The Nature of God

[thedream233]

So basically what I was trying to do with the last few threads I made was to try to clear up anything I didn't understand about how God is portrayed in the bible. In case anyone cares or was wondering... I'm not an atheist... or agnostic... I just beleive that there is a God and he/she/it wants whats best for its creations. The reason I gave up christianity after 20 years was that the God from the old testiment didn't seem (to me) like the intelligent and logical being that created things such as DNA, the human nervous system, the universe and numerous other things... I believe that God can come into contact with human beings if it chooses to. Though I'm not christian anymore I still love Jesus and his teachings.

I was thinking that with my last few threads, I was only focusing on the aspects of God I found negative. So I made this thread to get an overall view of the nature of God based on the bible.

that being said...

It would be helpful if the christians on this website answer the following questions:

1. Why was God (the father) not able to look at Jesus on the cross while Jesus was bearing the world's sin, yet in Job he could have a conversation with satan?

2. What makes the way God is described in the bible different from how God is described in the Quran?

3. Based on the bible, describe the nature of God to the best of your understanding.

 

[rocklife]

1. Why was God (the father) not able to look at Jesus on the cross while Jesus was bearing the world's sin, yet in Job he could have a conversation with satan?

#1, my personal thought is it was just too hard. Jesus is His only begotten son, and basically was having His son tortured right there. What parent can look at that? But God and Jesus knew the outcome, that Jesus can overcome death. I just personally think it was too painful. I am a mother, I hate to see my son cry and want to do everything for him, but kids have to do things on their own too, not have mom do everything for them and try take away all pain in life, we just don't live like that.

2. What makes the way God is described in the bible different from how God is described in the Quran?

2. The Quran has some Old Testament references in there, and they consider Jesus a prophet (but they don't follow His teachings from my observation). The Quran God, is distant and pretty much separate from His creation including now (this is the testimony from Muslims). God with Jesus is close and with the Holy Spirit. God offers us the Holy Spirit in Jesus, not in the Quran. I personally cannot live with a distant God, I need His powerful love now and every day to resist sin and continue living how He wants me to.

3. Based on the bible, describe the nature of God to the best of your understanding.

3. God with Jesus and Holy Spirit. His life is good, right, holy, hard, but good will overcome evil in the end. I want to be on His side, and not His enemy anymore. I used to be criminal and evil, I hate that life, and am thankful for the new life Jesus gives me now. I am also thankful for His Scriptures, and recommend the New Testament reading and living (many even churchgoers seem a bit lacking in actually reading the bible for themselves, Jesus has some powerful teachings we can learn from)

thanks for asking, God bless

 

[ebia]

1. Why was God (the father) not able to look at Jesus on the cross while Jesus was bearing the world's sin, yet in Job he could have a conversation with satan?

They are two different naratives in quite different styles.
The author writting about the cross is trying to get across the trajedy and humilation of the situation. The author of Job is trying to set the stage for an exploration of the "problem of pain". To expect the two to perfectly align is to expect to much from human language and communication.

2. What makes the way God is described in the bible different from how God is described in the Quran?

Although I have read small bits of the Quran itself, and a few books on Islam by Christian and Islamic authors, I cannot honestly claim to understand the Islamic concept of God suffiently to properly answer the question, except to say that the differences are nowhere near as great as some Christians (and some Muslims) portray. God, as understood by Islam, is derived from and very similar to as God as understood by pre-Christian Jews.

3. Based on the bible, describe the nature of God to the best of your understanding.

Loving, merciful, patient, and holy. Willing to risk all to create a creation which will freely choose well, and willing to take the time to teach us to achieve that.

 

[Key]

So basically what I was trying to do with the last few threads I made was to try to clear up anything I didn't understand about how God is portrayed in the bible. In case anyone cares or was wondering... I'm not an atheist... or agnostic... I just beleive that there is a God and he/she/it wants whats best for its creations. The reason I gave up christianity after 20 years was that the God from the old testiment didn't seem (to me) like the intelligent and logical being that created things such as DNA, the human nervous system, the universe and numerous other things... I believe that God can come into contact with human beings if it chooses to. Though I'm not christian anymore I still love Jesus and his teachings.

I was thinking that with my last few threads, I was only focusing on the aspects of God I found negative. So I made this thread to get an overall view of the nature of God based on the bible.

that being said...

