The Nature of God

It is utterly necessary that we know this God, this One that John wrote about, this One that the poet speaks about, this One that theology talks about and this One that we’re sent to preach and teach about.  It is absolutely, utterly and critically necessary that we know this One, for you see, man fell when he lost his right concept of God.   -   A. W. Tozer, The Attributes of God

The truth of the above statement has been lived out for all time and with all people.  When Eve was deceived by the serpent in the garden, the deception began with questioning what God had actually said.  The simple accusation, “Did God really say,” first spoken by the devil has been repeated in every single generation to the distortion of God’s word, objective truth, and ultimately who God really is.  Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”   Jesus is also referred to as “holy and true” in Revelation 3:7 and 6:10.  And in Romans 3:4, Paul exclaims, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” Therefore, to question what God has said is to question truth itself. 

Once we call into question what God has said, it is relatively easy to take the next step of denying the truth of what God said.  Notice in Genesis how quickly the devil goes from calling into question what God said to claiming just the opposite.  Man believed the deception, lost his right concept of God, and fell.  We must regain that right concept of God before we can begin to see the truth.  In John 17:3, Jesus tells us what eternal life is – it is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ who God has sent.  In 1 John 5:20 we are told that “we are in him who is true – even in his Son Jesus Christ.  He is the true God and eternal life.  Clearly, eternal life is knowing God, not knowing of God, but knowing who God really is.  To know God is to know truth.  Therefore, when we stray from the truth, we stray from the knowledge of God and, ultimately, we distort who God is.

The question then becomes how we know God.  We are told in 1 Timothy 6:16 that God dwells in unapproachable light.  No one has seen God, nor can anyone for that matter.  In Isaiah 55:8-9 we are told, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Finally, in Psalm 145:3 we find that not only is the Lord great and greatly to be praised, we also discover that “his greatness is unsearchable.”  Truly, there is nothing to which we can compare God – no person or no thing. 

So how can we know God?  Obviously, we cannot by ourselves know God.  However, all is not lost.  When Jesus was questioning his disciples about who the people said he was (Matthew 16:13-17), the disciples responded, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  Jesus then asked the disciples, “Who do you say I am?”  And Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  Then Jesus said something infinitely profound, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”  Peter had been with Jesus for some time now and witnessed some amazing things, but what Peter knew about Jesus was not revealed to him by man, including his own observations, but by God himself.  By God the Father’s revelation Peter was able to state plainly that Jesus was God incarnate.  Therefore, it is not by our effort, intellect, or will that we know God.  It is by God’s grace and his revelation of who he is that we come to a true knowledge of God.

In other words, God’s true nature, who he is, is not something that man has figured out on his own, nor can he.  God is not a puzzle for man to solve, nor an object for man to create.  After all, how can that which is created give definition to that which created it?  For even man’s intellect and powers of observation are created by God.  As Arthur Pink put so well, “’God is Spirit’ (John 4:24), and therefore can only be known spiritually.  But fallen man is not spiritual; he is carnal…he cannot see the things of God (John 3:3), still less apprehend them (1 Cor. 2:14).”  We are totally incapable of giving any kind of satisfactory definition of God without God’s help, or revelation (2 Cor. 4:6).  Ultimately, God is the sovereign on whom we cling and to whom we look for truth, including His very nature.  What we know about God we learn from God, not from man.  Therefore, we know God through his revelation to us, and his revelation to us comes from creation, history, our conscience, God’s interaction with us, miracles, prophecy, his word in the Scriptures, and in the person and work of Jesus Christ (Thiessen, pp. 7-11; see also Romans 1:18-20, 2 Timothy 3:16, and Hebrews 1:1-2).  

When man has struck out on his own to discover God and conquer the mystery of God, he falls short of God because he denies the truth and suppresses the knowledge that God has given him and, in the end, worships creation rather than the Creator (Roman 1:18-25).  Some wise person once noted that when we seek to define God, God ends up looking an awful lot like us.  This appears to be the case in Mormonism. 

What Mormons understand about God is predominantly derived from the teachings of Joseph Smith.  Smith first established the purely physical attribute of God in what has come to be known as the King Follett Discourse.  Speaking at a funeral for the recently deceased King Follett, Smith declared, “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!…I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and every form as a man….He was once a man like us” (as quoted in The New Mormon Challenge, p. 184).   This teaching is affirmed in Doctrine and Covenants 130:22a, where it states, “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.”  Mormon apologists have thus come to the conclusion that “God and humans are of the same species of being” (Robinson, How Wide the Divide?, p. 18).  In fact, Mormons have even characterized man as being “a god in embryo” (Ensign, June 1993, p. 10).  

