Who is God? Is he real? Who does he say he is? What is his character? Is there a right religion? What does this matter to me?
These have been my questions, and probably yours as well. In this new series we will search the Bible for answers with prayer and diligence. I am a layperson and would never claim to know the depth or truths of the one who holds the universe. I only seek wisdom and help from my Father. Yet, even without proper qualification, I feel the undeniable tug on my heart strings to seek after him and share what I find.
I encourage you to do the same. Open a Bible and see what God has to say — about him, about you, about what has been and what is to come. It’s a book that will give you new life as you plug into the one who made you, the one who loves you. After all, who he is determines who you are as well.
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Is God real?
Before we examine who God is, it is fundamental to ask if he is even real. I imagine every adult human has asked this question, as they should. It’s the most important question to ask in life. For the answer to this question can change our motives, rationale and even destiny.
Throughout history more people than not have believed in a higher being than themselves. Even in recent years global studies have shown up to 84 percent of the world’s population identifies with a religious group.1 I’m not talking about the God Christians believe in quite yet. I’m only establishing that most of us innately sense there is some sort of intelligent design.
Hundreds of religions have been birthed from that natural recognition in attempts to explain it, find truth or even try to manipulate this being or other humans.
C.S. Lewis lays it out quite logically in his book Mere Christianity. He explains that once you have established that you do in fact believe in some kind of god, there are two options:
1.The first idea is called pantheism. “He is beyond good and evil … Pantheists usually believe that God, so to speak, animates the universe as you animate your body: that the universe almost is God, so that if it did not exist He would not exist either, and anything you find in the universe is a part of God.”
2.The second idea is that God created the universe — “like a man making a picture or composing a tune. A painter is not his picture, and he does not die if his picture is destroyed … God is separate from the world and that some of the things we see in it are contrary to his will.” (This is what Christians believe.)
I would like to point out that believing there is no god requires the same amount of faith as believing there is one. To believe over two million animal species, and the human body made of 100 trillion cells, was the accidental result of molecules endlessly rubbing together takes arguably more commitment than considering that intelligent design is at play. Believing that these beings found a home on accident on the only life-sustaining planet with the exact elements, precise gravity and home star measured out the perfect distance takes great amount of faith.
The human conscience
The more difficult argument for atheists, however, might be the human conscience.
What defines right and wrong for us? Why don’t more people randomly kill each other because they want their shoes or don’t want to wait in line or even just on a whim? About 0.0046% of Americans have killed another human being.¹
Can random species mutations create a conscience, a set of morals to live by? Even motorcycle “bad to the bone” types draw a clear line from drinking too much beer or creating a ruckus, and rape or child abuse. It is an inner voice telling us right from wrong. Scientists still do not know where the conscience is located in the human brain.
In his book, Lewis gives the examples of everyday human interactions that lead us to say:
- “I was there first.”
- “Leave him alone.”
- “Why should you shove in first?”
- “Come on, you promised.”
“Now what interests me about these remarks,” he says, “is that the man who made them is not merely saying that the other man’s behavior does not happen to please him. He is appealing to some kind of standard of behaviour which he expects the other man to know about … It looks very much as if both parties had in mind some kind of Law or Rule of fair play … which they really agreed.”
And they do. We have an innate sense of right and wrong, put there by God. The dilemma comes when man knows good from bad, but continually chooses the bad. We all make wrong choices daily, but this isn’t about us yet! We’ll get there.
If we were accidental, careless blobs, there would be no right or wrong because there would be no divine governing body. There would be no mutual moral code to draw on. Go ahead and steal it. No need to help the elderly lady cross traffic. No need to stick up for a kid being bullied. What difference would it make? Who says those things are wrong? Your morals would be yours and mine would be mine. But that’s not what we find overall. On the whole, people throughout time and the globe believe murder, abuse, stealing, deceit are wrong.
Existence
People often say, “I can’t believe in a god that would allow all this evil on earth to happen.” And I will make a case for his goodness, but for now it’s important to note that whether he is good or bad does not determine his existence. He could be a good god and exist. He could be a bad god and still exist.
On another note, God can exist whether we believe it or not. I can truly believe with my whole heart that the Grand Canyon doesn’t exist, but that doesn’t make it not there. My belief, what I have decided the a vacuum of my own mind, doesn’t alter its presence.
I heard of a debate in which an atheist argued there could rationally be no god. When it was the Christian’s turn to speak, he asked him to join him on the stage. He drew a large circle on the whiteboard. The Christian asked the atheist to mark on the circle what percentage of the world’s knowledge he thought he possessed. He colored probably less than 10 percent. The Christian then asked then if there were room then to be a god he did not know about in that other 90 percent. The man answered yes. The speaker said, “Well, then you are not an atheist. You are agnostic.” He meant, it’s not that he did not believe in god altogether, it’s just that he wasn’t sure. Those are two very different things.
