Not a Man

Something to think about.

Not a man

19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Numbers 23:19 (KJV)

God is not a man. We need to stop and focus on this statement for a few minutes separate it from the rest of the verse.  

I have always perceived God as a father and hence man like. In my mind, the concept of God is influenced by the idea of a father. Which is somewhat natural because we refer to God, as Father God. But with the idea of father also comes the inherent limitations of a father. As we get older our concept of father changes. It goes from the invincible God like man to the fallible and often erroneous man.  Our idea of father further erodes as our fathers become more human. In other words, our fathers are no longer the giants of immortality. They become older versions of our fallible selves.  Through these eyes and experience, we filter our concept of God the creator. 

The only problem with that is that God is not a man! He is not subject to erosion of Himself. As our fathers become more human, God does not. God does not become more like us as we mature He becomes more unlike us as we get to know Him.

He is eternal on His own, we are eternal because of Him. He created everything in existence we have created nothing.  He created time we are subject to it. He created the laws of our existence we are bound by them.  He exists in a realm we can't imagine. He is not our opposite we are not our His equal. We can't contain Him. 

We were created in His image. But it is only an image. It is a one-dimensional representation of Him. Though we have some of the characteristics of God, we are not God.  Thought we were made in His image we are not Him. He is not man, He is not His creation. He is beyond the scope of our ability to imagine. We say He has always existed because we don't understand the basis of His existence.  How do you define the length of existence to an entity that is not subject to time? 

God is not just greater, bigger, smarter, stronger, more than man, He is altogether not man.  God is an entity that is beyond our ability to imagine or fully comprehend. If He has limits or parameters they would exist in a realm we have no access to. The most significant difference between God and man is that He knows everything and we don't. 

God is not man. He is not subject to us. He can exist without us we can't live without Him. He is everything to us, and we are but the dirt He created us from. And He created the dirt.