God in our Image

“By beholding we become changed.” We believe this formula at least in theory and realize that we slowly absorb the character of that which we feed into our minds.

But there is also a principle much less understood that works inversely to this. What we are is what we behold. (see My Utmost for this date) Paul brings this out in Romans when he says we have the same issues that we judge others about. But the same applies to our view of God, maybe more so. To a great degree we project onto God a picture of what we want Him to be and a reflection of who we really are hiding inside. That is why a person who indulges in anger and hate sees a condemning God, a morally loose person sees a permissive God, a naturally cheerful person sees a happy God.

Yes, people reflect out what they believe God is like, but they also to some extent believe God is like how they perceive life. This is why it is so important to be always open to receive revised insights about God based in Scripture that are not what we expect and maybe even challenges our paradigms. I believe the closer we approach God and the clearer our understanding AND experience becomes, the more we shall see clearly that God is really LOVE like the Bible teaches and there is no shadow of turning from that.

Of course we immediately bump into our problem that we have redefined most of the important words in religion to fit our warped and demeaned view of who God is. In fact, it is these very twisted definitions that most pointedly illustrate this very principle. We believe in a God shaped in our likeness and will force every description of His character and every word related to Him to fit into the mold of our likeness.

Our only hope to escape the most masterful self-deception is a revelation from outside ourselves by the Holy Spirit. We must each submit in humility to release our clinging grasp of our preconceived opinions about God, even those strongly bolstered by lengthy proof texts and SP statements, and allow the Bible to speak with new and unexpected life. The submission is not to another human picture of God but to the Holy Spirit's picture of God who is the only True Witness.