What is God Like?

If you could draw a picture of someone who was invisible, what would you draw? Obviously it would be impossible. Then how would you describe someone who was real but invisible? The Bible gives us insight into what God is like by describing His character and His works. You can know what God is like by the record of His intervention in time and space to reveal Himself to the very creation He Himself spoke into existence "In the beginning..." (Genesis 1:1, NIV).

Scripture Passages: Isaiah 40:28, Malachi 3:6, Isaiah 43:10-13, Isaiah 45:21-24

Main Point: Our Creator is a God who is eternal, unique, unchanging, and righteous in every way. Therefore, He can always be trusted by those He created.

Outline:

Our Creator God is everlasting -- He can always be counted on to be there for you.
Our Creator God is unique -- He is the one true God we should trust.
Our Creator God is unchanging -- He will never act capriciously.
Our Creator God is righteous -- His righteousness brings us to our knees.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. (Isaiah 40:28 NIV)

1. Our Creator God is everlasting -- He can always be counted on to be there for you.

Think back as far as you can in your memories. Perhaps you remember a particular Christmas morning. Maybe you recall riding a tricycle. Can anyone remember their first bottle? No? Well, maybe we can't remember that far...but think now for a moment back in time, back to the beginning. Go back as far as you can imagine -- millions, billions, trillions of years? God already was. Now turn the crank forward as far forward as you can ponder -- millions, trillions, quadrillions? God will still be there. The Bible says that God is eternal.

The Lord God is eternal -- there will never be a time when He is unable or unwilling to be God.

He is forever. When He gave His personal name to us at the burning bush, He called Himself "I AM WHO I AM!" (Exo. 3:14 NIV). He is the One "...who was, and is, and is to come" (Rev. 4:8 NIV).

A coworker of mine transferred to Atlanta from one of our Florida offices. She had purchased a house and was ready to move in. In her last trip to Atlanta prior to the move, she was aghast to see the house she just bought had burned to the ground. The older I get, the more fleeting I find life to be. Time marches on, age creeps up, and death moves ever so closer. But because our Creator God is eternal, we have the assurance that He will always be there for us -- in time and in eternity. We can face life -- however fleeting -- and death -- however close -- with full confidence in the God who never tires, never sleeps, and never dies. God is always there for you. Trust in the God who is, who was, and who is to come!

"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed-- I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?" (Isaiah 43:10-13 NIV)

2. Our Creator God is unique -- He is the one true God we should trust.

Thirty years ago, the proverbial question for our youth was "Who am I?" This gave birth to everything from the Flower Child to the Jesus Freak. The Bible and prayer had been removed from their schools, indicating that they were not really that important to this country. Young people began a desperate quest to understand who they were and where they came from. Sadly, it was this generation's children who were completely stripped of the Christian heritage that gave birth to this great nation. As a result, our youth today ask not "Who am I?" but rather "Who cares?" We see today the lesson from history that any one generation is only one generation away from utter pagan depravity. This nation whose motto reads "In God We Trust" needs to read its motto again. For our Creator is the one true God. There are many false gods created in the minds and hearts of prideful men and women. But these cannot compare, nor can they save, as the one true God who created all things. "I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from Me there is no Savior" (Isaiah 43:11 NIV).

"Who cares?" Jesus cares! He is your Savior -- our Creator God who became flesh and blood to tell you that in person. He could have shouted from the rumbling clouds of heaven but He came in person. He could have lorded over all of us but He came as a servant. He could have dismissed all His enemies with a single breath but He chose to endure death on a cross for your sins -- and for my sins, for the sins of the whole world. He could not have stayed dead for then He would have been just a man who lied to us. But He rose bodily from the grave and showed Himself to friends and foes alike so that we could know for sure that He alone is the God we can trust.

The Lord God is unique -- He is the one true God who is in control of all things.

I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. (Mal. 3:6 NIV)

3. Our Creator God is unchanging -- He will never act capriciously.

God does not change. What does this mean? It means that He is always faithful to His character. He always acts in faithfulness to His character -- holy, just, righteous, merciful, loving, wise, forgiving -- and His word.

