God’s Call, God’s Ways What Is He Like
Date: January 15, 2026
Good morning. As we have started off this year with a new series, God’s Call, God’s Ways we have looked at the personal experience that God offers you and I. Jesus said, “No man comes to Me unless the Father draws Him”. This is both personal and experiential. Remember that God’s word says that ‘God so loved the world that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.’ Then He also says, “Follow Me”. This could be blanketly said, like to the fisherman at the seashore, ‘Follow Me’, but it would have to be personally accepted. If we follow Him, how do we do that? That brought us to our second subject of the series “Faith”.
Pastor and author, A W Tozier once said ‘In the scriptures there is practically no effort to define faith outside of a brief 14-word definition in Hebrews 11 verse 1, I know of no biblical definition and even here, faith is defined functionally and not philosophically. That is what faith is in operation not in essence. It shows what faith results in not what it is.’
Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for or the evidence of things not yet seen.
Amplified Bible: Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].
We had three points last week:
· Where faith comes from
· How we grow in faith
· The result of faith
Where Faith Comes From
Ephesians 2:8 "faith" itself is a divine gift, not something earned.
Romans 10:17 So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God.”
How We Grow in Faith
The Greek word for faith, emphasizes that true, living faith is demonstrated through observable actions.
The Results of Faith
Gen. 12:3 And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Hebrews 11:10 For he (Abraham) waited for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
We see in Abraham’s life the results of his faith. God promised that he would have a son and he did Isaac at the age on 100. He was also told by God that all the earth would be blessed because of his believing God and guess what we are because of Jesus.
But it did not cease with these being fulfilled, he also knew that this world was not the end.
As we follow Jesus by faith two unique aspects in the New Testament scriptures seems to stand out, Becoming like Him and going/doing. Over the next couple weeks, we are going to focus on the Becoming like Him.
As you and I read and listen to the scriptures we start seeing there are passages that read like these:
1 John 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Before we can be like Him, we probably should know, “What He Is Like”
What He Is Like
Our Scripture: Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”
Just two points today:
• Then God Said Let Us Make
• Our Image, Our Likeness
Then God Said Let Us Make
Hebrews 1:2 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Psalm 90:2: "Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God"
· He is Eternal and He is the Creator of all - Omnipotence (All-Powerful):
Jeremiah 32:17: "Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you".
· Omnipresence (Everywhere at Once):
Psalm 139:7-10: "Where can I go from your Spirit? ... If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!".
· Omniscience (All-Knowing): Psalm 139:1-4: "Lord, you have searched me and known me... You understand my thought from afar off".
1 John 3:20: "God is greater than our hearts, and knows everything".
· The scriptures bear out his character
Jehovah-Jireh: The LORD Will Provide (Genesis 22:14).
Jehovah-Rapha: The LORD That Heals (Exodus 15:26).
Jehovah-Shalom: The LORD Is Peace (Judges 6:24).
Jehovah-Raah: The LORD My Shepherd (Psalm 23:1).
Jehovah-Shammah: The LORD Is There (Ezekiel 48:35).
Our image, Our likeness
In Genesis 1, the Hebrew word "image" is tselem, meaning a representation, shape, or physical form, often linked to an outline or shadow, used to describe humanity's role as God's representative on Earth.
Demut, “likeness”, signifies a deeper, inherent resemblance or similarity in character/essence
In the beginning God made you and I in His image and in His likeness.
Something Practical: Meditate on these things. This week take some scriptures, read them, then meditate on them. Sometimes there are so many things coming at us through media outlets, what we see with our eyes or what others are saying we may loose sight of “What He Is Like”.
Psalm 90:2: "Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God"
Psalm 139:7-10: "Where can I go from your Spirit?
Psalm 139:1-4: "Lord, you have searched me and known me... You understand my thought from afar off".
Jehovah-Shammah: The LORD Is There (Ezekiel 48:35).
