What is God like? Mankind has asked that question for millennia. God is powerful - He created the universe and can send down lightning bolts. God is angry - He likes to judge and punish people. God is distant - if you see Him you die and he lives far away in heaven where we can never touch Him. God says He is love but He must also be hate because He sends people to hell if they don’t like him.
Here are some excerpts about what kids say God is like:
I bet it is very hard for you to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it. - Nan
We read Thomas Edison made light. But in Sunday school they said you did it. So I bet he stoled your idea. - Sincerely, Donna
In Sunday school they told us what you do. Who does it when you are on vacation? - Jane
Are you really invisible or is that just a trick? - Lucy
What does it mean you are a jealous God? I thought you had everything. - Jane
It rained for our whole vacation and is my father mad! He said some things about you that people are not supposed to say, but I hope you will not hurt him anyway. - Your friend, but I am not going to tell you who I am
What is God like to you? And how can we know what He is really like? I think we can. In fact, I think Jesus Christ went out of His way to show us what God is like - and here in the latter half of Luke 6 He actually tells us what God is like - by showing us what a person modeled after God’s heart is like.
Luke 6 is the short version of the Sermon on the Mount. I like it because Luke gets right down to the bottom line. Jesus has called attention to the fact that the religious leaders of His day had it all wrong when they put their power and their rules above God and above caring for others more than caring for silly rules.
Now He gets specific about how humans are supposed to be - and what I find most interesting is that pretty much everything Jesus says we should be we are not naturally. As we look at the list - think about how you would react in a situation naturally - often it is the opposite of how God would react - and it gives us hope too - that God, through the regeneration and renewal of His Holy Spirit - can give us that character too.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. ESV
Verses 20 - 26
Is Jesus saying that we should never laugh, eat, or have money and that we should go around miserable and crying all the time? No. I believe He is saying - there is more to life than what you find on earth, and there is a higher reality that can only be found by first forsaking our dependence on this age and on our own self sufficiency.
He’s also not saying that poor people or hungry people automatically get into heaven. In fact, in Matthew’s gospel there is a more complete list of what Jesus said here - He said: "blessed are the poor in spirit."
What’s happening is Jesus is wanting us to realize that life and the way we always thought things should be is all wrong. If you think you are secure you really aren’t. If you think you have it all you really have nothing. If you think you have happiness you really aren’t. Satan has counterfeited all those things that we need - made us think that we get security, peace, joy, intimacy, and purpose from things never designed to give us those things.
The human condition is terminal. It’s only by realizing that we are evil from the core and that nothing short of the fellowship with God that we really crave inside will do - that’s when you start down that path of being blessed.
Being poor means you realize you lack - that sin has tainted you, and that something vital is missing. Being hungry means you want to fill those missing pieces in your life - not satisfied with the false alternatives the world offers. Weeping means you mourn for your condition and your need - and then when you make that choice to find what is missing in Jesus Christ - you are cutting ties with the world - knowing that it means making a choice and perhaps being ostracized from those who have not made that choice.
Conversely - Jesus gives a warning in verses 24 - 26 that there is a real danger to finding all you need with this world’s system - that money and pleasure and power and prestige will really fill that hole in you or have any lasting value. You will discover that it only leads to loss and mourning both here, and certainly in the next dimension.
So now Jesus hones in that message by giving concrete examples of just how different God’s character - and those who belong to Him - act.
Verses 27 - 36
The natural response when people hate you for being a Christian is to lash out. "Do unto them before they do unto you" - right? But see how deep this transformation goes - and what does this reveal about God’s character?
Did you know that before you come to Christ you are God’s enemy?
Romans 5:10-11 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ESV
And yet - just before that section in Romans: 5:8 "…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners , Christ died for us.
Jesus is not telling us to be doormats - but that the way of God is to love despite the hate of others - to give despite the selfishness of others - and to extend mercy to those who do not deserve it.