The Lord God is unchanging -- He will always act in perfect love and mercy toward us, His special creation.

Never forget that of all the attributes of God, one stands out in Scripture -- God is holy. Yes, God is also the God of love, mercy, forgiveness, justice, goodness, patience, peace, and joy. Yet, this attribute of holiness is taken to the third degree: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isaiah 6:3 NIV). Perhaps no other attribute stands out nor elicits such fear and unease in the hearts of men and women as the holiness of God. It stands forever in stark contrast to our unholy thoughts, words, and deeds. But God never changes. He is faithful to all of His character.

God is also faithful to His word for "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" (Num. 23:19 NIV). We can trust completely in His promises:

"Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved...." (Acts 16:31 NIV).
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Heb. 13:5 NIV).
"I am making everything new!..." (Rev. 21:5 NIV).
"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev. 21:3-4 NIV)

We can trust God because we know that He never changes -- He will never act capriciously, meeting the needs of others but acting differently toward you on a whim. Trust in the God who is faithful and true, our Creator God who never changes!

Declare what is to be, present it ... Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn, My mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before Me every knee will bow; by Me every tongue will swear. They will say of Me, "In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength." All who have raged against Him will come to Him and be put to shame. (Isaiah 45:21-24 NIV)

4. Our Creator God is righteous -- His righteousness brings us to our knees.

People today question if God exists and if so, why does He permit such evil in the world? But God has revealed Himself as utterly righteous in all that He thinks, says, and does. Right and wrong are not the province of humans to decide for one another. I cannot tell you what I think is just and right for you, nor can you tell it to me. The wars, riots, and cruel power struggles replete in our history shows that man cannot decide for himself what is right or wrong, much less for another. Righteousness can only be defined by an outside entity, one who is entirely objective, and possesses the power and authority to bring such a standard to us.

The Lord God is utterly righteous -- Before Him all of us must bend our knee in worship.

Our righteous Creator God has established His righteousness as the standard for us. Perfect
righteousness in thought, word, and deed is His standard. He will remind you of this when, as He has promised, "Before me, every knee will bow; by Me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength'" (Isaiah 45:24 NIV). Before an utterly holy God, you will give an account of your life. Will you measure up to the perfect righteousness of God? God has already declared, "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Rom. 3:10 NIV). This is why He came to us as one of us -- Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Jesus Christ offered His perfect life on a cross in return for all your unrighteousness. Turn from your sin and trust in Him who died for you and you will receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Your sins will be forgiven. Eternity will be spent in heaven with Him. Join with us who have believed in and declared, "Jesus is Lord!"

End Notes

Note - English definitions derived from Webster's Concise Dictionary, Modern Publishing, copyright 1984.
Note - Greek/Hebrew definitions derived from Strong's Greek/Hebrew Concordance.

1a. everlasting (Isaiah 40:28)

English: perpetual, eternal, endless
Hebrew: 5769. 'owlam, o-lawm'; or 'olam, o-lawm'; from H5956; prop. concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; gen. time out of mind (past or fut.), i.e. (practically) eternity; freq. adv. (espec. with prep. pref.) always:-- always (-s), ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, [n-]) ever (-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world (+ without end). Comp. H5331, H5703.

Analysis: everlasting means forever, for all time and eternity.

1a. change (Malachi 3:6)

English: To progress from one state of being to another; to become different, to vary;
Hebrew: 8138. shanah, shaw-naw'; a prim. root; to fold, i.e. duplicate (lit. or fig.); by impl. to transmute (trans. or intrans.):--do (speak, strike) again, alter, double, (be given to) change, disguise, (be) diverse,

Analysis: God's does not change in character, word, or deeds. He remains the same forever.

1a. righteous (Isaiah 45:22)

English: just, equitable, ruled by what is right; blameless, upright.
Hebrew: 6666. tsedaqah, tsed-aw-kaw'; from H6663; rightness (abstr.), subj. (rectitude), obj. (justice), mor. (virtue) or fig. (prosperity):--justice, moderately, right (-eous) (act, -ly, -ness).

Analysis: Righteousness is being concerned about what is right in God's eyes and doing it.