Who is God?

Introduction

Have you ever made a judgment about someone, only to realize later that you didn’t really know them at all?

I remember in college, there was a teacher I was honestly terrified of. Dr. Skip Jenkins. He had this no-nonsense look, never smiled. Every other student I knew who had taken him told story after story. In my mind, he was the villain of the school and I was absolutely terrified. One semester, in my junior year, I had to take one of his classes. Doctrine of Christ. And everything changed. He was fun and enteegetic and made the class so fun. He was such a nice guy who cared about all of us so deeply. And I was shocked and confused because of everything that I had heard about him.

That experience stuck with me—because I think it’s how a lot of us treat God.

We know about Him. We’ve heard the stories, memorized the names, maybe even attended church our whole lives. But have we really taken the time to get to know who God actually is?

Last week, we started our series called Rooted, asking: What is theology, and why does it matter? We said theology is simply learning who God is so we can build our lives on the truth.

This week, we take the next step — not just learning about God, but meeting Him as He reveals Himself.

Who is God really? What is He like?

And what we’ll discover is this: God is eternal, holy, powerful, just, full of grace, and deeply compassionate. And when you really know Him — not just know about Him — everything changes.

Scripture

Exodus 34:5–9 CSB

The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, “the Lord.” The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. Moses immediately knelt low on the ground and worshiped. Then he said, “My Lord, if I have indeed found favor with you, my Lord, please go with us (even though this is a stiff-necked people), forgive our iniquity and our sin, and accept us as your own possession.”

Isaiah 40:25–31 CSB

“To whom will you compare me, or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. Look up and see! Who created these? He brings out the stars by number; he calls all of them by name. Because of his great power and strength, not one of them is missing. Jacob, why do you say, and Israel, why do you assert, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my claim is ignored by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding. He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.

Body

Point 1: God Is Eternal and All-Powerful

Isaiah 40:28–31 CSB

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding. He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40 speaks to a discouraged people — God’s people who were tired, overwhelmed, and wondering if God still cared. In response, Isaiah doesn’t say, “Try harder.” He doesn’t say, “It’s not that bad.” Instead, he reminds them of who God is.

“Everlasting God” – God doesn’t have a beginning or end. He doesn’t age, break down, or burn out. He’s eternal.

“Creator of the ends of the earth” – He made everything. That means He holds all power over it. He is not limited by the things that limit us.

“He does not grow tired or weary” – You do. I do. But He never hits empty. He is an eternal source of strength.

Illustration:

Imagine your phone battery. You start the day at 100%, but by lunch, it’s dying. So you plug it into a power bank... but what if that power bank was also dying?

Now imagine a power source that never drains. No matter how many people plug into it — no matter how often — it never loses power.

That’s who God is. He doesn’t just give strength. He is strength.

So many students live burned out lives. School is exhausting. Social media never turns off. Relationships feel heavy. Life is overwhelming.

But God says:“Come to Me. I don’t get tired. I don’t run out. I’ll give you strength.”

When you are exhausted, God is still strong. When you’re confused, He’s still wise. When you’ve hit your limit, He hasn’t even begun to slow down.

To be rooted in your faith means learning to run to Him, not just try harder.

Ask yourself:

Where am I relying on my own strength?

What would it look like to wait on the Lord this week — to slow down and trust Him?

Jesus invites us with similar words in Matthew 11:28 —“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Because of Jesus, we don’t just believe in a powerful God — we get to know Him. Jesus carried our sin, took our weakness, and rose in power so we could be connected to the One who never fails.

Point 2: God Is Holy and Just

Exodus 34:6–7 CSB

The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

This is the moment when God personally reveals His character to Moses — and to all of us.

He starts with love, grace, patience, and forgiveness.

But He doesn’t stop there — “Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished.”

In other words: God is holy — completely pure and morally perfect — and He is just — He always does what is right.

We tend to like the loving and forgiving part of God... but struggle with the justice part. But if God weren’t just, He wouldn’t be good. He would ignore evil — and that’s not love.

Illustration:

Imagine a judge who lets a criminal go free — someone guilty of something truly terrible. No consequences. No justice. Just waves them out of the courtroom.

