We are just too human, and God is just not human
Jesus was God in human form on earth. If it were not for him, we would know very little about God. We are just too human, and God is just not human.
If we removed all of the anthropomorphisms (referring human characteristics to God) from the Bible, there would be few descriptions of God. The Bible refers to God as Father, Creator, shooting arrows, spitting out destruction, watching over humanity, sitting upon a throne, being pleased or angered by humans, having emotions, and so on. Some religious writings also refer to God as Mother, especially when the reference is to “giving birth.” However, while all of these are possible, it also is possible that none of them do justice in describing God. Unfortunately, we do not have any “God language” to use when talking about God.
In Jesus’ model prayer, he told us to say, “Our Father which art in heaven …” (Matthew 6:9) and in dozens of places he refers to God as Father. Further, he claims that he and the Father (God) are one (John 10:30). Because of these biblical references, and our human limitations, it is not only customary but convenient to refer to God in a masculine sense. However, before we become enamored with “God as Father,” we should remember the words of the prophet Isaiah when he spoke the words of God.
After encouraging the people to seek God and find forgiveness, the Prophet has God saying, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).” In other words, there is a vast difference between humans and God.
This is further accentuated whenever we realize that the Bible actually has a significant number of names for God. If you look closely, you will find the names of God listed differently. Some will say God and GOD, Lord and LORD, etc. No those aren’t an editor’s mistake; they represent the seven different names for God in the Bible — Elohim, Adonai, El Shaddai, etc. When Moses confronted God before the burning bush that was not consumed (Exodus 3:14) and asked him to identify himself by name, God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” In Hebrew, this is the name we call the Tetragrammaton signified by just four Hebrew letters: YHWH, which translated should be Yahweh (vowels were added over 1,000 years later). The name “Jehovah” is a Latinization of the Hebrew and does not appear until the 16th century A.D. Most scholars believe YHWH actually refers to the verb “to be” and indicates that God is only One in the absolute sense. Everything else came from him.
We must also recognize that Jesus taught other things about God besides calling him “Father.” For instance, in John 4:24, Jesus says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” And, in Jesus’ high priestly prayer for his disciples in John 17, He prays that he is “not of the world,” and asks God “that they (his disciples) may be with me where I am.” He follows that by praying that his disciples “may be one just as We (Jesus and God) are one.” These scriptures suggest that wherever Jesus went after his ascension after death may not be a place but rather a “state of being.” It may be described in human terms as heaven, but exactly what is heaven? It certainly is not the place described in the book of Revelation with human descriptions.
Also, when Jesus was asked about marriage in heaven, he astounded the people by saying, “You are mistaken, not knowing the
scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven (Matthew 22:29-30).” Marriage was instituted by God as a means of controlling the propagation of humanity, but since there is no procreation in heaven, marriage is not necessary. Jesus is suggesting that heaven is quite different from what we experience on earth.
Thus, it is important for us to recognize that God has been revealed and described by different people for thousands of years, and while many of these represent different viewpoints or religions, nobody actually knows much about God except through our human efforts to explain the unexplainable.
Robert Box is the former chaplain for the Bella Vista Police Department and is currently the Fire Department chaplain. Opinions expressed are those of the author.