What is God?
What Is God? A Theological Exploration
A.W. Tozer famously wrote, “What is God like? If by that question we mean, ‘What is God like in Himself?’ there is no answer. If we mean, ‘What has God disclosed about Himself that the reverent reason can comprehend?’ there is, I believe, an answer both full and satisfying.”
Tozer captures a profound truth: we cannot fully comprehend God in His essence. As Job declared, “Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?” (Job 11:7–8, NKJV). Yet, through divine revelation in Scripture and creation, God has disclosed what He desires us to know, allowing “reverent reason” to grasp truths about Him.
God’s Name: "I AM WHO I AM"
When Moses was commissioned to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he asked God for His name: “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” (Exodus 3:13, NKJV). God replied, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you”’” (Exodus 3:14, NKJV).
The Hebrew phrase “ehyeh asher ehyeh” is often rendered, “I AM WHO I AM,” or “I BE THAT I BE.” This self-disclosure reveals God as pure existence—Being itself. Everything else has existence, but God is existence. This profound truth forms the foundation of what we understand about God.
Five Core Truths About God’s Nature
From His self-revelation and Scripture, we derive five essential truths about what God is:
1. God Is Self-Existent
God is not contingent on anything outside Himself. He is life itself and the source of all life. Jesus affirmed this when He said, “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26, NKJV). Paul declared to the Athenians, “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25, NKJV). God exists independently and is the uncaused cause of everything that exists.
2. God Is Necessary
Unlike creation, which is contingent and could cease to exist, God is a necessary being. His existence is non-negotiable and foundational to all reality. Without God, nothing else could exist. Job captures this dependency: “If He should set His heart on it, if He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust” (Job 34:14–15, NKJV).
3. God Is Personal and Purposeful
God is not an impersonal force but a personal being with intent, will, and purpose. He actively directs creation according to His perfect plan. “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure’” (Isaiah 46:10, NKJV). God’s personal nature is evident in His relationship with humanity and His redemptive actions throughout history.
4. God Is Triune
God is one in essence but exists eternally in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the mystery of the Trinity. Deuteronomy 6:4 declares, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (NKJV). Yet, Scripture reveals the plurality within God: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, NKJV). Each Person of the Godhead is fully God, yet there is only one God.
Jesus, the Son, is described as the Creator and sustainer of all things: “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:3–4, NKJV). The Spirit, too, is active in creation and redemption, demonstrating the unity and diversity of God’s triune nature.
5. God Is Love
The Bible not only describes God as loving but declares that God is love. “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8, NKJV). God’s love is not contingent or reactive; it is intrinsic to His being. His love is demonstrated supremely in the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ, for our salvation: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, NKJV).
God’s Revelation in His Works
God’s nature is revealed in His works:
Creation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NKJV). Everything in the universe testifies to His power, wisdom, and glory (Psalm 19:1–3).
Sustenance: God actively upholds and sustains His creation. “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17, NKJV).
Redemption: God sent His Son to redeem humanity from sin and death. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7, NKJV).
Judgment: God is the righteous Judge who will hold all creation accountable. “He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained” (Acts 17:31, NKJV).
What God Is to Us
Ultimately, God is the Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Judge. He is the self-existent, necessary, personal, triune, and loving Being who invites us into a relationship with Him. Through Jesus Christ, God reveals Himself fully: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9, NKJV). By His Spirit, He draws us to Himself, enabling us to experience His love and grace.
To know God is to know life itself. As Jeremiah 9:24 reminds us: “But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord (NKJV).
