Sermon || The Essence of God's Character || Pr. Gabor Mihalec

The name of God traces a journey. El Shaddai in Job sounds almighty but unpredictable, the one Job thought “gave and took away,” even while the reader sees an enemy doing the taking. That name carries the feeling of distance, arrows from the clouds, blessing on a good day and loss on a bad day, and a heart left unsure. Yahweh in Exodus steps into slavery and writes a new chapter. “I am Yahweh,” God says, and the story of the plagues and the sea and the freedom march reframes the whole imagination of Israel around deliverance. Yet Sinai still keeps a fence; Yahweh is holy, near to save but not yet friend.

Abba on the lips of Jesus pulls God into arm’s length. Abba is father as a child says it, not a throne word but a family word, “Daddy.” Jesus makes the claim plain. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” The face of God looks like the face that bends to the sinner, touches the excluded, calls the little girl, “Talitha, koum,” and sits down at tables where shame has closed every other door. Jesus is not offering an angle on God. Jesus is offering God.

The contrast between borrowed images and revelation keeps pressing in. Human hearts tend to model God on the most influential faces around them. Kindness in a home frees the imagination toward Abba. Harshness and ridicule train a soul to expect arrows and mood swings. Scripture insists on a truer center. John says it without a safety net, “God is love.” Not, God has love as one app among others. Love is the operating system. Paul prays that hearts would be rooted and grounded in this, strong enough to measure “how wide, how long, how high, how deep” the love of Christ, until fullness begins to fill. Jesus sums the law and the prophets on the same nail. Love of God and neighbor is not one command among many. Everything else hangs on it.

Love then does what theology says it is. Love changes the room. A child’s stutter goes quiet under kindness. A son and a dying father need no more words when love is already spoken and safe. The call to the church is simple and costly. Let superficial pictures fall. Let Jesus define Abba. Let love become the air in the lungs. Become agents of that love.

Key Takeaways

• 1. God’s names map a journey The move from El Shaddai to Yahweh to Abba traces how God makes himself known. Power without intimacy gives way to deliverance, and deliverance ripens into family closeness. The story says God is not content to be misread and chooses to be known near. The arc lands where Jesus prays, Abba. [17:23]
• 2. Jesus shows the Father perfectly Jesus does not point past himself to a different God; he says, “Look at me.” His touch on sinners, strugglers, and children is the Father’s touch in real time. When the imagination doubts God’s posture, the Gospels settle the question with a human face. Seeing Jesus is seeing the Father. [20:27]
• 3. Love is God’s operating system “God is love” is not a slogan; it is ontology. If love is the center, then commands, prophecies, and doctrines must harmonize with love or be misused. Rootedness in love is not sentiment but strength to grasp dimensions that surpass knowledge. Fullness comes where love is the ground. [24:38]
• 4. Human projections distort God’s face Parents and leaders often become the stencil for God in a child’s heart. Tenderness trains trust; cruelty trains fear, and both can masquerade as theology. Revelation corrects projection, replacing cloud-seat archer images with Abba’s embrace. Healing often begins where false faces are unlearned. [22:50]
• 5. Agents of love change atmospheres Love does not just inform the mind; it alters the room. A stuttering boy finds ease under gracious attention, and a deathbed needs no more speeches once love is certain. Such moments are not accidents but the fruit of living inside Abba’s embrace. Ministry begins where love is carried into ordinary time. [34:09]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:47] - Kids moment and birthday
• [02:24] - Train conversation: false images of God
• [04:11] - Adjective exercise about God
• [06:51] - From El Shaddai to Yahweh
• [08:23] - Job’s words and Satan’s role
• [12:25] - Yahweh and Exodus deliverance
• [17:23] - Jesus prays to Abba
• [19:49] - “Show us the Father” fulfilled
• [21:47] - How families shape God-images
• [24:38] - God is love at the center
• [27:23] - Rooted and grounded in love
• [28:37] - Law and prophets hang on love
• [30:52] - Stories of love’s transforming power
• [39:30] - Prayer and call to be agents

1. In Exodus 6:2-3, God contrasts how He revealed Himself to the patriarchs (as “God Almighty”) with how He reveals Himself to Moses. What difference does this new name (“Yahweh”) imply about His relationship with His people?
2. When Jesus says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), what specific actions or attitudes of Jesus in the Gospels demonstrate God’s character?
3. The sermon describes a boy who stopped stuttering when he felt safe in a loving presence ([33:32]). How does this story illustrate the idea that “love changes the room”?

1. Why do you think God chose to progressively reveal Himself through different names (El Shaddai, Yahweh, Abba) rather than all at once? What does this say about how He relates to human understanding?
2. The sermon states, “Love is not one of God’s apps—it’s His operating system” ([25:28]). How does this metaphor reshape the way we interpret commands or teachings in Scripture that might seem harsh or unloving?
3. How might a person’s relationship with their parents or authority figures (e.g., harsh vs. kind) create a “false face” of God in their heart, as described in the sermon ([22:50])?

1. Reflect on the adjectives you associate with God. Do any of them mirror traits of influential people in your life (e.g., a parent, teacher, or leader)? How could intentionally focusing on Jesus’ actions in the Gospels reshape those adjectives?
2. The sermon emphasizes that “love does not just inform the mind; it alters the room” ([34:09]). What is one practical way you could intentionally create a “safe space” through love for someone in your life this week?
3. If “God is love” is the center of His character, how might this truth change the way you respond to a difficult situation or person you’re currently facing?
4. The story of the dying father and son highlights the power of unspoken love ([35:13]). Is there a relationship in your life where words have fallen short, but actions of love could bring healing or closure?
5. How can you actively “unlearn” a distorted image of God (e.g., distant, harsh) and replace it with the “Abba” revealed by Jesus? What daily habits or reminders would help?