Openness of God
by David Lazarus

We are New Testament community called to know God and make him known to our people.
 
Know God. What is He like? How does He think?
 
We often think of God as being all powerful, all mighty, all knowing.
Creator. Holds all things together.
Sovereign. He does what he wants, when he wants, where he wants, how he wants.
 
We do not think of God as having feelings or emotions.
We tend to think of emotions as weaknesses
 
God does have feelings.
Gen. 1 God saw it and said It is Good. He liked creation. He liked man and woman.
Psalm 149:4 God takes delight
Zephaniah 3:17 (pg 980) delights over us with singing
 
Isa. 55:8 My thoughts are not your thoughts
Often thought to mean that the Lord does not feel as we do about certain things.
 
Read context vs 6-7
 
God’s willingness to forgive is contrasted with man’s reluctance to forgive.
 
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts in that he will forgive and love when we would criticize and condemn.
 
 
This is same idea in Hosea 11:9 “For I am God, not a man”
 
Context Hosea 11:7-8
 
 
“Kindled” describes the feelings of warmth or heat in the heart that occur when we see someone that we love. Feelings of warmth that you would feel as you hug your child.

Nachem Nehemiam, Nahum, Menachem
Breath deeply—sorrow  , compassion   , comfort  
 
God’s feelings for Israel.
Like emotions of betrayed husband.
Difference is God longs for reconciliation
Hosea 11:9 “I am God and not man” Man would have destroyed Israel.
The difference is that God is merciful. But he has feelings of betrayal and jealousy.

When we read verses that say God’s ways are higher than ours, his thoughts are higher than ours .
God is not like man that he changes his mind.
Does not mean he has no emotions but is stoic.
Idea that man should be without passion, grief or joy.
Greek idea.
Idea that God is like that and so the human experience should be like that.
That emotions are inferior.
 
What it means is that God cannot change the way that he feels about certain things. He is who he is. Even I AM That I Am YHWH doesn’t mean that God is unmoved by what happens. It means that his character and nature are unchangeable.
 
Sin will always grieve him.
Israel will always be close to his heart, no matter what.
 
Also means that he is faithful.
Will not say one thing but mean another.
He can be trusted to always be the same person. He never changes who he is. Faithful.
 
He is not a man that he will lie.
He does not say one thing but mean another.
 
Yeshua
 
Yeshua is revelation of who God is more than anything else
Not only do we see God in Yeshua, Yeshua is God.
 
Luke 15:1-10
Message is God rejoices when he finds something he lost.
 
You know how it feels when you lost something valuable to you and then you get it back?
Remember losing Elisha in a crown at a large stadium. I became panicked and angry that he should disobey me.
When I found him I forgot all about my anger I was so happy to find him.
 
That’s how God feels.
He loves people.
 
Prodigal Son
Surprising that when we would have been angry and struggled to accept the son who, God is not like us in that he accepted even this prodigal
 
God has feelings that are not like us in that his feelings are far deeper and more loving than ours.
Luke 15:10 Rejoicing in Heaven.

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