Who is God?

Who is God?

This is a very good question that many people are still trying to get a handle on. The Bible tells us that followers of Jesus need to be prepared to tells others about Him. The reason is so that others can know it is possible to have an everlasting relationship with a loving God.  There are those who don’t know or refuse to believe that there is a God who wants to be in a loving personal relationship with them. Those who are followers of Jesus can help others to see that Christianity is more than just a religion, it is truly about God wanting to do life with His people. 

Preparation is an important part of anyone's ministry. When it comes to sharing ones faith, this verse says it all:

1 Peter 3:15 NIV

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Let’s take a quick look at what the Bible says about God so we can help others know who He is and why we have entrusted our lives over to Him.

God Is Eternal/Everlasting:

God’s nature is without beginning and without end, free from what we understand as time. Man understands Time as a value that can be measured and understood as precise measured moments moving into the future. Or, Time can be categorized as events that have taken place in the past at precise moments that have been recorded in the historical record. God however, dwells in eternity. Eternity is not just an extended amount of time with no end, but rather Eternity is existence above and apart from time. God is the creator of Time. Time has no control over God and He does not have to work within the structure of time unless He so desires. The Bible records that God created time and the universe as we know it. We need to get a handle on God having existed before the moment of the creation of Time in order for us to get a grasp at the His appearance at the beginning of Time and the claims that He is an everlasting God.

Genesis 21:33New International Version (NIV)

Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. 

 

Here is the Bible Record of the beginning of time as we know it:

Genesis 1:1 NIV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Here is Jesus’ role in creation (Jesus is the Word):

John 1:1-5 NIV

In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word (Jesus) was God. He (Jesus) was with God in the beginning. Through him (Jesus) all things were made; without him (Jesus) nothing was made that has been made.  In him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The Holy Spirit plays a role in creation as well:

Genesis 1:2 NIV

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

The Bible confirms that God is Eternal and the Creator of all things:

Psalm 90:2 NIV

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Isaiah 40:28 NIV

Do you not know? Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

1 Chronicles 29:10 TNIV 

David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, LORD, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

Isaiah 43:15 TNIV 
I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King."

Genesis 2:2-3 NIV

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

The word “Eternity” as it relates to God contains three ideas to explore.

(1) The nature of God is without beginning or end.

(2) God is free from all the constraints of time.  

(3) God is the Creator of Time.

So in trying to describe an Eternal God we run into the problem of trying to explain how God has always existed.  There are things we may never understand fully this side of heaven. God even tells us that we will never fully understand Him in our current state of humanity.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

OK, so we are going to need to have faith and trust in what the Bible says: God is eternal. He has always existed but not in the way we understand time because God created time and the physical laws that we can comprehend today.  We must Imagine God existing in a different dimension not bound to the constraints of time as we understand it.

Does this concept about a timeless God help you see how magnificent, wonderful, powerful, and amazing God really is. Think about all the lives He has transformed. Think about all the miracles that have been accounted to Him.  Think about His creation stemming from the smallest atom to the farthest reaches of our incredible universe. Think about the miracles and prophecy surrounding the birth and life of Jesus. Think about the hope that we have because of all that God has done.

In order to help those who don’t know who the God of the Bible is, we need to explain

In layman’s terms who God is and the Good News He wants His people to know and experience. We also need to display our enthusiasm over a God who is personal, relational and more powerful than the universe He created.  God uses us to reach the lost and to make disciples. In fact that is our mission:

Matthew 28:18-20 NIV

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them

to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

What God has done for us:

Imagine the creator of the universe making Himself like us so we could know the depth of His love in a way we could understand. We can grasp the concept of sacrificial love which is the most powerful way anyone could express their love to someone else. In order to defeat sin and death and reconcile God’s people back to

Himself, Jesus willingly fulfilled God’s plan of Salvation by becoming the sacrifice that atoned for the sins of man.

 

Our sin had to be covered in order for us to be able to be in the presence of an Eternal Holy God.  God accomplished this for us because we were unable to do this for ourselves. There is nothing we can do save ourselves, earn our salvation, or to make ourselves sinless and Holy. Jesus’ purpose was to take care of the sin problem for us. Jesus paid the price for our sin. And because of Jesus, we are reconciled back to God and able to be in His presence for all eternity.

Mark 10:45 New International Version (NIV)

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

1 John 4:10 New Living Translation (NLT)

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

 

Colossians 1:13-14 New International Version (NIV)

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

God is a loving God:

So we have a God who existed before the beginning of the world as we know it. He has always existed and His attributes are unchanging. One of His Greatest attributes is His love for His creation. We have a God that loves us even though we are unable love Him or revere Him to the degree he deserves. He created us for fellowship with Him and for us to have the thrill of observing and enjoying all He has created. When sin entered the world God was not done with us. He made a way for us to be restored back to Him.

John 3:16-17 NIV

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

We should tell others our story in order for them to get a picture of who God is:

Our story is also part of God’s story. The way we tell others about God through our story will give them a picture of God and His attributes. 

·        Holy, Sovereign, Great, Awesome, Almighty, Creator

·        Loving, Gracious, Merciful, Faithful, Patient

·        Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omni-benevolent, Self-Existent

·        All wise, Eternal, Infinite, Immortal, Invisible, Immutable

·        Transcendent, Immanent

·        Alpha, Omega

·        King of kings, Lord of lords, President of presidents, CEO of CEOs

·        God who was, is, and is to come, in Whom there is no shadow of turning

·        The Holy Spirit, The Comforter, the Counselor

·        The Wonderful Counselor, the Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace

·        The Door, the Gate, the Good Shepherd

·        The Bread of Life, the Living Water

·        The Way, the Truth, the Life

·        Savior, LORD

·        The soon and coming King

·        The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world 

Question: How many of the above attributes of God can you relate to your story?

So if someone asks you about God tell them through your own personal story, your life before and after Christ.  God is always present and actively working through us to reach others with a message of hope and salvation. The Holy Spirit will provide the right words to communicate the Gospel through the events in your life. Many times the people God brings into our lives are the ones prepared to hear our story and are able to relate to it because of a similar life situation.

This Christmas season focus on telling others why we celebrate the birth of Jesus. That way they will understand the greatest gift they can really receive for Christmas is the one God made possible through His son Jesus.

So, who is God?

Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness  from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

God is the creator of all things, our eternal loving Father who sent Jesus to rescue us from sin and death.

 

Just Sayin………..Dave