One of the problems in Mormon theology is that the concept of God has taken several turns since its introduction by Joseph Smith.  From 1832 to 1838, Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision underwent a number of revisions, ranging from seeing angels to seeing only Jesus and finally to seeing Jesus and the Father.  Furthermore, the Book of Mormon, first published in 1830, presents one God who is spirit and a much closer Trinitarian, though modalistic, theology.  By 1839, the official version of the First Vision account declared that Joseph smith saw the Father and the Son and they were “personages of flesh and bone.” As a result of this evolution in the nature of God, Mormons believe that Jesus and the Father are separate and distinct Gods, as is the Holy Spirit, thus identifying three gods within the theology of Mormonism.  Later, Brigham Young taught that Adam was, in fact, God.  Though Mormons no longer adhere to this doctrine, the important point is that Mormon theology has changed over time.  In contrast, biblical Christian theology has not only remained unchanged but is utterly consistent throughout the writing of the books of the Bible by forty different authors over a period of approximately 1600 years (Thiessen, p. 46).

The Bible is very clear on the fact that God is not a man.  In Psalm 50:21, God declares about the acts of the wicked, “These things hast thou done and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself; but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes.”  God clearly detests any kind of comparison to his creation.  In Numbers 23:19, Job 9:32, Hosea 11:9, and 1 Samuel 15:29, God unequivocally states that he is God and not man, nor was he ever man. 

From the foregoing, it is easy to see why it is so important to maintain that right concept of God that Tozer spoke of and why, when we stray from what God has revealed, we become lost in confusion and succumb to false concepts about God.  God is not a God of confusion.  That is not to say that we can completely comprehend God, because we cannot.  Nor can we fully understand what God has revealed, though we humbly and reverently seek to understand.  Augustine once said, “If you can understand it, it’s not God.” A God worthy of worship is one who is both personal and incomprehensible.  If God is one or the other, we either cannot approach him—in which case we might as well not know him—or he is all too common—in which case there is no reason to stand in awe, reverence, or fear of him.  However, that is clearly not the God of the Bible.  For the God of the Bible is both personal and incomprehensible.  Therefore, the reality for those who know God is that we can fall at his feet and rejoice in his mercy and love crying “Abba,” while at the same time humbly, reverently, and fearfully growing in the grace and knowledge of God and searching the riches of his infinite majesty for all eternity.

Mormon leaders and authors have frequently chided Christians for believing in what the LDS characterize, incorrectly, as an impersonal and strange God that no one can know or explain.  Mormons often point to the simplicity and tangibility of their characterization of God as the only explanation that makes sense for our being created in God’s image and able to have a personal relationship with him.   Therefore, it is vitally important when speaking to Mormons that we convey the right concept of God as he has revealed it to us in his Word, which is exactly where we now turn.

1. The Biblical Names for God
1. Elohim – Plural form of the general term for god (el).  Commonly used with singular verbs and adjective to indicate a singular idea. Some scholars believe that Elohim was used with singular verbs to denote a plurality, while others believe that it was used to indicate intensity.  In any event, El, along with its derivatives Elim, Elohim, and Eloah, is widely used in the OT in reference to God.
2. El-Shaddai – Almighty God (Genesis 17:1)
3. El-Elyon – Most High (Psalm 78:35)
4. Jehovah (more correctly Yahweh) – Based on the tetragrammaton, YHWH, it is the personal and most holy name for God and literally means “He is,” “self-existent one,” or “one who causes to be.” Jehovah in English translations is rendered Lord. (Exodus 6:2, 3:13-16).  See also the use of Lord God together as in Genesis 2:4 and thousands of other times throughout the OT, including Deuteronomy chapters 4 through 6.
5. There are also many more references to God as the Rock, Amen, Alpha and Omega, Lord of Hosts, etc.

