What is God? Even asking this question seems wrong in some way.
He is so far above, beyond, so totally Other - how can we, mere creatures hope to comprehend such a God? My finite mind cannot grasp an infinite God. It is true that God is a mystery - and that He will always be clouded in mystery to His creatures. If He had not chosen to reveal Himself to us, there is no way we could know anything about Him rightly. But, thank God, He did choose to reveal many aspects about Himself to us.
“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding. That we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” (1John 5:20)
Where to begin?
I am thankful that I am not the first person to attempt to answer these questions, and by God’s grace, I will not be the last. In the first centuries after Christ’s resurrection our church fathers, to fight various heresies that had crept into the church, felt it necessary to put on paper what the Church held as Truth. I insert these creeds here to help us have a foundation with which to begin our study.
The Apostle's Creed is a statement of the basics of the faith. The Apostles' Creed was not written by the Biblical Disciples. The name is deemed this as a sum and substance of the early Apostolic teaching which the disciples would have held to. Earliest version found is A.D. 215. The current version is circa 542 A.D.
The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
(catholic defined as the universal church - does not refer to Roman Catholicism)
The Nicene Creed was an orthodox creed on the Trinity and the Son. Circa 381 A.D.
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
The Westminster Confession, Chapter 2, states the following:
“ I. There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty.
II. God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; he is the alone foundation of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom, are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth. In his sight all things are open and manifest; his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature; so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience he is pleased to require of them.
III. In the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.”
This is quite a statement. Even though we can read the words, there is no way upon reading this once through that we could comprehend all the truth contained about God in these three paragraphs. The church leaders of that time were very concerned that generations following would have a clear grasp of the Gospel, for only by it can men know God and have eternal life. So these dear brothers determined to teach all the Truth contained in the Westminster Confession (many more paragraphs on the whole of our Christian faith) to their children and grandchildren. Granted, it was a daunting task. So they created the Larger Catechism for all their children and newly converted Christians and even the unsaved living in a believers home or employed in a believer’s business to be instructed about God during devotions. (Can you imagine mandatory prayer, Scripture reading, and devotions in every believer’s home and business? Awesome!)
This is what the Larger Catechism says to our question:
Q. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection; all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, everywhere present, almighty, knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
When the questions were asked in the Catechism, the student was to recite the answer word for word. A mighty impressive accomplishment seeing that the Larger Catechism has 196 questions! At some point, for reasons unknown to me (didn’t take the time to research it) there came in to being the Shorter Catechism, which says to our question:
Q. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
Perhaps seeing how our Christian brethren throughout history have answered this question will help us to get an overview of how Awesome our God really is, and let us know what a privilege it is that we can even contemplate not only knowing about such a Good God, but having a relationship with Him, even more, being adopted into His family.
When we understand this, how can we not be changed?
During the next week read over the Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, Westminster Confession and the Larger and Shorter Catechism. Spend some time pondering in your own mind what they say. Are these just a list of beliefs, cold hard facts about a being you know about, but irrelevant to your daily life; or, are they words describing the being you know of, the One to whom your heart longs to be with - does your spirit within sing out praises to this great Father of ours?
And although it is difficult to grasp these truths and causes our minds to stretch to contain them, does it not at the same time, fill us with such joy and gratitude that our innermost being is stretched too, hardly able to contain the wonder of it all.
To know God, is to love God.
