God’s Character is Bigger than Our Actions and Sins

• When we sin or make a mistake, it’s easy to believe that the mess we’ve made is “too big.”

• “Too big” for God to fix, and “too big” for God to possibly continue loving us.

• This belief can be exacerbated by religious ideas. Meaning, we’ve failed to be perfect and thereby “good enough.” Or we’ve failed to successfully achieve the checklist of things.

• It can also be flamed by what other people say. For example, making us feel ashamed or guilty in a way that goes beyond feeling responsible and being aware of the consequences of our actions.

• Rather quickly, we can end up with this idea that God doesn’t want anything to do with us. That we’re simply too sinful, imperfect, or outside-the-box.

• As a result, the vision we have of Him in our heads as this distant, angry, indifferent, condescending, and all-around-harsh being.

• We end up believing in a version of God that doesn’t exist. 

• God’s true character doesn’t align with that picture at all. 

1. God is Holy and Unchanging 

• Holy is one of those words that can be used so commonly that we forget what it actually means.

• To be holy means several things:

• To be set apart from evil. 

• 1 John 1:5 (NLT): “This is the message we heard from and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.”

• God’s nature, will, and actions are pure. 

• Leviticus 11:44-45 (MSG): “Make yourselves holy for I am holy. Don’t make yourselves ritually unclean by any creature that crawls on the ground. I am God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Be holy because I am holy.”

• 1 Peter 1:15 (NLT): “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.”

• While as Christians God’s holiness is seen as a standard, only God is truly holy: 

• 1 Samuel 2:2 (NLT): “No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”

• Revelation 15:4 (NLT): “Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.”

• And His holiness never changes - because God’s character is immutable (i.e., unchangeable).

• Malachi 3:6 (NLT): “I am the Lord, and I do not change.”

• 1 Samuel 15:29 (NLT): “And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!”

• James 1:17 (NLT): “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”

• The big idea here? The core of who God is cannot be evil - and He will remain that way for eternity. As such, for each and every day of our lives, no matter what we do, God’s pure character remains the same.

2. God is Perfect Love and Goodness 

• God doesn’t just feel love; He is love:

• 1 John 4:16 (NLT): “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”

• Verse 18 then goes on to say, “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”

• God isn’t a regular kind of love; He’s a perfect love.

• Is it any wonder, then, that God is so good?

• Mark 10:18 (NLT): “Only God is truly good.”

• Psalm 25:8 (NLT): “The Lord is good and does what is right.”

• Psalm 31:19-20 (NLT): “How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world. You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues.”

• The big idea here? God’s perfect love and His goodness are core parts of who He is as a being. And, as a holy and unchanging God, His love and goodness will always be available to us.

3. God is Extremely Personal

• First and foremost, God is interested in being in a relationship with us.

• This is why He sent Jesus to die on the cross:

• John 3:16 (MSG): “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.”

• Without Jesus dying in our place, for our sins, we would’ve been eternally separated from God because He is holy. Sin is evil and, as such, exists separated from Him.

• In addition, God cares about the so-called little things as well:

• Luke 12:7 (MSG): “What’s the price of two or three pet canaries? Some loose change, right? But God never overlooks a single one. And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.”

• Matthew 6:26-30 (NLT): “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?”

• Matthew 7:11 (NLT): “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”

• The big idea here? God doesn’t keep His perfect love and goodness all to Himself. He created us for a relationship, and very much cares about our well-being.

It’s Not in God’s Nature to Reject His Kids

• Friend, can you see the levels of who God is? And how they closely interconnect?

• These foundational attributes of God are why we can rest easy knowing that, no matter what we do or how badly we think we’ve messed up, God will always be there - lovingly, patiently, and hopefully. 

• It’s simply not in His nature to reject His kids when they are earnestly seeking Him. 

• So whatever you’ve been struggling with, friend…whatever brought you to this post today…know that God is there for you. He’s waiting with open arms and an open heart.