Who is God?

Introduction

Today begins our 12-week long sermon series on the catechism of the Global Methodist Church.

If you have your catechism book (Richard has purchased copies), then please get it out now.

We will be looking at questions 2 and 3 this morning.

Now for me, I look at these questions and think, duh - we all know who God is.

But then, when I sit down and try to really explain it or write it all out, it can be a challenge to put into words what I feel like I know in my mind.

The goal of this sermon series is to help us be able to put our faith into words.

If we can put it into words, then we can share it.

And that is the ultimate goal, right? To share our faith with others.

Who is God?

Today we will try to answer the question, “who is God?”

There is a large and distinct problem with trying to define God. It’s not possible!

If it isn’t possible, then what are we even doing here?

Let me give you an illustration:

Trying to define God completely in words is like standing at the beach with a little jar, scooping up some of the ocean.

What you have in the jar is real ocean—it’s salty, it’s wet, it’s the same substance. But it isn’t the whole ocean.

You can look at that jar and learn something true, but if you ever start to believe that the jar is all there is, you’ve mistaken the container for the reality.

That’s what it’s like when we talk about God. Scripture, prayers, creeds—they give us true glimpses.

But God is more than all the jars we could ever fill.

He is the vast, unmeasurable ocean, and our words are only little jars pointing us back to the shore of His greatness.

So what we are trying to do today is to look at parts of God to get a better understanding of the whole of God - knowing that we can never accomplish the full task.

Let’s look at what we can know about God:

First, God is the only one true God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 “4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” is called the Shema. It the Jewish foundational prayer that is recited in the morning and at night.

It is an acknowledgment that there is but one God.

In a world of polytheism, Israel stood out among the nations for only worshipping the Most High.

But, because they disobeyed, God allowed Israel to be taken into exile because they worshipped other gods.

Jeremiah 10:10 “10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.”

There will be many imitators in this life, but our scriptures tell us that it is God alone who should be worshipped.

John 17:3 “3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

Jesus declares his Father to be the only true God, and that knowing him leads to eternal life.

If we put anything ahead of God in our life, we are worshipping another god.

Second, God is eternal.

He existed before anything else and he was not made by any other being.

Genesis 1:2 “2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Before he gave the universe shape, God was there.

Psalm 90:2 “2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

From everlasting to everlasting means as far as the beginning goes, and as far as the future goes, God is.

Psalm 102:25–27 “25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. 27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”

We can take heart in knowing that no matter what our present situation is, God will outlast it.

Every human situation that has caused turmoil, God has been there - before and after. And he always will be.

God is spirit.

John 4:24 “24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.””

God does not have a body of flesh and blood like we do.

Since he doesn’t have a body, he does not get tired, hungry, weary, and he will never die.

God does not need like we as humans need.

Acts 17:24–25 “24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”

Because God is spirit, no man has ever seen God.

Exodus 33:20 “20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.””

His glory is too great for humanity to look upon - if we see him, we will die.

Next, God is Holy

Definition: dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; sacred.

There is no evil or sin anywhere in the nature or spirit of God.

Leviticus 19:2 “2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”

1 Samuel 2:2 “2 “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”

What does it mean for us that God is holy?

It means that because we are unholy, we cannot stand in the presence of God and live.

We cannot be in relationship with God without a mediator between our unholiness and his holiness.

But it also means that God is good.

God cannot cause evil or make bad things happen in our world.

It is against God’s nature to create evil. So we can trust that he will always do what is best for us.

Because God is holy, we can trust him.

God is Father, Son & Holy Spirit

The three parts, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct, but inseparable.

Genesis 1:26 “26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.””

Did you catch it?

God said “our likeness,” implying that he is not alone during the creation event.

That is because the Spirit of God and the Son of God were both present before the world began.

Matthew 3:16–17 “16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.””

This is the most significant times we see all three parts of the Trinity in the same place.

Jesus was identified as the Son of God by God himself.

The Holy Spirit came upon him like a dove.

His This scripture shows us that all three exist at the same time, and all three are distinct.

The trinity is equal in power and character

John 16:15 “15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.””

Jesus has all the characteristics and gifts that the Father has.

We can also see that the Spirit receives what it tells us from Jesus.

There is this perfect, harmonious, relationship between the three members of the trinity.

This relationship is largely a mystery to us - how can God exist in three forms at the same time?

That is not a question we are going to be able to answer, at least not this side of heaven.

God is Love

1 John 4:19 “19 We love because he first loved us.”

Any capability we have for love comes from God.

We are able to love others because he first loved us.

We also know that our salvation is an expression of God’s love for us:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The trinity worked together to ensure the salvation of humanity:

From the beginning, God had a plan to restore Adam and Eve’s race.

God then sent Jesus, who took on flesh and was crucified, died, and was raised again to life on the third day, defeating hell and the grave.

After Jesus returned to heaven, he sent us the Holy Spirit who now works within those who believe and reminds them of all of Jesus’ words.

We are transformed daily by the work and love of the Holy Spirit, and we will be until the day Christ comes again.

Because God is love, he is always working to demonstrate his love, and he teaches us how to love.

The Triune God works together to love humanity.

Conclusion

This was a lot of information today, thank you for persevering through it!

I hope you have learned something new about God today, or at least remembered something you had forgotten!

Knowing the God we serve and how he is at work in the world is critical for our growth in our faith.

Let’s recap:

God is the only true God. There is no other.

God is eternal. He existed before time began and will exist forever.

God is Holy. There is no sin or evil in him. This means that he is also always good.

God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each member of the Trinity has a unique role to play in the world and in us.

God is Love. We are only able to understand love because God first loved us.

As we close today, Imagine yourself walking into the largest library in the world. Row after row, floor after floor, millions of books stretching farther than you can see.

You could spend a lifetime reading and still never reach the end. That’s what it’s like with God.

Every time we open Scripture, every time we pray, every time we experience His grace, it’s like opening another book in that library—true, real, and beautiful.

But we never get to the last shelf. There’s always more to discover, more to know, more to love.

And the wonder of it all is this: in Jesus Christ, the Author Himself has stepped off the page and into our lives, so we can know Him personally, even while we stand in awe of His infinite presence.