How Is God Different

My daughter asked me how Christianity is different from the god of Islam.  They've been studying Islam in school, and according to her textbook, the god of Islam isn't that much different than the God of Christianity.  She said that Islam believes in doing good, that they believe in only one God, and that they don't believe in idols.

The difference is obviously Jesus.  But more than that, its what each religion believes that God is like.  Most religions have a god that is all-knowing, all-powerful, and even loving toward mankind.  Christianity believes in a God who is not only powerful and knowing, but also willing to die for His people.  God exemplifies the same humility that He expects from humankind. (Phil. 2)  The cross is more than an action. The death of Jesus reveals the true nature of God, a God who is willing to undergo humiliation and suffering for the sake of reconciliation.  

In the same spirit, God aligns Himself with the humble among us.  He has a special attachment to the weakest of us.  The poor, the widow, the orphan... the powerless by human standards.  The humility of our God is what makes Him different.

Psalm 113

Who is like the Lord our God,
    the One who sits enthroned on high,
⁶ who stoops down to look
    on the heavens and the earth?

⁷ He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
⁸ he seats them with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
⁹ He settles the childless woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children.