It would be helpful if the christians on this website answer the following questions:

1. Why was God (the father) not able to look at Jesus on the cross while Jesus was bearing the world's sin, yet in Job he could have a conversation with satan?

I am not aware of Gods inability to look upon Jesus while he was being nailed to the Cross.

Jesus called out to his Father "Abba", but that does not mean that God turned away from Jesus, but that Jesus for the first time in his life, knew Fear. This was Death, and like a mortal man, he would feel it's fear, it trauma, and like a human he would die.

Just as we humans will feel fear when we know death is upon us, but God will not turn away from us in our last moments, just I do not believe that God turned away from Jesus in his last moments.

2. What makes the way God is described in the bible different from how God is described in the Quran?

The Christian God, came down and said, "I clean all your sins from your soul, I will cleanse you with my blood and flesh if need be, just so that you can be with me in Heaven", Christ came and said "You, Child of God, my Brother, my Fathers Creation, as you are, before me today, I find you worth dieing for, that is how much God and I love you"

That is the Christian God.

I do not know how the Quran deals with it, but I do know, it's not the same way.

3. Based on the bible, describe the nature of God to the best of your understanding.

A God that will accept me, as I am, for who and what I am, regardless of what I have done. God has set a seat at his table for me, and by sending his son, to pay my way, so that I can have an eternity together with God and Christ, to be made whole and complete, and receive my rest from the pains of this world.

Maybe I might be missing something, but, the OT example of God I thinks gets a bad rep, and people make him out to be far worse then he really is, only because they do not take the time to appreciate the culture and savageness of life of the era it was written in. I mean, the bible was not written yesterday, things have changed.

God Bless

Key

 

[Confess]

1. Why was God (the father) not able to look at Jesus on the cross while Jesus was bearing the world's sin, yet in Job he could have a conversation with satan?

Those are two seperate issues. Jesus was being sacrificed for the sins of the whole world - past - present - and future. Satan does not hold to that much sin.

2. What makes the way God is described in the bible different from how God is described in the Quran?
The difference is in who God is. The God of the Quran tells you that you must work for your salvation, while the God of the Bible grants salvation as a free gift to all who believe.


3. Based on the bible, describe the nature of God to the best of your understanding.
God is all knowing and all present. He loves us so much that he is willing to bend over backward for us. While there are many wacky things found in the Bible that many do not understand, one thing that can be understood in them all is that God cannot be in fellowship with sin. He proves in hundreds of areas in the Bible where sin + God just does not mix. In the Bible man tries over and over again to earn his salvation, to lean on his own understanding on how to be saved and over and over again man fails.

So God finally does something about it. He comes to us in human form and took the punishment that we all deserved for our sin. Only this can finally unite us to him for all eternity. He took our punishment so that we wouldn't have to.

That is the nature of the True God.

 

[heron]

I am not aware of Gods inability to look upon Jesus while he was being nailed to the Cross.

Jesus called out to his Father "Abba", but that does not mean that God turned away from Jesus, but that Jesus for the first time in his life, knew Fear. This was Death, and like a mortal man, he would feel it's fear, it trauma, and like a human he would die.

Does anyone have a verse on the Father looking away? Sorry, I usually do my own searches.... feeling lazy and not sure there is one.

 

[Key]

[bible]Matthew 27:41-50[/bible]

I believe this is what is used to say "God Looked Away" from Jesus. It does not say what God did, but that is how this verse is taken, to the best of my knowledge.

God Bless

Key

 

[heron]

Thanks, Key.

Possibly the doctrine came from applying Habakkuk 1:13 as messianic prophecy:

How long, O Lord, will I call for help...Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor.

The links are Hebrew word definitions.

This phrase was an expression of frustration by Habakkuk within "The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw" ... the burden he perceived for the country. Sometimes prophecies are assigned dual meanings because they seem to coincide with later events. The original intent of this verse was a plea for help, a prayer.

God sees all the sins of the world all day long, century after century. He counts the hairs on our heads. He knows our frame. Some of the teachings we hear are not directly messages from scriptures, but assumptions based on layers of teachings.

I think that Jesus' plea to God was similar -- not a sign that God really had looked away, but frustration and a physical/emotional sense that He had lost power or favor.

But the promises of God are sure. Even when we feel He has given up on us, the facts hold firm in what He has told us.