Who is God?

God says of Himself, “I AM that I AM,” in Exodus 3:14, to His friend Moses.

God is “that Being than which none greater can be conceived.” - St Anselm.

He is Eternal, He was never created, He was, is, and will always be. He is before time, at the beginning of time, with us now, at the Judgment, and at the new Heavens and new Earth, and beyond! Romans 11:36 says about God, “Out of Him, and through Him, and to Him are ALL things.” God is both the Supreme Subjector (Hebrew “El”) and Placer (Greek word “Theos”). In the end, God will be All in all.

God goes by many names: Adonai, YHWH, I AM, Jehovah. God is Love. I am NOT saying that He has love. God’s own Word says that He is Love itself! There are four Greek words used for love. They are:

1. Eros (ἔρως): from which we get “erotic” from. It’s a romantic love, usually felt towards one’s spouse. This word is not used in the New Testament.

2. Phillia (φιλία): “brotherly love” a feeling of closeness to one’s close companions.

3. Agape (ἀγάπη): This is the kind of love that we should have for all men, and also for our enemies. It is a selfless kind of love that believers must have in regard to acting in the best interest for all human beings. Of this type of love, Jesus said, “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 spitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

4. Storge (στοργ): refers to the love we have for our parents, siblings, our children and other members of our family.

We are interested in all types of love, because all are valid, however, “agape,” which is the type of love only God can give, is what we want to focus on here. That Great Love is shown in the person of Jesus Christ when He came to earth. Jesus Himself said if we have seen Him we have also seen the Father (Jn 14:9). Your viewpoint of what God is like will shape the way you view the world and the way you treat people. After all, why should you be any better than your God?

Some people say that they don’t like God, or they don’t believe in Him. I remember in high school, one of my classmates said he didn’t want to believe in God because he didn’t want to believe in the devil, and he didn’t want to believe in hell, either. Years later, I had an atheist coworker once who said that there couldn’t be a God, and if there was, that He doesn’t care about us, and that we’re all alone in this universe. They are not alone. A website reads,

“While Gandhi was a practicing Hindu, Christianity intrigued him. In his reading 
of the Gospels, Gandhi was impressed by Jesus whom Christians worshiped and
followed. He wanted to know more about this Jesus that Christians referred to as
“the Christ, the Messiah.” The Rev. Pattison tells the following story: One Sunday
morning Gandhi decided that he would visit one of the Christian churches in
Calcutta. Upon seeking entrance to the church sanctuary, he was stopped at the
door by the ushers. He was told he was not welcome, nor would he be permitted
to attend this particular church as it was for high-caste Indians and whites only.
He was neither high caste, nor was he white. Because of the rejection, the Mahatma
turned his back on Christianity. With this act, Gandhi rejected the Christian
faith, never again to consider the claims of Christ. He was turned off by the sin
of segregation that was practiced by the church. It was due to this experience
that Gandhi later declared, “I’d be a Christian if it were not for the
Christians.’”
(Source: https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/lifestyle/faith/2016/08/26/
why-did-gandhi-say-x2018/985856007/)

I used to attend a Baptist church where the pastor did a sermon on that very specific topic. He had stated in his sermon that Ghandi also said, “I like your Christ. I have no problem with Him. I don’t like your “Christians,” because they act nothing like your Christ.” He said that, as followers of Jesus, which should seek to imitate Him, so that we don’t leave a bad impression of Him on others. It makes me wonder why people, including professing Christians, could be so cruel, cold and callous towards others. That’s not how Jesus was when He walked the earth.