A Universal Concept
Every culture in the history of the world has had some concept of what God is like. Some have assumed that God controls the weather and have made images of a storm god throwing lightning bolts around (Baal worship in Canaan). Some have assumed that God is mighty, so they worshiped the most powerful thing they could see, the sun (Ra worship in Egypt). Others have believed that God is everywhere and, therefore, have worshiped everything (pantheism in Stoic philosophy). Some have assumed that God is unknowable and have turned to agnosticism or, to cover their bases, have worshiped “An Unknown God” (Acts 17:23). These diverse beliefs all point to a universal truth: God’s attributes are not confined to a single culture or belief system, but are shared by all.
The problem with each of these assumptions is that they only get part of the picture of who God is. Yes, God controls the weather, but He also controls so much more. He is powerful, but much more powerful than the sun. He is everywhere, but He also transcends everything. And thankfully, while there are some things we don’t understand about God, He is knowable. He has revealed everything we need to know about Him in the Bible. The Bible is the key to understanding God’s nature. God wants to be known (Psalm 46:10).
God’s Truth
Therefore, as we try to ascertain what God is like, we discover truths already there.
First, God exists. The Bible never argues for God’s existence; it simply states it. The fact is that God should be self-evident through the works He has created (Psalm 19:1-6). Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This is a simple yet powerful statement. The universe includes time, space, matter, and energy, so all discernible elements came into being by God’s decree. Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity states that all time, space, and matter had a definite, simultaneous beginning. What has a beginning has a cause. That is the law of causality, and the fact of God easily explains the ultimate cause. God is the creator of all that is, and so we know something else about Him: He is almighty (Joel 1:15), He is eternally self-existent (Psalm 90:2), and He exists above and beyond all of creation (Psalm 97:9).
The same God who made all things also controls those things. He is sovereign (Isaiah 46:10). He who creates an item owns it and can utilize it as he sees fit. The ultimate cause has ultimate authority. In Isaiah 44:24, God presents Himself as the One “who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.” The next verse says that He “overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense.” This is a God with the power to do as He pleases.
God is spirit (John 4:24) and cannot be represented by any created thing; attempting to make such a representation is blasphemous (Exodus 20:4-6). God is unchanging (Malachi 3:6). God is all-knowing (1 John 3:20) and all-present (Psalm 139:7-13). He is holy and glorious (Isaiah 6:3). He is (Deuteronomy 32:4) and will justly judge all sin and unrighteousness (Jude 1:15).
The judgment of God highlights another truth about what He is like: He is a moral being. C. S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, makes the case that, just as there exist observable laws of nature (gravity, entropy, etc.), there are also observable laws of morality. He writes, “First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way and cannot get rid of it. Secondly, they do not behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about us and our universe.” Despite varied ideas about what constitutes right and wrong, there is a universal belief that right and wrong exist, which is a reflection of the God who made us (Genesis 1:26; Ecclesiastes 3:11). This moral aspect of God’s nature is a vital part of His character, and it is reflected in His justice and righteousness.
God According to Jesus
When Jesus entered our world, He showed us the Father (John 14:7-9). Through Jesus, we understand that God seeks to save the lost (Luke 19:10). He is compassionate (Matthew 14:14), He is merciful (Luke 6:36), and He is forgiving (Matthew 9:1-8). At the same time, Jesus shows us that God will judge unrepentant sin (Luke 13:5) and that God is angry with those who live falsely and refuse to acknowledge the truth (Matthew 23). This judgment is not arbitrary or capricious but is rooted in God’s justice, ensuring everyone is treated fairly and equitably.
Most of all, Jesus showed us that God is love (1 John 4:8). It was in love that God sent His Son into the world (John 3:16). It was in love that Jesus died on the cross for sinners (Romans 5:8). It is in love that He still calls sinners to repentance to experience the grace of God and to be called the children of God (1 John 3:1).