THE FACE OF GOD

Jonathan Gallagher

Come on a trip. Wander slowly through the long echoing corridors of the British Museum, London. By now the rows and rows of glass cabinets are getting rather boring. Seen so much, head so full, feet so heavy.

Then BANG! You turn a corner and find yourself under the severe glare of a most hostile face. A green face! A scary, frightening face that is the pure expression of deadly anger. You back away in horror, appalled by what you see.

But it's only a statue, not a vision of some horror movie or a visitor from Mars! Take a closer look and read the name tag:

"GOD: THE JUDGE OF HELL"

The glaring, condemning, hostile face of an unlovable and unloving god. How do you feel about him? Is that really what this "God" is like? If you continue your museum visit you'll see this kind of face on a whole host of different "gods." It seems that all through history people have been picturing their god with the most terrifying face imaginable. God is seen as some sort of enemy.

Not only among those gods termed "heathen." Christian art and literature has its own fearsome examples of such an appalling, angry God.

Why? Why see God as this terrible green-faced demon? How does this match up with the 'God of love'? Well, it all depends on the answer to that most basic question:

WHAT IS GOD REALLY LIKE?

That's been the question for a long, long time! Before our world was created the argument raged in the heavens--God is unjust, he is hostile, he is cruel. Lucifer, the great Deceiver, accused God and set himself up as the great "Liberator" from the divine tyrant.

The controversy could not be settled by charge and counter-charge like two adversaries in a battle of words. The only way God could clearly show what he was really like was through his actions.

That's what the Bible is all about. It demonstrates the way God thinks, acts and behaves in dealing with those who are rebelling against him. The Bible is the proof of God's true character, ultimately demonstrated in the record of how he came and lived with us and died at our hands--Jesus, the Son of God, the Crucified.

Knowing what God is truly like and wanting to trust this wonderful Person is the key to salvation. All other aspects of what Adventists believe have their origin in this central truth: "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."(John 17:3NIV). We know that the Devil has been 'a liar from the beginning'. We know that God's true character of love has been defamed: 'an enemy has done this'. And we know that only as the real "Face of God" is shown to the world will the great controversy be settled. As the final decisions are made, as people choose whether to accept this wonderful God or to reject him, the last act in the drama will come to an end.

At the heart of all we want to say about God is this conviction: God truly is good, kind, loving. He is the complete opposite of the awesome green-faced ogre. He is not out to terrify us.

Our privilege is to call God "Friend".



............

 

For further reading:

On Satan: Ezekiel 28:14-17; Isaiah 14:12-14; Revelation 12:7-9.

On God: 2 Peter 3:9; John 3:l6-21.

On Jesus: John 1:18; John 12:44-46; John 14:6,7.

©2001 Jonathan Gallagher