What Is God Like?

Read Mark 10

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)

Thoughts… What is God like? Since no human has ever seen him, we are left to wonder how he thinks, what he feels, how he looks, who he really is.

That reminds me of the story of a little girl who 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 informed 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 laws that had become wooden, traditions that had become vacuous, and theologies that had become misguided. 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.” A little later in verse 19, Paul says, “For in Jesus all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”

In other words, when you see Jesus, you are 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 do we learn about God by observing Jesus in this chapter? Just look at each of the stories that make up Mark 10—they make the invisible God a lot more visible:

• How does God feel about your marriage? Just look at Jesus telling the Pharisees, “What God has joined together let not man separate.” (Verse 9)

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

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

Prayer… Father, thank you for making yourself known to me in Jesus. And thank you for making a way through Jesus for me to come into your presence to receive the mercy and find the grace that I need to make it through this day.

One More Thing… “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.” —J.B. Phillips