When attempting to describe a person or convey an experience, you might say something along the lines of, “Well, it’s like …”
One of the freedoms of human communication involves the combination of language and imagination to illustrate a reality yet unperceived by the hearer. It is often helpful to reference a familiar point of orientation and go from there. “The shops along main street look like a postcard scene” … “That dessert tastes like grandma’s French silk pie” … “She reminds me of so-and-so.”
It’s no surprise, then, that God depicts Himself in various terms and likenesses. The human mind cannot comprehend His fullness, so He relates Himself to lesser concepts more easily grasped.
For example, Scripture paints God as a sun, a fountain, and a rock.
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” – Psalm 84:11
“For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.” – Psalm 36:9
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” – Psalm 18:2
His qualities are displayed like those of a father or mother.
“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.” – Psalm 103:13
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” – Isaiah 49:15
He is everything that provides, protects, and preserves.
“I am the bread of life … If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” – John 6:48, 51
“I am the door of the sheep … If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” – John 10:7, 9
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” – John 10:11
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” – John 15:1-2
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12
Indeed, “This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
All of these combined still portray a mere fraction of God’s existence … yet they help people like me relate to their Maker.
As He Himself declares, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13).
Abby
