Is God Like Your Daddy?

Steve Nicholes

Hebrews 11:6

The story is told of a family of mice who lived all their lives in a large piano. The mice loved the beautiful sounds they heard. They thought it was wonderful that there was someone who made the music, who played the piano. They never saw this person above them but they felt close to him. They felt very comfortable in this piano that was their home. They often thought about the Great Player whom they could not see. What a wonderful person he must be.

Then one day a daring mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned very thoughtful. He had found out how the music was made. Wires were the secret; tightly stretched wires. Some were long. Some were short. As these wires trembled and vibrated music echoed through the piano. It was the wires that made the music. So most of the mice changed their old beliefs. Only one or two conservative mice still believed in the unseen Great Player.

Later, another older mouse went out to investigate the piano. He came back and said that in the piano there were hammers. As these hammers would dance and jump on the wires music would sound throughout the piano. The hammers were the secret. To most of the mice the Great Player was not real. They only believed what they could see – the wires and the hammers. But even though the mice did not believe in Him the pianist continued to play beautiful music.

In a similar way Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool has said in his heart there is no God.” Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” To be a Christian what do you have to believe about God? You have to believe that He exists and that He will reveal Himself to those who seek Him. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

1. DOES GOD EXIST?

The first verse of the Bible begins with “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Bible teaches us that God exists. From ancient history every society has believed in a Higher Power, a Supreme Being, a God. When we look at the human body, planet earth or the universe and ask where did they come from they point to God. When you see something with beautiful design it’s logical to believe that Someone designed it.

Someone may say, “But I’ve never seen God. Therefore God doesn’t exist.” But I ask, “Have you been everywhere in the universe? How do you know He doesn’t exist?” You’ve never seen Einstein, George Washington or your great-great grandfather but you believe they exist because history tells you so. You’ve never seen love, peace or the wind but you believe they exist because you see their effects. Although we’ve never seen God (1 John 4:12) the oldest book in the world says He exists, and we can see His effects all around us.

You may say, “I believe He exists. I believe in God.” But to believe in God is not enough. James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. Even the demons believe that and tremble.” We must not only believe that God exists. We must seek diligently for Him with our whole heart. If we really believe there is a God why do we ignore Him? Why do we not talk to Him? Why do we live and work and play like He doesn’t exist? Do we REALLY believe in God?

2. WHO IS GOD?

You’ve heard of a poet? God is a S.P.O.E.T.

S. God is Spirit.

In John 4 the Samaritan woman asked, “Can God be found on Mt Zion or Mt. Gerizim? Jesus answered that God is not limited to just one place.“God is Spirit.” God is invisible (Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17), without a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39) or physical form. So “no man has seen God at any time” (John 1:18).

P. God is Personal.

Something with personality has intelligence (Romans 11:33), mind (Romans 11:34), will (Ephesians 1:11), reason (Isaiah 1:18), self-consciousness (Exodus 3:14) and self-determination (Genesis 1:26-27). God is a Person. And He is personal with us.

O. God is Omnipotent (All-Powerful).

God is almighty (Genesis 17:1). He is to be able to do anything (Genesis 18:14; Matthew 19:26).

God is Omniscient (All-Knowing).

God knows everything (Psalm 139:1-6). He knows the past, present, and future (Acts 15:18).

God is Omnipresent (Everywhere Present).

God exists everywhere (Psalm 139:7-10) at the same time (Jeremiah 23:23, 24).

E. God is Eternal.

He has no beginning. He will have no end. _“From everlasting to everlasting You are God” (Psalm 90:2).

T. God is Tri-Unity.

God is one (Deuteronomy 4:39; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6). There is one God. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one. They are one God. The Father is a person; the Son is a person; and the Holy Spirit is a person; and all three together are only one person, God.

3. WHAT IS GOD LIKE?

We like to think that our view of God comes from the Bible. But what we believe about God often comes from what we think and feel about our earthly Father. What is your father like? Did he reject you? Did he ignore you? Was he too busy for you? Did he often get angry with you when you made a mistake? If so, then you probably think God the Father is like that too. Or did your father always give you everything you wanted? Did he only says nice things to you, telling you how good you were? Then you probably think God is similar to that too. But the truth is that God is different than your earthly father. He is perfect. He is 100% completely loving. But He is also 100% completely just and fair and right. What is God like?

A. God is Absolutely Pure and Holy.

In Leviticus 11:44 and 1 Peter 1:16 it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” To be healthy means more than not being sick. In a similar way to be holy means more than not sinning. It is a positive healthy state of being right.

R. God is Right and Just.

“He is the rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4).

M. God is Merciful, Gracious and Loving.

Grace is giving something good to someone that they don’t deserve. Mercy is keeping some-thing bad from someone that they do deserve. God is “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4), and gives “abundant grace” (2 Corinthians 4:15).

When you have your Q.T. each day ask yourself, “What does this passage teach me about God?” To learn more about answering questions about God get a copy of Really Real. A great Bible study to do sometime is on the attributes (or characteristics) of God.