“God replied to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.’ God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you. This is My eternal name, My name to remember for all generations.’” (Exodus 3:14-15 NLT)
Nearly from the beginning of the creation of mankind, we have been asking God to identify Himself. Implicit in that question, of course, is: “Who gives You the authority to do what You do and be who You are?” But even beyond that question, perhaps the core question is: “What gives You the right to tell me what I can or cannot do? Where I will spend eternity?”
Is God simply some cosmic “Boss” who arbitrarily decides who gets life and who doesn’t? Who gets married and who doesn’t? Who deserves heaven and who doesn’t? Who gets sick and who doesn’t? Who is rich and who is poor? The list is endless of the possibilities of the kinds of questions we ask because we simply don’t know or understand who God is.
Implicit in God’s Names is a revelation of Himself. He is: “I AM WHO I AM!” reveals He’s eternal, self-existent, with no beginning or end; He is Omniscient, there’s literally nothing knowable that God doesn’t already know; He is Omnipresent, there’s no place that exists that God isn’t present; He is El Shaddai (“God Almighty”) revealing His supreme power over all creation; He is Jehovah Jireh (“The Lord Will Provide”) affirming His eternal faithfulness; He is Jehovah Nissi (“The Lord is My Banner”) reflecting His eternal protection over all that is His; He is Jehovah Shalom (“The Lord Is Peace”) illustrating He doesn’t simply give peace, He IS peace; Jesus in John 10:10 refers to Himself as “the Good Shepherd” which is among many other times He reveals His identity as God, the One who cares deeply and loves sacrificially. Then in Revelation 1:8 the Lord says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega”, affirming His eternal sovereignty.
The Bible is literally filled with descriptions and affirmations of who God is and what His intentions for mankind have always been. Clarice Fluitt touches on this when she writes: “God is not who you think He is; He is who He says He is.” Couple her words with what J. Vernon McGee wrote: “You will grow by meditating upon the Word of God—that is, by going over it again and again in your thinking until it becomes part of your life.”
Anyone who truly has interest in understanding and knowing, not only about God, but knowing Him personally and intimately through His only Son, the Lord Jesus, can discover unlimited pictures and descriptions of Him in Scripture. But that’s only the beginning. The best part of knowing the Lord is His ever-present fellowship with each of us who know Him as Lord. Here’s something that His ever-presence allows in each of our lives – He loves each of us as though we were His only child!
God isn’t busy tending to some galactic phenomenon, He’s listening to the faint whispers of our heart when we’re lost or afraid; He’s near when our life seems too overwhelming for us to handle, when our mind can’t comprehend what good could possibly lie in our future or why He would allow such calamity and chaos to reign in our lives. So often we blame God for the outcomes of our own decisions, yet He doesn’t blame us or chastise us, rather, He opens His loving arms and invites us to find solace in Him.
Perhaps you’re asking who God is because the lifestyle you’ve chosen hasn’t turned out well and you’re looking for someone to blame. Why not turn your anger to hope and open your heart to the only One who has ever truly loved you, the Lord Jesus, the God of the Bible. Please tap ANewStory.com and learn firsthand how you can know the God of the Bible. You’ll never again need to ask who He is.
Blessings, Ed 😊
