One question that I have heard from different people who are enquiring about God is “How do I know what God is like?” It was one of the questions that even plagued my mind as a young man many years ago as I was searching for answers.
While at college (many moons ago), I began to become curious as to what life was all about. Were we just placed on this earth to just expire? Were we just “born” so that we can “die”? What was the purpose of existence if we were just living a life of maybe 70 to 80 years and then just cease to exist? These questions became more magnified in my mind as I pondered them and asked many questions to people that I thought may have known the answer, but none sufficed. (I also learned later that folks had been praying for me right around this time and I know their prayers had an effect on my decision for Christ). Well, answers for me did not come until after I returned home from college and met a man at a job I was working with during that time who took the time to explain to me about the love of Jesus Christ.
He explained to me how Jesus loved me and as best as he could, opened the Bible and told me how Jesus had died for my sins. He also led me in the sinners prayer, where I asked Jesus to come into my heart and life and save me. I will always consider my initial leading to salvation through this man. But even though I prayed then, I still wasn’t quite committed and was largely still living the way I had been living, until some weeks later when I walked into a very exuberant Spirit-filled church on Long Island, NY. It was there where I had a radical transformation and have never been the same since. What radically changed me?
I encountered God in a powerful way and had a total revelation of who Jesus Christ, the Son of God was. The fact that Jesus Christ, the 2nd Person of the Eternal Godhead (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) had come to earth, lived a sinless life, died for our sins on the Cross and rose again from the dead to secure salvation for us was completely mind blowing to me and still is to this day. But here’s my point in relation to the question stated earlier of people who are searching for answers or are confused about God, who want to know what God is really like. The answer is easy. Just look at the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus is exact representation of all who God is. Scripture says this:
Hebrews 1:1-3 – NIV – In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
The Scripture says He is the “exact representation of His Being”. The Amplified Classic Bible says He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature. He reflects the very nature, imprint, image and character of who God the Father really is.
When asked by Phillip, one of His disciples to show them the Father and this would satisfy them, this is how Jesus responded: John 14:8-9 – NLT – Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show Him to you?
Jesus also said that “I and my Father are One” (John 10:30). So, to answer the question that many ask, if you want to know what God is like, look at the life of Jesus Christ as it is revealed in the Scriptures. Jesus perfectly represented all that God is. So I encourage you as you spend time in praying and reading Scripture, study the life of Jesus as written in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as well as throughout the rest of the New Testament and you will have a perfect example of what
God the Father is like.
God Bless!