Would you call that judge good? Of course not. You’d call them corrupt. You’d say, “That’s not right.”

God is not like that. He’s never corrupt. He’s never unfair. He is perfectly just. Every sin — big or small — matters to Him because He is holy.

Here’s the tension:

We need God to be just — to hold evil accountable, to make things right.

But that includes us. Our sin isn’t small to a holy God.

God sees the lies, the gossip, the anger, the pride, the impurity — not just in our actions, but in our hearts.

And yet… here’s the beauty of the gospel.

God’s justice is never separated from His love.

The punishment for sin had to be dealt with — and it was — at the cross.

Jesus, fully God and fully man, took the justice of God on Himself so we could receive the mercy of God instead.

Justice wasn’t ignored.

Holiness wasn’t compromised.

It was fulfilled in Christ.

So when God says He is just and forgiving, that’s not a contradiction — that’s the cross.

Romans 3:26 CSB

God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

If you’ve never trusted Jesus: Understand that God’s justice isn’t meant to scare you — it’s meant to show you how much you need a Savior.

If you’re a believer: Are you living with reverence for God’s holiness? Are you casual about sin, or are you rooting it out?

Point 3: God Is Gracious and Compassionate

Exodus 34:6–7 CSB

The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

Right after describing His holiness and justice, God reveals another side of who He is — His heart.

“Compassionate and gracious” — He sees our brokenness and moves toward us in mercy.

“Slow to anger” — He is incredibly patient. He doesn’t blow up. He waits. He gives us space to turn back to Him.

“Abounding in love and faithfulness” — He’s not stingy with love. He overflows with it.

“Forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin” — There is no category of sin too big for God’s mercy.

This is not just what God does — it’s who He is. You don’t have to convince Him to love you. You don’t have to perform to keep His favor.

Illustration:

Imagine you mess up big time. You break something valuable at your friend’s house. You expect them to be furious. But instead of anger, they hug you. They clean up the mess with you. They even pay for what was broken themselves.

You’d be stunned, right? That’s compassion. That’s grace.

That’s God — but to the infinite degree.

So many students are walking around with shame and guilt — hiding from God because they think He’s angry, or disappointed, or done with them.

But that’s not the God of the Bible. He’s gracious and compassionate — even when we fail, even when we sin, even when we don’t deserve it.

Psalm 103:13–14 CSB

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust.

He gets your weakness. He understands your struggle. And He still moves toward you with love.

This grace and compassion are most clearly seen in Jesus.

Jesus didn’t come for the perfect — He came for the broken. He touched lepers, dined with sinners, wept with the grieving, and forgave the guilty.

The cross is the ultimate act of compassion:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

God didn’t wait for you to clean yourself up — He came to rescue you while you were still a mess.

To the student carrying guilt — God sees it and still loves you. Come back to Him. He’s full of compassion.

To the student stuck in apathy — Don’t mistake His patience for indifference. He’s waiting for you to wake up, and His arms are open.

To the student who’s encountered this grace — Who around you needs to experience that same compassion through you?

Conclusion

I will close with a question — What version of God are you walking around with?

Is He distant and cold?

Is He harsh and waiting for you to mess up?

Is He small enough to fit in the box you’ve built for Him?

Because the real God — the One who reveals Himself in Scripture — is nothing like the cheap versions we sometimes settle for.

He is eternal — never tired, never limited. He is holy and just — He takes sin seriously, but doesn’t condemn you without hope. He is gracious and compassionate — running toward you even when you’re running away.

So here’s the call: Don’t just know about Him. Know Him.

Get rooted in who He is, not who you assume He is.

And when life gets hard — when you're tired, confused, ashamed, or overwhelmed — you'll have something solid to stand on. Not a vague idea, but a real relationship with a real God.

So this week, here’s your challenge:

Don’t try harder. Trust deeper. Don’t carry it alone. Come to the One who never grows weary. Don’t hide your sin. Bring it to the cross where justice and mercy meet. Don’t stay stuck in shame. Receive the compassion of your Father.

Because this God — the eternal, holy, gracious One — wants you to know Him.

And when you do, everything changes.