What does God look like?

The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light, But when your eye is bad, your whole body also is full of darkness. Luke 11:34

Recently at bible study, we watched a movie on Martin Luther's life. What intrigued me the most was the journey Luther took from viewing God as angry and waiting to punish humankind, to seeing Him as a loving Father, arms outstretched, waiting for us to come home. Luther's perception of God greatly tainted the outworking of his faith. He lived in fear, served God in fear, until he met Him through the word of God, in the face of Jesus Christ.

It made me realise how important our view of God really is. When our perception is right (when our eye is good), our actions will show it (our whole body will be full of light).

This is why Paul emphasised this in his letter to the Colossian church. You can hear his heart as he prays that they may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding ... increasing in the knowledge of God (Col 1:9-10)

And again in Col 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God.

Why? Because it is only when we hear and know the grace of God in truth, that it bears forth fruit. (see Col 1:6)

What does God look like to you? How do you see Him? As angry? Waiting to punish us? As distant? As unconcerned? Or do we see with the eyes of faith Jesus, the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15a), who has reconciled us in the body of His flesh through death, to present us holy, blameless and above reproach in His sight --- IF we continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel (Col 1:22-23).

There is only one condition! To continue believing, to be grounded and steadfast and unmovable from the hope of the gospel! And what is this hope? That God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that whilst we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8) The righteousness of faith speaks this way, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved!"

Perhaps we think that we do not see God as angry. After all, in this day and age, we are so used to hearing messages that God is love. Then why are so many Christians afraid to follow God fully? Why do we fear that if we gave Him our lives, we would be shortchanged? Why do we secretly believe that if we were 100% devoted to Him, we would be miserable and suffer? What does that say about our view of God? This is not the picture of a loving Father who delights in His children. If we truly see God in the face of Jesus Christ, there would be no fears in trusting Him fully with our whole life.

So what does God look like to you? If you look and find your eye is 'bad', look to the cross, find Jesus in the Word, for the commandments of Jehovah are pure, giving light to the eyes (Ps 19:8b)