Posted: Sep 27, 2008, 5:18 AM CST
to I hope better illustrate what I mean... while nobody will ever know the full Character of God..... the Bible has given us lots of clues... it is very important to take our understanding from these clues, because when we misjudge God, his character and thereby what he expects of us, we fall short of truth (according to the Bible) we are required to live and walk in truth...
God is eternal, meaning He had no beginning and that His existence will never end. He is immortal, infinite (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; 1 Timothy 1:17). God is immutable, meaning He is unchangeable; this means that God is absolutely reliable and trustworthy (Malachi 3:6; Numbers 23:19; Psalm 102:26,27). God is incomparable, meaning there is no one like Him in works or being; He is unequaled and perfect (2 Samuel 7:22; Psalm 86:8; Isaiah 40:25; Matthew 5:48). God is inscrutable, meaning He is unfathomable, unsearchable, past finding out in entirely understanding Him (Isaiah 40:28; Psalm 145:3; Romans 11:33,34).
God is just, meaning He is no respecter of persons in the sense of showing favoritism (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 18:30). God is omnipotent, meaning He is all-powerful; He can do anything that pleases Him, but His actions will always be in accord with the rest of His character (Revelation 19:6; Jeremiah 32:17,27). God is omnipresent, meaning He is ever-present, everywhere; this does not mean that God is everything (Psalm 139:7-13; Jeremiah 23:23). God is omniscient, meaning He knows the past, present, and future, even what we are thinking at any given moment; since He knows everything His justice will always be administered fairly (Psalm 139:1-5; Proverbs 5:21).
God is one, meaning not only that there is no other, but also that He is alone in being able to meet the deepest needs and longings of our hearts, and He alone is worthy of our worship and devotion (Deuteronomy 6:4). God is righteous, meaning that God cannot and will not pass over wrongdoing; it is because of His righteousness and justice that in order for our sins to be forgiven, Jesus had to experience God's judgment when our sins were placed upon Him (Exodus 9:27; Matthew 27:45-46; Romans 3:21-26).
God is sovereign, meaning He is supreme; all of His creation put together, whether knowingly or unknowingly, cannot thwart His purposes (Psalm 93:1; 95:3; Jeremiah 23:20). God is spirit, meaning He is invisible (John 1:18; 4:24). God is a Trinity, meaning He is three in one, same in substance, equal in power and glory. Notice that in the first Scripture passage cited that 'name' is singular even though it refers to three distinct Persons- “Father, Son, Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19; Mark 1:9-11). God is truth, meaning that He is in agreement with all that He is, He will remain incorruptible and cannot lie (Psalm 117:2; 1 Samuel 15:29).
God is holy, meaning that He is separated from all moral defilement and is hostile toward it. God sees all evil and it angers Him; fire is usually mentioned in scripture along with holiness. God is referred to as a consuming fire (Isaiah 6:3; Habakkuk 1:13; Exodus 3:2,4,5; Hebrews 12:29). God is gracious - this would include His goodness, kindness, mercy, and love - which are words that give shades of meaning to His goodness. If it were not for God's grace it would seem that the rest of His attributes would exclude us from Him. Thankfully this is not the case, for He desires to know each of us personally (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 31:19; 1 Peter 1:3; John 3:16; John 17:3).
This has been only a modest attempt to answer a God-sized question. Please be greatly encouraged to continue seeking after Him (Jeremiah 29:13).
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