A Distorted View of God’s Attributes Ends in Disaster (Matthew 25:14-30)Thursday January 8, 2026
Parable of Talents
The master clearly represents God—generous, sovereign, just. The talents symbolize everything God entrusts to us: time, gifts, resources, opportunities, the gospel.
Joh 15:8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
But the third servant's problem goes deeper than laziness. It's a heart issue rooted in a distorted view of the master. He calls him "hard" (Greek sklēros—harsh, severe).
Proper fear leads us to God and improper fear causes us to hide from Him.
The master exposes the servant's inconsistency: "If you really thought I was like that, why didn't you at least put the money on deposit?"
When we see God as harsh, distant, or demanding the impossible, we hide our gifts in fear.
Pro 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.
The Attributes of God and the Danger of Misunderstanding –
So who is God really?
From early in the OT, God told His people some of His characteristics.
Exo 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM";
Exo 34:6-7 “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
God is self-existent, all powerful, gracious, love, faithful, forgiving, and justice. Just these passages would have informed someone in the mold of the one-talent slave that God is not hard.
But it is impossible to pin down all the attributes of God and impossible to fully understand them. This is how it should be.
Scripture reveals a constellation of perfections, all in perfect harmony. He is generous and gracious—lavishing gifts we don't deserve (Eph 2:6-9).
He is just and righteous, yet merciful (these often go together - it is a calling not to run from a God of righteousness and justice (Psa 33:5; Rom 8:1).
Psa 33:3 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
If He is the one, and only one who is going to judge you, and He is gracious and love itself; where else could you go to get right with the judge or to learn how your day of judgment will be full of reward?
He is sovereign and wise beyond tracing out (Rom 11:33).
We are not to overemphasize one over the other or add ones that we think He should have. These attributes sit side by side as manifestations of God’s character.
Another way to skew our view is to blend them. Say you blend love and justice - then you rid yourself and the world of the need for the cross.
Throughout Scripture and history people have skewed the picture of God:
All causing division, confusion, and harm, and consequences: fear, rebellion, stagnation, hypocrisy, even judgment.
The Solution – Beholding Jesus, the Perfect Image of God –
So how do we correct a distorted view? How do we escape overemphasizing one attribute while neglecting another?
The ultimate solution is not simply trying harder to balance ideas in our heads—though careful study helps. The solution is a Person: the Lord Jesus Christ.
Joh 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Jesus is "the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Heb 1:3). He is "the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), in whom "all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Col 2:9). When Philip asked, "Show us the Father," Jesus answered, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (Joh 14:9).
When we face situations where we might question the essence or attributes of God, this is where we look. The Lord Jesus is a man like us and He is God like the Father and He has explained Him.
When God is silent to our cries: Is He cruel? Is He too busy and therefore not omnipotent? When pain enters our life: Is He not gracious and forgiving? When someone gets promoted above us: Is He not merciful? When the wicked prosper: Is He not justice?
At Calvary, every attribute meets in harmony: justice and mercy, holiness and love, wrath and grace, power and wisdom. No imbalance, no contradiction—only perfection.
Practically, this means:
Spend time gazing at Jesus in the Gospels—read slowly, prayerfully, asking, "What does this reveal about the Father's heart?"
Meditate often on the cross, where the full orchestra of God's attributes plays in perfect unity.
Abide in Christ daily (Joh 15)—as the Spirit conforms us to His image, we come to know the Father more truly (2Co 3:18).
Worship the Lord Jesus. Let His Word fill you with the desire to glorify Him in all you do.
The lazy servant feared because he never truly knew his master. But we have been given the Spirit of sonship, crying "Abba, Father!" because we know Him through the Son.
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