III. The nature of God.
III. THE NATURE OF GOD.
A. Definitions of God.
1. Scriptural Definitions.
a. God is Spirit — "God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).
b. God is Light — "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (I John 1:5).
c. God is Love — "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (I John 4:8).
d. God is a Consuming Fire — "For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29).
2. Theological Definitions.
a. Westminster Catechism: — "God is a Spirit, Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Being, Wisdom, Power, Holiness, Justice, Goodness and Truth."
b. Dr. Strong: — "God is the Infinite and Perfect Spirit. The Source of all things, the Support of all things, the End of all things."
c. Andrew Fuller; — "God is the First Cause and Last End of all things."
d. Ebrards: — "God is the Eternal Source of all that is temporal."
B. Spirituality of God.
1. His Essence. He is a Spiritual Being ("God is a Spirit" — John 4:24), invisible ("Who is the image of the invisible God" — Col. 1:15a). What is a spirit? A spirit is a being without flesh and bones. "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" (Luke 24:39). A spirit has a body, a spirit-body; but it has no natural body, no material body. God cannot be seen by human eye; God, in His pure essence, has never been seen. "No man hath seen
God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:18).
2. His Manifestations. While God, in His true essence, has never been seen, yet He hath shown Himself, revealed His Person to man in different forms. The Scriptures ask, "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One" (Is. 40:25). Man cannot know God but in the way He has revealed Himself. Are we not glad that God has revealed Himself in His Son? Where Christ is the image of God, the Anti-christ shall be an imitation.
There seems to be some contradictions in the Word; in some places it says that people saw God: "The LORD spake unto Moses face to face" (Ex. 33:11); "Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel…" (Ex. 24:9, 10). In other places the Word says that it is impossible to see God: "He said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live" (Ex. 33:20). The truth is, man has never looked upon the face of God in His true essence, but has looked upon His face and spoken mouth to mouth with God when God manifested Himself in some form other than his true essence. "With him will I speak mouth to mouth…" (Num. 12:8a).
We do know this, that the Spirit (Holy Spirit) can manifest Himself in a visible form. "John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him" (John 1:32). It was at the Lord Jesus' baptism that John saw the form, but not the Spirit; yet the Spirit was manifested.
God has manifested Himself in many forms; among them are the following:
a. In Creature Forms. By this we do not mean that the LORD appeared in the form of animals, but rather in the form of human beings. Genesis 3:8 and 12:7 illustrate this fully: "They heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden" (Gen. 3:8); "The LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him" (Gen. 12:7). See also Genesis 16:7, 10, 13; Exodus 24:9-11; Genesis 18:1-16; Judges 13:22, 23; Genesis 32:24-30.
God also manifested Himself as the Angel of the LORD — "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them" (Ps. 34:7); "The angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction" (Gen. 16:11). It is agreed among most Bible scholars that the Angel of the LORD is no other than the Lord Jesus Himself.
b. In Material Forms. Man could not see God; therefore, God manifested Himself in forms from which He spoke to and led him. One such form was the Burning Bush: "When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I" (Ex. 3:4); Another form was the Pillar of a Cloud and a Pillar of Fire: "The LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night" (Ex. 13:21).
c. In The Person of Christ Jesus. Again we state that we are rejoicing that God does not choose today to reveal Himself other than in His Son, Jesus Christ! God does not choose to manifest Himself in a vapor, but rather in human form: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:1, 14). See also I Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:3.
Personality of God
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