Thus, God Is…

With a title such as we have, it is obvious that one cannot exhaust the possibilities of materials that could follow. That being the case we intend to present just briefly as many descriptions of just who or what God is as we are able in our usual allotted space. The first three endings for God is, are the three that are commonly used to describe God. God is “omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent”. The prefix “omni” is from the Latin “omnis” meaning “all”. Thus, God is “all powerful”, possesses “all knowledge” and is “present in all places”. God said to Abraham, “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14). The mighty voices of the multitudes of heaven said, “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Rev. 19:6). Concerning knowledge, the writer of the book of Hebrews stated, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13). God, through the prophet Jeremiah, said, “Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Saith the Lord, Do not I fill heaven and earth? Saith the Lord” (Jer. 23:23-24).

We could have easily filled our page with more on any one of the three mentioned, but let us note more of who God is, most of which will be attributes that we too should strive to exhibit to the best of our frail (as compared to God’s) abilities.

God is love! Again, a book can be written on this attribute. John wrote, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (I John 4:8). God proved His love for man. Paul wrote, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we yet were sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:7-8). John tied our responsibility to the love of God in that statement about not knowing God if we don’t have love (I John 4:8). We must love the brethren, “…see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (I Pet. 1:22). But, we are also to love our neighbors and even our enemies. Jesus said “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matt. 5:43-44). We are to love the word of God, “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (II Thess. 2:10).

God is faithful!. To be faithful is to be one which can be counted on to do that which he has promised to do. Paul said to Titus, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Tit. 1:2). Our hope which is an anchor of the soul (Heb. 6:19) is completely dependent upon the fact that God is faithful. We can have absolute confidence in our eternal home if heaven if we have met the terms that God has given, because God is faithful to fulfill that which He has promised. “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (I Cor. 1:9). A word of warning here is in order. Just as sure as God is faithful in the blessings He has promised, He is faithful in the warnings that He has given. Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:13-14). The few just may be much fewer than many of us think. God said what He meant and meant what He said. To the best of our ability, let us always be faithful to our word to man and God.

God is impartial!. There is no respect of persons with God. It took a miracle for Peter to realize that the Gentiles were to have salvation, just as the Jews, but when he realized it the scripture says, “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness is accepted with him”. (Acts 10:34-35). Later Paul wrote simply, “For there is no respect of persons with God” (Rom. 2:11). Red, yellow, black or white, all are precious in His sight.

God is patient and longsuffering (II Pet. 3:9). God is accessible to any that seek Him (Psalm 145:18). God is a jealous God (Exo. 34:14). Some eighteen times the Bible speaks of God being jealous. God is sovereign (Deut. 10:14, 17). This is actually included in that first attribute mentioned, “omnipotent”. These are just a few attributes of God.