Who Is God?

Q: What does the Bible say about who God is?

The Bible reveals God as the Creator, holy, sovereign, and our Savior. The Bible presents God not as we might imagine but as He truly is. Hebrews 1:1-3 emphasizes that God has spoken to us definitively through His Son, Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, God is demonstrated as the Creator in Genesis and Job, revealing His power and authority. Throughout scripture, God is consistently shown as holy and sovereign, having the ultimate authority in all creation. Psalm 135 attests to His sovereignty, stating, 'Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, in earth, in the seas, and in all deep places.' Importantly, God is also revealed as our Savior, as expressed in 1 John 5:20, where we find that knowing Christ leads to knowing the true God.

Q: How do we know God is sovereign?

Scripture explicitly states God's sovereignty over all creation and events. God's sovereignty is a central theme in scripture, prominently found in Psalm 135, where it says, 'The Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself... For I know that the Lord is great. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, in earth, in the seas, and in all deep places.' This underscores that God exercises complete control over His creation and does according to His will without needing permission from any man. Furthermore, Jeremiah 18 illustrates God's sovereignty through the metaphor of the potter and clay, indicating that like the potter with clay, God shapes His creation as it pleases Him. Hence, we know God is sovereign not only through detailed teaching in scriptures but also through His actions throughout history.

Q: Why is knowing God important for Christians?

Knowing God is essential for eternal life and genuine faith. For Christians, knowing God is paramount as eternal life is defined by this relationship. John 17:3 encapsulates this by stating, 'This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.' Acknowledging God's character and attributes reinforces a believer’s faith and guides every aspect of their life. It transcends mere religious practices, leading to a transformative relationship with God that reflects His holiness, sovereignty, and love. Additionally, a proper understanding of who God is curbs misconceptions that can arise from cultural or societal views, steering believers towards true worship and understanding of their faith.

Q: How does God reveal Himself to us?

God reveals Himself through His Word and through His Son, Jesus Christ. God has chosen specific means to reveal Himself to humanity—primarily through His written Word and the living Word, Jesus Christ. As highlighted in Hebrews 1:1-2, God spoke to the fathers through the prophets but has now revealed Himself through His Son. The scriptures encompass God's attributes, actions, and purpose, allowing believers to gain insight into His character. Moreover, through Jesus’ life, teachings, death, and resurrection, He manifests the nature of God in a personal and accessible way. This dual revelation serves to deepen the understanding of who God is, enhancing both the intellectual and relational aspects of faith.

