Imagining God

How do we describe the indescribable?  How do you imagine God?

One Sunday morning a little seven-year-old was listening to her Bible teacher describing what the Garden of Eden must have looked like.  The little girl got out her crayons and started drawing.  The teacher asked her, “Mary, what are you drawing?”  She replied, “I’m drawing a picture of God.”   To which the teacher replied. “Mary, no knows what God looks like.” Mary replied. “They will in a minute!”

God is a mystery.  As mere humans we will never understand the inscrutable mystery of God.  Neither His being nor His nature.  And yet the only way we have of knowing about God is though human language.  God is always more than words can describe.  Even the language found in the Bible are human expressions.

God has many names or metaphors in Scripture.  He is a Shepherd, a Rock, a Husband, a Father, even a Wrestler! Remember when Jacob wrestled with God?  (Genesis 32:22)   All Biblical images of God are a lens through which we gain some new insight of what God means to us humans.  We must have human language to understand His relationship to us.  No single lens or image can describe God.  Rather, words are only a human view of what God is to us.  Words are just various views of God’s characteristics.

Although we humans are unable to see God himself, we can observe His handiwork.  “The Heavens declare the glory of God and firmaments declare His handiwork!”   

Mankind believes it has developed replacements for God.  Using the latest technological advances, we believe that having a divine entity is no longer necessary.  Mankind doesn’t need a Creator.  We are self-sufficient.  We can even move to other planets if necessary.  Life on Mars isn’t impossible.  Spaceships are now taking folks on tours!  With the new AI or artificial intelligence, machines can think, reason and do complicated math problems.  What need do we have for God?

God may not appear physically, but he has revealed Himself through Jesus.  Jesus has the divine attributes of what God has instilled in you and me.  Even though we are plagued with sin from the first Adam…. God brought us Jesus.  He is called the second Adam.  The first one failed but the second one succeeded in keeping the divine attributes of the original creation.

                                 So how would you describe God?

Mary thought she knew.