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Last month in the introduction to our study on the attributes of God we stressed how fundamental our idea of God is to everything else that we think and do. It is the foundation of all foundations. Winkie Pratney, in his book on the subject, quotes John Watson as saying:

Tell me what your conception of God is, and I will work out your doctrine of man, of forgiveness, of life, of punishment. Given the axioms [fundamental, universally held principles], geometry is only a question of process. Given your god, your whole theology can be constructed within a measurable time. (The Nature and Character of God; Bethany House Publishers: Minneapolis, MN; 1988)

In other words, our view of God will determine how we view every other doctrine connected with the Christian life and will shape our conduct as well. If we are in error concerning who God is and what He is like, we will be in error concerning everything else all along the way, including salvation and how we should live. This is true not only of those who hold grossly false or mistaken views of Him, but also those like so many in our day who hold an inadequate view of Him as well—for instance, that He is only a God of love and not a God of judgment and wrath against sin.

We also said that in our study we will, as most theologians do, divide up God’s attributes into two main groups, usually termed His natural and His moral attributes. By His natural attributes we mean things like His omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, etc., while by His moral attributes we mean His love, holiness, etc. I like to think of His natural attributes as statistical information about Him—His "size", His "age", His "address", etc.—while His moral attributes are of a more personal nature—what He is really like, what He likes and dislikes, etc. Thus we may think of the study of God’s attributes much like we would the information about any other person. First we would mention the statistical information about him, the kind of information found on a driver’s license—age, sex, size, weight, build, color of eyes and hair, etc. Next we would refer to his occupation, marital status, whether or not he had children, etc. But still we would not know what that person is like. We would have to go beyond these things to more personal information—what his personality and temperament is, what he likes, what he dislikes, etc. We would need to make a "character sketch" of him. We will do the same in our study of God. We will begin with the more statistical information or natural attributes, then go on to the more personal or moral attributes.

We will begin with the fact that God is invisible. Even though this may be obvious, we do have a number of Scripture texts that tells us this. First, John 1:18 says, "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known" (all Scripture quotations are from the NIV unless otherwise indicated). This verse reads quite differently from the King James Version which says, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." The reason for the difference is the broader manuscript base of the NIV (and almost all modern versions) compared to the KJV, a fact that drives some people wild. Most of those who contend for the King James Version as opposed to any modern version charge that the modern ones, including the NIV, compromise the deity of Jesus Christ. But in John 1:18 as well as in about seven other places, the modern translations are actually much stronger in their declaration of the deity of Christ than the King James (John 14:14; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; I Peter 3:14,15; II Peter 1:1; Jude 4.) This rules out the alleged conspiracy theories, at least on this point; but this is outside the scope of our present study. To return to our subject, this verse says that no one has ever seen God, but that Jesus Christ, who is Himself God, has made Him known.

In John 5:37, Jesus said, "[T]he Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form." Then in 6:46 He added, "No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father." Even if we should go no further, these three texts alone are enough to show that when we say God is invisible, we don’t mean in the absolute sense. Jesus intimates that God can be seen under certain circumstances. It is not that it is impossible to see God at all, but only that no living man has ever seen Him (1:18). It is not that God has no visible form whatsoever as some have maintained. On the contrary, when He said that none of those with whom He was speaking had ever seen God’s form or shape, Jesus implied that He did have one (5:37). That God can be seen under extraordinary circumstances is plain from what Jesus went on to say, that He was the only One who had seen the Father (6:46). But even the statement that no one has seen the Father must be qualified, because as we shall see as we go on, it is quite evident from the Bible that God has manifested Himself in visible form on occasion. However, in none of these was He fully seen, but only partially, in a limited way, or in vision form. In several Scriptures, including Exodus 33:20, it is stated that no one is allowed to see God’s face and live. God told Moses when he asked to see God’s glory, "You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." However, Moses was allowed even on this very occasion to see God’s back: "You will see my back; but my face must not be seen" (Exodus 33:23).

