When you open up the newspaper you often are greeted with a humorous picture in the editorial section. The sketch, called a caricature, is a picture of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a reaction.
The pictures are often comical. We have seen the common ones where President Obama’s ears, teeth, and chin are ridiculously large while his eyes and his shoulders are proportionally very small. It’s amusing and accepted.
However, people often draw caricatures of God. This is neither amusing nor should it be accepted.
Consider the following perfections of God: love, holiness, mercy, righteousness, omniscience, omnipotence, and wrath. The common perception and depiction of God is very heavy on the love and mercy while being low on holiness, wrath, and omnipotence. Love and mercy become the big ears and teeth in the drawing that go alongside the very small eyes, shoulders, and nose. It is disproportional and dangerous.
In the Heidelberg Catechism this tension was brought out:
Q. 10. Will God allow such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished?
A. By no means (Rom 5:12; Heb 9:27); but he is terribly displeased with our inborn as well as actual sins, and will punish them in just judgment in time and eternity (Heb 10:31†; Gen 2:17†; Ps 5:4-6†; 7:11†; 50:21†; 90:11†; Nah 1:2†; Exod 20:5†; 34:7†; Deut 28:15†; Rom 1:18†; 2:5, 9†; Eph 5:6†), as he has declared: Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them (Deut 27:26; Gal 3:10).
Q. 11. Is, then, God not also merciful?
A. God is indeed merciful (Exod 34:6-7; 20:6; Ps 103:8-9†), but he is likewise just (Exod 20:5†; 23:7†; 34:7†; Deut 7:9-11†; Ps 5:5-7; 7:9†; Job 34:10-11†; Nah 1:2-3†; Rom 1:18†; 2:5-6†; 2 Cor 6:14-17†; Heb 10:31†); wherefore his justice requires that sin, which is committed against the most high majesty of God, be also punished with extreme, that is, with everlasting punishment (Gen 2:17†; Rom 6:23†) of body and soul (Matt 25:35-46†).
As Tozier observed, the most important thing about us is what we think about God. It determines everything. Therefore, it is pivotal that we perceive him correctly. This true depiction of God is found in the Scriptures not in our imaginations. We need to be certain that the God we believe in, worship, and speak about is real and true. Let’s be sure to delight in the character of God and not in a caricature of God.
(This is an excerpt of a sermon preached at Emmaus Bible Church on 11/02/2014, here is the full sermon).
