A4P Guest: “Who is God for you?”
A4P: Well, it depends on which god you’re referring to. Whenever I get asked like that, I can’t help but think how the person who asked me that question is expecting me to answer.
The word “god” can mean so many things for so many people. Some people want to think of God as “Santa”, the one who always gives gifts (without demanding anything), the one who overlooks all wrong doings; the one who always smiles, gives kisses, hugs and gifts, raises up the dead so that he won’t see anybody crying, and etc; just like the Genie in a bottle.
Some see God as the one who forgives without holding one responsible and accountable. If you say to them, “God disciplines His children” according to Hebrews 12:4-6, they give you a kind of look that says, “You are from the 1st century Christianity, aren’t you?” They won’t listen to you because they think that discipline is needed for Satan not for them.
If you tell them that, “God is a consuming fire,” as it is written in the Bible (Hebrews 12:29), they will say to you, “That nature of God is only for the Old Testament people and for the devil not for us who live in the New Testament”.
There are others who see God as the one with a long white beard, sitting on a big throne, holding a rod on his hand (a star at the tip of the rod), ready to "zap" anyone who goes out of line.
But the truth of the matter is there is only One God and that God is the God of the Bible and that God ain’t “Santa!” nor a Gene in a bottle whose job is to bring people’s wishes, dreams and fantasies into a false reality. He is not a god with a rod either.
The God of the Bible can’t be compared to Santa or Genie or anything and anybody. He can’t be defined and explained by human intelligence or fluency.
When Moses asked God what His name was, God said “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). Whatever He said He is, that is His Name and that is who He is and that my dear never changes in the Old as well as in the New Testament. We cannot separate God and His Word. The moment we do that, we will be guilty of heresy.
So, that will bring me to my short answer to your short question: For me, God is who He said He is in the Bible! ///