Do we serve a bipolar God?

May 10, 2012

I admit. The Bible is not much help when it comes to understanding the nature of God. Between the Old Testament and the New Testament, He seems a little bipolar. Is He terrible? Or is He lovely? Does He command His people to kill women and smash babies? Or does He say, “Let the little children come to me”? God is so hard to understand sometimes, and it is hard to grow a relationship with what you can’t understand. 

A famous Yogi said it best: “The divine is like Indian Chutney.

He is too hot to handle and too sweet to resist.” What a mix of both. I think I need to get some of this candy so I can experience the nature of God. He is a God of judgment and a God of love. Yet praise God we do not have to fear Him. We can enjoy both aspects, knowing there is no other being I would rather have on my side than one who is also terrible.

How do you understand the nature of God? Is there an illustration that helps you understand the paradox?

One response to Do we serve a bipolar God?

  1. We would have to be God to understand God. We are humans and have a limited perspective. In Isaiah 55:8-9 we see that God’s thoughts and ways are far higher than ours. And we have to remember that since God is perfect and righteous He will not tolerate evil, and He protects His children. And He loves us so much that He allowed His Son to take our punishment. We don’t understand everything that was done in the O.T. because we would have had to be there. We just have to trust that God had a reason. An illustration of things we have seen might be a mother animal who is gentle with her babies, but ferocious toward anything that would threaten them.