WHAT IS GOD LIKE?

That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. (Matthew 8:16 ESV)

So what was he like? Was he friendly? Was he as funny as he seems? Those are the questions we ask when someone we know hangs out with someone famous. What we’re asking is if the person they appear to be are the same way when they are up close and personal. Because we know that for most, there is the person everyone sees and then there is the person that they really are. The public image doesn’t always match the private one.

What is God like? Is He kind? Does He really care? What would it feel like to really talk to God, face to face? The closest we can come to the answers to these questions is found in one place—or more honestly, one Person. Namely, the One we read about here in Matthew 8 as we see most vividly in this verse:

“That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick” (Matthew 8:16)

Do you want to know how God feels about those whose emotions and soul are captive to darkness? Look at what Jesus did when He came face to face with these captives: “He cast out the spirits with a word.”

How does God feel about those suffering physically? Consider His response to those who were sick: He healed “all who were sick.”

God has revealed His kindness through the scriptures, yes. But more powerfully than that, God has revealed it in a Person, His Son, Jesus. This Person shows us exactly what God is like: His care, His compassion, His character, His love.

So bring your questions to Him today. Picture yourself before the One we read about in this passage. As Jesus is touching and healing with a word, present your questions there. We can rest our hearts in this picture painted for us in the gospel--as we find here in Matthew, a tax collector who lived and walked with the love of God revealed—Jesus of Nazareth.

Prayer: Father God, sometimes I wish I could talk with You face to face. I tremble at the thought, yet I wonder. Thank you for making Yourself known not only in Your precious Word, preserved for us but most powerfully in the giving of Your Son, Jesus Christ who revealed to us Your kindness, care and how much You really love me. So I wait here in Your Presence to know the width, length, depth and height of Your love.