Character of God

Many people view God as an impersonal force or as being unfeeling and unapproachable; however, the Bible presents God as an individual with deep emotions and great interest in His creation. In order to have a personal relationship with God, we must have some understanding of His character.

It is important to know that God is unchanging. He does not exist on an emotional roller coaster. His attitudes, His opinions, the way He acts and reacts do not change. This is essential because if God's nature changed then we could not depend on Him or trust Him. James wrote, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, within Him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.'' (James 1:17)

Because God's opinions do not change, His standard of moral conduct is absolute. What He has said is right and wrong never changes. God is not influenced by public opinion or by special interest groups. God is holy and upright. His moral standard is perfect. He does not go against His laws of conduct; He expects the same from His creation. Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.'' (Matthew 5:48)
The Bible tells us that sin is any disobedience of God's laws. Because God is holy or free from sin, He judges sin and will not allow it to go unpunished. The punishment for sin is eternal torment. This sounds harsh but is the just result of sin.

Now, although God is holy and just, He also loves His creation, especially mankind. This results in conflict. Because God is holy, He must punish sin and the just price for sin is death, eternal separation from Him. However, because God is love, He wants to be merciful and forgive us for our sins. God solved this conflict between His holiness and His mercy through the death of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is God in a human body. God humbled Himself and took on a body of flesh! He grew up in the home of Joseph and Mary. He lived a sinless perfect life. Jesus had a three year ministry among the Jewish people. Then He died on the cross willingly to pay for the sin of the entire human race! Jesus died for your sin! He did this because He loves you. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.'' (John 3:16)
God now offers a gift. He offers eternal life, a life with Him forever, and a personal relationship with Him now. All this is offered freely. All that God requires is that a person admits to Him that he or she is a sinner, desiring to turn from sin and obey God, then asking Him to forgive them, trusting in the death of Jesus as payment for sin.

The Attributes of God

Throughout man's history, he has believed in a god or gods. Man has constantly argued and fought over religion. Evangelical Christians believe the Bible is God's complete and perfect revelation to mankind. The Bible tells us all we need to know about God.

God is eternal. This simple statement contains deep and important truth. The Bible begins with a declaration of fact: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)
This verse tells us that when time began God was already present. God existed before anything else in the physical or spiritual universe. God has no beginning. He has always existed. He may be thought of as living outside of time. God said, "I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning." (Isaiah 46:9,10)
God knows as much about tomorrow as He does about today. He knows how the world began and how it will end. He knows your past and He knows your future. God has always existed and will always exist.

God is all knowing. There is nothing about the past, present or future of which He is not aware. There is no truth that He does not understand. In the Psalms it says, "Great is our Lord, and of great power; His understanding is infinite." (Psalm 147:5)
The understanding and wisdom of God have no limits. He knows everything. He understands all things. His logic is faultless and without error. The Apostle Paul wrote, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33)

Not only is God eternal and all knowing but He is also ever present. God is a spiritual being. He is not limited by any physical boundaries. There has never existed any place at any time where God was absent. Jeremiah wrote, "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord." (Jeremiah 23:24)
This means that He is with us always and is aware of our every thought and action. This is amazing but for God to be God it must be true.

The final attribute I want to mention is that God is all powerful. This means that He is able to do anything He desires to do.
Jeremiah prayed, "Ah Lord God! Behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee." (Jeremiah 32:17)
There is no power equal to the power of God. No one can defy Him. No one can defeat Him. He is Sovereign; He needs nothing to exist but without Him, all things would cease to exist. He is the Creator of everything, the King of the universe, the most High, the Almighty. He is God.