Who is God?

 John 17:1-3 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

Sticking with Focus on the Family’s study of the Truth Project, we’ve moved from lesson three on anthropology to lesson four on Theology, where Dr. Del Tackett tackles the question of: “Who is God?” How does one define or describe God? The answer is “We cannot completely.” It is like trying to define eternity, because God is infinite. The amazing thing is that the omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (ever-present), Creator of the universe has chosen to reveal Himself to us. Theology is the study of the existence, nature, and attributes of God. We are all theologians, because study to know God and know Him more. The ultimate source of all truth is the nature, character, being and attributes of God Himself. Nothing that is true can contradict the Nature of God.

Deuteronomy 32:3-4 “For I proclaim the name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He."

The Westminster Confession of 1646 stated “There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; … most loving, gracious, merciful, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forging iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin, and who wiiby no means clear the guilty.” How does the world respond to the question: “Who is God?” Not an easy question. It depends on which worldview you use to frame the question. American Theologian Dr. R.C. Sproul states that the knowledge of God has not been destroyed, but rather eclipsed in our day; in that God exists, but metaphorically speaking, a shadow has been put over His face to attempt to stop the light of God to shine upon us.

Colossians 2:2-3 “that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

What keeps us from understanding that God is really who He says He is? Our passion should be to remove the filters which hide who He is – in our lives and in the lives of others. Our eternal life is bound up in our intimate relationship with Him. Charles Spurgeon stated that the highest science, the loftiest  speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can engage the attention of a child of God is the name, the nature, the person, the doings, and the existence of the great God which they call their Father.” Let’s think on these things for now and pick up here on the next post.

In Christ, Brian