What Is God Like?

Read Mark 9:1-10:52

What Is God Like?

Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them;
but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when
Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them,
“Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid
them; for of such is the kingdom of God.”
Mark 10:13-14

Go Deep: What is God like? No human has ever seen him, so we are left to wonder.

A little girl was drawing a picture, and her mom said, “Honey, what are you drawing?” Quite confidently, the little girl said, “I’m drawing a picture of God!” The mother reminded her that no one really knows what God looks like. To which the little girl said, “they will when I get done.”

People in Jesus’ day had never seen God. They only knew of him from their wooden laws, their vacuous traditions and from their misguided theologies. No one had ever seen God, but Jesus came along and said, “they will when I get done.”

So what does God looks like? Just look at Jesus. The Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 1:15, “Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” Verse 19 says, “For in Jesus all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”  In other words, when you see Jesus, you’re seeing God himself. Jesus is the perfect picture of God; the absolutely accurate image of the Father. Jesus is the invisible God made visible.

So what does watching Jesus tell us about God in this chapter? Well, how does God feel about your marriage? Just look at Jesus tell the Pharisees, “What God has joined together let not man separate.” (Mark 10:9)

How does God feel about your children? Just look at Jesus gathering up kids and saying, “Let the little children come to me…” (Mark 10:14)

How does God feel about your struggle to let go of earthly dependencies? Just look at Jesus’s interaction with the rich young ruler: “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” (Mark 10:21)

How does God feel about your competitiveness with others? Just look at Jesus saying to his disciples, “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.” (Mark 10:44)

How does God feel about the things you care about? Just look at Jesus asking blind Bartimaeus, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51)

What is God like? What does he look like? How does he feel about you? Just look at Jesus.  Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.”

In Jesus, God has identified with us so we can identify with him. In Jesus, God has come near to us so we can come near to God. In Jesus, God has made a way for us to live before him with complete confidence and daring prayerfulness.

Therefore, as Hebrew 4:16 goes on to say, “let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

One More Thing… J.B. Phillips wrote, “If New Testament Christianity is to reappear today with its power and joy and courage, men must recapture the basic conviction that this is a Visited planet.  …The great Mystery, Whom we call God, has visited our planet in Person. It is from this conviction that there springs unconquerable certainty and unquenchable faith and hope.  … As a sober matter of history, [in Jesus] God became one of us.”