Colossians 1:15 says of Christ, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." I Timothy 1:17 reads, "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." Chapter six, verses 15 and 16 adds, "[W]hich God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen." Hebrews 11:27 says of Moses, "By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible." And I John 4:12 says, "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

The fact that God is invisible, at least in the sense that no one has ever seen exactly what He looks like, is behind the second commandment forbidding the making of images for worship:

Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children." You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars-- all the heavenly array-- do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. (Deuteronomy 4:10-19)

Again, the fact that the Israelites saw no form when God came down and spoke to them from Sinai does not mean He has none. In fact, in Exodus 24 during the same time God gave Moses the Ten Commandments (chapter 20), it says the Israelite leaders did see God:

Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and ate and drank. (Exodus 24:9-11)

The people were forbidden to touch the mountain while God stood on it. They were warned that if they should come up to try to see God, they would be consumed. All they could see from the foot of the mountain was fire, lightning, and smoke (Exodus 19:16-25; 20:18-21; 24:12-18). They also heard thunder and the voice of God speaking with Moses, which terrified them. The elders or leaders were permitted to come up part of the way on the mountain, which is where they saw God. Moses alone was allowed to go to the top of the mountain where he spoke to God face to face but was kept from seeing God’s face by the thickness of the cloud of glory that surrounded Him. On other occasions when God came down to the tabernacle to talk with Moses face to face, the people saw only this cloud of glory, not God’s form.

One of Job’s complaints during his afflictions was that he could not see God:

"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him." (Job 9:10,11)

"If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! I would state my case before him and fill my mount with arguments....But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him." (23:3,4,8,9)

Later God did appear to him and spoke to him, but only in a whirlwind, not in actual form (Job 38:1; 42:5).

God is invisible. This fact is often ridiculed by unbelievers as though it meant He did not exist. But we shouldn’t be embarrassed by this nor apologize for it. When they scoff that you can’t even see God we should reply, "Of course not; one of His attributes is that He is invisible." And it is fortunate for mankind that He is not visible at the present time; otherwise, no one could live. The reason that no one can see His face and live may be that His glory, His brightness and power, emanates from His face. Ecclesiastes 8:1 says, "A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine" (KJV); it may be the same with God. Moses’ own face shown after he had spoken to God face to face for forty days on Mount Sinai. Just as there is a more direct connection between a man’s inner spirit and being and his face than other body parts, it seems it is the same with God. It is out of His face that His glory, brightness, and power emanates in such measure that for a man to look upon it in his present mortal state would kill him. One of the promises Jesus gave in the Beatitudes is that believers one day will be able to look upon God: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). So when we say God is invisible, we do not mean that He has no form that can be seen. We mean only that in our present state, God cannot be seen (except in a limited sense and only on those rare occasions mentioned in Scripture).

Since God is invisible, how can we come to know Him or know what He is like? We cannot interview him as a journalist interviews someone for a magazine article or a television profile for the purpose of allowing people to see and hear what that person is like. So how can we know what God is like? There are four ways:

1. Through the visible creation.

2. Through the characteristics ascribed to Him in the Bible.

3. Through His Son, Jesus Christ.

4. Through direct personal encounter or experience.

Romans 1:20 says, "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." We can see from the creation something of what God is like—"his invisible qualities...being understood from what has been made." Here in this verse His power is specifically mentioned. We would know God is omnipotent from the physical creation. Only an omnipotent Being could have formed the universe with all of its energy and living and non-living things.

In our study of God’s attributes we have chosen not to argue first for God’s existence. We have instead assumed His existence and then sought to define and describe Him from what the Scriptures tell us of Him. Often unbelievers or skeptics will challenge us to prove there is a God, almost always with the smug confidence that it is impossible to do so. And usually we rather meekly respond that indeed we cannot prove His existence.

Anyone interested in our message must first assume that He exists, and we go on from there. However, even though proof of God’s existence may not be possible in the mathematical sense, it may be possible in a philosophical sense. Philosophers use "proofs" or logical arguments, sometimes called "rational justifications," all the time. The idea is that a conclusion is valid if the premises one begins with are valid. In philosophical proofs it is necessary to begin with premises that are at least generally accepted as being true, then proceed to a logical conclusion based on these premises. The Bible doesn’t offer philosophical proofs for God’s existence; rather it does just what we are doing in our study. It starts with God’s existence as a "given," then proceeds to describe Him. Notwithstanding this, Romans 1:20 may refer to evidence or "proof" for God’s existence in the creation. God’s "Godhead" (KJV), His "divine nature" (NIV), or His Being, His existence, is "clearly seen, being understood from what has been made" (the creation). Philosophical proofs of God’s existence are frankly beyond the scope of our study; nevertheless, let’s include at least one as a sample. For a more thorough treatment, you might consult these three books: Christian Apologetics by Norman Geisler, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1976; Faith and Reason by Ronald H. Nash, Academie Books (Zondervan), Grand Rapids, MI, 1988; and When Skeptics Ask by Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, Victor Books (Scripture Press Publications), Wheaton, IL, 1990.