2. The Essence of God
1. Spirituality – God is spirit (John 4:24).  If God is spirit, then he is also immaterial and incorporeal (Luke 24:39).  Because God is spirit and He has no physical form, we are commanded to not make any image of Him (Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 4:15-19).  See also Act 7:48 regarding where God dwells.  So what of the many references to seeing God face-to-face (Genesis 32:30; Exodus 3:6; Deut. 34:10; and Isaiah 6:1)?  Hebrews 1:3 states that the “Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” Like our reflection in a mirror, we may see the reflection of God, or the “afterglow” of God as Moses did, but that is far different that seeing His essence or being.
   God being spirit also implies that God is alive, has feelings, and is active in his creation (Psalm 84:2; Matthew 16:16; Revelation 7:2).  Also, compare to dead idols (Psalm 115:3-9; 1 Thessalonians 1:9).
   Having spirituality also means having personality, or personhood.  God has self-consciousness, self-determination, intellect, sensibility, and volition (Exod. 3:14; Isa. 45:5; Jer. 23:30; Rom. 9:11, 11:33-36; Gen. 18:19; Psalm 103:8-14; John 6:38).  God is also shown to speak (Gen. 1:3), see (Gen. 11:5), hear (Psalm 94:9), grieve (Gen 6:6), be angry (Deut. 1:36), be jealous (Exod. 20:5), and be compassionate (Psalm 111:4), and much, much more.
2. Self-existence – Nothing caused God to exist, nor is God his own cause.  He is un-caused, self-existent, the un-caused cause (Exod. 3:14; John 8:58; Isa. 41:4; Rev. 1:8).
3. Immensity – God is not limited by space.  He is above all space. He is immanent and transcendent, which means he is everywhere at once and in totality acting within and apart from His creation (1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chron 2:6; Ps 113:4-6; 139:7; Isa 66:1; Jer 23:24; Acts 7:48-49, 17:24-28).
4. Eternal – God is the “Everalasting God” and is from “everlasting to everlasting.  He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  He does not change.  See Gen. 21:33, Ps. 90:2 and 102:27, Isa 57:15, 1 Tim 6:16, Heb. 1:12, Num 23:19.  God created time itself (Heb 1:2; 11:3) and is, therefore, above all time.

3. Attributes of God
1. Omnipresent – This is similar in nature to God’s immensity.  He is everywhere at once and in the same sense.  Because spirit is indivisible, and God is spirit (John 4:24), where the spirit is, it is there completely.  Therefore, God is everywhere completely.  See for example 1 Kings 8:27; Ps. 139:7-10; Isa. 66:1; Jer. 23:23; Acts 7:48; 17:24; Romans 10:6-8; Deut 4:7; Ps 46:1; 145:18; Matt 28:20.  It should be noted that God’s omnipresence is volitional.  He is everywhere he wills to be.  Otherwise, God would have to be contained in all things everywhere as taught by pantheism.  God is not in the hearts of unbelievers and will not be in hell with those who reject him. 
2. Omniscient – God has infinite knowledge, understanding, and wisdom (Isaiah 46:10).  Nothing is hidden from God (Psalm 47:5; Hebrews 4:13).  God know man intimately, including his works, thoughts, fears, and dreams (Psalm 33:13-15; Proverbs 5:21; Psalm 139:104; Proverbs 15:3; Exodus 3:7; Matt 6:8, 32).  God even knows all things possible (1 Samuel 23:11; Matt 11:21-23).  Finally, God knows the future (Isa. 46:9; Daniel 2, 7; Matt. 24, 25; Acts 15:18).  See also all fulfilled prophecy.
3. Omnipotent – God is all powerful and able to do all things that he wills.  However, God cannot do anything that is contrary to his nature (Gen 17:1; Rev 4:8; Job 42:2; Matt 19:26; Jer. 32:17).  God cannot sin, lie, tempt or be tempted. See Habakuk 1:13; 2 Timothy 2:13; Titus 1:2; and James 1:13.  Not being able to what is contrary to His nature or what is absurd (make a square circle) does not lessen in any way God’s omnipotence. 
4. Immutable – Being absolute perfection, God does not change in any sense.  The discussion around God’s unity, or oneness, and His self-existence, or being un-caused, allude to the fact that what is by itself cannot change.  It simply is.  And because God is, apart from anything that is created or caused, God must exist as he does without change.  All change is for better or worse.  Because God does not change, it is impossible for Him to become better or worse than He is.  See James 1:7; Psalm 102:26; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 1:12; Romans 4:20; Psalm 33:11; Isa. 46:10; 1 Kings 8:56; 2 Cor. 1:20; Psalm 103:17; Gen 18:25; Isa. 28:17.
   LDS doctrine teaches that God was once a man and changed into his current state of exaltation.  Not only did God change from being a man to being a god, he also changed from being a spirit child into being a man before changing into a god.  In light of the foregoing, it is impossible for God to be anything that he is not now, in quality or character.  Furthermore, God makes it quite clear in his word that he is not a man, nor was he ever a man (Job 9:32; Hosea 11:9; 1 Samuel 15:29; Numbers 23:19).
5. Holy – God has especially made known to us his holiness.  In a sense, holiness is the attribute of God that is made most clear in the OT (Lev. 11:44; Josh. 24:19; 1 Sam. 6:20; Ps. 22:3; Isa. 40:25; Ezek. 39:6; Hab. 1:12).  See also NT references to God’s holiness in John 17:11; Heb. 12:10; 1 Peter 1:15; Rev. 4:8.  It is also important to note that because of our sin and God’s holiness, there is a chasm between us (Isaiah 59:1-2).  And that chasm cannot be bridged apart from God’s help (Rom. 5:6; 8:3), but because of God’s help, we can enter into his holiness by Christ (Rom. 5:2; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 2:18; Heb. 10:19).
6. Righteous – God’s holiness leads to his righteousness, which is manifest in His interaction with His creation (2 Chron 12:6; Ezra 9:15; Neh. 9:33; Isa 45:21; Dan 9:14; John 17:25; 2 Tim 4:8; Rev. 16:5).  God will judge righteously (Acts 17:31) and because of His righteousness and holiness demands nothing short of righteousness from us.  Praise be to God through Jesus Christ we have a righteous standing before God (John 17:24; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phi. 3:9).
7. Good – Jesus declared that there is none good but God (Mark 10:18).  God’s goodness in manifest in His love for he is love (2 Cor. 13:11; 1 John 4:8; John 3:16; Deut. 7:6-8; Jer. 31:3), His benevolence (Ps. 145:9), His mercy (Eph. 2:4; 1 Pet. 1:3; Ps 103:17), and His grace (Eph 2:7; 1 Pet 4:10, 5:12; Exod 34:6; Rom 2:4; 3:25; 9:22; 1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 3:9, 15).  See also Psalm 100 where all this is brought together.
8. Truth – God does not just speak the truth, He is truth (John 14:6; John 17:3; 1 John 5:20; John 3:33; Roma 3:4; 1 Thess 1:9: Rev 3:7, 6:10).

