I have been thinking about the objections that come from some religions regarding the idea that God can have form. Often I see the response from people who do believe in form to be ‘so you are placing restrictions on an all-powerful entity?’
I think that this response is fair enough. But what has also occurred to me is that for those who do not believe in form, arguing that a form is itself limited and yet God is limitless so therefore God cannot be contained in form…etc…do you not believe that God is everywhere?
And what does it mean to you that God is everywhere? Is a little bit of God here and a little bit of God there…or is God equally and fully present everywhere at all times?
This is something that I, as a Hindu, believe. God is fully present everywhere at all time. If this is true, then how can we argue that God is fully present everywhere but cannot be fully present within a manifest form? What then are the objections against the possibility of a personal form of God?
I believe that God has form - a human form to be more exact - that we really are made in His image.
a few scriptures...
Gen. 1:27 (Moses 2:27) God created man in his own image
Gen. 5:1 God created man, in the likeness of God made he him
Gen. 9:6 in the image of God made he man
Gen. 18:33 Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing -
He is a finite entity which comes and goes
Gen. 32:30 I have seen God face to face -
He has a face
Ex. 24:10 they saw the God of Israel, there was under his feet -
He has feet
Ex. 31:18 (Deut. 9:10) written with the finger of God -
He has fingers
Ex. 33:11 Lord spake unto Moses face to face
Ex. 33:23 thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen -
He has a back
Num. 12:8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth -
He has a mouth and a voice
Matt. 3:17 a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son
Matt. 4:4 every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God
Matt. 17:5 a voice out of the cloud
Luke 24:39 for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have -
He has a body of flesh and bones.
John 14:9 he that hath seen me hath seen the Father -
Jesus looks like his dad...
Acts 7:56 the Son of man standing on the right hand of God -
He has hands
Rom. 8:29 predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son
2 Cor. 4:4 Christ, who is the image of God
Philip. 2:6 who, being in the form of God
Philip. 3:21 our vile body ... fashioned like unto his glorious body
Col. 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God
Heb. 1:3 the express image of his person -
He is a person
James 3:9 men which are made after the similitude of God
1 Jn. 3:2 when he shall appear, we shall be like him
Rev. 22:4 they shall see his face -
one day we will see him, perhaps shake his hand, or better yet, give him a hug, wash his feet with our tears...
I do not believe that God is some strange imaginary abstraction - He is a real, physical and spiritual being whom you can see, talk with, etc. etc. - He is real, He has substance - but unlike us, God's body is perfect and unconfining.
consider the evil spirits who were so desperate to have/possess a body:
Matthew 8:31 - 32
31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
why did the evil spirits want a body so badly? because it's pretty neat to be able to touch / feel / eat chocolate cake - it's all just a thought experiment if you cannot go out and physically do things.
everywhere at once?
consider the sun - the sun is a finite object, and yet the gravitational effects of the sun are present everywhere - this is how I see God, as a finite being whose influence has extended throughout everything. I believe that those who live righteously grow closer to God, and therefore feel more of his influence - just as the gravitational effects of the sun grow more powerful as you move closer to it.
