Ask ten people what they mean by “God,” and you’ll get ten answers. A force. A feeling. A kind of cosmic customer service. Something like us, only bigger and further away.
The God the Bible describes doesn’t fit any of that. He made everything there is. He’s still running it. And He came after us when we had no way of getting to Him.
Here’s what Scripture actually says about Him.
The Bible never argues that God exists
It just starts with Him already working: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). No opening case, no evidence section. He’s simply there.
Part of the reason is that the pointers are everywhere already. The world itself keeps saying something about the One who made it (Romans 1:19–20; Psalm 19:1–4). And there’s something in us that won’t let go of the idea that right and wrong are real, that this life isn’t the whole story (Romans 2:14–15; Ecclesiastes 3:11).
So the Bible focuses on a better question. Not whether God is there, but what He’s like.
What God is like
We’d be guessing, except that God decided we shouldn’t have to. He told us about Himself. That was a kindness, and it’s the only reason any of this is knowable.
- He’s spirit. You can’t photograph Him or put Him in a room (John 4:24).
- He’s one God who exists as three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16–17). All three show up together at Jesus’ baptism.
- He depends on nothing. Nobody made Him. Nothing keeps Him going. When Moses asked for His name, God said, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14).
- He has no limits (1 Timothy 1:17) and no equal (2 Samuel 7:22). He doesn’t drift or change His mind about who He is (Malachi 3:6).
- There’s nowhere He isn’t (Psalm 139:7–12). He knows everything (Psalm 147:5; Isaiah 40:28), and nothing outranks Him (Ephesians 1; Revelation 19:6).
What He’s like toward people
He does what’s right, every time, with nobody to answer to (Acts 17:31). He tells the truth (John 14:6). There’s nothing corrupt or shadowy in Him at all (1 John 1:5). Everything He does, He does perfectly (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 18:30).
And He loves. Not as a mood He happens to be in, but as who He is (1 John 4:8; Ephesians 2:4–5).
He’s gentle with people who are hurting (2 Corinthians 1:3). He’s patient and generous with people who haven’t earned it, which covers all of us (Exodus 34:6; Romans 9:15; Psalm 145:8–9; Romans 5:17).
He also takes evil seriously (Psalm 5:5). He won’t pretend wrong, or sin, is fine, and He forgives (Psalm 130:4). Both of those are true of Him at once.
His thinking goes deeper than ours, and His plans run further than we can see (Isaiah 55:8–9). That’s uncomfortable when life doesn’t make sense. It’s also why He’s worth trusting when it doesn’t.
What He does
You learn a lot about someone by watching what they do, and God has been busy.
- He made the world (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 42:5).
- He’s holding it together right now, this second (Colossians 1:17).
- He’s carrying out a plan that was in motion long before any of us showed up (Ephesians 1:11).
- That plan is a rescue. He’s getting people out from under sin and death, and He did it through Jesus (Galatians 3:13–14; Isaiah 53:5–6; John 3:16).
- He’s the one who draws people to Jesus in the first place (John 6:44).
- He corrects His kids, and He does it because He loves them (Hebrews 12:6).
- He’ll set everything right in the end (Revelation 20:11–15).
He’s a person, not a power source
This is where a lot of us have to unlearn something. God isn’t an energy, a substance, a vibe, or the good feeling you get on a hike. He isn’t a name we give to the universe being nice to us.
He thinks. He plans. He loves. He grieves. He takes joy in things. He can be known, and He wants to be.
If you want to know God, look at Jesus
God didn’t stay at a distance. He came here in person (John 1:14). Everything God is showed up in a body you could sit down and eat with (Colossians 2:9).
That’s how forgiveness became possible (Ephesians 1:7). That’s how the distance closed (Romans 5:10). Jesus doesn’t just tell us about God. He’s God, showing us Himself (John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5). Therefore, God is the most important and most valuable reality in the universe. He is more worthy of interest, attention, admiration, enjoyment, and “followship” than all other realities.
So if you’re trying to figure out who God is, start with Jesus. You don’t need to have it all sorted first. If you’re curious, that’s a good place to be. Find a trusted Christian friend or reach out to us; we’d love to talk with you about it.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
Content for this article was informed by resources from Got Questions Ministries (gotquestions.org and bibleref.com).
