A Healthy View Of God (Part 2)


1 Timothy 6:15-16

A.W. Tozer:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us… We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that compose the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God.” (The Knowledge of The Holy)


Three pictures describe what Paul shows us in 1 Timothy 6:15-16.


1. A mighty throne

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords...”

This is about who is in charge: in total contrast to the political uncertainty we’re living through, God is the ruler of all things! He has no doubts about His authority.

Paul is writing at a time of huge political and social pressure against Christians, so he wants Timothy and the church in Ephesus to have a basis for putting their confidence in God alone. He tells them that God is categorically different to everyone and everything else: He’s not just one king or lord among many – He is over all of them. He’s not just top of the league, He’s in a league of His own.

Paul also uses the word “only” to describe God’s authority, recalling the first commandment (Exodus 20:3) and the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4). These are all “only” statements, demanding exclusive treatment of God. Jesus took up this exact same way of thinking and applied it to Himself (Matthew 28:18, John 14:6). There might be two objections to this:

  1. Isn’t Jesus being rather narrow in His way of thinking? I think He was just being honest: no-one else can offer what Jesus offers, Himself.

  2. Why does it not look like it’s the case? We believe what we have been told, that Jesus died and then rose to new life, that He has ascended to the right hand of the Father from where He reigns right now. He is greater than sin and death, therefore there is no ruler on earth who is supreme over Him, whose wishes get to veto His. We wait for the Day when He will return and assert His authority, knowing that the world is not as it will be when He has finished with it. For now, we live in weakness, and we share a message that seems like nonsense. If you’re confident about this, you’ll live it and share it with others. And one day, you’ll be vindicated when the might of God is seen by all, and the truth of what we believed will be acknowledged by everyone.


2. An empty grave

“Who alone has immortality”

This is another claim of exclusivity for God. He is not like us: He had no beginning, and He will have no end. He is as gloriously perfect as He has always been - in fact, tenses like “has always been” are categorically incorrect to the One who made time and exists outside it. This is mind-bending, we literally cannot comprehend this! Immortality belongs to Him, it is His.

Perhaps even more incredibly, He has given it to us. Even though our bodies will die, we all will continue to exist: we were made by Him in His image, and living eternally is part of this. We have the choice to spend eternity with Him in joy, or away from Him.

But only He has immortality as an innate characteristic of His being. Only He can give it as a gift. He tasted death (on our behalf) and defeated it - so just as we look forward to the final revelation of His authority when we look at His mighty throne, so we look forward to new life as we consider an empty grave (1 Corinthians 15:51-57).


3. The brightest light

“Who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see.”

If you could get as close to our sun as possible without disintegrating… its light would still be merely a pale and weak glimmer compared to the glory of God (Exodus 24:17, Psalm 104:1-2). What this radiance means is explained by Paul: God is unapproachable.

  1. He is of a different nature to us. He is spirit (John 4:24). “God exists as a being that is not made of matter, has no parts or dimensions, which is unable to be perceived by our bodily senses, and is more excellent than any kind of existence.” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology)

  2. We are separated from Him. To sinful people like us, God is dangerous because of His perfection and perfect animosity to evil (Exodus 33:20, Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29). It would destroy us to be in His presence, like a scrap of tissue in a roaring inferno, like an ant in a hurricane.

And yet the Bible tells us that God wants to be seen by us (Numbers 6:24-26, Psalm 34:5). What those often mysterious Old Testament moments of God encountering people suggest is fully revealed in Jesus (John 1:1-2, 4-5, 9). Paul picks up this idea of Jesus showing us God (Colossians 1:15) and the writer to the Hebrews connects the two (Hebrews 1:3). By Jesus taking on human flesh, we can now see God, and God can come close to us. God can live for us, die for us, and reconcile Himself to us in Christ – and instead of destruction in His presence we find peace, instead of getting death we receive forgiveness, the darkness of our lives is flooded with a light that brings life (2 Corinthians 4:6). So one day we all will see Him, and for those who have believed in Him it will be wonderful (Revelation 22:3-5).

God has not compromised His holiness one iota: He has established His Son as a mediator between us and Him to save us, as Paul told Timothy earlier in this letter (1 Timothy 2:5).


We began by considering how important our view of God is – and it absolutely is. But as C.S. Lewis observed, “I read … the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God Himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is… infinitely more important.” As we’ve thought about at Him today, we’ve seen what He thinks about us – and that is gloriously hopeful.


Questions

  • Do you agree with A.W. Tozer that what we believe directly impacts how we behave?
  • How would you describe God to someone?
  • Which of the three pictures Luke gave – a mighty throne, an empty grave, the brightest light – did you feel gave you a fresh sight of God?
  • How can we strengthen our faith in God’s authority, in a world that doesn’t seem to acknowledge this?
  • Some questions to help you assess who you are worshipping: Who gets your attention – your interest and time? Who gets your affection – your joy and praise? Who gets your obedience – how you make decisions, and what you do with what you’ve got?
  • “What we really believe about God is shown in what we fear, what we hope for” – what personal reflections do you have on this?
  • How do we hold together the terrifying truth of God’s holiness and the wonderful news of Christ’s mediation for us (1 Timothy 2:5)?
  • Why is what God thinks about us more important than what we think about Him?