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Questions and Answers | Who God Is

Can you provide me with a definition or statement of who God is?

Your request is at once huge and wonderful. The question of who God is cannot be answered in one short paragraph. It is the inquiry of a lifetime, and even in the unbounded scope of eternity, fresh and thrilling vistas of who God is will unfold forever (Eph. 2:7).

Since God is infinite, it is impossible for finite beings to define Him, but based on what He has revealed of Himself in Scripture, the following is my feeble, brief, and yet joyful attempt to explain who He is. The One True God is the God of the Bible, an infinite and supreme being (Deut. 6:4), the Creator (Gen. 1:1) and Sustainer of the universe (Heb. 1:3). He is spirit, light, and love (John 4:24; 1 John 1:5; 4:8). He is invisible (1 Tim. 1:17), self-sufficient (Rom. 11:33–36), unchangeable in His essential being (Ps. 102:25–27; Mal. 3:6; James 1:17), and eternal (Ps. 90:2; Rev. 1:8; 4:8).

The God of the Bible is the Almighty (Rev. 1:8) and all-knowing One (Ps. 139:1–6), everywhere pre- sent in the fullness of His being (Ps. 139:7–12). He is living One—eternally vigorous, eternally flourishing, thriving, and gushing with the infinite oceans and springs of His own glorious life and goodness (1 Tim. 4:10). He is the blessed One—inherently whole, overflowing with well-being and joy (Rom. 9:5; 1 Tim. 1:11). He is the “only wise” (Rom. 16:27), the three-times Holy One (Isa. 6:3), existing forever in the unity of His being in three distinct and inseparable persons or personal self-distinctions—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). What a joy and privilege it is to know and serve our God!

BY Dr. Winfred O. Neely

Dr. Winfred Neely is Vice President and Dean of Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School. An ordained minister, Winfred has served churches across the city of Chicago, the near west suburbs, and Senegal, West Africa. He is the author of How to Overcome Worry (Moody Publishers) and a contributor to the Moody Bible Commentary and Moody Handbook of Preaching. Winfred and his wife Stephne have been married for forty years and have four adult children and nine grandchildren.

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