anon246813579
2012-08-21 20:31:57 UTC
Who is God?
by Rich Deem
Introduction
I Am!
When Moses talked to God at the burning bush, he asked Him His name.
God replied merely, "I am that I am," referring to His self-existence,
the Being of beings, eternal and unchangeable.
Rich Deem
Many religions describe a being referred to as "God." Some of these
religions describe the being God as one of many other gods created by
more powerful gods or councils of gods. However, for the purpose of
this paper, we are going to use the definition of God contained in the
Bible. As such, God is the Spirit hovering over the waters of the
primordial Earth—Creator of the universe (matter, energy, space, and
time), along with other principalities and beings whose primary
existence is outside this universe. However, God did not just create
the universe and leave it to its own fate as deists proclaim. God is
the personal being who walked and talked with Adam and Eve, the first
human beings, in the garden of Eden. God is also Savior of mankind,
coming to Earth in the person of Jesus of Nazareth to provide the
ultimate example of holiness and the ultimate sacrifice for humanity's
evilness, in order to restore our personal relationship with Him.
Who is God?
According to Christianity, God is the self-existent One, having no
need of being created, since He has existed forever and is the cause
of all things, including the dimension of time, to which He is not
subject (see If God Created Everything, Who Created God?). Likewise,
God is not subject to the physical creation, but is spiritual in
nature, residing in the spiritual dimensions of heaven. God's power
over the physical creation is absolute, such that He can manipulate
matter, energy, space, and time at will. For this reason, God is said
to be all powerful—able to accomplish any possible task He wills to
do. Along with being all powerful, God is also all knowing—having
knowledge of all things that are possible to be known, including the
entire history of the universe—past, present, and future. Because God
is all powerful (omnipotent) and all knowing (omniscient), He is also
able to be present at all places at all times (omnipresent). God is
also all loving—according to the Bible, "God is love" (1 John 4:16).
The love of God prompted Him to create human beings in His image, in
order to share His love with us. The Christian scriptures say that we
can fulfill the entire law of God by loving Him and loving our fellow
human beings (Matthew 22:37-40). God is absolutely holy—without any
moral or character defect. In fact, the Bible says that God is
incapable of doing any evil, despite being all powerful. God is
unchangeable. In other words, He does not change any of His attributes
or character at any time. Despite humanity's tendency to change its
definition of morality, God's moral character does not evolve with the
times, but remains constant.
Where is God?
The Bible says that God cannot be contained within the universe (1
Kings 8:27). In addition, the Bible says that God fills both heaven
and earth (Jeremiah 23:24), which is a Hebrew idiom to describe the
entire universe. So, God is both transcendent and immanent
simultaneously. God's normal abode is in heaven, which is not located
within the physical universe. According to the Bible heaven seems to
operate under different physical laws, with the laws of thermodynamics
seeming to be absent. So, the question "Where is God?" is not one that
can be answered with the knowledge we posses.
God?God?
What does God look like?
Since human beings are created in the image of God, most artist's
renditions picture God as looking like a human male. Although the
Bible uses the personal pronoun "He" to describe God, it never says
God looks like a human male. Word pictures describing God usually use
words such as "like" or "as" in their descriptions. So, we find that
both males and females were created in the image of God (Genesis
1:27), although God is not a hermaphrodite. Likewise, there are
descriptions of God that describe Him with wings and feathers (Psalm
91:2-4), although nobody would suggest that God is an overgrown
chicken. In fact, the Bible says God is a spirit (John 4:24)—without
physical form (i.e., not composed of ordinary matter). Although God's
primary nature is spiritual, He is able to take on physical form in
order to interact with human beings on Earth. In fact, the Bible says
that God took on human form, coming to earth as Jesus of Nazareth. The
Bible says that believers who die will go to heaven and "see Him just
as He is" (1 John 3:2), because they will be like Him, possessing
"spiritual bodies" (1 Corinthians 15:44). So, there is no way to know
what God actually looks like in heaven, until we actually get there
(see entrance requirements).
What does God want from me?
If God created the entire universe as a place to accommodate human
beings, He must have had some sort of plan in mind. The Bible says God
wants as many people as possible to choose to love Him and spend
eternity with Him. Since God's standard for behavior is perfection in
thought and deed, we are going to find it very difficult to meet God's
standard on our own. However, since God loves us so much, He has
provided another means by which we can attain perfection. Jesus, as
God, took on the form of a human being and lived on the earth in the
first century (Philippians 2:5-8). Besides teaching, His main purpose
was to provide the ultimate sacrifice for sins (bad things we do), by
living a completely sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), dying on a cross
(Colossians 1:19-20), and rising from the dead (Romans 6:9-10). It is
through belief in Jesus and His sacrifice for sins that one is
declared righteous and free from sin.1 One who believes in Jesus
follows Him,2 being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who guides Christians
as they become conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). So,
those who believe in Jesus are declared righteous and will spend
eternity with Him in heaven.
Conclusion Top of page
God is the ultimate Being in existence, perfect in power, love, and
character. Since God wanted to share His love with others, He created
the angels and human beings—spiritual creatures who can related to
Him. Because God is love, He wants us to love Him and love other
people (Matthew 22:37-40). God came to earth in human form as Jesus of
Nazareth to teach us about Himself and to provide the ultimate
sacrifice for our sins, so that those who believe can have fellowship
with Him. The Bible encourages all people to turn from their
selfishness to become lovers of God, to fulfill God's perfect law of
love.
by Rich Deem
Introduction
I Am!
