God Is…
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14 – 17
This morning in church our elementary children’s choir sang a song. In it a young man’s voice spoke over the music the Names of God. It moved me to the core of my being to hear this young man list these names of God with a sound of the conviction of his heart.
His words were, “He is the Holy One, The I AM. The Beginning and the End. The Infinite, all powerful, all-knowing, ever present, miracle-working God. He is the Creator of the world. The Righteous Judge! The King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the Rewarder, the Healer, the Prince of Peace, the firm Foundation.”
Hopefully you recognize that these are not the names of God that some song writer composed. These are the Names that God has revealed in the words of Scripture about who He is. God’s Word is God’s gift as the one place we can learn about who He is.
I often talk to people who say, “Well, I think that God is…” whatever they think He ought to be or that they want Him to be. Often this seems to be so they can maintain or hold onto some sin. “Well I think that God loves us too much to judge us.” “Well I think God loves us too much to punish us.” “Well I think that God understands that I can’t get to church because I work all week and Sunday is my only day to sleep.” “I think God would want me to warn everyone about what that person is like.” Just for the record, He does understand where our hearts are when we think like that!
Isaiah 55:8 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
It is only by reading and learning what God says in His word that we can come to understand who He is. Our thoughts are not lofty enough to have a clue without His help. Even with His help our minds cannot fully grasp the depth and breadth of who God is and how much He loves us.
The thing that is hard to understand without the scriptures is how much His acts of justice and wrath are equally as loving toward us as His acts of generosity and healing. He does all things out of mercy for us in our fallen spiritual condition before Him. It is His desire to communicate to us our need for repentance and reconciliation to Him. If we define Him by our own ideas about who He ought to be or who we want Him to be we will be caught in a trap of unconfessed sin that separates us from Him.
God has left us with His Word. He has not left us to wonder what it is that He wants or expects from us. He tells us clearly so that we are without excuse to know it and live it. If we choose to believe our own thoughts for our own comfort we will not have the abundant life he promises and we can’t ask, “Where is God?,” when He seems absent or distant because He isn’t doing what we think He ought to be doing.
He is the Holy One, The I AM. The Beginning and the End. The Infinite, all powerful, all-knowing, ever present, miracle-working God. I know this because the Bible tells me so and because He has faithfully shown me these attributes. I can “see” Him in the acts of love, mercy and even justice (in the conviction of sin) that He pours into my life.
Where is your understanding of who God is coming from? Will you check what you believe with scripture and then worship Him for who He is and not who you want Him to be?