WHO IS GOD?
If I were to ask 10 people this question, I would likely get 10 different answers. It seems as though everyone has a different view of God these days. Sadly, most viewpoints are just opinions that aren't based on the truth of God's word. One characteristic of God that everyone seems to be in overwhelming agreement on is that God is love. That is very true, and the Bible declares it. In fact, you and I can't begin to comprehend how much God loves us. But is that all there is to God; that He is loving, forgiving, merciful, and gracious? "Love, love, love," seems to be the only thing we hear about God. Let's let God tell us about Himself by turning to His word. Isaiah 42:5 "Thus says God the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it." Here we see that He is the creator of all things, but He also gives us breath (life) and spirit, showing that He is sustaining and in control.
God is triune.
Gen. 1:26 "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;" Here God spoke in the plural when He created man. "Us / Our" exemplifies God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
God is all knowing.
Jer. 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;" God knows everything about you, every hair on your head, every cell in your brain because He created it. He also knows every thought that goes through that brain of yours. But more importantly, He knows your heart. I Sam. 16:7 "For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." He knows your every motive. You can't hide anything from God.
God is holy.
Ps. 11:4 "The LORD is in His holy temple, The LORD's throne is in heaven;" And there are angelic beings in heaven declaring His holiness. Rev. 4:8 "And they do not rest day or night, saying, Holy holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!" The Lord is perfectly sovereign and we see the standard of His holiness and perfection in His Ten Commandments. If you want to be able to enter heaven, all you need to have done and do is to have kept and continue to keep His commandments perfectly. This poses quite a problem because none of us, including pastors, ministers, priests, popes or whatever you wish to label others as, have been able to keep them.
Which brings us to another attribute of God: His position as judge. This is the part of God that nobody likes to talk about because it causes you to realize that you have messed up, which is a sugar coated term everyone uses for sin. And since nobody likes to talk about sin in his or her life, it's easier to look at God as being a loving and forgiving God who will just overlook all sins. But that's not what God says in His word. Eccl. 12:14 "For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil." God takes sin very seriously. Ezek. 18:4 "The soul who sins shall die." Sin is not just overlooked or covered up by good deeds. Sin will be judged because God is a just God and there is a consequence for it as the verse states. This is where the love of God comes in which I am purposely not going to talk about until a future letter. We first need to further see our condition in the sight of our Holy Creator before we will ever understand His love.
