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September 23, 2024

A Thought Experiment

by Jason Neill

Scripture reading: Isaiah 6

I would like to do a thought experiment with you. I am going to give you a word and I want you to think about what images, emotions, and words come to mind. Are you ready? Here is the word: God.

What came to mind? Did you imagine a kind, benevolent being who is the creator of all things? Did you imagine a loving God who forgives you of your sins and wants the absolute best for you? Did you imagine a God who is aloof? Did you imagine a God who is emotionally unavailable? At least that latter reason would account for why you think God is not answering your prayers. He is not listening, or so you think. You may think to yourself, “God has a whole universe to run, why would He listen to me?”

The fact of the matter is that as A.W. Tozer said, “what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” How we perceive God influences how we perceive ourselves, how we perceive others, and how we perceive the world. One pastor confessed, “For years I believed God was working against my personal freedom. I pictured him as a divine Lawgiver who spent the majority of his time creating new ways to further restrict my liberty.”

In the Isaiah 6 passage, God pulls back the curtain, so to speak, and reveals Himself to Isaiah in this heavenly vision.

This passage reveals to us something about God. First, God is glorious. He is worthy of admiration. When God reveals Himself, the only true response is worship. God is unlike anyone we encounter in this world. Do you want to enrich your worship? If so, then get to know God as He reveals Himself in Holy Scripture. Our worship will only be as deep as our knowledge of God. Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote, “The glory of God is all His attributes added together and raised to the nth degree.” If you want to know the glory of God, then you need to learn who He is by knowing His attributes. His attributes are clearly put on display for us in the Bible.

Let me give you a few examples:

God is sufficient. God is not dependent upon anyone or anything to sustain His being. In fact, when God revealed Himself to Moses He told His name. “I am that I am.” God revealed his personal name to Moses. He is Yahweh, which means the “self-existing one.”

God is eternal. He has always existed and always will. Genesis 1:1 affirms God’s existence at the very beginning of time, “In the beginning God…” (NIV).

God is all knowing. The Apostle John wrote, “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:20, NIV). He knows everything about you, both the good and the bad. There is no escaping His awareness.

God is everywhere present. Because God is Spirit, He can be everywhere at once. King David wrote, “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. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:7-10, NIV).

God is good. He does what is good, and He is the ultimate source of all that is good. Psalm 34:8 says, “taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him” (NIV). James says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (NIV). Everything you have and everything I have is a good gift from God. The ability to think, to breath, is a good gift from God. The reason our hearts continue to beat reflects the goodness of God.

God is faithful. The word “faithful” carries the idea of being firm or certain. It is used to describe the strong arms of a parent holding a small child. Just as a parent holds a child tightly to prevent injury in a dangerous situation, so our faithful God holds us tightly to Himself with arms that will never let us go.

God is love. The Apostle John wrote, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8). F. B. Meyer said, “The love of God toward you is like the Amazon River flowing down to water a single daisy.” It is wonderfully overwhelming. Jesus of Nazareth said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV). God’s love for you is most clearly displayed by Jesus of Nazareth dying in your place on the Cross.

If your view of God is skewed, then it may be helpful to take some time this week and meditate on what scripture teaches us God is truly like. If you want to know God clearly, and the Bible is the best way to do that, could I suggest a starting point? Read the Gospel of John. Jesus is God in the flesh. If you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus.