Who is God? Part 1

Part 1 (God Alone)

Quick Introduction to topicIntro: Characteristics of God

In the bible God is described as Holy, Sovereign, Omniscient and Immutable. God is a very complex subject to even attempt to cover. He is infinite and the whole bible is about him. His character is indescribable yet knowable.

While he is infinite and incomprehensive, his love is meant to be known by us. The picture the Bible gives us is that God is a community of love, ever existing, never changing, forever and ever loving us and himself in perfect harmony. His steadfast love pursues us while we are in rebellion of him. Though we constantly defy him, he chooses to love us. It’s a truth that seems to contradict what rationale would tell us. However, God’s love doesn’t cease when we disobey him or choose to hate him. His love is constant.

This portion of the passage in Exodus explains who God is:

Exodus 34:6-7
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin... (ESV)

He loved us so deeply that he made a way for humanity to join him in everlasting life, forever singing his praise and enjoying in eternal communion with our creator. God did this in the person of Jesus. Jesus was sent to quench the righteous and just wrath of God, taking the punishment and paying the debt that we owed because of sin. That’s what Romans 10 says here:

Romans 10:9-10
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (ESV)

That being said, there are a lot of people having misconceptions on who God is. So let’s see Who God is ‘According to the bible’.

God Alone

The God of the Bible is called Yahweh, From the hebrew YHWH. God calls himself EHYEH or EHWEH meaning I AM. We in response call him ‘You Are’: YHWH (Yahweh).

He had revealed himself as ‘the I AM’ to Moses in the book of Exodus, chapter 3. In this story, the Angel of the Lord who identifies himself as God speaks to moses from out of the bush. He says “I AM WHO I AM”. A term that wholly ecompasses who God is.

It says how God is self existent; meaning he’s not dependent or reliant on anything.
It also says that God is the creator and sustainer of everything in the universe.
Lastly, It says how  ; the same yesterday, today, and forever. He isn't in the process of evolving or 'growing’. He is and always will be.

God stands alone in all creation as the only uncreated one. He is the sole creator of everything. God himself says this in the Book of Isaiah (a book in the old testament):


Isaiah 44
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.” (ESV)

Part 2 (Creator God)

Creator God

God himself addresses Job on his own infinite power. In this passage God is telling job the account of creation;

Job 38 1-7

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (ESV)

God was saying this to convey how God is in control and has been for eternity. He was the one who created the world, not any man. His point was to say that It’s silly and arrogant to question God himself why he does things.
The bible opens up with the account of creation in Genesis.

Genesis 1:1-5
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (ESV)

Further down in the passage, you see Moses, the probable author of Genesis, write this:

Genesis 1:26-27
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (ESV)

This is a very interesting point made here. “Let US make man in OUR image.” We know that the Bible teaches that there is one God, but here he refers to himself as a plural. There are two schools of thought here. One that God had made creation with heavenly beings, and the other is the view of the trinitarian God. There is no evidence for angels being present whatsoever or humans being made in the likeness of angels as well. But the idea of the trinity is throughout the bible.

Part 3 (Jesus is God)

In the beginning of the gospel according to John, the writer (John) talks about Jesus and his preeminence.


John 1:1–14
The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (ESV)

In this passage, John clearly says that Jesus is God. Jesus is called the Word that created everything and no thing was created outside of him. He wasn’t the literal son of God. He isn’t an offspring. Jesus is God himself as stated in this passage.

In the book of Colossians 1:15, Paul wrote this about Jesus:


Colossians 1:15
The Preeminence of Christ
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (ESV)

This scripture is often confused in other ‘religions’. They claim that this teaches that Jesus himself was the literal son of the Father. It is tricky language to understand, but let’s look to the greek and see what this phrase “first-born” really means.

The word used here in the greek is prototokos. It means preeminence: (n.) Superiority in prominence or in excellence; distinction above others in quality or rank. The bible talks about this very clearly in Matthew 28:18-20


Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

Jesus is the I AM of scripture

 Jesus was having a conversation with some Jews about where Jesus gets his authority. They claim that Jesus wasn’t even a Jew and had a demon. He retorts and tells them who he really is. He says that he is the I AM that spoke to Abraham himself in John 8:53–59:

John 8:53–59
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”

So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (ESV)

These Jews picked up stones to stone him for Jesus claimed equality with the Father. This was a severe crime to blaspheme against Yahweh. Some people deny the fact that Jesus called himself God, but in this passage, it is clearly evident that Jesus in fact viewed himself as God. The character “the Angel of the Lord” that I mentioned earlier appears throughout the old testament. He speaks as God yet distinct from God as well. I’d love to cover The Angel of the Lord in another video.

But to sum it up, Jesus is the angel of the Lord. It’s called a Theophany; when Jesus appears before he was born as a human, where he existed from all time as spirit. Jesus himself says that the old testament was about him in the book of John:

John 5:39-46
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.  How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

This is a pretty incredible statement that Jesus makes here. Jesus says many times that he is God. He was almost stoned before he was crucified for claiming equality with God (the Father) in John 10:22-42.

John 10:22-42
I and the Father Are One
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there. (ESV)

This is a lengthier passage but it spells out clearly who Jesus says he is. He plainly says he and the Father are ONE.

1 Corinthians 8:6 (ESV)
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

While the Bible shows his earthly birth, the Bible says Jesus has existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit for all eternity.

I know that was a lot. But this next part is just as important. In Jesus there is victory. His purpose was to make a way for us to have communion with God for eternity. It was Jesus’ love that put him to death on a cross. He took the curse that was meant for us out of his love for humanity. This gospel, or good news, is summed up excellently by the Apostle Peter in

Acts 10:34–43 (ESV)
Gentiles Hear the Good News
So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Outro

Thank you so much for everyone who read this. If you have any questions about God or Jesus according to the bible, write a comment, and I’ll try to respond to you!

This was part one of who God is according to the bible. Stay tuned for a post on the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Trinity.