When Moses came to Egypt to deliver
Israel from the hands of Pharaoh, he said to Pharaoh, Thus saith
the Lord, Let my people go. And Pharaoh said to Moses, Who
is the Lord, that I should obey him? Who is God? That's my subject today, who
is God? Now, God is not who we think
he is. God is who he is. Now think about
that a moment. God is not who we think he is,
not who you think he is, he's not who I think he is. He's who
he is. David wrote in Psalms 50 verse
21, God speaking, saying, Thou thoughtest that I was altogether
such a one as Thyself. Most people's opinion of God
is formed in their own mind and according to their own imagination.
And Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 55, verse 8, God speaking, My thoughts
are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways. And when
we come to the question, Who is God? God is not who we think
he is. God is who he is. Our thoughts
are not his thoughts. And then again, God is not who
we say he is. Now, not only must I not rely
on my thoughts about the living God, I must not rely on what
somebody says about the living God. I must not rely on my thoughts. I must find out who God is, and
I must find out what God says about himself. Who is God? He's not who you think he is.
He's who he is. And he's not who you say he is.
He's not who I say he is. God is who he says he is. Now
the heathen bows down before his idols of stone and his idols
of marble, and he says, Here is God. Here is God. The Romanist brings forth his
statues and crucifixes and sacraments, and he says, Here is God. Here
is God. God is in the cathedral. God
is in the tabernacle. God is in the temple. God is
in the church building. The ritualist honors his holy
days and honors his ceremonies and his processionals of religion
with all of the banners and the uniforms of religion, and he
says to the world, come worship with us, here is God. God is
in the holy days. God is in the ceremony. God is
in the processional. The legalist brings forth his
laws and his rules of religion and his do's and his don'ts,
and he says to the world, here is God. God is in our laws. God is in our requirements. God
is in our regulations. Here is God. You want to worship
God? Then come bow down before our rules of religion. The theologian
digs into his doctrines. He digs into his old books and
his old creeds. And he digs into all of these
prophecies and draws up charts, telling us how everything will
come to pass and when it will come to pass. And he says, now,
well, here is God. God is in our Westminster Confession
or Philadelphia Confession or Heidelberg Confession. God is
in the Apostles' Creed. God is in our old books and our
old doctrines and our old writers. Here is God. The experientialist
talks in what he calls an unknown tongue. And he professes a super-piety
and a super-holiness. He lives above sin. He lives
free from sin. He dreams dreams that he doesn't
understand. and sees visions that no one
else understands, and he says to the world, here is God. God
is in our excitement. God is in our super-piety. God is in our gibberish tongues.
And the worldly religionist goes through the motions of his denominational
program and plays church on Sunday while he ignores God six and
a half days a week and says to the world, here is God. come
worship with us. Here is God. God is in our program. God is in our promotion. God
is in our enthusiasm. And the Fundamentalist talks
of the terrors of hell and the joys of heaven, and he calls
people to come to the front. He calls upon them to make a
decision for Jesus and come to the front, for he says, Here
is God. Where is God? David asked that. He said, As the deer panteth
after the water so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for the living
God." Again in Psalm 63, he said, O God, thou art my God, my soul
thirsteth for thee, my soul longeth for the living God in a dry and
thirsty land. My friend, I don't want to know
just any God or just a God, I want to know the living God, don't
you? Christ, our Lord, said, this is eternal life, that you
might know God, the true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath
sent. And again he said to the religionist
of his day, he said, you neither know me nor my Father. You don't
know God. Listen to Paul, over in the book
of Philippians, chapter 3, and beginning with verse 8. In Philippians,
chapter 3, verse 8, Paul was a religious man. Paul was a man
steeped in the teachings and traditions of the Church and
the customs and ceremonies of religion. And then he said in
Philippians 3, verse 8, I count all these things but loss, all
of my heritage and tradition and ceremonies and rituals and
customs, I count them but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus the Lord. for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things," and he gets a little stronger, and he says,
"...I do count them but done, that I may win Christ, and be
found in him. O, that I may know him, and the
power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
that I might be made conformable unto his death." Who is God?
I hear all these voices about me, and I see all these cathedrals
and churches and tabernacles and temples and buildings, and
I hear all the preachers, and I see the creeds and the ceremonies
and the processional, and like David, I cry, O God, Thou art
my God, my soul thirsteth for Thee in a dry and parched and
desert land. My soul thirsteth for Thee as
the deer panteth for the water brooks. God is who He is. not who we think he is. God is
who he says he is, not who we say he is, or who our fathers
said he is, or who our grandfathers said he is. God is who he says
he is. And if I'm going to know the
living God, if I'm going to have a true knowledge of the living
God, that knowledge of God must come not from men, but from God. It must come to me by divine
revelation. Now the scripture tells us that
our natural thoughts and our natural minds and our natural
hearts will deceive us as to who God is. The scripture says
there is a way that seemeth right unto men, but the end thereof
is death. The scripture says the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. And Job
wrote, can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the
Almighty under perfection? Can you contain in a finite mind
the infinite God? Can you contain in a limited
mind the unlimited God? Why, he says, it's higher than
the heavens. What can you know? It is deeper
than hell. What can you do? This information
that I'm talking about, this knowledge about which I'm speaking,
a knowledge of the living God, is higher than the heavens. it's
deeper than hell. In 1 Corinthians 2, I want you
to listen to this scripture. What I'm saying is this, if we're
going to know who God is, if we're going to know where God
is, we're going to have to get our information from him. He's
not who we think he is, he's who he is. He's not who we say
he is, God's not who I say he is. I may come to this television
station and make these telecasts and preach from the pulpit and
hold meetings and Bible conferences and declare before you, I know