4. Nature of God
1. Unity – According to Thiessen (p. 89), “The unity of God means that there is but one God and that the divine nature is undivided and indivisible.” The overarching theme in the OT is that there is but one God (Deut. 4:35, 39; 1 Kings 8:60; Isa 43:10, 45:5).  See also NT references to one God in Mark 12:29-32, John 17:3, 1 Cor. 8:4-6, and 1 Tim. 2:5).  Additionally, because there is only one God, God is said to be unique (Isa. 40:25-26; Exod. 15:11; Zech. 14:9).  The Jewish Shema (Deut 6:4 and Mark 12:29-32) also indicates that God is one numerically and in unity with Himself.  It is important to note that the unity of God is completely consistent with the Trinity.  Unity does not imply singleness in terms of units.  Rather It speaks to God’s nature as “numerically and eternally one” (Thiessen, p. 89).  What this means for the Trinity is that there is one God in essence and substance, or  being, and within this on Being, who is God, there exists three co-eternal, co-equal persons – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  As James White (Christian Research Journal, vol. 21, no. 4) puts it, “Being is what makes something what it is.  Person is what makes someone who he or she is.  Therefore, there is one what (the being of God) and three whos (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) (White).   
2. Trinity – The Trinity as expressed in the Athanasian Creed, as well as others, was not expressed out of the desire of the early church to define God or come to grips with who God is.  Rather, it was done to combat the spread of heretical teachings on the nature of God.  What is expressed in the Athanasian Creed is completely consistent with the Scriptures as presented here.  In part, the creed states, “We worship one God in the Trinity, and the Trinity in unity; we distinguish among the persons, but we do not divide the substance…The entire three persons are coeternal and coequal with one another, so that…we worship complete unity in Trinity and Trinity in unity” (as quoted in Thiessen, p. 90).

