Who Is God?
The answer to this question is not a simple one, but let’s take a look and see what we can come up with from the clues God has given us in His Word. Romans 1:19-20 tells us, “19 Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
When it comes to defining God, it is very important to know what we are talking about, as an incorrect perception of God is called idolatry.
1.) A quick summary of who God is would include, a Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of all that exists (Job 42:2, Genesis 1:1, 1Chronicles 29:11- 12).
2.) One who’s existence is obvious and is perfect in knowledge wisdom, goodness, and power (Psalm 147:5, Jeremiah 32:27, Psalm 31:19).
3.) We can learn quite a bit about God’s character from the Bible. He is just, truthful, loving, holy, compassionate (John 3:16, 1John 1:9, Isaiah 6:3, 1Samuel 2:2, 2Corinthians 1:3, Psalm 86:15).
4.) He will judge the world, but is full of grace, mercy, and forgiveness (John 3:16, John 14:6, Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23, Psalm 9,7-8, Psalm 86:5, Daniel 9:9).
5.) God is the ultimate Lawgiver who without we would have no basis for morality or standards to live by. Apart from God we would have no logical basis to claim anything is wrong or right (Exodus 20:2-17, Exodus 24:12, Ezekiel 20:11, Isaiah 33:22, Luke 6:35-36).
6.) God created the world and actively sustains it while executing His eternal plan that involves the redemption of man from sin and death by drawing them to Jesus Christ (John 1:1, Romans 5:12, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9, John 1:11-13, John 10:27-28, John 5:24).
7.) When describing who is God, it would be wrong not to include Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. This is called the Trinity. This can be a difficult concept for some. We need to remember, God is infinite, and we are finite beings, which means we have finite brains that make it impossible to fully comprehend God, but that does not mean we can’t know Him at all. The Bible names each of the three Persons of the Trinity as “God.” (2Corintians 13:14, Luke 1:35, Matthew 28:19, John 14:16-17, 2Corinthians 1:21- 22).
8.) God is the Creator, but God Himself is not created. He exists eternally, outside of time (John 1:1-3, Isaiah 40:28, Psalm 90:2, Hebrews 1:3).
9.) God is a personal God and wants each one of us to have a personal relationship with Him. Again, that may seem a bit difficult to wrap our tiny three- pound brains around (Revelation 3:20, John 1:12, John 14:23, Isaiah 59:2, 1Peter 5:6-7, Isaiah 40:31, Matthew 7:7).
10.) God is not only all the things mentioned above, but above all things He is the Savior. Why would we need a Savior? We will get into that topic in our next core principle. “Why do I need to be saved?”
The scripture references above are just a small portion from the Bible that demonstrates all of God’s attributes through what His Word tells us. There are actually many many more references for each attribute included in scripture. We just give you the tip of the iceberg here to get you familiar with Scripture referencing. As we study these scriptures and others going forward, we need to remember what 2Timothy 3:16 tells us, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” This tells us that ALL of scripture is from God Himself. The Bible is literally God’s own Word through and through.