God, come to me and I'll teach you about God. But God's not
who I say he is, God is who he says he is. In 1 Corinthians
2, in verse 9, the scripture says, It is written, I have not
seen, that's the natural eye, ear hath not heard, that's the
natural ear, neither have entered into the heart of man. the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. A knowledge of God comes by divine
revelation, not by human logic, not by human wisdom. Man's wisdom
is foolishness with God. God hath revealed them unto us
by his Spirit Now watch this. What man knoweth the things of
a man save the spirit of man which is in him? In other words,
you don't know anything about me until I open my mouth and
reveal myself to you. If I stood in absolute silence,
if I walked up to you, you'd never seen me before, you'd never
heard of me, introduced myself, and then kept my mouth shut,
you'd know nothing about me. Where I came from, what my job
was, what my hobbies are, what my thoughts were, you know nothing
about me until I reveal to you what's on the inside. So he says,
even so the things of God knoweth no man save the Spirit of God. And Christ said that no man hath
seen the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal
him. And the natural man receiveth not the things of God, their
foolishness to him, neither can he know them, because their spirits
they discern. If I'm going to know who God
is, if I'm going to know where God is, I'm going to have to
get that information from God himself. God is going to have
to speak to me. God is going to have to reveal
himself to me if I'm going to know God. Paul said, God who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace,
was pleased to reveal himself in me." Who is God? Now, there
are two ways in which God reveals himself. There are two ways in
which this knowledge of God will come to you and to me. I want
to know who God is, don't you? I'm not satisfied with just having
religion. I'm not satisfied with just having
a profession of faith. I'm not satisfied with just having
a creed, a theology, a doctrine. I want to know God. I want to
know him in my heart. I want to know him in my soul.
I want the living God to live within me, don't you? I want
to know God. And I'm not going to find out
who he is from the ritualist or the Romanist or the legalist
or the fundamentalist or the ceremonialist or the experientialist
or the reformers. I'm going to have to find out
who he is from God himself. God's going to have to reveal
himself to me. Now here's the way God reveals himself to us.
Listen to this. In Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1
and 2, listen carefully. God, who at sundry times and
in different manners spake in times past unto our fathers by
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things. by whom he made the
world. God reveals himself in two ways. First of all, he speaks through
his word, and secondly, he speaks through his son, who is called
in the scripture the living word, the word of God. God speaks,
that's God's word. God reveals himself in his word. Now it says here that God, in
different manners, spake to the fathers by the prophets. hath
in these last days spoken to us by his Son." What did the
prophets say about God? When God revealed himself to
the fathers through the prophets, what did the prophets say about
God? Well, first of all, Moses wrote
that he is God the Creator. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. God is the Creator, and God took
Job across his vast creation. And God Almighty revealed himself
as the Creator to Job. Listen to what he said in Job
38. Then the Lord answered Job and said, Who is this that darkeneth
counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now your loins, and I'll
demand of thee. And you answer me, Job, where
were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you
have understanding. Where were you when I laid the
measures of this earth? If you know, tell me who stretched
the line upon it. Tell me, whereupon are the foundations
thereof fastened? Tell me, who laid the cornerstone
thereof, when the morning stars sang together and all the sun
shouted for God?" Who is God? He is God the Creator. And then
Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 6, verses 1 through 3, God is holy. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, and his train filled
the temple, and the cherubims and seraphims covered their faces,
and they cried, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty." And then
Isaiah cried, I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people
of unclean lips. God took Israel, the Sinai, and
he said, I am the Lord your God, walk before me, I am holy. Almighty God wrote, the Lord
is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before
him. He said, Moses, put off your
shoes, you are on holy ground. God is holy. Who is God? He is
the Creator. He created all things by the
word of his power. Who is God? He is holy. Now, listen to this. What did
God say through the prophets? In Psalm 135, he says, I am sovereign. I am sovereign. In Psalm 135, beginning with
verse 4, the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel
for his peculiar treasure. For I know that the Lord is great.
Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, in earth,
in the seas, and in all deep places. Our God is sovereign. He said, I am the Lord. I create
darkness, I create light. I, the Lord, do all these things.
I create good, I create evil. I declare the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasures. Now turn
to Jeremiah 18. I wish you would take your Bible
and look at this scripture. In Jeremiah chapter 18, God is
speaking to the fathers by the prophets, telling them who he
is. He says, I'm the creator. I am
the creator. I am holy. I am sovereign. I do it according to my will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth.
God Almighty waits upon no man to make the decision concerning
his will and his works. Listen to Jeremiah in chapter
18, verse 1. Then the word of the Lord came
to Jeremiah, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house,
and I'll cause you to hear my words. And I went down to the
potter's house, and behold, the potter wrought a work on the
wheels, and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the
hands of the potter. So he made it again another vessel.
as it seemed good to the potter to make it. And then the word
of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do
with you as this potter? Behold, as the clay is in the
potter's hands, so are you in my hands, saith the Lord." God
is sovereign. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven. and among the inhabitants of
this earth, saying, My counsel shall stand." And then the prophet
says, God is our Savior. Mary said this when the angel
told her she would have a child, and that child would be the Christ,
the Redeemer. She said, My soul rejoices in
God my Savior. The name Jehovah means God my
Savior. And David wrote in Psalm 68,
20, He that is our God is the God of salvation. He took Abraham
