What Is God Like?

God’s nature: He is the One and only God. There never has been any other God, nor will there ever be after Him or besides Him. He is eternally existent—no beginning and no end. He is alive. He is a Person—actually, three Persons in one being. He thinks. He feels. He is the designer, the creator, the sustainer of everything, visible and invisible. He knows everything. He is everywhere. He is all-powerful. He is ordered, stable and consistent. He is truly sovereign; He answers to no one. He is the supreme judge and ruler of all. And although the personal pronoun “He” is used, God is the source of both masculine and feminine traits.

God’s character: He is good. He is kind. He is love and is loving. He is honest. He is faithful. He is just. He is righteous. He is merciful. He is self-sacrificing. He is true. He is wise. He is gentle. He is understanding. He is empathetic. He is diligent. He is gracious. He is generous. He is compassionate. He is slow to anger.

God’s purpose: To reveal Himself to His people and all creation for their fulfillment and overwhelming joy.

God’s goals: To forgive those who will acknowledge their sin and accept His gift of forgiveness made possible only through Jesus’ death on the cross. To reestablish a healthy, satisfying and unending relationship between Himself and His people. To remove sin and sinful motivations, words and actions from those who will let Him do it. To give His children new bodies, free from sin and its effects. To make a new home for His children—”new heavens and a new earth where only righteousness exists.” To demonstrate the futility and destructive nature of sin. To punish those who choose to continue in evil and sin and separate them from those who want to live apart from evil and sin.

God’s methods and strategies: He has made His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the foundation and key to all His interactions with mankind. Jesus Christ is God’s full representation of Himself to mankind. Jesus is also the basis upon which all of God’s goodness is given to mankind. God treats people as persons, not like robots, respecting their choices to reject Him and waits for their permission to do His work in them. He imparts His grace and power to those who simply believe the truth given to them about Him. He loves His enemies and equips His children to do the same. He allows His children to suffer the same adversity (and more) that all people suffer in order to reveal His strength and wisdom in their weaknesses and ignorance. He spreads the good news of His salvation to the whole world through His children. He lets sin run its self-destructive course. He uses the shortsightedness and foolishness of sin to accomplish His goals.

- Steve Diehl