I don't like you JUST THE WAY YOU ARE, Jesus

According to Jesus, Peter--in Mark 8-- "did not have in mind the things of God, but the
things of men." Unable to accept a suffering Savior as a fundamental part of
God's will he would have shaped Jesus in his own image. Of course, God's way
of dealing with the problem of sin and human rebellion fails to conform to the
niceties of human expectations. Jesus shows no inclination to justify the ways of
God to men. He simply affirms that the way of the cross is the will of God.

What are some ways that we, like Peter, distort the character of God?
Give examples of false images, pictures, and expectations that we have of
him.
We also tend towards making gods in our own image. For example when we
say "I like to think of God as...." with total disregard for what Scripture
reveals. We develop expectations to which we want God to conform. We
decide how God ought to behave in certain situations and what ought to be given
to us. We decide which circumstances given to us are fair and which are unfair
and hold him in contempt when he does not abide by our standards. We may see
God as a Santa Claus figure, an old man who doesn't really notice how we live and who gives us what we ask for. We may view him as one whose primary job
is to secure our happiness believing that our happiness is what matters most and
that he could not possibly want us to suffer.
Making God in our own image condemns us to regular frustration and potential
bitterness because our view of reality is out line with the way the world really is.
But even more dangerously, the habit of making God in one's own image may
leave one eternally condemned. Believing ourselves to be following and
worshipping the true God, we may actually be using our religious devotion to an
invented god to keep the true God at a distance. The Bible's analysis is that what
often passes for seeking God is really just a front for evading him. The only
antidote to this tendency is to allow the Scriptures alone to be that which informs
you of God's nature and ways, and to neither add nor subtract from their
testimony. We pick and choose what we like and dislike about what the Bible
tells us about God's character, ways, and plans at our own peril.