Who is the God of the Bible? What is He like?

Date:   6/7/2005 10:35:59 AM ( 19 y ago)

Many people say they reject the God of the Bible, but they do so largely out of ignorance. They reject a "straw man", that is, they have a distorted view of God and are rejecting that. Let's look at what the Bible says about God.

Scriptures showing that God is Love
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Exodus 34:6
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness..."

Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

Psalm 36:7
How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Ephesians 2:3-5
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

1 John 4:16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

1 Thessalonians 4:9
Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

Titus 3:4-5
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit

Scriptures showing that God is Holy and Just (righteous)
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Leviticus 11:44
I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy...

Joshua 24:19
Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.

1 Samuel 2:2
"There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God."

Psalm 77:13
Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?

Psalm 99:5
Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.

Isaiah 5:16
But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness.

Jeremiah 51:5
For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.

1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for [ Or as the one who would turn aside his wrath, taking away] our sins

Revelation 4:8
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

Scriptures showing that God's holiness sometimes brings His wrath
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Psalm 7:11
God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day.

Psalm 76:10
Surely your wrath against men brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

Jeremiah 10:10
But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.

Jeremiah 25:15
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.

Ezekiel 5:13
"Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath upon them, they will know that I the LORD have spoken in my zeal."

Daniel 11:36
"The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.

Micah 5:15
I will take vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations that have not obeyed me."

Nahum 1:2
The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies.

Romans 1:18
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness

Romans 2:5
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

Colossians 3:6
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ

Revelation 16:1
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth."

Revelation 16:19
The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.
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So we see that the Bible does not paint a one-dimensional picture of God. He is not only love, but He is also holy. He shows mercy, but He also pours out wrath. He is patient and forgiving, but there comes a time when it is too late for us to repent. Many religions have sprung up from a one-dimensional view of God, emphasizing His love for example but ignoring His holiness. He is God our Savior, not a doormat or servant who must do our bidding. We cannot hold God to account or create Him in our image.

God says of Himself,
"Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.

I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please."
(Isaiah 46:9-10)

Does God love the whole world? Yes. But does this mean He will never send anyone to eternal torment in hell? No. To let everyone, regardless of how they lived, into heaven would violate God's holiness, but to send everyone to hell would violate His love. But by stooping down to our level in the Person of Jesus Christ, God solved the dilemma: He satisfied Justice by paying for our sins, yet satisfied His love by not requiring us to pay for our own sins. By offering salvation as a gift to be accepted or rejected, people decide for themselves whether to go to heaven or hell. He is perfectly just and loving in this.

So don't think that you can invent or ignore God and expect to wind up in heaven, saying "A loving God would not send anyone to hell". God is more than love, more than patient, more than powerful. Why entrust your eternal destiny to the philosophies of people? Trust God instead.

 

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