The Character of God - Another Introduction

Faith based on anything else than God’s character and personality is like living on thin ice over shark infested waters. Sometimes true faith in God is reduced to ‘blind faith.’ That is ‘trusting God’ without really knowing who He is, what He is like or what He would do in a particular situation. You can ‘trust’ anyone with this kind of faith. It lacks a foundation in the person’s character.
Other people progress to having faith in God in terms of trusting His principles. These principles are godly ones derived from the Bible. This is good because these principles have been ordained by God himself. This is part of true faith. However there is a difference between trusting God’s principles and trusting God himself. It is one thing to trust the law of sowing and reaping as a principle. But it is another thing to trust the ONE who implemented that law. It is great to start with godly principles but let’s continue on to the deepest motivation to trust Him… His character.
I wanted to write an article on this subject because I consider absolutely crucial for Christian faith. It concerns the foundation of our faith. Knowing God’s Character is the absolute tap root for true faith. But how do we find out the Character of the almighty, invisible, eternal One who created the known physical universe and yet transcends it?
Jesus is the answer. In John chapter 14 Jesus tells the disciples that he is going away. They don’t exactly know what He means. They don’t yet know He will be crucified and killed. The disciples, understandably, are concerned and confused. Jesus says that they will know how to find Him because they know the Father. The disciples jump on that and ask Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus responds saying,

“Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.” – John 14:9

Now that is a curious thing to say. There is a lot in that statement. Somehow that explains how the disciples will find Jesus after He has gone away.
This one statement (and other similar verses) bring the laser point definition to this paper. If you have seen Jesus you have seen God. If you know how Jesus relates to people, you know how God relates to people. If you know how Jesus relates to the world you know how God relates to the world. If you know how Jesus deals with global issues of justice, suffering and human relationships you know how God deals with these issues. If you know Jesus feels about these things you know how God feels about them.
Let me clarify one thing. We don’t know when God will do something or how God will do it. But we can trust that God is active on our behalf for our good because we know WHO He is. We can clearly see the differences between God’s character, our character or Satan’s character (although many have these confused). I think the authoritative source to derive this information about God’s character and personality is the testimony of the Bible about Jesus’ character and personality.
The way we clearly understand God’s character is by looking at specific events in Jesus’ life. Then we connect the two saying, “Did you see what Jesus did? That is exactly what God would do in this situation!” One of the many things Jesus did while here on earth was to show us what God was really like. What would he do in certain situations? How would He relate to different people? What are His eternal and perfect emotions like? What does He think?
As we look at various events of Jesus’ life we will see the full spectrum of His Character. The scriptures call Jesus both, “The Lamb of God” and “The Lion of Judah.” (Jn 1:35 and Rev 5:5) These statements will serve as end points on the spectrum of His Character while including everything in between. At times you see the tenderness of Jesus. At other times you see the fierceness of Jesus. At times you see the patience of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t fall into one extreme or the other but His Character contains the whole healthy spread from one end to the other.
Jesus came to die in order to bear our sins for us and free us. This was not His only mission. He also came to show us what His Father is like! To bring us into relationship with His Father. John 17:3 says basically ‘to know God IS eternal life’. There is no mystery about it. Jesus came to dispel confusion about His Father’s character and bring clarity. We call that revelation. “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” Let’s take a look at some of the aspects of Jesus character and personality realizing that this is exactly how God relates to us.

The way Jesus relates to the woman caught in adultery tells you what God does – Remember how Jesus related to the woman in John 8 that the Pharisees had caught in the very act of having sex with a man that was not her husband? He protects her from those who are seeking to kill her. Not only does He protect her but He also confronts her sins which are destroying her. That is how God relates to us. Consider this the next time you are in sin. God is going to protect you from Satan but He is also going to deal with you regarding your sin. It is both, not just one or the other. Because it is both it is healthy. “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” God protects us from those who seek to destroy us and He confronts our sinful choices where we are harming ourselves.

