God's Nature

Dartman · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:19 pm Post subject: God's Nature

The Nature of God

There are two primary ways to consider the nature of our heavenly Father. There are His mental/spiritual attributes, and His physical attributes. Moses, as he began his account of man’s history, gave us a precious insight into God’s physical nature when he recorded that man was created in God’s image. According to Moses’ record, man was the only creature given this distinction.
We should be able to see that man was NOT created “in God’s image” mentally, since man, as created, didn’t even know good from evil! Even after man acquired that knowledge, there are MANY passages in scripture that explain God’s thoughts and ways are FAR above man’s. We are NOT comparable to God mentally.

The word used by Moses in Gen 1:26 and 27 is exclusively used to convey the idea of a physical resemblance. A classic example of this is 1 Sam 6:5,11. The Philistines were told to make golden ‘images’ of the mice and the emerods that had afflicted them. Thes were obviously a physical resemblance, rather than any other similarity.

What other evidence is there to verify that we are in God’s image in appearance? Just a few verses later, Moses records that Adam had a son ‘in his image’, the 3rd son of Adam mentioned in scripture. This would indicate something unique to Seth, not shared by Cain or Abel.

Perhaps the most convincing pieces of evidence, however, are the other scriptural passages that discuss God’s physical attributes. Notably,
Ex 33:17-23 The LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name."
18 Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!"
19 And He said, " I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."
20 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!"
21 Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;
22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
23 "Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."
Ex 34:4-8 So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand.
5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD.
6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."
8 Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.
NASU

There are several things to learn from this account:

1. God has a face.
A) His face is different than His other body parts, in that seeing God’s face will cause death for a mortal.

2 God has a back, or, back parts.

3 God has a hand.

It is interesting to note that several Biblical authors record that one of the significant rewards for the righteous is being able to see God at some point in the future. See Job 19:25-27, Matt 5:8, Psa 17:15, Rev 21:1-4 and Rev 22:1-5.