Snapshot: A Biblical Worldview Perspective on God as Impersonal Force
July 18, 2023
I remember waiting in line for hours with my cousins to see a certain movie in summer of 1977. I wasn’t much of a movie goer, or a science fiction fan, but it was the thing to do, and I ended up in line to see it twice in a short space of time. That movie has had a deep impact on culture in the United States and around the world, particularly with its view of “the force” influencing everything. But that raises a question: Is God an impersonal force?
1 Topic
Is God an impersonal force? Or is God a person, with personality, and able to be in relationship with other persons?
2 Scriptures
Because God created us in his image, it makes sense that He is also a person (though of course, not a human person).
Genesis 1:26-27. “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’
“So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.”
Theologically, a person has a mind, emotions, and a will. We will visit that more thoroughly in a moment, but for a start, let’s note that God has a mind.
Isaiah 55:8–9. “ ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,’
declares the Lord.
“ ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ “
3-D Worldview
So despite what Star Wars might claim, there is no force that rules everything and is in everyone. There is not a good force vs a bad force, though there is a battle between good and evil.
But even aside from movies, God is also not merely a nice idea. He cannot be adequately represented by a symbol or idol. He is a person, a trinity, a living being (eternal past present and future–Hebrews 13:8).
Evangelist Billy Graham wrote this: “God is a Person. A person acts—and so does God. He feels, thinks, sympathizes, forgives, decides, acts, judges, and loves. God is not an impersonal force or power; He is a Person—the most perfect Person imaginable. There is, of course, a vast difference between God’s personality and ours: He is perfect, but we are not. Emotions like anger, selfishness, hatred, jealousy, and pride overwhelm us. Our personalities may even become sick or self-destructive. But God isn’t this way. He alone is perfect.”
So God is a person in the sense that he has “personality,” not that he is a human being. I mentioned that theologically, a person has a mind, emotions, and a will. Let’s consider the God of the Bible, particularly the three persons of the Trinity.
God the Father has a mind
Here are some biblical passages that show God the Father has a mind.
Psalm 139:17. How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Isaiah 55:8-9 (quoted above)
Psalm 92:5. How great are your works, Lord,
how profound your thoughts!
God the Son has a mind
Luke 2:52. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
God the Holy Spirit has a mind
Romans 8:27. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
1 Corinthians 2:9–11. However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
God the Father has emotions
Psalm 2:4. The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
Psalm 7:11. God is a righteous judge,
a God who displays his wrath every day.
Psalm 11:5. The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
Psalm 78:40-41. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the wasteland!
Again and again they put God to the test;
they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
Psalm 103:13. As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
1 John 4:7-8. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
God the Son has emotions
John 11:35. Jesus wept.
God the Holy Spirit has emotions
Ephesians 4:30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
God the Father has a will
Job 42:2. “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
John 6:37-40. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
1 Corinthians 1:1. Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes.
Ephesians 5:15–17. Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
1 Thessalonians 5:18. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 2:15. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.
God the Son has a will
Luke 22:15. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Luke 22:42. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
God the Holy Spirit has a will
Romans 8:5. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
Galatians 5:17. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
Wrapping it Up
When we say God is a person, we mean that God possesses “personality” and that He is a rational being (Job 36:22), Comforter (Jeremiah 8:18), Friend (Job 29:4), Healer (Exodus 15:26), Leader (Proverbs 3:5-6), Guide (John 16:13), Father (Ephesians 1:2), and Savior (2 Timothy 1:10).
And, we can actually have a conversation with him in prayer, speaking to him, and hearing his voice. (John 10:27). (Read more here: https://www.compellingtruth.org/is-God-a-person.html.)
Now what do I do?
If you are interested in understanding a Biblical worldview more fully by investigating more questions like this, check out the free pdf “10 Questions to Understand Worldview” linked below. Or go ahead directly to the survey and take it for yourself.
- Take the 3-D Worldview for yourself
