Questions And Answers
What is God like?
We have grown up with various images of what God is like. Sometimes we imagine he is an old man in the sky, or a King on a throne keeping record of all we do and judging us. Occasionally when we need somthing we imagine God to be a Santa Claus type figure but are disapointed when our wish does not come true! Our image of God changes with our experience.
The Word of God is one of the best places to discover what God is like. In the Old Testament we see the creative and powerful love of god our Creater. In Genesis we are told how God created everything and 'saw that it was good!' In the New Testament Jesus calls God by the intimate name of 'Abba', revealing a tender, loving Daddy! Indeed the bible tells us that 'God is love' therefore God cannot but love those he created. Jesus tells us what god is like when he compares him to the father in the parable of the prodigal son in Luke's Gospel. However we need to understand that God's love is not a limp, soppy type of love. It is passionate! A compasionate love that is particularly moved in the face of injustice. Jesus showed that compassion when he drove the money changers out of the Temple because of their exploitation of the poor. In Hebrew, the word for compassion is a plural form of the word for 'womb', and signifies yearning love, like that of a mother for her baby in the womb- a love that suffers. Jesus reveals Gods compassion for all God's children, in particular those who suffer. God is like someone who lifts an infant close to his cheek..."
|
