Around the world, different cultures have had different views of God and what He's like. Some envision God as judge over all, with lightning bolts shooting from his scepter—like Zeus in Roman mythology. Some have known that God must be powerful, so they worship the most powerful thing they see—the sun. Many agnostics believe that God is unknowable and unconcerned with the daily lives of humans.
While there is a small bit of truth to each of these views, none of them convey the full and true essence of our great and glorious God. God wants you to know Him (Psalm 46:10). If you've never met God or you don't know Him well yet, we hope you'll know Him better by the end of this article. Describing God in words is like is like trying to contain fireworks in a jar, but we'll do our best!
"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." —Psalm 90:2
God exists and has always existed (Psalm 90:2). God's existence is a fact, and the proof is all around us. God revealed Himself in creation (Psalm 19:1-6). Look at the beautiful blue skies or watch bees at work, and sheer wonder at how everything came to be fills the heart. God's handiwork in creation confirms He is glorious.
God never changes, He is fully dependable, righteous, holy, just, knows everything, sees everything, and is always there (Hebrews 13:8; Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 40:8).
God is the first and only Creator—Creator of the world and everything in it, the stars, the planets, the solar system, and everything beyond (Genesis 1:1-2:3). God created time and space, and therefore He exists outside of time and space (Hebrews 1:2; 11:3). Our minds can't even comprehend existence outside of time!
As the Creator of all, God is higher than all of His creation (Psalm 97:9), has ultimate authority and sovereignty over all (Proverbs 16:9; Psalm 115:3; Isaiah 46:10), and is mightier than all (1 Corinthians 8:6; Joel 1:15).
God is a moral being, and this is where humankind's sense of morality originates. Even those who aren't Christians have a sense of what's right and wrong—regardless of their belief (or disbelief) in God. Even if they differ in what they choose to be right or wrong, all human beings have an inexplicable code of morality.
This cannot be explained apart from a Creator who imbued their creation with these traits (Genesis 1:26). While people may not always agree on what they believe is right and wrong, the Bible is extremely clear on almost all moral issues we will have to face (2 Timothy 3:16).
God is a spiritual being (John 4:24) consisting of three separate but equal persons: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We refer to this as the Trinity. God’s physical appearance cannot be described by any created thing, but when people had visions of God, they were filled with awe and terror (Judges 13:22).
Jesus is God in the flesh and came down from Heaven to walk among us (1 Timothy 3:16). Jesus said that if anybody has seen Him, they have seen the Father (John 14:7-9).
Because Jesus came to earth, we now have even more details about what God is like. The record of Jesus' life proves that God is loving, trustworthy, forgiving, merciful, compassionate, and bold about sin (Matthew 23). Jesus showed zealous love for the Father when He cleared out the temple courts because the people had turned God’s house into a marketplace (John 2:13-22). Jesus is just and righteous—our mighty King who has offered us the gift of salvation from the punishment of sin. God is compassionate and loving, but He is also righteous and holy (Romans 3).
As you can tell from this article, God has many amazing attributes, but if we had to describe Him in one word, we'd choose "love." 1 John 4:8b tells us “God is love.” God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for the sins of a world that continually rejects Him (Romans 5:8). Jesus' death on the cross is an expression of God’s great love for us (John 3:16). There is no greater love than this.
Even though Jesus died for us and came back to life over 2,000 years ago, God’s love for us hasn't changed and is still available to all people today. God is a holy and righteous judge (Acts 17:31) but also filled with a grace and mercy we can scarcely understand. God wants all of humanity to be saved from the punishment of sin, because He loves every one of us unconditionally (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
God has many amazing attributes, but if we had to describe Him in one word, we'd choose "love" (1 John 4:8). God is the Creator of everything and the giver of good things. He is faithful, holy, righteous, all knowing, all seeing, omnipresent, powerful, awesome, glorious, mighty, merciful, forgiving, compassionate, dependable, trustworthy, loyal, and loving. God is a holy and righteous judge but also full of love, mercy, and forgiveness. Jesus' death on the cross is an expression of God’s great love for us (John 3:16). There is no greater love.
Vivian loves learning, studying the Word of God, and helping others in their walk with Christ. She is dedicated to helping people learn more about Jesus and is ready to help in any way she can. Her favorite things to do are spending time with her family and friends, cooking, drawing, and spending time outside. When she is not writing, you can find her soaking up the sunshine or going on an adventure.