Jesus is patient with the disciples, even when they are competing for power… Therefore so is God! – Look at Mark 9 & 10 and Luke 22. The disciples are vying for power. They are arguing about who is the greatest. Does Jesus get upset with them and angry about this carnal display? Does He become impatient? No. He simply grabs a little child in His arms and teaches them that it is not bad to want to be the greatest but it is important how you go about it. In the next chapter (Mark 10) James and John make an attempt to get the seats directly to the right and left of Jesus in the Heavenly Throne room! Wow – that is bold! But don’t you love Jesus’ response? He isn’t offended. He just redirects them and teaches them that true leadership is about servant hood. There is a curious fact here. Have you even thought about how approachable Jesus must have been for them to have even considered asking this? Ask a typical church leader if you can get the highest seats of honor in Heaven and they will rebuke you for pride and arrogance. But Jesus didn’t. They thought He might give it to them if they just asked! That shows you something wonderful about how Jesus related to them on a daily basis. Well, if you have seen Jesus you have seen the Father! This is how God relates to us when we are competing for position, recognition or power. He is not angry when we are immature. He simply works with us to bring about His will and our maturity and blessings.

The Fierceness of Jesus is revealed against the religious leaders. Therefore consider God’s fierceness! In Luke 13 Jesus is teaching in a Synagogue. A woman is there who has been crippled by a spirit for 18 years. She is bent over and cannot stand up. Jesus pronounces her deliverance, lays hands on her and she is instantly healed. When the synagogue ruler sees this he is indignant telling people to come and be healed on the other days of the week but not the Sabbath. In fierceness the Lord confronts him, “YOU HYPOCRITES!” Notice the exclamation mark. Can you see the intensity in Jesus’ face and body language? He then confronts them asking how they can untie their animals to water them on the Sabbath and not consider that ‘work’ but then turn around and tell the people not to seek healing on the Sabbath because that would be work! Jesus doesn’t stand for that! Jesus may be compassionate, he may be merciful but He is NEVER passive! Passivity is often a sin because we don’t care enough about someone else to take action. Jesus was never passive.

The way Jesus related to Peter after his denial is how God relates to us! – It is wonderful to remember how Jesus dealt with Peter after he denied even knowing Jesus! In Matthew 26:74 it says that Peter even called down curses on himself to confirm that he didn’t know Jesus. That shocks most of us because we remember the verse that says, “If you deny Me, I will deny you before My Father in heaven.” We mis-apply that verse and get ourselves very confused about Jesus’ character and thereby God’s character. God is not talking about a one time denial. Otherwise Peter would have been out… permanently. Look at how Jesus interacts with Peter in John 21. Jesus meets them on the beach after He has risen from the dead. He confronts the issue of Peter’s denial and reinstates Peter as the leader of His new Church based on love. Jesus asks Peter 3 times if he loves Him (1 for each denial). Are we connecting with the fact that this is God’s way of dealing with us when we fall and sin? Are we realizing that these are the emotions of God? This is how He relates to us when we seriously fail? He comes to us, confronts the issues, cares for us and works to reinstate us in the proper time and place. God doesn’t abandon us! He fights for us! That’s who God is. And we know it because that is who Jesus is.

Jesus is full of mercy not revenge. Therefore so is God! – in the final moments of Jesus life after incredible injustice, torture and the mocking of His enemies Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, they don’t even know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) It is very clear that Jesus was never revengeful. This means that God isn’t either. We have so much corrupted input from movies and TV that we think God’s anger is about revenge… but it isn’t. Neither Jesus nor God is bent on revenge like all of our modern day movie heroes. God isn’t like Rambo who ruthlessly kills people because he was dealt with unjustly. God isn’t like the Terminator who says, “I’ll be back” and slaughters everyone. Jesus will take ‘vengeance’ on Satan and those who adopt his values, but it isn’t blood thirsty revenge. Jesus was intensely angry with the Pharisees but He never sought to destroy them – only to confront them and present them with an opportunity to change (repent) and preserve themselves from damnation. He wasn’t trying to tear them down. He was giving them yet another opportunity to repent and build them up!

See how much more naturally you can trust your life and soul to God when you base it on His character and personality as seen in the life of Jesus? I have memorized list of events from Jesus life so that during times of struggle and warfare I can immediately fight by reminding myself of the character of God… even if I am asleep at night. When I have to resist fear, condemnation, depression or despair I can instantly remember how Jesus related to various people and how God is relating to me right now! Without a doubt this empowers me to overcome!
Having ‘blind faith’ is a disaster waiting to happen. Basing our faith on godly principles is good, but basing it on His character is the best! We need both, but we need trust based on His character as our foundation. Faith based on God’s character is able to withstand suffering and persecutions. We are going to need to be prepared for this in the future. Presently we are dealing with the radical advances of Islam, terrorism and an emerging unified world government that may not always be friendly towards followers of Jesus. We are going to have to trust God based on His character. We need to prepare now!