“Show Me Your Glory” by Steve Lawson
The Westminster Shorter Catechism opens by stating, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” The next two questions establish that The Bible is our only rule of faith (what we believe) and practice (how we are to live). It then gives an incredibly short answer to the question, “What is God?” Chew over its 18 words, “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” A simpleton like me could write many pages on every word (while many just a few paragraphs on the “a”).
Steve points us to John 4:24 where Jesus states, “God is a Spirit.” Therefore, “A fundamental tenet is that God is an incorporeal being without a physical body that can be touched or seen…He does not have flesh and bones like what a human being possesses. He does not have a physical substance that can be touched or seen.” However, the Bible has many “verses that describe God as possessing humanlike body parts.” Here is a list of a few: Exodus 24:10 – feet; Exodus 24:11 – hand; 2 Chron. 16:9 – eyes; and Isaiah 40:5 – mouth. Scripture uses “the figure of speech known as anthropomorphism. This literary device conveys God in an easy-to-understand way as God makes Himself known with humanlike features.”
God brings Himself down to our human way of thinking without taking any glory away from Himself.” When the Bible speaks of the eyes of the Lord, it vividly communicates that God is all-seeing. It stresses that God can peer into every person and accurately grasp every situation. The arm of the Lord simply means that God is almighty, the mind of the Lord reveals that He is all-wise, and the mouth of the Lord means He speaks with authority. But these metaphors require understanding the same reality – He is a Spirit being without any body parts.”
The fact that God is a Spirit reveals the wisdom the wisdom of the first of the Ten Commandments. We are to worship only the true and living God. To highly esteem Him we must resist all temptations to form any image of Him. The Heildelberg Catechism expands on this in Questions 97 and 98 when it states, “God can not and may not be visibly portrayed in any way…we shouldn’t try to be wiser than God. He wants His people instructed by the living preaching of His Word – not by idols that cannot even talk.”
So, another fundamental truth we must know so we may know God and live to His glory is “God is a Spirit.” Pastor Gillikin