When Moses talked to God at the burning bush, he asked Him His name.
God replied merely, "I am that I am," referring to His self-existence,
the Being of beings, eternal and unchangeable.
Rich Deem
Many religions describe a being referred to as "God." Some of these
religions describe the being God as one of many other gods created by
more powerful gods or councils of gods. However, for the purpose of
this paper, we are going to use the definition of God contained in the
Bible. As such, God is the Spirit hovering over the waters of the
primordial Earth—Creator of the universe (matter, energy, space, and
time), along with other principalities and beings whose primary
existence is outside this universe. However, God did not just create
the universe and leave it to its own fate as deists proclaim. God is
the personal being who walked and talked with Adam and Eve, the first
human beings, in the garden of Eden. God is also Savior of mankind,
coming to Earth in the person of Jesus of Nazareth to provide the
ultimate example of holiness and the ultimate sacrifice for humanity's
evilness, in order to restore our personal relationship with Him.
Who is God?
According to Christianity, God is the self-existent One, having no
need of being created, since He has existed forever and is the cause
of all things, including the dimension of time, to which He is not
subject (see If God Created Everything, Who Created God?). Likewise,
God is not subject to the physical creation, but is spiritual in
nature, residing in the spiritual dimensions of heaven. God's power
over the physical creation is absolute, such that He can manipulate
matter, energy, space, and time at will. For this reason, God is said
to be all powerful—able to accomplish any possible task He wills to
do. Along with being all powerful, God is also all knowing—having
knowledge of all things that are possible to be known, including the
entire history of the universe—past, present, and future. Because God
is all powerful (omnipotent) and all knowing (omniscient), He is also
able to be present at all places at all times (omnipresent). God is
also all loving—according to the Bible, "God is love" (1 John 4:16).
The love of God prompted Him to create human beings in His image, in
order to share His love with us. The Christian scriptures say that we
can fulfill the entire law of God by loving Him and loving our fellow
human beings (Matthew 22:37-40). God is absolutely holy—without any
moral or character defect. In fact, the Bible says that God is
incapable of doing any evil, despite being all powerful. God is
unchangeable. In other words, He does not change any of His attributes
or character at any time. Despite humanity's tendency to change its
definition of morality, God's moral character does not evolve with the
times, but remains constant.
Where is God?
The Bible says that God cannot be contained within the universe (1
Kings 8:27). In addition, the Bible says that God fills both heaven
and earth (Jeremiah 23:24), which is a Hebrew idiom to describe the
entire universe. So, God is both transcendent and immanent
simultaneously. God's normal abode is in heaven, which is not located
within the physical universe. According to the Bible heaven seems to
operate under different physical laws, with the laws of thermodynamics
seeming to be absent. So, the question "Where is God?" is not one that
can be answered with the knowledge we posses.
God?God?
What does God look like?
Since human beings are created in the image of God, most artist's
renditions picture God as looking like a human male. Although the
Bible uses the personal pronoun "He" to describe God, it never says
God looks like a human male. Word pictures describing God usually use
words such as "like" or "as" in their descriptions. So, we find that
both males and females were created in the image of God (Genesis
1:27), although God is not a hermaphrodite. Likewise, there are
descriptions of God that describe Him with wings and feathers (Psalm
91:2-4), although nobody would suggest that God is an overgrown
chicken. In fact, the Bible says God is a spirit (John 4:24)—without
physical form (i.e., not composed of ordinary matter). Although God's
primary nature is spiritual, He is able to take on physical form in
order to interact with human beings on Earth. In fact, the Bible says
that God took on human form, coming to earth as Jesus of Nazareth. The
Bible says that believers who die will go to heaven and "see Him just
as He is" (1 John 3:2), because they will be like Him, possessing
"spiritual bodies" (1 Corinthians 15:44). So, there is no way to know
what God actually looks like in heaven, until we actually get there
(see entrance requirements).
What does God want from me?
If God created the entire universe as a place to accommodate human
beings, He must have had some sort of plan in mind. The Bible says God
wants as many people as possible to choose to love Him and spend
eternity with Him. Since God's standard for behavior is perfection in
thought and deed, we are going to find it very difficult to meet God's
standard on our own. However, since God loves us so much, He has
provided another means by which we can attain perfection. Jesus, as
God, took on the form of a human being and lived on the earth in the
first century (Philippians 2:5-8). Besides teaching, His main purpose
was to provide the ultimate sacrifice for sins (bad things we do), by
living a completely sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), dying on a cross
(Colossians 1:19-20), and rising from the dead (Romans 6:9-10). It is
through belief in Jesus and His sacrifice for sins that one is
declared righteous and free from sin.1 One who believes in Jesus
follows Him,2 being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who guides Christians
as they become conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). So,
those who believe in Jesus are declared righteous and will spend
eternity with Him in heaven.
Conclusion Top of page
God is the ultimate Being in existence, perfect in power, love, and
character. Since God wanted to share His love with others, He created
the angels and human beings—spiritual creatures who can related to
Him. Because God is love, He wants us to love Him and love other
people (Matthew 22:37-40). God came to earth in human form as Jesus of
Nazareth to teach us about Himself and to provide the ultimate
sacrifice for our sins, so that those who believe can have fellowship
with Him. The Bible encourages all people to turn from their
selfishness to become lovers of God, to fulfill God's perfect law of
love.