What you think about God will shape who you become.
But often what we believe about God says more about us than it does about God. The most ancient, primal temptation, going back to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, is to decide for ourselves what God is like and whether we should live into His vision of human flourishing or come up with our own.
The Scripture writers come at it the other way around. From Moses to Matthew, they assume we have no idea what God is like. Jesus spent the bulk of His time on earth helping religious people see that a lot of what they thought about God was wrong. Jesus often observed, “You have heard it said …” followed by, “But I say to you …”
In the Old Testament as well, there are climactic moments when we get a brand-new vision of who God is. We witness one of those moments in Exodus 33 in a conversation between God and Moses, who had a unique relationship with the Creator. God “would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Exodus 33:11a, NIV).
So Moses asked God to go with the Israelites every step of the way on their journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in a new land. Then he got even bolder: “Now show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18, NIV).
Moses asked to see God, in person, for who He really is. For Moses, "head knowledge" wasn’t enough. He wanted to experience God.
God graciously told Moses he couldn’t see God’s face or he would die, “for no one may see [God] and live” (Exodus 33:20, NIV). But God also said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD [Yahweh], in your presence” (Exodus 33:19a, NIV).
God was saying He’d reveal His identity to Moses. He’d let Moses in on His inner God-ness, the deepest reality of His being.
So Moses climbed to the top of Mount Sinai. Then we read some of the most astonishing words in the Bible: “The LORD [Yahweh] came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD [Yahweh]” (Exodus 34:5).
This has staggering implications for how we relate to God. This means God is a person — a relational being. Not an impersonal energy force or a chapter in a systematic theology textbook or a world religion. He wants to know and be known.
We often hear “a personal relationship with Jesus” as a cliché, but I don’t think we have any clue just how explosive this idea is.
If you find it hard to believe that God wants a relationship with you or that God is so much more than what you believe Him to be, know this: Simply showing up to experience God is a step in the right direction.
Start by borrowing Moses’ prayer: Show me Your glory.
Yahweh, You want me to know You. Show me the beauty of who You are. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