The following is a brief form of one argument for God’s existence offered by Norman Geisler in another of his books:

By rational justification is meant a sound argument. Sound arguments are made up of only true premises from which a valid conclusion is drawn. The following premises of the argument are all apparently true. How they are known to be true and with what degree of certainty is unimportant here as long as it is reasonable to believe they are true. It is noteworthy to point out, however, that even non-theists [those who do not believe in a personal God] generally hold them to be true. These premises are as follows:

1. Something exists.

2. Nothing cannot cause something; only something can cause something.

3. The effect cannot be greater than its cause.

All three premises are accepted as true by most people without serious question. The first one is undeniably true, since we cannot consistently deny that everything exists including ourselves. We must exist before we can deny that anything exists. The second premise is obviously true as well....Even [the skeptic philosopher David] Hume wrote, "I never asserted so absurd a proposition that anything might arise without a cause." It seems obvious enough that absolutely nothing has absolutely no power to cause anything....While it may be logically possible that something may just "arise" or "come to be" without a cause, it is contrary to our experience and is counter intuitive. All rational people respect this kind of belief in their ordinary life and thought. The third premise is also an almost universally accepted truth....[It is a] widely accepted truth that effects resemble their causes in some significant way...."Water can rise no higher than its source" is one way to affirm that the cause must in some significant sense be at least equal to the effect....Now granting that these premises are true—and it seems reasonable to believe that they are—then all that remains is to put them together in a valid way for the resulting argument to be a sound one. That is, a valid conclusion from true premises will yield a true conclusion. The following is a widely held theistic argument based on these three premises:

If something exists and if nothing cannot cause something, then it follows that something must necessarily and eternally exist. It must exist eternally since, if nothing ever was [that is, if there ever were a time in which nothing existed], then nothing could now be. But something undeniably now is. Therefore, something always has been. Likewise, something must always have been because nothing cannot cause something. But if something is and if nothing cannot cause something, then it follows that something must necessarily always have been. And, since the cause must bear some significant similarity to its effect, which [in the case of man] is an intelligent moral being, then it is reasonable to posit [assume] an intelligent, moral cause of everything else that exists. If this is so, then the theistic argument for God is sound. (Miracles and the Modern Mind,Norman Geisler; Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, MI; 1992, pp.63,64)

Geisler gives a more complete and detailed argument for the existence not only for a God but the God of the Bible in his other books to which I referred. Suffice it at this point to say that something like this argument for God’s existence is hinted at in Romans 1:20. Notice it refers to God’s "eternal power and divine nature," i.e., that He has always existed. The existence of the creation implies, at least, a Creator.

From the creation we can understand a number of attributes of God. First, that He is omnipotent (all-powerful). Science has shown that even a tiny bit of matter can be converted into a huge amount of energy. Einstein’s theory of relativity says that matter and energy are really only different forms of the same thing and can thus be converted into the other. This was the theory behind all atomic energy. The formula E=mc2 expresses this relationship between matter and energy. "E" stands for energy, "m" stands for matter, and "c" stands for the speed of light. Since the speed of light is a blazing 186,000 miles per second, this number squared, or times itself, is a huge one—about 34½ billion! The energy in matter is 34½ billion times the matter; in other words, there is a tremendous amount of energy in only a small amount of matter. It only takes about two pounds of radioactive material to make a nuclear bomb, but only a small percentage of the potential atomic energy in this material is actually released. Scientists do not know how to release all the energy in the atom. An incredible amount of energy would be released if all two pounds of material could be utilized. Think of how much energy must be locked up in all the matter of the universe! When we consider not only the sum total of energy in the universe but also the fact that God made all this from nothing, we conclude that there is no limit to God’s power. We have no way of measuring it. He is omnipotent.

