Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
God is a person, with personality, desires, intent, thoughts, attributes and so on. He has characteristics just like any other person. He is someone - someone perfect and perfectly unique.
It is important that we understand this. He said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM," (Exodus 3:14) meaning in part that He exists separate and apart from the creation. He is holy in His person which means that there is no one else like Him.
1Sa 2:2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
If we don't see Him as a unique person, we are apt to make Him into our image, into our liking, into our desire and according to our own thoughts and imaginations. This would be a terrible mistake. God is who He is independent of what we think.
Since God is a person, He is who He is, just as He told Moses. Consequently, our understanding, our opinions, our thoughts and words should conform to who He says He is in His word - not our own.
Any time we say things like, "well, I think God is....." and the "is" is something other than what His word says, then we have created Him according to our own understanding and made Him into our own image.
This would be very wrong and would amount to transgressing the first commandment which says, "Exo 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:2-3) To declare that God is someone other than who He says He is, is akin to exalting ourselves over Him by denying His word.
God is a person. He is who He is, not who we think He is. And who He is, exists apart from whether we know Him or not.
The unbeliever does not know Him, just as they don't know someone who lives on the other side of town, or country or world. And just because they don't know Him, doesn't mean that He does not exist, just as the billions of people he doesn't know exist as well.
Since they don't know Him, they either conclude that He does not exist or they fashion Him into their image. They will say things like, "Well, I think God is....."
Before we jump all over them, it would be good to remember that we too made such remarks and even as believers we still say things like this. It is to our shame that we do. Nevertheless, we should have mercy upon those who don't know Him simply for the following reasons:
One, God is a Spirit. He tells us this in His word (John 4:24). The only way to know Him is spiritually, which means through His word and by His Holy Spirit. This is the only way to know God. If we have not come to know Him through His word, then we have not come to know Him at all (Romans 10:17).
Someone can say that God is not a spirit and "I can know Him some other way," but this would be akin to believing that someone we don't know has certain characteristics that they don't have. We might believe that someone is left-handed, is tall, has money or whatever. But the truth is that they are who they are. In this case God declares that He is a spirit and that the only way to believe in Him is through His word.
Someone can say that God is not a spirit and "I can know Him some other way," but this would be akin to believing that someone we don't know has certain characteristics that they don't have. We might believe that someone is left-handed, is tall, has money or whatever. But the truth is that they are who they are. In this case God declares that He is a spirit and that the only way to believe in Him is through His word.
(Rom 10:17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Two, men cannot find God on their own. They can't know Him from nature or the creation. (The creation tells us that there is a God, but not who He is...) They also cannot find or know Him from their intellect. They can't figure out who God is by brain power. If a man is to know God, God must reveal Himself to them.
To those of you reading this post, God declares that there is only one way to know Him, and that is to know (or in other words believe in) Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) And you must believe who He is, the Jesus Christ found on the pages of Scripture. The only way to know if you know God or not is to ask the question, "Do I believe in Jesus Christ?" If you know Him, you know God Himself.
The person of God is hidden from mankind. The members of the world cannot see Him, hear Him or even imagine who He is accurately apart from having the Spirit of God in them. We who believe are no different. As Paul tells us above, God gave us the Spirit "that we might understand the things freely given us by God." (1 Corinthians 2:12). And apart from God giving us the Holy Spirit, we would not be able to hear Him, see Him or imagine Him either.1Co 2:7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.1Co 2:8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.1Co 2:9 But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"—1Co 2:10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.1Co 2:11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.1Co 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
To those of you reading this post, God declares that there is only one way to know Him, and that is to know (or in other words believe in) Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) And you must believe who He is, the Jesus Christ found on the pages of Scripture. The only way to know if you know God or not is to ask the question, "Do I believe in Jesus Christ?" If you know Him, you know God Himself.
Now, the only way to come to know Jesus Christ is to hear His word (or read His word) and in your hearing God grant you the Holy Spirit and faith in Christ. He is a merciful God who will not turn away those who have broken His commandments. Jesus said, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." (John 6:37) So flee to Christ today for forgiveness of your sins and eternal life.
God is a person, a person you may not yet know. And He has declared that the only way to know Him, to know His characteristics, His excellencies, and His desires is to know Him through His word. Hear Him through His word, that you might come to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved from your sins. For "whoever believes in him may have eternal life." (John 3:15)
For those of us who do believe, we must have our opinions and thoughts and beliefs about who Christ is shaped by His word as well. We must not make Him into our image either. If we have beliefs about our Lord which are inconsistent with His word, we must repent of them and submit to the word of God.
May God grant faith to those who read His word today and may He grant those of us who do believe a proper understanding of who He is in truth.