And look at this revelation of the character of the Most High: "He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil." You should be glad of that because in our natural state we are ungrateful and evil. This kind of love can only come as we yield our lives to Jesus Christ and have His life become our life.
It’s wonderfully liberating - escaping this tit-for-tat existence. The "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" mentality. Think about it - when you show love to someone and later they betray you, do you regret that you did good to them? God doesn’t.
In John 13 Jesus - who had all authority and power - stooped down and washed the disciple’s feet - even Judas, who betrayed Him.
Verses 37 - 38
Jesus does not mean us to be blind to sin or discipline and not be discerning. He is saying that focusing on one another’s faults instead of having a forgiving attitude is not how a person who belongs to Jesus acts. Also - judging or condemning a soul is God’s job, not ours. A good principal of Biblical interpretation is that we take what ALL of Scripture says about a subject, not just hijack one verse and make it an excuse for non-accountable sin. In fact, later Paul the Apostle told the Corinthians to practice what might be called "compassionate discernment." They were being tolerant of all kinds of sin (incest, idolatry, etc). He wanted them to hold to the truth but also in love (one man who attacked Paul he told them to welcome back in). Also remember: "speak the truth in love." Ephesians 4:15
So this brings up a good point - if God is love, and doesn’t want us to judge - then how can He? Believe it or not, there are things that God hates. God hates evil - which was found in Lucifer when he rebelled against God - an evil that he has infected humans with. But only God has the ability to know, and to judge, evil because He is also completely totally pure which by definition means completely without evil.
And that’s the point He makes in the three parables that follow:
Verses 39 - 49
In essence I think these are the messages of the parables: Jesus is saying - you have to first recognize that your sense of reality isn’t accurate - and that your discernment is limited by your sinful nature. So, realize that humans are evil by nature and they can NOT be good because they are in fact evil. The only way to be good is have a changed nature. Consequently - you say that I am Lord and yet ignore Me when I say to come to Me for life. If you instead build your life on your own merits it will not last - it will be washed away with all evil in the end.
We ignore the message of the gospel at our own peril. Who are you going to trust - the person who says "I don’t see any huge waves out there - so therefore there can’t be a tsunami coming" or the person who says "I’ve seen the results of instruments on the scene and I know that even though you can’t see it, a tsunami is coming and you better get out of the way!"
Conclusions
1. Take a look at the list of characteristics here. Do a status check on yourself - if you were to honestly list your attitudes and responses, which list would more typify your character?
Let’s list the characteristics of God that we learn from this chapter:
God is:
Giving in the face of selfishness
Loving in the face of hate
Forgiving in the face of sin
Not self serving, but other serving - without thought of return
Kind to the ungrateful and evil
Merciful
Our natural responses are to give so you can get, love if you are loved first, forgive only if the person falls on their face before you and lets you flog them, hateful to those who hate, and other centered unless it makes us miss out on something we want really badly or inconveniences us. We judge first and ask questions later, we shield ourselves from others lest someone hurt us.
Again, I’m not saying just be a doormat - but using discernment you may find that giving and loving and forgiving with no thought of a reciprocal action a freeing and maturing attitude.
3. Think for a moment about what is important to you. What do you value? By the world’s standards - and they infiltrate the church and Christians too - we value self protection, self promotion, and self assessment - in other words, what gets me the farthest with the least harm to myself.
Jesus asks us - are we willing to give that up - realize what our flesh is like, trust His assessment of us, and throw ourselves on His mercy and then let Him call the shots of our character, even if it means others take advantage of us at times or don’t give back when we give.
4. If you are getting the impression that making a commitment to Jesus is a big deal - it is. It is no less than dying to yourself and living for Him.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live , but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ESV
But it is worth it - to build your life on something that will never be moved - a life that promises all good and no evil, all joy and no sorrow, all health and security and fellowship forever! Giving up that other stuff pales in comparison.
