What Is God Like? The Nature And Attributes Of God

What Is God Like?
The Nature And Attributes of God A little girl was lying on the floor with her crayons and a large drawing pad when her father came into the room and asked, “What are you drawing, honey?” Without looking up, she replied, “I'm drawing a picture of God.” Her father smiled and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” Without a pause, she retorted, “They will when I am finished.”

What am I? Those who know me know that I am a man, a father and a husband. In the working world I have been known by my profession. Others know me as a Christian, a Bible teacher and a servant of God. But what am I really? The truth is that I am more than just the sum total of my attributes. I am more than a list of things. They are descriptive of what I am, but they are not me. In the same way, God is described by His attributes, but He is much more than just a list of attributes. We often make the mistake of trying to relegate God to a place in a notebook, but He is too big for that. And yet, if we are to come to know about God, we must begin with these descriptive attributes. He will be more than this list, but He will not be less than it describes. Our little systems have their day,
They have their day and cease to be.
They are but broken lights of Thee,
And Thou, O Lord, art more than they. (Tennyson, In Memoriam). The point is well taken. Even though we will be listing a number of the various attributes of God, this list is by no means exhaustive. Neither does an outlining of His attributes tell us all that there is to know about God. On the other hand, it is impossible to know God without also knowing certain facts about God. For example, I know and have a relationship with my wife, not just because I know certain facts about her, but because of our intimate communications. At the same time, I could not claim to know her if I did not know at least some facts about her.