Tag Archives: God

The Otherness of God

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Reflected Tree

How knowable is God? How like God can we be? If we are in the image of God then why do we seem so unlike God much of the time?

As human beings, we are created in God’s image and designed to bear that image, somehow reflecting God to all around us. By our likeness to God we are to make God known to the world. In Christ we are to grow in likeness to the one who is the perfect image of God in man. But, is this a simple linear development? At what point do we stop taking on God’s qualities?

God is different from us. As well as being revealed to us in creation and most specifically in Jesus, God is at the same time also concealed from us. God is not a man, nor is God a physical entity like anything we know from our experience of the world. We can never fully understand or know God as our minds are just too small.

Theology is built on a great deal of analogy and expanded metaphor. God is said or shown to be like something we know, but then the boundaries of our previous knowledge are shown to be too small when we come to consider God. We can understand something of “love”, but when God is said to be “love”, this challenges our pictures of love. In what sense is the love of God like or unlike our experiences? There is both a sense that, yes God is like this, but God is also so much more.

Each metaphor, each analogy or image can help shed light on who God is. Yet, because they are limited not only by our humanity but by our cultures and even our personal thought processes they fall short. For example, God is like a loving father, but at the same time God isn’t a loving father in the sense that we have ever known. Likewise, God is like a king, but also unlike our ideas of what it means to be a king.

The potential danger behind the very useful side to Christian spirituality that speaks about us being like God and growing into God’s likeness further is that we think we’ve got God figured out too much. Little room may be left for mystery. It is problematic simply to take human concepts or attributes and assume that God is just a nice neat version of them. It is dangerous to assume that we can become so God-like that we no longer see the distinction between Creator and the created.

So, perhaps we might benefit from bringing a little doubt into our theology, allowing room to say “I don’t know” and space for God to move outside of the boxes we try to put everything in. Maybe we could say that as an image of God, we are a little like a reflection in a river. We will never be the real thing, but depending on how good the conditions are, we can bear a good resemblance.

Yes, the water will be disturbed sometimes and the reflection become less distinct. But, even when blurred, it is still a reflection of the reality that lies beyond. At the same time, the reflection may reveal much of the truth, but it will always be just a reflection. It is like but also unlike the original.

How happy are you with the idea of aspects of God being unknowable? Can you see how using metaphors and analogies brings clarity yet also leaves openness with unresolved tensions? Do you think that your ways of thinking about God are too limited, too human or do you perhaps worry that you stress the otherness of God so much that you feel you don’t know God at all?

© Joe Lenton, March 2013

(Image – “Reflected Tree” – used with permission – www.originalartphotography.co.uk)

Working like God

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In the opening chapters of Genesis humanity’s dignity and pride of place in creation is affirmed – we are described as being “in God’s image”. We are also created to be workers, whose job is to rule over other creatures and till the land. In some sense, we might say we are “co-creators”. We establish and maintain order as God did and does, making it possible for life to flourish as God intended.

If we are indeed created in God’s image and to be workers, what might work in God’s image look like?

Firstly, it could suggest that work is something that is done in community. God as Trinity is one but also “communal”. Human beings are in God’s image together as men and women, not simply on our own.

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27, ESV, emphasis added)

Similarly, humans are not designed to function as islands, but to be together:

“The Lord God said, “It isn’t good for the man to live alone.”” (Genesis 2:18, CEV)

So, perhaps the first thing we might say about working in God’s image is that it means work should not always or primarily be viewed as something we do on our own. It is important for people to work together and to understand that the greatest tasks we have been given by God can only be fulfilled corporately. We all have individual parts to play, but work is healthier in community of some kind (e.g. in teams).

Secondly, the creation account of Genesis 1 suggests very strongly that God is a God of order. He assigns each element of His creation a particular place and role, bringing a sense of order out of the primeval chaos. The God of the Bible is not chaotic.

This suggests that some structure to our work is useful. We should be establishing and maintaining order in this world and need structure ourselves to do so. This is not a rigid, inflexible order that stifles, but one that enables creation to flourish. Chaos and randomness are not God-like qualities, so working like Him would involve some sense of bringing about a benevolent order that benefits all.

Thirdly, God is a creative God who brings about new things and enables His creatures to flourish. This might suggest that our work could and should involve creativity in various forms. We can bring “new things” into being, whether they are ideas or objects, following in the creative footsteps of our God.

Work that removes all possibility of creativity is, therefore, dehumanising. If we are simply cogs in a machine, slaves to procedures, not allowed to think outside the box or do anything other than repeat what we have always done, we will not be acting in God’s image and be fully human.

So, we might say that healthy work environments require (amongst other things, this is not an exhaustive list!) some degree of communal/team work, a sense of order and structure as well as the freedom to be creative.

What do you think? Is this your experience of work? When one or more elements are missing, how has it affected your work?

© Joe Lenton, October 2012

Signposts to a new creation

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What is this? Just a pile of dirt?

Yes & No – this pile of dirt is a molehill. It might look like nothing in particular, but it acts as a signpost to activity below- “There is life here!”

Once you know what you’re looking for, it is easy to spot the tell-tale signs of mole activity. You can, with just a little experience, generally tell at a glance that these little piles of dirt are molehills.

The kingdom of God can be a bit like this, too. God has begun a new creation, bringing in His kingdom, but not everyone sees it. There are little signposts all over the place – but do we know how to read them?

Christians receive the Holy Spirit who brings about the first signs of the kingdom in us. It is like a down-payment that acts as a promise of the full treasure yet to come. Sometimes, the Spirit’s work in our lives can be hard to spot. We wonder why we are still so messed up, still rebelling, still getting things wrong – is God really with me?

Then, we learn to spot the little “molehills” of the kingdom that point to the work of the Spirit, the life that is buzzing beneath the surface. Each tiny manifestation of the Spirit’s presence in our lives, whether by “fruit” or “gifts”, is a little indication of what is to come.

So, whenever and wherever you notice something of the Spirit’s presence, remember that it is not insignificant, but that it points to life. The tiniest glimpse of the kingdom reminds us that more is yet to come and that God is still at work.

You may feel that your life is like a pile of dirt – but maybe you’re one of God’s molehills.

© Joe Lenton, September 2012

Salvation at the Cross

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Salvation at the Cross

This cross offers hope and salvation, not by itself, but because of the lifebelt that hangs upon it. The lifebelt must also be taken hold of in faith if it is to save anyone.

The cross of Christ offers hope and salvation. The cross itself is merely a cross of wood – the person who hung upon it is the source of our salvation. He is able to save each and every one of us from drowning in our sin and from an eternity separated from God. Yet, if we don’t grab hold of Jesus in faith we don’t benefit from this salvation. If we don’t offer him to others, how can they benefit and be rescued?

Perhaps spend some time today meditating on the salvation and healing that Jesus has brought by hanging on a cross. Think of the freedom, the liberation from rebellion against God, the renewal of relationship, the remaking of creation. Are we clinging on to our “lifebelt”? Are we offering him to others?

© Joe Lenton, August 2012

If you liked this then you may enjoy our picture-based Meditations – find them here.