August 2 | Who Is God?
Psalms 89:8, “Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.”
According to Anslem, the great theologian of the past, “God is the greatest conceivable being.” He is the uncaused cause who is timeless, spaceless and immaterial. He is one Supreme Being, existing in three persons, with a spiritual substance that dwells in unapproachable light in another dimension called heaven. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. All knowledge and understanding come from Him. He can be known from our conscience and in creation, but He chose to reveal Himself primarily through special revelation (the Word of God).
The Word of God is also known as the Bible. To understand the Bible, I recommend starting to read it in the New Testament with the Gospel of John to discover who God is. After reading this book and others in the New Testament (NT) like Romans, Ephesians, Hebrews and 1 John; it is then good to go back and read the Old Testament (OT). Start with such books as Psalms and Proverbs and then move into the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) and then read some of the Major Prophets (like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel). Afterwards you should have a good understanding of who God is.
Most theologians (those who study God) summarize knowing God in two ways. The first and most important way is by knowing Jesus as one’s personal Lord and Savior. Jesus said in the book of John that He was the only way to the Father and everyone who wanted to come to God had to first come to Him (John 14:6). Paul, the author of thirteen books in the NT, also wrote in 1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”
The only way to know God is to have a personal relationship with Jesus.
The second way to know God, after becoming a born again Christian is to study His attributes in the Bible. Here is a short list and explanation of God’s main attributes (or qualities); (1) God is Tri-Personal or a Tri-Unity (Trinity): God is three divine persons in one being; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). (2) God is All Powerful (Omnipotent): He possesses all power and energy in the natural and spiritual world (Job 42:2).
(3) God is All-Knowing (Omniscient): God knows everything at all times (1 John 3:20). (4) God is All-Present (Omnipresent): God fills and sustains all space, time and dimensions (Jeremiah 23:24). (5) God is All-Good (Omnibenevolent): Everything God does is good because He is good (Mark 10:18). (6) God is All-Loving: God is the source of all love because He is love (1 John 4:8). (7) God is Holy: God is moral perfection and no one can compare to Him (Isaiah 6:3).
I would first strongly encourage all God-seekers to come to Jesus and be born again. Then, second, make time to read the Bible everyday to get a glimpse of the awesomeness of God’s characteristics!
Reflection
Action
- Come to Jesus and be born again if you haven’t already (John 3:3).
- Read the Bible daily and write in a journal anytime you learn something new about God’s character.
- Pray everyday to God in Jesus’ name to personally grow deeper in your knowledge of Him.