Who is God? (Pt. 1)

Who is God?

Many people are searching for God. They want to know who God is.

The Bible tells us clearly who God is. God wants us to know who He is. And it’s not complicated. It’s actually quite simple. Because God wants us to know who He is, it wouldn’t make sense for Him to make it complicated, would it? What makes it complicated is religion. Religion has many people very confused about God. It paints a picture of God being mean, intolerant, and distant. But that is not who God is at all.

How do we understand who God is?

Jesus is the key to understanding who God is. Jesus walked the earth. He was God manifested in the flesh.

1 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Jesus is the way to God.

John 14:6 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Matthew 1:23 (NKJV) “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

Jesus is the only one who has seen the Father. 

John 6:46 (ESV) not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.

Jesus said whoever has seen me has seen the Father. 

John 14:9 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

It is Jesus who gives us a clear picture of God. He is the only one authorized to show us the Father.

John 5:19 (ESV) So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

John 5:19–20 (The Message) So Jesus explained himself at length. “I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. 20 The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing.

When Jesus walked the earth, He didn’t do anything independently of the Father. He only did what He saw the Father doing. If you want to see the Father’s character, nature, and will, look at Jesus. He was the perfect representation of the Father.

John 3:17 (NKJV) For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Jesus didn’t go around condemning people. So God doesn't do that.

Jesus went around doing good.

Acts 10:38 (ESV) how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

And Jesus never did any harm to anyone. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil.

So obviously, He only saw the Father doing good.

James says every good and perfect gift comes from the Father (James 1:17). The Father will only do you good. 

Jesus visited with sinners. They called Him a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Luke 7:34).

Matthew 9:10–12 (NKJV) 10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

John 1:18 (ESV) No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Luke 10:22 (ESV) All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Jesus came not only to show us who God is, but to reveal God to us as a Father, who loves us. God wants to be your Father. God wants to care for you as a loving Father. He’s someone you can go to with the intimate details of your life. 

Religion has presented the wrong concept of God. As a result, people have a wrong view of God. They see Him as a tyrant. They look at God like a big bully ready to clobber them when they have done wrong. They think God is mad, mean, and impersonal. But God is not like that. He is a loving, kind, and merciful heavenly Father who wants to care for us, do us good, and bless us.

Hebrews 1:2 (NKJV) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

God doesn't speak to us through the prophets like He did in the Old Covenant. In these days (under the New Covenant), He speaks to us through His Son.

So if you want to know what the Father looks like, look at Jesus.

John 5:30 (The Message) “I can’t do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You can trust my decision because I’m not out to get my own way but only to carry out orders.

God is speaking today through His Son. It is important that we see Jesus in the Scriptures. Ask the Lord to reveal Jesus to you through the Scriptures. If you ask, you will receive.

God will never be angry with you. He will never stop loving you.

Isaiah 54:9–10 (ESV) 9 “This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. 10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Jeremiah 31:3 (The Message) God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love!

Expect God to keep pouring more and more of His love out on you.

His love for you is not dependent on your performance AT ALL. No good thing you do can make God love you more and no bad thing you do will cause Him to love you less. It's all because of His amazing grace. 

God loves you. He's not in a bad mood concerning you.

I want you to know that God is not mad at you, He’s madly in love with you.