Pride goes before destruction
Don’t forget about the psychology of the the human mind either. It plays a big role in our acceptance of God. If I chose to accept there is a God, I know deep down that he cares about that moral code he placed in my heart. I also know that I frequently break it. This will bring about the conscious need for forgiveness for my offenses, as well as require a change in my lifestyle, my habits, my treatment of people, maybe my language or what I watch. People like their sin and it can be enough to keep them from God.
People also want to be their own God. They want control — even if it’s only the appearance of control. Acknowledging that they don’t understand these cosmic laws and the idea of submitting to God makes them downright angry. Have you ever read any comments on popular faith social media posts? Ask yourself why they are so angry. If they don’t believe it, why not just carry on with life and let the Christians on with their nonsense. Why would it even fluster them? It’s because, as mentioned before, it takes a faith of its own to not believe just as much as it does to believe. They have to find a way to cast off who they were born to love, and anger (with all its superiority and entitlement) is a great scapegoat.
What about having to tell people that you’ve changed your mind? People want to be right. We feel belittled when we go against our own words. Speech is powerful, and studies have shown that when we speak something out loud we are more likely to believe it because we don’t want to contradict ourselves.
So if someone has been going around for years blasting Christians and proclaiming his or her atheism, it’s going to take humility to turn to God. How many people are eternally separated from God because their pride was too great an obstacle to overcome? In fact, it’s not a weakness to change one’s mind. It can be a sign of growth, learning, sophistication, intellect.
To move past one’s ego seems to be one of our greatest challenges in human life.
Which world religion is the right one?
All religions do not lead to Heaven. God has given us the map to get there, but the directions are precise. We must believe and accept Jesus as his one and only son. Jesus tells us ““I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
I’ve heard an analogy put like this: Say you’ve invited me to dinner and given me directions to get to your house. You tell me to take Interstate 4 and exit 3. But I decide to get to your house by taking I-75 and exit 379. Looks like I will miss dinner because not all roads lead to your house either.
I’ve explored other religions and what convinces me Christianity is the one … is Jesus. Most religions call him prophet, teacher, wise — acknowledging him as a good man in some way. But he says something very different about himself. He says he is the son of God. He hasn’t given us the option of good moral teacher if he says he himself is one with God. He is either a liar, a lunatic or who he says he is.
He offers a different, radical way to Heaven than these other man-made religions. To establish a relationship with Jesus and accept him as God’s son means to enter Heaven on his accord and not your own. (I explain it in more depth in the post How can Jesus dying on a cross save me?)
You don’t have to live life again and again in different forms until you get it right. You don’t have to convert a certain number of people to get in. You don’t have to reach a higher level of self awareness in advanced meditation. You don’t need (and shouldn’t seek) spirit guides or deceased people.
You just need Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
What sets Christianity apart from other world religions is its focus on love and mercy. You don’t earn your way to Heaven by doing good — that debt was canceled and paid by Jesus. You don’t need to honor God to get his favor — you already have it through believing in his son Jesus. You want to honor God of your own free will because you love him.
MORE: Who is Jesus?
What happened in the beginning?
We’re going to talk about Exodus 3, but first, here is an extremely fast-forwarded version of Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
God created the earth. He created everything in it, including humans, and saw that it was good. However, Adam and Eve committed the first sin and God began the rescue story for his people. He made a covenant with Noah after he flooded the Earth that he would not destroy it again. He made a covenant with Abraham that his descents would be a numerous as the stars in the sky. They would be his chosen people by which the whole world would be blessed.
(By the way, Noah was just 10 generations after Adam. Adam could even have met Noah’s dad because he lived so long! And Noah to Abraham was 10 generations. This is thought to symbolize God’s patience with man’s propensity for corruption and violence.)
Then Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, had 12 sons who God would use to populate the Hebrew people that would one day be known as Israel. One of the sons, Joseph, was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers because they were jealous he was their father’s favorite. After years in slavery and in prison Joseph found favor with Pharaoh. He rose to second in command after interpreting that Pharaoh’s dream represented seven years of abundant harvest and then seven years of famine. Egypt stored food accordingly to prepare for famine God warned about, but other lands were not prepared. During the famine, Joseph’s brothers (the ones who sold him!) came to find food in Egypt. They were shocked their brother was even alive, let alone governor over the land! He ended up forgiving them and they moved to Egypt.
And that was just Genesis! Exodus (the second book of the Bible) tells us Joesph and his brothers eventually died in Egypt, but the population of the Hebrew people from the 12 grew rapidly. A new Pharaoh came into power and did not know about Joseph, and it alarmed him how quickly the Hebrew population grew and worried they would become too mighty for the Egyptians. Pharaoh ordered that every Hebrew baby boy be thrown into the Nile River and proceeded to enslave the people under hard labor.
