C2 – What is God like?
This lesson is about God. We all need to know about God because we need Him. The most important thing on earth is to know God. The word of God says,
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17 vs. 3.
God is so great and wonderful that we cannot know all about Him. There are so many things however that God has told us about Himself in the Bible and that is what we intend to find out. We read in the Bible that there is only one God. God is one, but He exists in three persons: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.
God the Father dwells in Heaven. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God the Son is The Lord Jesus Christ, the one who came on earth to die for us. God the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. That is a lot to take in! It is not easy to understand everything about God. The best way to understand God is to describe what He is like and what He does as He is presented to us in the Bible. In our current study, we will consider some of God’s attributes.
God is the Creator
God is the creator of all that is in the universe. The universe did not exist on its own over billions of years. It was God who created the sun, the stars, the moon and everything we can and can’t see. The first verse in the Bible bears record of this fact. It states with absolute fact that:
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
We know that God exists because we can see what He has created. The Bible again tells us,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” Psalms 19: 1
We were also created by God! We are very special creatures in the sense that we were created in the image of God. Look again in the Bible, “So God created man in His own image…; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1: 27
God loves us so much, and He knows each and every one of us. He knows you and He loves you. You are very important to God than anything else He created.
God is eternal
This means that God has always been in existence. He has no beginning and He has no ending. Everything else in the universe had a beginning but God was always there. There was never a time in history when God did not exist. The Bible emphasizes this point in the following verse:
“…from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” Psalms 90:2
God is everywhere, this means that God is in every place on earth at the same time.
“Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the LORD; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.” Jeremiah 23 vs. 24.
It does not matter where we are or where we go. God is everywhere. Perhaps you are wondering, if God is everywhere, why can’t we see Him? The reason we cannot see Him is because He is Spirit. We cannot see the Spirit. You have a visible body and an invisible soul. We can see your body but no one can see your soul. God is Spirit (John 4 vs. 24), therefore we cannot see Him but He sees us and He can hear us. Because God is Spirit and He is everywhere, He is always with us wherever we go.
God is almighty
Another of God’s attributes is that He is Almighty. His power is beyond measure and He can do anything. He is God Almighty (El-Shaddai). God has power in Heaven and on earth. There is no one both in Heaven or earth who can overpower Him. One Bible verse says,
“All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of Heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘what have you done.’” Daniel 4: 35.
God is all-knowing
He knows everything. He knows what has happened, what is happening and what will happen. He knows the stars by name, all of them!
“He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.” Psalms 147: 4
He knows the number of individual hairs in your head!
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Matthew 10: 30
God knows everything we ever did in secret or in darkness. God is All-knowing!
“You know my sitting down and my rising up; you understand my thought afar off…Indeed the darkness shall not hide from you…” Psalms 139: 2 and 12.
God is holy
God has no sin, He is Holy. This means God is light and He is glorious. For this reason, God abhors sin and does not tolerate evil. He is holy and loves only righteousness. The Bible indicates that darkness represents sin. So God is described as light as we shall see in 1 John 1: 5,
“God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
In the Old Testament, God spoke to a prophet called Isaiah through a vision. This is the vision that Isaiah the prophet saw of God: He saw the Lord sitting on a throne. Around the throne of God there were Angels of God who praised God saying,
“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6: 3
When Isaiah saw this vision, he trembled with fear. This vision taught him that God is Holy and he, Isaiah was sinful. We read that Isaiah dropped to his knees with his face downwards and cried,
“…Woe is me, for I am undone…!” Isaiah 6: 5
We are also sinners even though God wants us to come to Him. He has prepared a way for us to come into His Holy presence. If we repent of our sins and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, God will consider us to be “in Christ”. We will be covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and God will only see the holiness of His Son, Jesus Christ.
God is just
God is just. That may seem like an incomplete sentence but it is correct. It means that God will always do the right thing. He will do justice or that which is justified. God does that which is fair all the time. He is righteous and holy. Therefore God cannot overlook our sins or pretend He doesn’t know about them. But if we confess our sins,
“God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins”. 1 John 1: 9.
He forgives us for the sake of His Son who died for us.
“Your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” 1 John 2: 12
God is love
God loves us and He wants only that is good for us. God demonstrated His love to us when He sent His only Son to die for our sins on the cross. The Bible says,
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.
Because God has loved us so much, He expects us to also love and trust Him, to believe on His Son. Some people may ask, “If God loves us, why does He allow suffering in our lives?” We may not have answers for such questions but we do know that God expects us to trust Him and we have to believe in Him even when troubles come. He will help us and turn every painful circumstance into a blessing.
God is faithful
God always keeps His word. He always performs His promises. Sometimes as humans, we fail to keep the promises we have made to other people. Sometimes we forget. Sometimes it is the case that we make promises beyond our ability to carry out. God never forgets His promises. The Bible says,
“…He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10: 23
God is unchanging
This means that God is always the same in His character and nature of holiness. He is always just and righteous, He is always loving and always faithful. He is always eternal and always all-mighty and all-knowing. He does not change. We read this in the Bible,
“For I am the Lord, I do not change…” Malachi 3:6
We now come to a wonderful truth: Did you know that God once became man?
Yes, the Bible says,
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6.
Perhaps you may ask, “Is Jesus really God?” The answer is Yes! He was born as a baby on a manger in Bethlehem. Nonetheless, He was truly both God and man. See 1 Timothy 3:16,
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh…”
The big question now is why did Christ come to earth? He came because we needed a Savior. We are sinners indeed. We have said and done evil things and gone against the law of God. But because God is both holy and Just, He must punish sin. Because of his love, He gave us His Son to die in our place. The greatest truth in the Bible is that Jesus came to die for our sins on the cross and if we repent and accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior, our sins will be forgiven. God forgives us because Christ has suffered for our sakes. The Bible says,
“…in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1: 14.
Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?
If you have accepted Him, your sins are forgiven. You are a child of God and God is your heavenly Father. You can trust Him all the time. How wonderful that is!
How do you feel after studying that God is great and that He loves you? Surely it makes you feel like praising God and worshipping Him. That is exactly what God wants us to do. At this very moment, why don’t you look for a quiet place where you may speak freely to God in prayer? If you are not yet saved, and by that we mean that you have not yet accepted the Lord Jesus into your heart, it is time to trust in Him. Ask Him to forgive you. If you are saved, it is time to worship God. Tell Him about His greatness and all His wonderful attributes. If you have committed a sinful act you must confess it before God. Thank Him for sending His Son to save us. The Bible reminds all of us that,
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.” Psalm 145:3
God is the creator of the universe. He is eternal, almighty and all knowing. The Bible also tells us that God is holy, faithful, and just. God is love and He tells us in His word that He does not change. We cannot know everything about God but he knows us and He loves us!
Next Steps
Now, once you have finished reading this lesson and you are sure to have understood it, click on the link below and answer the quiz questions. Your answers will be graded automatically and you will receive feedback on which answers you got right and which answers you answered incorrectly.
Lessons and quizzes can be completed without registering, but if you wish to track your progress and receive a Certificate of Completion, you must firstly Register and Log In. Use of BibleLessons.Online is completely free.