to Mount Moriah, had him put his son on the altar, bind him
to offer him a sacrifice unto the Lord God. And when Abraham
raised the dime, God spoke and said, Abraham, do thy son no
harm. Look behind thee. And when he
looked behind him, he saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
And he took that ram, put it in the place of Isaac, slew the
ram, shed its blood, in the place of his son, that substitution. God is showing Abraham how that
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, would be sacrificed as our substitute,
as our sin offering. Almighty God took Israel to the
brazen serpent, made in the likeness of the serpent that had bitten
the people, and he said, Look and live. There they learned
substitution. He showed them the blood on the
door. When I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Here is substitution,
God our Savior. And then the scripture tells
us that God Almighty will punish sin. He will in no wise clear
the guilty. The God of the Bible, the living
God, the true God, will deal with sin. Adam learned this in
the garden. Pharaoh learned this at the Red
Sea. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah learned it in the plains.
And sinners will learn it at the great white throne. Sinners
who have no substitute. who have no Savior, who have
no Redeemer, no one to take their sin, God will punish all sin.
All sin is going to be punished, either in the sinner or in the
substitute, Christ Jesus. God owns all things. I want you
to listen to this scripture in Psalms chapter 50, beginning
with verse 7. Listen carefully to this scripture.
Here, O my people, and I'll speak. God says, I'll speak. And I'll
testify, I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove thee for thy
sacrifices, or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before
me. I will take no bullock out of your house, nor his goats
out of your foals, for every beast of the forest is mine.
Every cattle, the cattle on a thousand hills are mine. I know all the
fowls of the mountain, and the wild beasts of the field are
mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is
mine, and the fullness thereof." God owns all things. God is eternal. The scripture says, "...thy throne,
O God, is forever." God is omnipresent. David wrote here in Psalms 139,
"...wherewithal shall I flee from thy presence? If I take
the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right
hand shall hold me." God is omnipresent. God gives life. He said, Jeremiah,
before I formed thee in the belly, before you came out of the womb,
I knew you, I ordained you, I sanctified you, before I formed thee. And
then God takes life. The scripture tells us in Job
14, man's days are appointed, the number of his months are
with the Lord. God hath appointed his bounds,
he cannot pass. Who is God? He tells us in his
words. And my friend, I'm never going
to know the true and living God until I get acquainted with his
book. God is not who you say he is, he's who he says he is.
He's the creator. He's holy. He's sovereign. He's the savior. He owns all
things. He is eternal. Almighty God gives
life. Almighty God takes life. He has
spoken to the Father by the prophet. Now watch this. I want you to
turn to 1 John chapter 5. God hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son." He spoke to the fathers by the prophets,
and he hath spoken to us by his Son. Now, listen carefully to
this scripture. 1 John 5, 20. And we know that the Son of God
is come and hath given us an understanding, hath given us
an understanding, that we may know God who is true. And that we are in him, that
is true. Even in his Son, Jesus Christ,
this is the true God, and this is eternal life. Philip said,
Lord, show us the Father. And Christ our Master said, Philip,
have I been so long time with you, and yet thou hast not known
me? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. I and my Father
one. God spoke to the fathers by the
prophets. He told them who he is. He identified
himself. He revealed himself. Some of
them listened. Some of them closed their ears.
He hath in these last days spoken to us by the living word. The
word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He's God. He's called
God by John, who said, The word was made flesh and dwelt among
us. He's called God by Thomas, who fell at his feet and cried,
My Lord and my God. He is called God by the Father,
who said, Thy throne, O God, is forever. He was with the Father
before the world was made. He said, Father, glorify me with
the glory which I had with thee before the world was. He was
before Abraham, saying to those Jews, before Abraham was, I am. He forgives sin. Only God can
forgive sin. We can find out who God is by
listening to the Lord Jesus Christ. He reveals the Father. He is
that prophet of whom Moses wrote, saying, God will raise up from
among you that prophet, and him you shall hear. The Father said,
This is my beloved Son, hear ye him. In Bethlehem's manger
we see God incarnate. A virgin shall conceive and bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, God with us. In the house of sinners you see
God, the friend of sinners. They call him the friend of sinners,
friend of publicans, friend of sinners. Rebuking the Pharisees
you see God, revealing his hatred for hypocrisy and false religion. On the cross you see God, reconciling
the world unto himself. Now turn with me to John chapter
5, this scripture in closing. In the fifth chapter of John,
Verse 22 and 23, what I'm saying is this, to know God is to know
Christ. To love God is to love the Lord
Jesus Christ. To honor God is to honor the
Lord Jesus Christ. Would you know who God is? The
only way you're going to find out who he is is to come to his
Word, the written Word, and come to his Son, the living Word.
And in the written Word you will find God. and in the living word,
Christ Jesus, you will find God. Now listen carefully, John 5,
verses 22 and 23. For the Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should
honor the Son. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. that all men should
honor the Son, he that honoreth not the Son. And that doesn't
only mean in my preaching, and in my sermons, and in our church,
but it's in our lives, and in our walk, and in our talk, and
in our conversation, in our attitude, in our imagination, in our affections,
honoring the Son. To know Christ is to know God,
and to know God is to have eternal life. I hope you'll join us next
Lord's Day at this same time over this station, and until
then, I bid you a very pleasant good day.

Who Is God?

What does the Bible say about who God is?

How do we know God is sovereign?

Why is knowing God important for Christians?

How does God reveal Himself to us?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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Who Is God?

What does the Bible say about who God is?

How do we know God is sovereign?

Why is knowing God important for Christians?

How does God reveal Himself to us?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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