Who Is God?
Who is God?
How did God come into being?
How can we know about the true God?
These questions are common, especially among believers across cultures and denominations. For years, many religious groups and sects around the world have been inaugurating interreligious dialogues and debates concerning the entity of God- his existence and nature. In these dialogues, one can be able to explain or try to prove who the only God is, or in a way, make known to everybody the God they are believing.
True indeed, that God, from the viewpoint of this world, has different facets and identities. If only people are in unity to believe in one God, there is no reason to fight, wage wars, and raise conflicts. But due to the different levels of our spiritual encounters and how religious leaders interpret and understand the holy scriptures, God varies distinctively.
While there are still many things we are yet to discover about God, here are some biblical truths about Him we can find from the holy scripture:
1. God is a self-existent God – Exodus 3:14
If you wonder about the origin of God, you can read Exodus chapter 3. When Moses asked God how he would introduce Him to the Israelites so that they may believe that He is the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac- their ancestors. God answered in Exodus 3:14:
“and God said to Moses, “I am who I am”. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you’. “
Simply put, God did not ask Moses to introduce Him to the Israelites as a ‘being’ from a specific genealogy and family. He made himself known by saying, ‘I am who I am’. Unlike human beings with a long genealogy or ancestral history, God exists by himself, and no one created Him. Therefore, when asked about the entity of God, one must say, according to the scripture, that God is a self-existent God.
2. God is a creator God – Genesis 1:1, Colossians 1:16
As God self-exist, we can say that He is the ultimate source of life and even has the ability to create and give life as well.
In the first book of the Bible- Genesis, we can find that God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He created all the living and non-living things from above and below, and have carefully fashioned man and woman in His own image. This work is referred to as the 7-days of God’s creation, a basic knowledge that is famous among Christian believers. From day 1 to day 6, God has worked and made all things beautiful and good in his sight. Then, on the 7th day, he rested.
More than this, God is also the creator of the spiritual world. In Colossians 1:16, it was revealed that God created both the visible and invisible. By visible, it means the physical world and all the creations in it that can be perceived by our human senses. By invisible, it refers to the spiritual realm where angels, spirits, and other heavenly beings dwell. It is a creation that cannot be seen by our naked eyes.
All this creation exists to manifest God’s power and to reflect His glory.
3. God is a Spirit- John. 1:18, John 4:24
Have you ever seen God with your naked eye? Have you heard His voice speaking to you? Well, no one has evidently seen or heard God.
Many might have claimed that they have gone to heaven or encountered God, but in the scripture, it is clear that God is a spiritual entity. No one has seen God except the Son as recorded in Jn. 1:18. It is the main reason why we, as believers in this era, must worship Him in spirit and truth (Jn. 4:24). By saying that we need to worship God in spirit, let us take note that the spirit is the Word of God (Jn. 6:63), it does not portray to the literal interpretation of worshipping God in our spiritual forms. It is giving glory, honor, praises, and thanksgiving to our God through the Word, which can be found in the Holy Bible.
4. God is Holy and Immortal- Exodus 20: 18-19, Genesis 6:3, 1 Timothy 6:16
God is without sin and he cannot sin, that is why He is Holy. In Exodus 20:18-19, when the people [Physical Israelites] saw the thunders and lightning and heard the trumpet and mountain of smoke from Mt Sinai, they trembled with fear and said to Moses:
“Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die”
Even them, who is a close family of God born by the natural descent in the bloodline of Adam, feared to meet God face to face. They knew that God is like an unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16). His holiness might cause death to them as they are full of sins.
Sin is the ultimate reason why God left, or cannot dwell with humans anymore. When sin entered through Adam by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which God forbade, death followed and made man mortal (Gen. 2:17). Because of this, God, as an immortal being, cannot be with us. He said in Gen 6:3, “My spirit cannot contend with man forever because they are mortal. Their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
5. God is the Word- John. 1:1
How can you see God if He is a spirit? How can you approach God if He is very holy and without sin? How can you be with God if He is immortal?
Is there a way to know and meet God despite these obstructions?
Yes, definitely!
Spiritually, we can treat God as our father. He will not leave his children without making a way to come back or at least make himself known. In Jn. 1:1, it is very clear that God is the Word from the beginning. The Word or the scripture, which is God-breathed can be found in the Holy Bible, containing 66 books, 1,189 chapters, and 31, 101 verses. It is the only tool that God left to humanity to make himself known and it is where He poured out His heart, mind, love, and will to all of us.
Therefore, through studying the Word, we can know God deeply and perceive His ultimate will for us. By understanding the scripture, we can meet God in a clear way.
Let us bear in mind that if there is only one Holy Bible where God made himself known, then there must also be one understanding about God. One can be able to identify the true God if the scriptures are the only basis of our faith. One can know if it is the truth if the testimony about God and Jesus comes from above and not from the mouths of men.