We continue in our mini-series trying to answer the question, "What is God like?" We’re not doing this simply to tickle our intellect or to be religious. We are doing this to answer a second question, "What difference does it make to know what God is like?"
Earlier this week, I was getting Esther ready for bed. She has a habit of whining about being tired when Susan cleans her up. And Susan would sympathize and comfort her. But this was the first time she whined about being tired when I cleaned her up.
So I said to her, "You took a nap this afternoon and you woke up at 5:30! You are not tired!"
Immediately, Esther’s eyes beamed wide open and with her upper body tossing side-to-side she said, "Then, why am I going to sleep?" Susan and I looked at each other and just burst into laughter.
When we discover what God is really like, our eyes will beam wide open and our lives will say in the way we live, "Then why am I worried?" Or, "Then why am I insecure?" "Then don’t I have peace?" "Then why do I feel so guilty?"
When we know what God is really like, we begin to throw off unhealthy habits of thought, unhealthy habits of relating, and we begin to see ourselves and others through God’s eyes. Having a true picture of God enables us to enjoy life now and look forward to eternity with God.
We’ve already covered three attributes of God in two previous messages: They were His self-existence, His oneness, and His victory.
The first attribute we’ll look at this morning is the attribute of God is everywhere.
Now this does not mean that God is in the trees, in the rocks or living in His creation. That’s pantheism, or believing that God is a force in nature. The Bible doesn’t teach pantheism. God reveals Himself in the Bible as separate from His creation but to be present everywhere at the same time. Some use the term omnipresent.
We can see this attribute of God in the Old and New Testament. When Abram and Sarai kicked Hagar out of the house in Genesis 16:13, we read, "[Hagar] gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ’You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ’I have now seen the One who sees me.’" Hagar found that God was present even with those who are abandoned by men.
We read in Jeremiah 23:23-24, "’Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the LORD, ’and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the LORD. ’Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD." God is omnipotent.
The Psalmist writes in Psalm 139:7-8, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there." The Psalmist is telling us that we can’t hide from God. There is never a place where we are that God is not.
Jesus explains to the Samaritan woman in John 4:21, 24, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth." Where we worship is not as important as how we worship, because God is not limited to a place or a building. He is everywhere. He is with us Monday through Saturday, at work, at home, at the supermarket, at school and on the freeway.
But why should we care that God is everywhere? Well, if God is everywhere, He sees everything. That means that God not only see your smile and warmth at church, but He sees your struggle with your habitual sin even when no one else is looking. God not only sees my diplomacy in church meetings, but He sees my impatience with Esther.
Most of us think to ourselves, "If God really knew me, He wouldn’t love me. If He really saw what I did when no one else was looking, He would be so disappointed in me. If God found out that I had given in again and again to the same temptation, He would not forgive me." Folks, the God we worship is a God who sees all. He is everywhere. He knows. And yet, He forgives. He loves. He perseveres with us.
Parents, our job is not to make sure our children go to the best university, secure a well-paying and prestigious job or marry up. Our job is to make sure that our children know that the God they worship is everywhere, even though we, as their parents, can not be everywhere with them.
Jin, who put her trust in God through Jesus Christ, while she visited America, said to me, "The best thing about having a relationship with God is that He is always with me, even when my parents are not." Jin was transformed from an unsure young adult into a confident and strong young lady because she knew God was with her all the time, even when her parents were not.
Another reason for why we should care that God is everywhere is that we cannot be. Last week, Michael Yao asked me and the church prayer group to pray for his co-worker’s father in Taiwan to receive Christ. We prayed that God would bring someone to share Christ with this man. On Friday, Michael told me that this man received Christ.
Although we are not omnipresent, God is not limited by our limitations. In fact, because God is everywhere, we are only a prayer away from anywhere. When you can’t be there for someone, pray for them.
The second attribute we’ll look at this morning is the attribute of God is relational.
Someone tells about the two Star Wars character, Obi-wan and Luke, going into a Chinese restaurant. After the food they ordered arrived, Obi-wan picks up his chopsticks and uses them proficiently. Luke on the other hand, keeps dropping his food between the plate and his bowl. After a few minutes, Obi-wan says to Luke, "Use the forks, Luke. Use the forks." (You have to know the Star Wars movies to understand this.)
Many people believe that God is simply a force that we use, channel or manipulate for our own benefit. The Bible tells us that God is personal and relational.
The first of the big Ten Commandments reads, "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below (Exodus 20:3-4)." God expects mankind to make a personal commitment to Him as the only God we will worship.
The Psalmist writes in Psalm 95:6-7, "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care." Not only are we to personally commit to God, but also God is personally committed to care for us.
We read in John 17:3, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." In other words, the purpose of life is to know God and Jesus Christ. God created us for relationship with Himself.
John writes in Revelation 21:3-4, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." You and I have a hard time keeping relationships going when we graduate from school, when we move to another place. But our relationship with God is eternal, good even beyond the grave.
Again, why should we care that God is relational? If God is relational, then God can be known. People who want a relationship take the initiative to reveal themselves.
Throughout human history, the question is asked, "If there is a God, what is He like?" Well, God has revealed Himself to us that we might know Him. All of creation is God’s platform to reveal Himself, His power, ability, creativity and love. The Bible is God’s letters to mankind. And Jesus Christ, is God come in a form that we could understand.
Those who don’t believe you can know God are mistaken. God not only can be known, He wants to be known. J. B. Phillips wrote, "God is not discoverable or demonstrable by purely scientific means, unfortunately for the scientifically minded. But that really proves nothing. It simply means that the wrong instruments are being used for the job."
Another reason for why we should care is that if God is relational, we can have a personal relationship with God. One of the best things about being married, and Susan is one of them, but the other is that I no longer have or give the heartbreak of rejection. Before I met Susan, I either wanted a relationship with someone who didn’t want a relationship with me, or someone wanted a relationship with me that I didn’t want to have.
But we never need to doubt that God wants a relationship with us. His attribute is relational. He created us to know Him and to relate to Him. He is one who will not reject you if you go to Him. It’s not going to Him that will lead to your heartbreak.
The third attribute we’ll look at this morning is the attribute of God is excellent. By this we mean that His is perfect, unlimited in greatness, wisdom and worth. Some refer to this attribute of God as infinity, immensity or majesty.
The Psalmist writes in Psalm 93:1, "The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength."
In Psalm 145:5-10, we read, "They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you."
Revelation 4:11 ascribes to God the glory due His being, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
Let me close by answering the question, why should we care that God is excellent? We should care that God is excellent because only He can satisfy and fulfill us. Our education, our career, our possessions and our family all bring us much satisfaction, but only temporary. All these will disappoint us at one time or another. Only God can satisfy us completely and eternally.
C.S. Lewis wrote, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
We were not made to be satisfied by created things, but we were made to be satisfied by the Creator Himself, who is excellent. Whenever we love something more than we love God, we are trying to find satisfaction in lesser things.
In 1715 King Louis XIV of France died after a reign of 72 years. He had called himself "the Great," and was the monarch who made the famous statement, "I am the state!" His court was the most magnificent in Europe, and his funeral was equally spectacular. As his body lay in state in a golden coffin, orders were given that the cathedral should be very dimly lit with only a special candle set above his coffin, to dramatize his greatness. At the memorial, thousands waited in hushed silence. Then Bishop Massillon began to speak; slowly reaching down, he snuffed out the candle and said, "Only God is great." (Today in the Word, April, 1989, p. 24.)
The God Who is everywhere, relational and excellent is eternally great.
