Personality of God

Before it is possible to have that deeper, personal experience with God, we must start with a knowledge of God.

In Christ’s prayer, recorded in John 17,

Christ addresses His Father as a separate person.

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Verse 21

He goes on to say in what sense He and the Father are “one.”

This unity does not destroy their individuality.

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: Verse 22

They are one in the same sense that we are to be one with other believers.

Once in conversation, I was asked, “You believe God is in you, don't you?” Pantheism teaches that God is in everything. This is not Biblical.Because I had been studying this very subject, I answered “No.” (Christ is to be in us in a sense, but not contrary to sense. See page 31) My questioner was a little bit surprised and turning to another man, repeated his question. This time he was rewarded by a “Yes.” This is the answer he had been looking for, and he proceeded to share some of his philosophy with us. He said that he believed that too, and that he also believed that God was in the ocean, in the trees, and in the flowers. He went on to say that he was god, I was god, and that everything was god. Even a cup of water was god, or a “part of god.”

Our understanding of the personality of God is vital to having a relationship with Him. Can you have a relationship with a tree, or a glass of water? Are we to look inside ourselves for God? No, no, no!

To Know God, We Must First Believe that He Exists

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6.

Nature reveals the existence of God. We cannot honestly examine the least creature with its intricate detail, without acknowledging the existence of an intelligent designer, an intelligent Creator. But the creature is not the Creator, any more than the painting is the artist. Yet, something more than mere belief in His existence is needed, even the devils believe. We must not just know about Him, Jesus tells us that we must know Him. Our eternal life depends on it.

This is a life and death issue, yet mystery surrounds the character and even the personality of God.

I recently saw a set of tapes with the title “Our Fire and our Friend.” I have no idea what the speaker has to say, but the title serves to illustrate my point. Surely we can be warmed by a fire, but can we be friends with a fire? Can a fire love us? Can it understand our trials and difficulties, and sympathize with us? Can we have a meaningful relationship with a fire, or for that matter, something that is merely a spirit? If we are to know God personally, He must be more than spirit, not something as inanimate and intangible as fire. God is a person. This is one of the first points the Scripture teaches.

Man was Made in the Image of God

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:26-27.

Man was made in the image of God, but this does not include certain attributes such as inherent immortality, for God “only hath immortality.” (1 Timothy 6:16) We can receive immortal life only as a “gift of God.” (Romans 6:23)

Notice in the following text, that the life; the spirit of man; what makes us who we are; was breathed into us by God.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7

Whatever man is, then, was received from God. This should inspire us with a sense of closeness with God, for He is not some mysterious entity out in space, but a person, someone that we can fellowship with and know. The Scripture records many people who knew, or saw God as a personal God.

They Knew God as a Personal God.

And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Genesis 5:24

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:9.

More than this, Scripture shows evidence that God has a body, He has a form.

The 70 Elders at the very beginning of their commission and work were given a view of God as a personal God.

And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. Exodus 24:10.

God was Seen on Various Occasions

Though no man can see the glory of the face of God and live, yet many have seen the form of God.

And he [the prophet Micaiah] said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. 1 Kings 22:19.

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. Daniel 7:9.

God Has a Dwelling Place

When God brought Israel out of Egypt and established them as a nation, He first wanted to impress upon them that He was a personal God, and that He had a specific dwelling place. He told them:

And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. Exodus 25:8.

This sanctuary was to be made after the pattern of God’s literal dwelling place.

A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. Hebrews 8:2.

Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. Hebrews 8:5.

This Place is in Heaven

Scripture shows us God in a specific place; heaven. Furthermore, in a specific place in heaven. If He had no form or body, He would need no physical dwelling place. That would make the sanctuary in heaven, and in fact heaven itself, nothing but fiction.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the lord, and Satan came also among them. Job 1:6.

The lord is in his holy temple, the lord’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. Psalms 11:4.

This Knowledge Changes Cold, Formal Religion to Genuine Worship

We need to see God, to know and understand Him as a real personal God. This was such a vital experience for many that it prepared them for their work. For Isaiah, the experience of seeing God, a real physical presence, in a real dwelling place, changed his experience.

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Isaiah 6:1-4.

This vision inspired Isaiah with awe and reverence. It brought conviction of sin, and changed his religion from one of cold formality to one of genuine worship.

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Isaiah 6:5.

See how this vision affected Isaiah’s view of God and of himself! He had denounced the sin of others; but now he sees himself exposed to the same condemnation. How little now appears his wisdom and talents as he looks on the sacredness and majesty of the sanctuary. How unworthy he is! how unfitted for sacred service! We can hear his cry, like that of the apostle Paul, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” This prepared him for his work:

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:6-8.

Revelation’s Testimony

From Genesis to Revelation, God has sought to reveal Himself as a real tangible being, with a body and a form; a personal God with whom we can communicate. One whom we can trust. In the following passages from the last book of the Bible, He is shown sitting on a throne, with a real hand that holds something.

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. Revelation 4:2.

And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. Revelation 5:1.

Go Back to book contents .... Next Chapter