In our study tonight on Christian beliefs we looked at the subject of knowing God (A. W. Tozer said, ‘What comes into your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.’ It’s important that the Bible shapes our understanding of God, for on our own, we can come to some very faulty conclusions about who God is!
The Bible tells us some basic facts about God:
• God is self-existent (I am who I am, Ex 3:14, John 8:58)
• God is holy (Exodus 3:5-6, Ex 19:23)
• God is good (Luke 18:19, Romans 8:28, Ps 119:68)
• God is omnipotent (Matt 19:26, Ps 115:3)
• God is omniscient (1 John 3:20; Matt 6:8)
• God is omnipresent (Ps 139:7-10)
• God is perfect (Matt 5:48)
• God is immutable (unchanging) (Mal 3:6, James 1:17)
• God is love (John 3:16, 1 John 4:8, Rom 5:8)
• God is forgiving and compassionate (Ps 103:5-6, Ex 3:7-8)
We looked at Isaiah 40:9-11 for further revelation about God’s nature and learned that He is both mighty and compassionate, looking after us like a shepherd who gathers the lambs in his arms, carrying them close to his heart. Often, we feel the ‘tensions’ in God’s character, seeing these as contradictory, but the Bible shows us a God who is both powerful and caring, mighty and tender. Our aim should be to know God more and more.