And now we have our next man of God who will receive a covenant — Moses. His mother floated her baby boy in a basket down the Nile in attempt to save his life during this massacre. In fact, the Hebrew word used for this basket is “ark.” God will use another ark, another vessel to save humanity. He is found by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised by her. When Moses was 40 years old, he went to see his fellow Israelites. When he saw an Egyptian beating one of them he killed him and buried him in the sand. (Yes, our hero of faith has just committed murder. You’ll see that all of our biblical “heroes” sin and disobey God and his commands at points. All that is except Jesus.) Moses thought his people would realize God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. (Acts 7:23-30)
When Pharaoh found out what Moses had done, he tried to kill him. Moses escaped to the desert where he eventually marries and becomes a shepherd. Now it is 40 years later and there is a new pharaoh. Moses is 80 years old when God comes to him.
Exodus 3: The Burning Bush
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
Who is God?
God says “I am who I am.” At first this is perplexing. What does that even mean? I think it means that there is nothing to compare him to. There is no scale which to measure him, no adequate words to describe him, no earthly comparisons that are capable of capturing his essence.
Instead, The Great I Am is the definition of himself. If he is merciful, he is the definition of mercy. If he is just, he is the definition of justice. If he is faithful, he is the definition of faith. He cannot be anything else.
You and I can be merciful … sometimes. We can be just … sometimes. We can be faithful … sometimes. But he is all of these things all of the time.
He is the definition of fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23:
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-control
But God is not a super human. He is something else entirely and cannot be put into perspective by human character traits. He is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. (That is, all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful.) Unlike humans, God has no hidden agenda. He does not bend the rules on occasion or go back on his word. He cannot lie or contradict himself.
Let’s do a little exercise and look back over Exodus 3 and see if we can list a few of his attributes we see in the text. (After I just said there are no adequate words to describe him.)
“Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
God calls to us. He knows us.
Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.
God is holy. There is a separation between him and us.
I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
God keeps his promises. He is faithful. (He is honoring his covenant with Abraham and his descendents.)
I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land …
God is self-sufficient and needs no person or circumstance for his existence or execution of his will.
God provides.
God is just.
And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
God is merciful.
Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.
God is our rescuer.
But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you…
God is with us.
… when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.
God is worthy of praise and all glory.
‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’
God is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
He wants us to know him.
This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
God has always existed and always will.
And finally, just a quick word about the angel of the Lord who speaks through the burning bush. Verse two says angel of the Lord but then the text switches over as the Lord himself speaking in verse four. This is most likely pre-incarnate Jesus, before he came to Earth as a man. The angel of the Lord also appears to Hagar, Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, Joshua, Gideon, Samson’s parents and other verses mention him as a separate identity from God. But he is not mentioned again in the New Testament.
Jesus makes many “I AM” statements in the New Testament, specially in the book of John. This is just one more way he is telling people that he is one with God. He was the one in the bush and throughout the Old Testament. In fact, when the guards come to arrest him in the Garden of Gethsemane in John 18 he asks who it is they want.
5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
What are the names of God?
When we see “God” and “Lord” in our Bibles, they are basic translations of more complex and meaningful names. In ancient days a name was also an identity.
The most noticeable name to find in our English Bibles is “LORD.” When you see the world LORD in all capital letters it is the Hebrew word YHWH (pronounced Yahweh). It is the name God gave Moses for himself at the burning bush. It has been held so sacred by the Jewish people that they don’t even say it and use Adonai instead.1 Jehovah is another transliteration of Yahweh, meaning “I AM.”
Let’s look at a few of the beautiful ways God’s people describe him.
- The Everlasting God
- The God Who Sees Me
- God With Us
- The Lord Will Provide
- The Lord Who Sancifies
- The Lord Who Heals
- The Lord Is My Shepherd
- The Lord of Armies
- The Lord of Peace
- The Lord Our Righteousness
God desires us to know him. He says:
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
Jeremiah 33:3
Who am I?
Who God is determines who you are as well.
Moses asked God, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh?” God told him he would be with Moses and responded with who he was instead. It didn’t matter what skills or lack-thereof Moses possessed, God said he would give him the words, the knowledge, the means to do his will. If God is with us then nothing else matters.
We don’t need approval from other humans, we need to seek the approval of God and God alone. We find rest and joy when we put on the identity he has given us through Jesus. This is who you are to God when you become one with his precious son:
- God’s Child
- Friend of Jesus
- A temple of the Spirit
- Redeemed
- Free
- Beloved
- Chosen
- Forgiven
- Precious
- Safe
- Protected
- Welcomed
- Blessed
- An Heir
- Complete
- Pure
- Known
- Planned
- Gifted
- Provided For
- Treasured
All praise be to Jesus that we can claim these truths over our lives! I am who you say I am, Yahweh!
If you don’t know Jesus and want to claim these truths over your life and know for certain that Heaven will be your eternal home, you can do it today! Contact me through FaithQandA.com, ask a Christian friend or find a gospel-centered church though the Gospel Coalition.
You can even pray right there where you are! Ask God for forgiveness for your sins and confess that you believe Jesus is his son and died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay for those sins. It’ll be the best decision you ever make! Get more information here.
I’ll end this post here, although we’re just getting started! Next time we’ll talk about the Trinity and the most elusive member, the Holy Spirit.
Illustrations by Kevin Carden via Lightstock