Is God Personal?

There are some people who mock the idea of a personal God, or a ‘Personal Jesus.’ There are some reasons why this is completely understandable. Particularly when we hear people say things like:

• “Jesus is my buddy”
• “Jesus is my homeboy”
• “Jesus is like my boyfriend”

Such statements convey the idea that God is in our back pocket, so that we can pull Him out at our whim and ask for whatever we want. It sounds like He is ready to meet whatever need we have in the moment.  This conveys an over-familiarity with God that we should question.

At the same time, however, we must uphold the truth that God is personal. From His earliest interactions with Adam and Eve on through His conversations with Abraham, David, and the first disciples, we are brought face-to-face with the truth that the Scriptural God is a personal God. He relates to us individually and uniquely.

Some may ask: “how could an eternal and almighty God know each one of us personally and uniquely?”

That question really answers itself. If God truly is almighty – that is, all things are in His power – and if God truly is eternal – that is, He exists through all time – then it is quite within the bounds of His power and timeless existence to know each person in all times and all places personally and uniquely. He is almighty and eternal, but He is personal.

A more fitting question is this: “Why would an eternal and almighty God want to know each of us personally and uniquely?” This is a great question and deserves to be taken quite seriously.

The short answer to this question is that in the Scriptures we see that God is both gracious and loving. He is gracious, which means that He gives things we do not deserve; “unmerited favor,” as the oft-quoted phrase goes. He is loving, which means that it is in His unchanging character to be beneficent and kind toward others. We also see from the Scriptures that God is our Creator. He is the One who has made everything that exists, including each and every person in all times and places.

Now, just like a careful artist both knows and wants to know all of her masterpieces, and just as a loving father knows and wants to know all of his children, so God – who is gracious, loving and our Creator – knows and wants to know all people in all times and all places.

God is almighty and eternal but, in His grace, love, and creativity, He is deeply and uniquely personal.

We can see that in Jesus’ conversations with people just like you and me. We can see it with Nicodemus who comes seeking at night. We can see that in His conversation with the woman from Samaria at Jacob’s well. We can see it with the man born blind who is healed to the glory of God.

In Jesus Christ, we clearly see that God is personal with all people. God is a personal God.