My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When may I come to see God’s face? [Psalm 42:2 (GW)]
But you can’t see my face, because no one may see me and live. [Exodus 33:20 (GW)]
“He’s not at all what I expected!” I said after seeing a well-known radio personality in person. Nowhere near as attractive, suave and elegant as he’d sounded on the air, he was much better in my mind’s eye. Older, heavier, less stylish and bald, I was disappointed. The imagined was so much better than the reality.
Do you ever try to visualize God? Would he look like George Burns, the kindly white-haired old man in the movie Oh, God? whose first words to John Denver’s character were, “Eh, not what you expected?” He certainly wasn’t! Maybe God would sound and look more like Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty and appear in an elegant white suit. Perhaps He’d be more like David Strathairn in Interview with God, who, in true rabbinic fashion, answered questions with questions of his own during three interviews. In The Shack, God was portrayed by Octavia Spencer, a heavy-set soft-spoken African-American woman who went by the name of “Papa.” Of course, none of these characterizations come anywhere close to personifying God.
Nevertheless, even though we know God is spirit and without a physical body, we continue trying to visualize Him. Even the most creative mind is incapable of clearly picturing a God, unrestrained by time or space, who can be everywhere at all times: a God who sees, hears and knows all, not just in the present, but in the past and future as well. Our limited imaginations can’t come close to comprehending such an unlimited being who always has been, is now, and forevermore will be. The enormity and power of God is incomprehensible. I’m overwhelmed even thinking about it. That, however, is what I think God wants: for us to be awed and overcome by His amazing presence.
Even though God walked on earth for thirty-three years, we have no physical description of Him and Scripture used few adjectives. While John, Peter and James saw Jesus’ face shine like the sun and His clothes become white during the Transfiguration, they had but a glimpse of His great God glory! Since Judas had to point out Jesus to the soldiers in the garden, when living as a man, Jesus must have looked quite similar to every other Jewish Galilean.
Fortunately, while we may not know exactly what God looks like, we can know Him. Scripture tells us what He was like and, even though we can’t see Him, we know He is there. Moreover, when we eventually do come face to face with our Heavenly Father, we won’t be disappointed (as I was with that radio personality). It’s a guarantee; the reality will be far better than anything we possibly could imagine.
When Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount, the crowds were astounded at his teaching because, unlike the scribes and Pharisees, He taught with “authority.” When the people wondered at Jesus’ authority, they weren’t referring to His ability to speak confidently and persuasively. The Greek word translated as “authority” was exousia which meant power or right; the people wondered at Jesus’ authorization to say the things He said. Rather than teach on their own authority, most rabbis taught on the authority of earlier sages. The Moody Bible Commentary depicts them as virtual “walking footnotes” who merely cited famous teachers and repeated what had been said before by others.
While summer is hurricane season here in Florida, early spring is “sinkhole season.” For most property owners, a sinkhole is little more than a headache but, for some, it means the loss of their homes and possibly their lives. Seven weeks ago, two families north of here lost their homes and belongings as the earth collapsed beneath them, leaving a chasm at least 40-feet wide and 60-feet long. Back in 2013, a man went to sleep and literally disappeared as he, his bed and then his entire bedroom vanished into the earth; his body was never recovered.
When the Apostle James tells us that God can’t be tempted by evil, we wonder how Jesus could be tempted to sin while in the wilderness. Christians agree that Jesus never sinned but some question whether He actually could. They hold the “impeccability” position: because Jesus was God, sin was impossible and He couldn’t have been tempted. Others hold the “peccability” position: because Jesus was a man, he could sin and was tempted. Still others, recognizing His dual nature, say that, as a man, Jesus could be tempted to sin but, as a divinity, He couldn’t.
In Scripture, the number forty often appeared in the context of preparation, judgment, or testing. The rain poured down upon Noah for forty days and nights. After spending forty years in Egypt and another forty as a shepherd, Moses twice spent forty days with the Lord on Mt. Sinai. The Israelite scouts spent forty days exploring the land of Canaan and, because the people lost heart and rebelled at their report, they spent an extra forty years wandering the wilderness (one year for each day the men explored). Jonah warned Nineveh their destruction would take place in forty days, Ezekiel lay on his right side for forty days because of Judah’s sins and, before being slain by David, Goliath taunted Saul’s army for forty days.
Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season. Marking the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness before beginning His ministry, Lent is a time many believers intentionally reflect on the life of Jesus: his ministry, sacrifice, death, and resurrection. For some Christians, today also starts a season of repentance, fasting, and self-examination.
Devotions of the Heart 