Are You Defining God?

Dane Balia
Aug 27, 2017 · 4 min read
Websters 1828 Dictionary

Here’s a question for you, are you defining God? Well what do you mean by that…

Each of us is created uniquely by God. Not only is our physical makeup different, but so is the environment in which we have grown up. This is perhaps the reason we often times struggle with one another as believers, because we have our personalities and our past defining how we view the world and how to interpret the Bible. The differences between you and I, and those around us are an absolutely beautiful thing. It allows us to see perspectives we have not thought off, or see dimensions of christianity or the bible we couldn’t. 1 Corinthians 12:12–18 affirms this to us,

12, For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

13, For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,3 whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

14, For the body is not one member, but many.

15, If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

16, And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

17, If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

18, But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

As we can see, these differences are celebrated by God and are pleasing to Him, and define the make-up of the church. However there is a double-edged sword here. Our personalities and environments to which we have grown up (our past), affect how we see God, what we think of God and how we look at scripture. This is a hard thing to unravel. Some of us maybe studious, scholars of the word, taking a very technical approach to the Bible, and perhaps viewing God from a very technical or black or white perspective. Other’s may be more flamboyant and charismatic, perhaps relying very little on the Bible and trusting more in the Spirit, seeing God as a loving, caring Father and focusing on a relationship with Him. Some maybe very militant in their approach to christianity, seeing God as strict, firm and holy and in pursuit of righteous living. I’m not saying any of these are wrong, or one better than the other, but expressing some common types and varying degrees of believer.

But be warned brothers and sisters, for who we are, can often end-up being who we see God as. Who we are can lead to us, defining who God is by our own talents, skills, moral values and perceptions. This could come in the form of reading certain portions of scriptures only and not the full breadth of the Bible. Or perhaps by choosing to heed the Spirit over the Bible. Or perhaps by even not considering the Bible at all, because it’s just words from men. Or perhaps just going to church just to worship and hear the preaching from a specific man. Our attitude, will determines God’s altitude.

Despite our differences, despite who we are, we have one consistent thing that has defined who God is. A sure anchor that is true and common, despite us. And that is our Bibles.

Friends today I want to say to you, we have heard the word and are saved because of the Word.

Romans 10:17, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The Bible’s is that Word mentioned above. And it is through the Word we understand what Jesus Christ did and what His desire is for. If we can go to it to be saved and to affirm that salvation, how can we deviate from it in other areas of our lives? We either take it as a whole, or take none at all.

If there was no Bible friends, all we would have is opinion of men. How would we know which one was true? How would we know which account of the events of Christ though similar were actually correct? We wouldn’t or couldn’t, and like the game of telephone (Chinese whispers), the story would have changed! But praise God for giving us His Word, which provides us with truth, a perfect account.

1 These 12:13; For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

The Bible friends is indeed, the word of God and we can trust it. As much as the Holy Spirit may teach us, it teaches us only what we know, and have learnt by way of the Bible. The Bible transforms our minds and helps us understand Jesus Christ more, and without it, christianity is not christianity. It is the Bible through which God has chosen as the perfect medium with which we can understand Him.

I want to challenge you this day friend —are you defining God by your own standards, by your own lifestyle, or is the definition you have of Him from the Word of God? God has defined Himself perfectly in His perfect book, are you trusting it? Relying on it? May God help us do so……

Psalm 12:6–7

6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

7, Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

A Just Weight

Understanding and maintaining balance in the Christian Life

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Dane Balia

Written by

I'm code still in production, debugged every now and then, and mostly spending time internalizing my refactors. A born-again software developer. A skeptic.

A Just Weight

Understanding and maintaining balance in the Christian Life

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