Shouldn’t it be “Who is God?” That is a simpler question to answer. The God revealed in the Bible is the only true God, and there is no other (1).
But how do you describe the substance of something so utterly different than anything we understand? It seems like an unreachable goal. And yet, God has condescended to reveal much about Himself to His creatures in the Word of God so that we may know Him and glorify Him. The latter part of this statement brings up another question: Do you delight in God for His benefits, or do you delight in Him for who He is? Delighting in Him for His benefits is great and encouraged by such passages as Psalm 103, but delighting in Him for who He is, is a more glory-ascribing, higher calling.
I was reading Psalm 119 recently. In the psalmist’s ecstasy over God’s statutes, I can only claim that perspective and desire as a far-off ambition of which I have made the smallest, little progress. But herein may be found the danger of loving Him only for His benefits over His essence. We have a tendency, as many among “god-believing” people in our society do, of making God in our own image as a doddering grandpa, an impotent, weak, fair god who makes us feel good. When we are confronted with the true God of the Scriptures who is so utterly different from us, we are at best afraid and at worst repulsed. We do share the characteristic of having a spirit, but we live in a tactile, concrete existence far removed from His timeless, noncorporal experience. We are woefully finite, only eternal from this day forward by His Spirit’s enabling, and as changeable as the waves and tides. God doesn’t just feel awesome and transcendent, He is.
In the catechism question for today, all of His attributes fall under the superlatives of eternal, infinite, and unchanging, with no dilution of one character trait by another (2). Furthermore, the list of attributes given covers all of the categories, but it does not begin to plumb the scope or depth of them. For example, what about goodness? His goodness is expressed in kindness, mercy, compassion, provision, salvation, common grace, pleasures, purpose, and more.
So then, what is God?
Question 8? What is God?
Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
John 4:24; Psalm 89:14, 90:2, 147:5; James 1:17; Revelation 4:8; Exodus 34:6-7; 1 Timothy 1:17; Numbers 23:19
- Deuteronomy 4:35
- Love does not lessen justice, for example, nor vice versa.
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