The 10 Most Important Things You Should Know that God is NOT.

            A number of years ago in a movie, comedian George Burns played the role of God. When he came to earth to reveal himself to the character played by John Denver, he identified himself by handing Denver a business card that was totally blank except for the word GOD. Startled by the lack of sophistication Denver was certainly not impressed that George Burns was who he claimed to be. Sometimes we feel like that or worse; there is so much conflicting information about who God is that we can sometimes be cynical and unbelieving about those who claim some knowledge of God.
            Fortunately God has revealed much more about himself than a simple business card. In the pages of the Bible we are given a revelation of God that in many ways defies our cultural expectations. The approach taken below is to address certain cultural and personal misconceptions about God by revealing in Scripture what God is not.

1. God is not merely an inanimate, mystical force. The 1972 movie, Star Wars, introduced many to this type of approach to God portrayed Him as an undefined and impersonal power. The famous farewell statement, “May the force be with you,” suggested that this impersonal power was something akin to the energy of the universe, a power that made it alive. This power was not personal, did not speak, but could be manipulated by anyone intuitive enough to tap its secrets. But God as revealed in the Bible is much more than this. God is a living being who speaks, thinks, and acts according to his own will. His power sustains the universe but it is a power under his thoughtful guidance and not a force to be manipulated by the whims of humanity.
2. God is not his creation. A common mistake among some ancient and contemporary civilizations is to treat nature as if it were divine. For example God was the god of green vegetation or of the oceans. However, God is not his creation any more than an artist is his artwork. In his creation certainly we can see God’s creative genius. Even something of his character is reflected in it, but we must not confuse God’s handiwork with God himself. God exists beyond creation; he transcends it and exercises sovereign control over it.
3. He is not far from each one of us. Though God is not his creation, theologians often speak of his presence everywhere, his immanence. In Acts 17:27 the Apostle Paul suggested to the Athenian philosophers that God is near enough to be found by anyone who seeks him. Consistent with biblical teaching, this notion of God’s immanence suggests that there is no place we can go where God is not present.
4. He is not silent. God speaks! The Genesis creation account reveals that it was through his word that God brought the world into being. We learn later in Hebrews 1:1-4 that God has spoken through prophets, wise men, and even his own Son. God wants to communicate with us, and he has given us the capacity to understand him through the spoken and written word. The process by which God attempts to communicate with us is often the subject of much dispute, but there is at least one constant truth and that is that God wants communion and interaction with human beings.
5. He is not indifferent toward his creatures. He cares not only about the way his creation is treated, but even more he cares about the suffering and death of people. He has demonstrated this by sending his Son to institute a means of forgiveness, hope, and grace. That “God so loved the world” (John 3:16) is not merely a pious wish. It is a revelatory statement about the God who created us.
6. He has not offered a multiplicity of ways to reach him. Many contemporary experiments seek God’s will by such things as pendulum dowsing, numerology, Wicca, and Native American spirituality—to name but a few of the more mysterious ones. The problem with these and things like them is that they suggest that God is a slot machine. If one hits the numbers (or manipulates the powers inherent in the universe) just right, God reveals himself or answers requests. At best these are poor substitutes for the words God uses to reveal his will. At worst they are dead ends that reveal nothing of what he is—much less what he wants from us. Jesus Christ has revealed God to us (“No one has ever seen God, but the only begotten who is at the Father’s side has made him known,” John 1:18), and he is the only means of approaching him (“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” John 14:6).
7. He is not merely one of many gods. The polytheism of eastern religions has proven ineffective in making definitive statements concerning the nature of God. By their very nature polytheistic approaches recognize many gods but can make no substantial claim for the superiority of any one of them. On the other hand the Old Testament is adamant about monotheism (“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one,” Deut. 6:4) and recognizes only one, true creator and sustainer of life.
8. He is not a goddess. Despite a few revealed notions that God sometimes displays feminine characteristics, he is revealed to us as a heavenly Father. This does not mean that God fits into our categories of masculine and feminine for God is a spirit (John 4:24). However, his designation as Father reveals something of his relationship to his creation as well as to the other revealed persons of what we call The Trinity. Goddesses in the Old Testament were just another of the many idols Israel was instructed to reject.
9. He does not share his authority. The idea of authority strikes many people as outdated and oppressive. Yet the very definition of a god is someone or something that controls the created order. Not only does the Bible refer to the rule of God, but Jesus often spoke of the Kingdom of God and we are told that he sits at the right hand of the throne of God (“…Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him,” 1 Peter 3:22). There is no authority greater than his.
10. He does not change his moral laws to suite a changing society. Morality derives from God’s character as well as from his sovereign rule. Since he is the creator and sustainer of all that is, the moral law radiates from him like the spokes from the hub of a bicycle wheel. The final determination for right and wrong does not rest with the human mind but derives from the mind and nature of God who is eternal and unchanging. Perhaps another way of saying this is, “You and I are not God.”