The bible starts out in this way;- Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God….
God who?
Where did he come from?
Who is He?
What is he like?
How old is He?
Does he have friends?
Is there a Mrs God?
The bible doesn’t ever set out to prove God’s existence – it assumes God, and then reveals who He is through the bible. So in this Blog I want to answer the question: “What is God like?”
Ludwig Fuerbach – 1804 – 1872, Coined the phrase – ‘Man is what he eats.’
He claimed that God is nothing but man’s projection upon the backdrop of the universe. He obviously didn’t know too much about God. God is far bigger than the imaginations of humanity.
So what’s God really like?
God is Eternal.
Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God….
Deut 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge,?And underneath are the everlasting arms;
He has always been there and always will be. This is a hard concept to grasp.
God has always been there. In the finitness of our thinking – we are so linked to time in the framework through which we view life. So the idea that God has always been there is a very difficult concept for us to get our heads around.
God is Self Existent.
God exists in and from himself. He does not owe His existence to anyone else and does not rely on any other to sustain it. This is totally the opposite of us. (We exist because our parents had sex.)
Exodus 3:14 – God to Moses – ‘I am who I am’
God is Immutable
God is unchanged and unchangeable as too are his character and being and moral attributes.
Malachi 3:6
“For I am the Lord, I do not change;
God is Omnipotent
This means that he is all powerful
Luke 1:37 For with God, nothing is impossible
“Nothing is impossible” that would be consistent with his holy nature, character, power and being.
There are however some things God can’t do;
Eg Sin
Forsake you
Lie
Change
Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
God is Omniscient
This means that God is all knowing. This makes him incapable of error or omission.
Ps 147:5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;?His understanding is infinite.
Ps 139:1-6 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;?You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,?And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue,?But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. 5 You have hedged me behind and before,?And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;?It is high, I cannot attain it.
God is Omnipresent
This means that God is everywhere. He is unlimited by space and time. Difficult concept – because we are only 3 dimensional thinkers, that are limited by space and time. Here is a thought that can mess with your heads:-What if the world, past present and future were happening simultaneously?
Ps 139:7-12
Where can I go from Your Spirit??Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;?If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning,?And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,?And Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall[a] on me,”?Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,?But the night shines as the day;?The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
God is Love.
Love is the very heart of God’s nature.
1 John 4:8 – doesn’t say ‘God loves’, but’ God is love.’
Love manifests in God’s;
Goodness
Grace
Mercy
Compassion
Kindness.
God is Invisible
God may be invisible but his presence is discernible.
Exodus 33:20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
God is Incomprehensible
He cannot be fully understood or figured out. But oh how man tries to.
Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out!
He is Knowable
He wants to be known by you. God has a self relevatory nature. He reveals himself to you through the word, through his Son, Jesus, through the Spirit and through creation
John 3:16-18 from the Message Paraphrase
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