From the creation we can also understand that God has unlimited wisdom and knowledge. In order to be able to create it all, including all the complexity of life and living things, He would have to understand how it all works in advance of having created it. When we look at great paintings or hear songs or symphonies or poetry or read a work of literature, we understand something of the person who produced the work. He puts something of himself, his thoughts and feelings and personality into it. It is the same with God. We applaud when we hear a masterful performance by a great musician, but how much more should we applaud God who created the materials from which the instruments were crafted, the brain that conceived and composed the music, and the ear to make the hearing of it possible! In the creation we see God’s flair for beauty, originality, order, variety, and even His sense of humor. We also see His goodness, because, despite the corruption in it due to the fall, the creation is basically good. We also see that God is loving in that He has provided an abundance of the things that living creatures need for continued existence on earth, including the instincts in the lowest animals, even insects, like butterflies and bees. In the vastness of the universe and the heavenly bodies we get a glimpse of just how great and glorious God is.

The Psalmist wrote:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. (Psalms 19:1-6)

Even though we can see something of God in the creation, by itself it would be inadequate for knowing Him fully. Some of His attributes would remain hidden to us. Besides, they would be subject to much distortion and misconception, as is evident among the heathen. We need our second way that we understand God’s attributes—the revelation of the Bible. This is the main way we know who He is and what He is like. Of course we are assuming that the Scriptures are true, accurate, and inspired. We could speak on the evidence for this, but, again, it is outside our present scope. Suffice it to say that one of the main benefits of Scripture is that there we get a full and comprehensive view of God and His attributes. But we must make sure that we don’t "pick and choose" which attributes we find there to include and which to reject in making our composite of Him. We must include them all to have a true and accurate portrait.

The third way we know what God is like is through His Son Jesus Christ. Of course this is really only another aspect of number two since we get our knowledge of Jesus Christ from what the Bible says about Him. Notwithstanding this, there are many references in Scripture to the fact that we understand who God is and what He is like by looking at Jesus. As we have already seen in John 1:18, Jesus said, "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known." In John 14 after Jesus told the disciples He was returning to the Father, Philip said, "Show us the Father."

Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves." (14:9-11)

Also when we were citing Scriptures that tell us God is invisible, we used Colossians 1:15: "He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God...." Similarly, Hebrews 1:3 says, "The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word...." The Greek word used in Hebrews is very strong, indicating, according to W.E. Vine and others, that Christ is the exact likeness of God just an impress is an exact copy of a seal. One translation says that Christ is the "perfect photo of the unseen God." This is why Jesus could say, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." No one has ever seen God, but we know what He is like by looking at Jesus. Jesus makes the Father known to us, for He is (morally and spiritually speaking) the exact image of the Father. Origen, writing in the third century, offers this striking illustration of what the phrase in Hebrews 1:3 means:

Let us employ an illustration so that we may more fully understand in what way the Saviour is "the representation of the being of God". The illustration does not fully or adequately express the meaning of the phrase we are discussing; but it may be regarded as adopted to make just this point: that the Son, when "being in the form of God he abased himself", is concerned, through the "self-abasement", to display to us the fullness of godhead. Let us suppose a statue of such a size as to fill the whole world; of such immensity that no one could contemplate it; let us then suppose that another statue was made, identical with the first in respect of the shape of the limbs, the features, the whole outward appearance and the material; like to it in all respects apart from the immense size. This would be made with this object; that those who could not contemplate and behold the enormous statue might look at the small copy and claim that they had seen the original, inasmuch as the copy, being a complete likeness, preserved all the lines of the limbs and the features, in fact the whole appearance and the actual material of the other. (Origen, De Principiis, I.ii.7,8; in The Early Christian Fathers, Henry Bettenson; Oxford University Press: London; 1976, pp. 214,215)

