God

1 Corinthians 15:3-5 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

God is Holy

Definition of holy: Sacred, morally or spiritually perfect, set apart

Rev. 4:8 “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.””

In the throne room of God, all that anyone can say of God is that He is holy, He is perfect, He is different

God is holy, He’s perfect, everything He does is perfect. He radiates holiness

Therefore, in order to have a right relationship with God, we would need to be perfect.

You cannot be in the presence of radiating holiness like God and it not change you, or yo taint it, and you can’t taint God.

God is Love

Somewhat paradoxically, God is both completely holy, absolutely perfect, but He is also loving

In fact, He isn’t just loving… He is love. 1 John 4:7-12 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.”

Therefore, God is not just a loving Being He is love. We can only now God in love, because He is love.

God is Creator

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

God is the perfect, loving, Creator of the universe. Everything that you can see, touch, or even think of is created completely by God.

That even includes you!

Psalm 139:13-16 “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

Even you were created, not just thrown together, but wonderfully and fearfully knit together

God is holy, and He is love, and He created everything, including you!

Conclusion

So that’s where we are, we have a God who is perfect, who is love, and who created everything.

Questions:

Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 again. Is this definition significantly different from your definition, or similar? How so?

Why is it particularly interesting that God is both absolutely perfect, but also loving?

How does this view of God influence your definition of the Gospel?