Who or What is God?

I have been asking myself the above question for a long time. For example, about 15 years ago, during an adult Sunday school class the adults broke into small groups to discuss a passage or a question – I really don’t remember the big picture. What I do remember is asking a male member of my group if he thought that God had a physical body. It honestly made me feel odd asking this back then, but something he said prompted this question that I think I managed to ask with a neutral tone. No incredulity here! He replied that of course God had a body. Hmm. Okay. I then asked him why he thought that and he replied that if we are created in God’s image then God had to have a body. This is a highly intelligent, and very thoughtful guy. And this was his answer. I took a breath. Paused for a second or two, and then asked. Well, what about me? If God has a body, and you are in his image, and you are a male – the I assume you think that God is male. He nodded. So, in whose image was I created? I am a female. I have different body parts. (Obviously, this is not a word for word memory – but these are the kinds of questions I ask.) He looked at me, rather wide-eyed as one does when the penny drops, and said Oh. He said he needed to think about this.

WE ARE STILL IN DAY SIX

Whatever interpretation you have of Genesis 1-2, I believe we are in Day 6. Whether you think Genesis 1 is a literal account of how the universe came into being, or whether it is a creation story comparable to other ancient near eastern stories of the day, or whether it is a metaphor, etc., I think we are in Day 6. The universe has been in Day 6 since whenever, or however, or in whatever form this day began. First of all, Day 7 has yet to happen: God (whoever or whatever God is) has yet to take a rest. And secondly, I am still being created. Forty-four years ago on 24th June, 1982 I chose to dedicate my life to Jesus Christ and pronounced this decision in front of a hundred or so people and gave a physical demonstration of this decision by being fully submerged in a large bath of water that resides under the platform at the front of the church where I lived in England. Forty-four years ago I declared that I would become a disciple of Jesus: I would follow him. To me, this means making changes from the old me – the 16 year old who didn’t know better – to becoming more like Christ. I summarize this process for me into embodying the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

TYPE NINE: The Peacemaker or Mediator

According to the few books I have thoroughly read and re-read on the Enneagram, Type 9s can be described as: unselfish, flexible, inclusive, chill, easy-going, relaxed, go with the flow, and seldom attached to our own way of seeing/doing things. We are adaptable, even-tempered, don’t sweat the small stuff, slow to judge, rarely asked to be recognized for our efforts in caring for others, down to earth, free and easy, practical, and eminently likable. Hey, what’s not to like! This is a pretty accurate description of myself, although I can be quite judgmental about people and things (but now wonder if my judging is not to the level of other types), and frankly I do like to be thanked for the effort I put into caring for other people. Who doesn’t? I like to be thanked for cooking dinner – even if you didn’t like it, at least thank me for taking the time, you don’t have to lie about liking the meal. Back to the fruit of the spirit: I think that I naturally exhibit some of the spirit, but I need to work on some of these characteristics, qualities, values, attributes.

GOD IS LOVE and SPIRIT

Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 Jn 4:8)

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

There are many passages in Scripture that describe God with adjectives such as loving, compassionate, merciful, slow to anger (patient?), gracious, faithful. God is described as the God of Peace, and we read about the justice of God. In one form or another, the fruit of the spirit is connected with God.

Scripture portrays God as a being who sits on a throne in heaven. I do not understand this description to be literal. I think God is spirit, God is love, God is everywhere. I don’t have to look up to the skies to image ‘him’ being up there somewhere.

I find it hard to comprehend who or what God is. Actually, I find the word ‘God’ to be a barrier for my understanding. I think that humans have made God in our own image (small, and kinda like us in many ways), and when we use the word ‘God’ I am not sure we are all on the same page about this spiritual force. I like the expression ‘Higher Power’, or ‘the Divine’, or ‘Deity’ because these all sound bigger, more far reaching, eternal, all-present, outside of our time-bound concepts. Humans have struggled to understand the enormity of the creative force/power/entity for a long, long time. As hard as I try not to use the word ‘God’, I also try hard not to revert to a lifetime of thinking about this being as ‘He, Him’. Whatever the writers of Genesis 1 and 2 were recording, this supreme being was ‘they, them’. Male and female were created in his image on Day 6.

So here I am, in Day 6, active being created in their image – as much as I allow this to happen. It is up to me to surrender to the process, to welcome the change, to seek out wisdom from a variety of sources.

JESUS, SON OF GOD

I may not have a handle on who or what God is, which is okay because I have Jesus to follow. Jesus told Philip “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:9). Jesus embodied the fruit of the spirit – just read the Gospels and this will be apparent. I find it easy to think of my Higher Power as my spiritual father (with masculine and feminine attributes). I just hope that when people meet me they may think I look a bit like them.