Often in our day the fact that we see in Jesus what God is like is employed to cancel out anything of God that is "negative" or unpleasant in the Old Testament. But this is only a modern form of the old heresy of the second century Gnostic Marcion who taught that the "god of the Old Testament", the creator, was himself a created being, an ignorant and evil "god". He was overcome by Jesus Christ who was sent by the true, highest God. If anything is clear from the New Testament, it is that the "God of the Old Testament" is identical to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The "negative" or unpleasant attributes of God in the Old Testament—wrath, judgment, etc.—are still present in the New. And the "pleasant" attributes of God in the New—love, mercy, grace, etc.—are abundantly demonstrated in the Old. Actually some of the greatest manifestations of God’s love, mercy, and grace are found not in the New but in the Old. Consider for example God’s love and patience with Israel through all their disobedience, unfaithfulness, and idolatry. And what about God’s mercy shown to Ahab and Mannasseh, two of Israel’s (and the world’s) most wicked kings. The fact that Jesus shows us what the Father is like cannot be used to soften or expunge from the list of God’s attributes the unpleasant ones or those opposed to us; and one reason it cannot is that an objective examination of Jesus’ parables and teachings will discover the full range of God’s attributes including His wrath and judgment. Look again and you will see that Jesus is not the "all lovey-dovey" Person He is often depicted to be. He is full of terrible threats as well as lofty beatitudes and promises.

God is invisible, but we can know what He is like by looking at Jesus.

Fourth, we can know what God is like through direct personal encounter and experience. In some branches of Christendom, this aspect of knowing God is neglected or minimized at the least and actually denied at the worst. They say it is unnecessary, dangerous, fanatical, or impossible. But the Scriptures are full of references to the fact that one can have, and indeed must have in order to be saved, a direct personal knowledge and experience of God.

Psalms 34:8 says,

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

"Taste and see" is without doubt an invitation to experience God in a personal way, not just to study or learn about Him.

Acts 17:27 reads,

God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

The King James Version says, "...if haply they might feel after him, and find him...." In either version, clearly more is implied than simply learning about God.

I Peter 2:2-3, no doubt directly referring to Psalms 34:8 above, says:

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

John in his first epistle, addresses his readers:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Faith in Christ and the gospel brings us into direct experience of God and Christ by the Spirit. I Peter 1:8,9 says,

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Jesus said,

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:38)

We could learn a lot about someone by reading a biography of him and articles and interviews, but nothing would take the place of personal contact with him. On the other hand, we could not know everything we needed to know about him simply by personal contact and observation. It is the same with God.

Even though some groups deny or neglect personal experience of God, others emphasize it too much. Our personal experience of God, as important as it may be, would be wholly inadequate to understand all of what God is like. He is more than anyone has ever experienced of Him. In addition, our experience is always subjective and therefore open to mistake and distortion. Possibly this is what is behind many professing Christians’ insistence that "God is not a God of wrath, but love." Their idea of God is based mostly on what they "feel" about Him. We may taste and see that the Lord is good, but we would not discover many of His attributes if we relied on personal contact with Him alone. The main way we know God, who He is and what He is like, it remains, is through the Scriptures. Too often among evangelicals, especially Pentecostal/charis- matics, the desire expressed to "get to know the Lord" or "get to know Him better" means "have a deeper experience" alone rather than studying the Word of God as well to see what His attributes are. Thus most people have an inadequate and even erroneous view of Him.

God is invisible, and God is also incomparable. Many times in Scripture we are told that He cannot be compared to anyone or anything else:

"Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? (Exodus 15:11).

To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to?..."To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. (Isaiah 40:18,25)

"To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?...Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me." (Isaiah 46:5,9)

No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. (Jeremiah 10:6,7)

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. (Micah 7:18)

As we have noted, the fact that God is invisible (and incomparable) lies behind the prohibition to make any kind of image of Him (Deuteronomy 4:10-25; 5:8). While it is true that God made man in his own image, we must not take this too far as some do and conclude that God has about the same size, shape, and appearance as a man. Romans 1:23 condemns the idolatrous Gentiles for foolishly supposing just that:

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Romans 1:22,23)

The fact remains that we simply do not know exactly what God looks like, for in the ordinary sense He is invisible.

Well, what a fascinating and practically inexhaustible subject—who God is and what He is like! I know you will benefit greatly from our study as we painstakingly make our way through it in the coming months.

Leon Stump, Pastor of Victory Christian Center

Background from Greenfield Graphics.