Who is God?

What do you do when researching or studying a specific topic?

One of the first things I do is go to the people I respect and see what they think. I also go to people that are noted as being specialists or scholars in the specific issue I’m interested in. Especially when it comes to tough issues in theology and the Bible, many Christians don’t have the knowledge/skill as many scholars and academics, so it only makes sense that we go to their books and articles to see what they’ve found.[1]

So, what about the topic of God? His character? Attributes? Etc?

If I think of a person who would be most knowledgeable and skillful in this area, I can only conclude that Jesus would be it. So, I went to Jesus for help.

I went through the gospel of Matthew and attempted to find everything that Jesus believed about God. Of course there are actions and words Jesus said that implied what He believed about God (so I counted those as true). I organized them in 5 groups: Things that God is, God does, God has, God cares for, and God knows.

THINGS THAT GOD IS

God is Lord of heaven and earth. (Mt 11:25)

God is worthy of our ultimate service. (Mt 3:10)

God is our Father. (Mt 5:16)

God is perfect. (Mt 5:48)

God is Spirit. (Mt 10:20)

God is living. (Mt 16:16)

God is in heaven. (Mt 5:16, 6:9)

God can be seen. (Mt 5:8) 

THINGS THAT GOD DOES

God speaks. (Mt 4:4)

God gives rewards. (Mt 6:1,4,6,18)

God sees us. (Mt 6:4)

God forgives. (Mt 6:12,14-15)

God delivers us from evil. (Mt 6:13)

God gives us good things. (Mt 7:11)

God handed all things over to Him (Jesus) and has given Him authority. (Mt 11:27, 28:18)

God gives commands. (Mt 15:3-4)

God joins man and woman together in marriage. (Mt 19:6)

THINGS THAT GOD HAS

God has a Son and sons. (Mt 3:17, 5:9)

God has a kingdom in heaven. (Mt 4:17, 5:10)

God has a throne in heaven. (Mt 5:34)

God has a will. (Mt 6:10, 7:21; Mark 3:35)

God has power. (Mt 22:29, 26:53)

THINGS THAT GOD CARES FOR

God cares for creation. (Mt 6:26,30)

God cares for our needs. (Mt 6:26,30,32)

God cares for children. (Mt 18:14)

THINGS THAT GOD KNOWS

God knows what we need before we ask Him. (Mt 6:8)

God alone knows the coming of the Son of Man. (Mt 24:36)

I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty good theology.

[1] Now, as an obvious reality, not every ‘scholademic’ is right. Sure, they might have accurate dates and names, but a lot of their work is interpretation and theory.