If I can know what God is like, then I can have an idea how he will act or respond to me if I try to talk to Him. I would have an idea if I even want to get to know Him at all.
What is He like?
We believe the Bible is the only reliable source of information about God. If you’ve never read the Bible before it can be a little confusing. It doesn’t read like a text-book or completely like history. It is a collection of writings that God inspired to reveal himself to us.
The Bible is divided into two major sections that we call the Old Testament and New Testament. In the Old Testament God reveals Himself with many different names to help people understand what He is like, but His most common name is Yahweh. In English translations it is usually translated as “Lord”, but it could be translated as I Am. God told Moses that His name was “I am Who I am.” God declared Himself as the only one true and living God, so that might be why his name is someting like, “It’s me.” Hard to confuse Him with any other god since He is the only real one.
In the Old Testament, we meet God for the first time. We have hints that this one God exists as three persons. It’s mysterious, but in the New Testament this mystery is revealed. In the New Testament we meet Jesus the Christ. Jesus declared Himself to be God, and also spoke of “God the Father”. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”
People have been confused, thinking there is a God of the Old Testament, an angry God who sent floods and earth quakes, and the New Testament God, Jesus, who is loving and merciful.
The Bible describes One God who exists as three persons, each equally God, but distinct as persons. (Wait three? I thought there were only two! Read more on the Tri-Unity of God [coming soon]).
The “God is…” series below describes what God is like as described in both the Old and New Testament.
Post 1 – It God Who Made Us