Who is God?

The Bible does not argue for, but rather, presumes the existence of God, and it communicates that God is real and knowable. - Clint Decker

As I walked through the Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu, India I observed person after person as they worshiped their Hindu gods. I came to learn that Hinduism has over 300,000 different gods. This contrasts with my Christian faith, which is the belief there is only one true God. In our climate of religious tolerance and pluralism, who is right? And what about the atheist, agnostic and those of other religions like Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Buddhism and Judaism? Logically speaking, not everyone can be correct, so this leads to the valid question, “Who is God?” (Image by NASA)

Sometime around 1200 B.C. when the Egyptian empire was the greatest nation on earth, the God of the Jewish people appointed a man named Moses to go to Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, to command him to let God’s people go. For 400 years the Jews had been enslaved by Egypt.

Moses was a Jew but was raised in Pharaoh's household. He knew that Egyptian’s had over 2,000 gods, like Ra (the sun god) and Horus (the sky god) and how Pharaoh himself was considered a god. Knowing all that, Moses came before Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’ But Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.’” (Exodus 5:1-2)

In many ways, our world is the same, where we have Christians talking about God like Moses, but people of other religions or no religions are saying like Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?” We also have Christians wondering, “Is it fair and loving for people of other faiths, to be told that the God of the Bible is the only true God?”

The Bible starts with Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This does not argue for, but rather, presumes the existence of God, where He is immediately known as the Creator. We also see God creating humankind and beginning a relationship with them. All this communicates that God is real and knowable. In Genesis 3, humankind eventually rebelled against God, but that did not change who God is. Then when people were fashioning and worshiping other gods, the Lord responded, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God…” (Deuteronomy 10:17) He once identified Himself to help people know Him saying, “I am who I am.” (Ex. 3:14) This is a statement categorizing God as self-existent and self-sufficient not dependent on anyone or anything else.

A few thousand years after God described Himself that way, He took His greatest step to reveal who He was. He sent His only Son from heaven to earth. Jesus once said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) And the “Father” is the Lord God. Jesus became the visible image of the invisible God. Jesus spoke about Himself, saying “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) “I am the bread of life.” (Jn. 6:35) “I am the light of the world.” (Jn. 8:12) “I am the good shepherd.” (Jn. 10:11)

Do you have questions? God invites you to come and ask. In the end though, remember that no one will be able to say, “I did not know.” It is written, “…what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)

If you wonder or have doubts about God, get yourself a Bible and begin reading the book of Mark today.

A prayer for you – Lord God, are You real? Do you exist? I bring my questions and doubts before You. Help me to know who You truly are. In Jesus’ name. Amen.