God Isn't Human

So last night I was thinking about the fact that God isn't human.  In Hosea 11:9 He says, "I am God, and not man".  He is saying this because He does not act the way we humans act, and wanted to make sure that we understood that point.  In the Book of Isaiah 55:8 He says this “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord."  It is important for us to understand that God is not man.  He doesn't act the way we act, and we don't think the way He thinks.

We are constantly trying to project our thoughts and emotions on God, trying to understand His motives.  We use human emotions and thought patterns to try to explain God, but all are woefully lacking.  While it is true that we are made in His image, and image of something does not mean it is exactly like the original.  A hand drawn pencil caricature of me is an image of me, as is a photograph, as is a theatrical production based on my writings.  All of these convey something about me, but none of them capture the fullness of me.  In the same way, we are at best on a shadow, an extreme subset of God.  So trying to explain God using our thoughts, words and emotions is bound to fall short.

I think this is where many people, especially the thinkers, stumble in their faith.  They encounter something in life that makes no logical sense, or seems completely unfair, or just plain wrong, and their response is to blame God.  They ascribe human characteristics or motivations to God as they try to make sense of the situation, and that will always fall short.  God is not man, we don't think like Him, and He doesn't act like us.  We desperately want to make God like us, so we can understand Him.

Thankfully, God understood our limitations and took it upon Himself to show us what He is like in human form so that we could better understand Him.  He sent His Son Jesus, to reveal to us His character, His heart and His thoughts.  He gave us what we want, God in Human form.  The problem is that He doesn't seem to act the way we thought God would act.  The old question, "what would Jesus do?" is actually a very pertinent question, for in understanding what Jesus would do, we see the heart and character of the Father revealed.  When we don't understand something, our first thoughts should not be "why God?", but rather, "what would Jesus do or say?" We clearly don't have a record of everything Jesus said or did, but we have a good foundation of understanding recorded in the Gospels.

As we study the scriptures and read about Jesus' interaction with the people, His disciples, and the religious leaders of the day, we start to understand God's character, and some bit of His thinking. Jesus constantly perplexed those around Him, for He didn't act the way they thought the Messiah would act.  He didn't seem to care about popularity, about offending the "so-called" religious leaders or rulers.  He loved sinners, healed the sick, freed those bound by sin and the deception of the enemy, He had mercy and compassion on the poor and lowly, He did not judge, He did not punish, He served, He humbled Himself, He loved deeply, He touched lives, He saw the truth of people, He called people into their purpose, He taught, He opened our understanding to scripture and in all of this He revealed the Father.

In addition to Jesus, God Himself, as the Holy Spirit as come to us, to our very lives, as our advocate, guide, counselor, teacher and help (John 14:15-27; John 15:26-27; John 16:5-16) .  We have inside of us, Him.  He, again, doesn't act the way we think God would act if He were inside of someone.  We would likely expect Him to be all powerful, possessing us for His purposes, overruling and directing, and making us slaves to His will, for that is how we portray people who are possessed of some other personality or will in movies and stories.  Instead, the Holy Spirit is gentle and loving, willing to wait, never forcing, always subjecting Himself to our will within our lives, for that is the whole premise of our free-will.

Make no mistake, the Holy Spirit is full of power and strength, and certainly could take over our puny wills and minds.  Instead He chooses to work through us, through those willingly allowing His power to flow through them.  It is through people like you and me that the Holy Spirit has demonstrated awesome power in miracles and signs and wonders, healings, etc.  He is not short of power nor constrained by our limited human bodies.  He has healed people through Peter's shadow, through Paul's kerchief, through simple proximity. He has raised people from the dead, revealed people's hearts and hidden thoughts, and set prisoners free from jail.  On His own, He has shaken houses, sent power in such a way that the whole town heard the sound of rushing wind, and enabled people to speak in languages they did not know.  He is thoroughly capable of amazing things, whether working through people or on His own.

This is the mystery of God, He is all powerful, yet humbling Himself and respecting our free will.  He works miracles ands signs and wonders, and yet at times seems silent.  He is the creator of the universe, yet He lives in us.  He is perfect, yet He loves us in our imperfection.  He hates sin, yet He loves us sinners.  He is all knowing, yet He loves to hear us speak to Him and converse with Him in relationship.  He is God of all, yet He chooses to become like us.  I could go on and on, and I would never stop uncovering the Glory of God, nor His mystery.  He clearly is not man.

So let us press in and endeavor to know Him more.  Let us not stumble over the things we cannot understand about God, but rather ask for insight, understanding and revelation.  God desires to be known, desires to be loved, and desires to be represented as His is to this lost world.   Lord God, help us!