1. General statements and allusions in Scripture – God used plural pronouns and verbs to refer to himself (Gen. 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa. 6:8).  The Lord is distinguished form the Lord in Genesis 19:24 and Hosea 1:7.  The Son is distinguished from the Father in Isaiah 48:16, Psalm 45:6, 2:7, and Isaiah 63:9.  The Son is also declared the “only begotten” and “firstborn” (John 3:16, 18; Hebrews 1:6).  The reference to “firstborn” and “only begotten” do not in any way represent a beginning for the Son because the Son is eternal (Isa. 9:6; Micah 5:2).  The Spirit is also distinguished from God in Genesis 1:1-2, 6:3; Numbers 27:18; Psalm 51:11; Isa. 40:13; Hag. 2:4.
   In the NT, we have the following scriptures that allude to the Trinity: Matt 3:16; Matt 28:19; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Cor. 12:4-6; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 2 Cor. 13:14; Rom. 15:16; Eph 1:3-14; Eph. 4:4-6; and 1 Peter 1:2, 3:18.

2. The Father as God – John 6:27; Romans 1:7; Gal. 1:1.

3. The Son as God – Matt. 16:15, 22:42; 2 Cor. 4:5-6; Hebrews 1:8; Psalm 45:6,7.  Jesus is eternal (John 8:58; Col. 1:15; John 1:1; 1 John 1:1; Micah 5:2).  Jesus is omnipresent (John 3:13; Matt 18:20, 28:20; Eph. 1:23).  Jesus is omniscient (John 16:20, 21:17; Col. 2:3; Matt 11:27).  Jesus is omnipotent (John 5:19-23; Isa 9:6; Heb 1:3; Matt 28:18.  Jesus is immutable, unchanging (Heb 1:12; 13:8).
   Jesus is also identified as the creator and upholder of all things (John 1:3; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:3).  Jesus forgave sins (Matt 9:2, 6), raised, and will raise, the dead (John 5:25-29; Luke 7:12-16; Mark 5:35-43; John 11:38-44), and he will judge (John 5:22; Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 19:15; Acts 17:31). 
   The names for Jesus and what he said of himself could only be said of God. See John 5:17-23; John 6:41; 8:58; 10:9; 11:25; 14:16; 15:5; Rev. 1:8, 16; Rev. 22:13, 16; Rev. 3:14.  He was called God with us, or Immanuel (Matt. 1:22 and Isa. 7:14). 
   Jesus accepted divine worship which according to Exodus 34:14 and Matthew 4:10 are only due to God himself (Matt. 14:33; 28:9; Luke 5:8; John 20:28-29; Revelation 5).  Compare to Acts 10:25-26; Rev. 19:10, 22:8-9.
   His disciples recognized him as God.  See specifically Thomas’ reaction to Jesus upon seeing him resurrected (John 20:28), Stephen’s prayer (Acts 7:55-59), and Paul’s declaration of Jesus being our “great God and Savior” (Titus 2:13). See also where Jesus was called Lord in the context of its translation from Yahweh (Matt 7:21; Luke 1:43; 2:11; Acts 16:31; 1 Cor. 12:3; Phil. 2:11).

4. The Holy Spirit as God – He is a person (John 14:26, 16:13) with personal characteristics of intellect (1 Cor. 2:11), sensibilities (Rom. 8:27; 15:30), and will (1 Cor. 12:11).  His power is distinguished from his person (Rom. 15:13; 1 Cor. 2:4).  He can also be tempted (Acts 7:51), insulted (Heb. 10:29), and blasphemed (Matt 12:31).  He has all the attributes of deity, such as being eternal (Heb 9:14), omniscient (1 Cor. 2:10; John 14:26, 16:12), omnipotent (Luke 1:35), and omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-10).  Finally, creation (Gen. 1:2; Job 33:4; Ps. 104:30), inspiration (2 Peter 1:21; Acts 1:16, 28:25), and raising of the dead (Rom. 8:11) are all ascribed to the Holy Sprit.

5. Equal and eternally distinct – From what God has revealed about himself, we know that there is but one God; and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all fully contain the attributes of the one God, yet are distinct one from the other.  By logical extension, then, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, but they remain eternally distinct and in eternal relationship.  It should not be surprising that this taxes our ability to fully conceptualize God.  After all, we are that which is created not the creator.  Yet, it is very clear from the foregoing that God has chosen to reveal himself in this way, and we must not attempt to redefine God so that we can better conceptualize him. 
   The amazing thing about the Trinity, and one that should fill us all with joy and help us understand it better, is that it expresses an eternal relationship and ever flowing love among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Love is meaningless without relationship.  Because God is love, the Trinity makes more sense because it denotes eternal relationship.  We are part of that relationship now through Christ and will have eternity to explore the riches of God’s glory and richness of his nature.  Now that truly is joy beyond measure.  The job before us now is to share that hope with those who have gone astray and need to know the Way, the Truth, and the Life – our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.