, but if you are interested I encourage you to study some of Pastor Troy Edwards books. (http://www.vindicatinggod.org/books.html) You can also find his books on Amazon. His books are extremely well researched, Biblical and have helped me reconcile many questions regarding the true character of God.
Remember - when we see Jesus we see the full nature, character and love of the Father.
God is so much better than we think!
Shalom!
Jim