The idea that man can solve man’s problems is a lie that blocks
the truth that we need God. Perhaps the greatest error we could ever make would
be to assume that God is like us. Isaiah 55:8." My thoughts are not your
thoughts, nor are your ways my ways". We all have slightly
difference in ideas about what God is like; but one thing is certain: every one
of us in our natural state, believe that God is pretty much like us. By this, I
mean that we believe that God is angered at the things that angers us and
treasures the things that we treasure. We believe He likes the people we
like, and doesn’t like the people we don’t like. Even when we do wrong, we
assume that God basically understands our course of action.
We know that God knows more than we do and that He’s morally
superior “better”. But we still assume that God, broadly speaking, shares our
sense of justice and morality, our views on love and sex, our politics and
passions, our ideas of an evening well spent and a life worth living. He’s
basically like us, like me. It is this assumption that’s at the heart of
what the Bible calls our sin. The “Serpent” promised that we could be “like
God” which is really just another way of saying, “God is like you, so do as you
please.” And we have believed this lie every since. But is God really like you?
Like me? Moses observed that “no one is like the Lord our God.” (Ex
8:10). King David said the same thing: “There is none like You.” (2 Samuel:
7:22). David’s son Solomon said it too: “There is no God like You.” (1
Kings: 8:23). And, finally, God Himself tells us, “I am God, and there is none
like Me”. (Isa 46:9).
What does the Bible mean when it says that God is not like us? The
Bible is not saying that we cannot comprehend Him, it is pointing out to us
that God is not like us because His purposes cannot be thwarted; He is
unimaginably powerful and breathtakingly good; He is shockingly gracious and
loving to the undeserving; He has known the end since the beginning. Over
and over the Bible has to say He’s not like us because we repeatedly try to
make Him like us. We squeeze God into our own mental universes. We
domesticate and fashion Him after our image. But what foolishness! This
is the God who created the universe with words. This is the God who
destroyed the world with a flood. This is the God who struck down two priests
for offering unauthorized incense. This is a God who raises up nations
and dashes them to pieces. This is the God who put on flesh, dies on the cross
and rose again. This is the God who commands us to present ourselves as living
sacrifices for worship.
God is not like us; but far more worthy and far more holy. He is
not to be trifled with. What’s more, we can comprehend Him, not fully,
but sufficiently. God opens His throne room doors to a true knowledge of
Himself. We can enter that throne room with a mere flip of the Bible’s
cover. . Perhaps the greatest error we could ever make would be to assume that
God is like us. Isaiah 55:8. " My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are
your ways my ways". Open your Bible today and get to know Him better,
let’s not assume that He is like us, that His thoughts are our thoughts and his
ways are our ways. God never forgets or neglects you. His plans
for you are always active, always at work.
Blessings
J.P.
Olson
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