What is God like. The Bible does not keep that answer hidden behind a curtain. It tells us of a God who is far above us and yet near to us, a God whose greatness no mind can measure and whose kindness meets the weary at ground level. When we speak of God’s attributes we are not building a chart; we are listening to how God has made Himself known in His works and in His Word. He is eternal, unmade and unending, and the same Lord who numbers the stars also numbers our steps with care (Psalm 90:2; Matthew 10:29–31). To know His character is to have ballast in the storms of life and a firm song in seasons of joy, because worship grows where truth about God takes root (Psalm 145:3; John 4:24).
Scripture also shows that some features of God belong to Him alone, while others are reflected in people made in His image. God alone is without beginning, unchanging in His being, unlimited in power and knowledge, and sovereign over all He has made (Exodus 3:14; Malachi 3:6; Jeremiah 32:17; Psalm 115:3). Yet He also shares His moral beauty with His children so that they may love as He loves, tell the truth as He is true, and show mercy as He is merciful by the power of His Spirit (1 John 4:8; John 14:6; Luke 6:36). Understanding both the greatness that sets Him apart and the goodness He grows in us helps us worship well, walk wisely, and stand steady when the winds rise (Romans 11:33; Philippians 1:9–11).
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Historical and Cultural Background
Israel learned who God is not by guessing but by God stepping forward in history. When the Lord called Abram and promised a land, a people, and a blessing to all nations, He was not just planning events; He was revealing a faithful name that could be trusted through centuries (Genesis 12:1–3; Genesis 15:7). When He told Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” He spoke as the self-existent One, the God who depends on no one and who keeps covenant and shows love to a thousand generations of those who fear Him (Exodus 3:14; Exodus 34:6–7). That is how Israel came to know that the Lord is holy, separate from the idols of the nations, blazing in purity, yet willing to dwell among His people and bless them (Isaiah 6:3; Leviticus 26:11–12). In a world filled with gods who were thought to be local and limited, the Lord showed Himself Creator and King of all the earth, the One who raises and removes rulers according to His wise plan (Psalm 24:1; Daniel 2:21).
The surrounding cultures imagined a crowded heaven of competing powers. Egypt exalted the Nile and the sun. Canaan tied rain to Baal’s moods. Rome demanded loyalty at the emperor’s altar. Against that backdrop the prophets insisted that the Lord alone is God and that idols are empty things that cannot speak or save (Isaiah 45:5–6; Psalm 115:4–8). Israel’s Scriptures did not piece together abstract ideas about God; they gathered the record of His acts and His names. He is the Lord who sees, the Lord who heals, the Lord our righteousness, the Lord who provides, names that fit real moments of rescue and discipline and hope (Genesis 16:13; Exodus 15:26; Jeremiah 23:6; Genesis 22:14). Across centuries those names trained the people to trust that the God who spoke is the God who acts and the God who acts is the same God whose heart is steady and whose compassions never fail (Numbers 23:19; Lamentations 3:22–23).
With the coming of Christ the light grew brighter. The New Testament says that God has now spoken in His Son and that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, which means that to look at Jesus is to see the Father’s heart in human flesh (Hebrews 1:1–3; John 1:18). He is the image of the invisible God, the One by whom and for whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together (Colossians 1:15–17). The early church, made of Jew and Gentile in one new people, announced that this Jesus is Lord and that the Spirit poured out at Pentecost brings God’s presence near to those who believe, sealing them for the day of redemption and growing His likeness in them while they wait for His return (Acts 2:32–33; Ephesians 1:13–14). At the same time, the promises God made to Abraham and to David remain sure, and the distinction between Israel and the church remains part of the story God is writing as history moves toward the kingdom to come (Romans 11:28–29; Acts 1:6–7).
Biblical Narrative
From the first page of Scripture we learn that God is before all things and that all things owe their existence to His call. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” a sentence that lifts our eyes from dust to glory and sets the stage for every truth that follows (Genesis 1:1). His word spoke light into the deep and life onto the earth, and He blessed what He made as good, showing both power without limit and care without flaw (Psalm 33:6; Genesis 1:31). He formed man and woman in His image, giving them dignity and purpose and placing them as stewards under His rule, a trust that reflects His wisdom and generosity (Genesis 1:27–28; Psalm 8:5–8). Even when humanity fell, choosing to trust their own judgment instead of the Lord’s command, God did not break His world apart; He promised a Redeemer who would crush the serpent and heal what sin had harmed (Genesis 3:6; Genesis 3:15).
The story of the exodus shows His mercy and His might in one sweep. He heard the groans of His people in Egypt, remembered His covenant, and came down to deliver them with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, signs and wonders that humbled the gods of the Nile and the pride of Pharaoh (Exodus 2:23–25; Exodus 12:12). At the sea He made a path where none existed and brought His people through while the waters returned on their enemies, teaching Israel to sing that the Lord is a warrior and that His love endures forever (Exodus 14:21–31; Psalm 136:13–15). At Sinai He revealed His holy law and His holy name, tying obedience to blessing and warning against the ruin that follows idolatry, because His holiness is not a cold distance but the blazing goodness that orders life as it ought to be (Exodus 20:1–17; Deuteronomy 10:12–13). When the people rebelled, He judged with justice; when they repented, He pardoned with mercy, both truths held together in the beautiful description that He is slow to anger, abounding in love, yet will by no means clear the guilty (Numbers 14:18–19; Exodus 34:6–7).
The monarchy and the prophets keep the pattern before us. The Lord promised David a house and a throne forever, an oath that binds God’s faithfulness to a royal line and points ahead to a Son who would rule in righteousness and peace (2 Samuel 7:12–16; Psalm 89:3–4). Through Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel He called the nation back from empty ritual to living trust, insisting that He desires a broken and contrite heart and that He will give a new heart and a new spirit to those who turn to Him (Isaiah 57:15; Ezekiel 36:26–27). Even exile could not cancel His purposes. He carried His people out and brought them home again so that the watching world would know that His name is the Lord and that His word never falls to the ground (Ezra 1:1–3; Isaiah 55:10–11). The God of Abraham is the Lord of history. He raises up and brings low, and He keeps time by promises kept and mercies renewed (Psalm 75:6–7; Psalm 103:17–18).
In the fullness of time God sent His Son, born of a woman, to redeem those under the law. Jesus revealed the Father’s heart by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, forgiving sinners, and welcoming little ones, works that showed compassion, justice, and truth in perfect harmony (Galatians 4:4–5; Matthew 9:35–36). On the cross He bore our sins in His body and satisfied divine justice so that God would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus, a single act in which holy wrath and holy love meet without contradiction (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 3:25–26). He rose on the third day, proving His power over death and sealing the hope that those who trust Him will share His life, a pledge that anchors endurance in the face of grief and loss (Luke 24:6–7; John 11:25–26). He ascended to the right hand of the Father and poured out the Spirit, who dwells in believers as Helper and Sanctifier, growing in them what pleases God while they wait for the blessed hope of His appearing (Acts 2:33; Titus 2:11–13).
Today the church lives in the span between the first coming and the second. We proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes and make disciples of all nations, trusting that the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth is with us to the very end of the age (1 Corinthians 11:26; Matthew 28:18–20). We also hold fast to the promise that God’s gifts and call to Israel are irrevocable and that the story will bend toward the kingdom where Christ reigns on David’s throne and the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Romans 11:29; Isaiah 11:9–10). The last pages of Scripture raise our eyes to the throne where living creatures cry holy, to the city where God dwells with His people, and to the Lamb whose glory lights the nations, reminders that the attributes we trace now will be our song forever (Revelation 4:8–11; Revelation 21:3–5).
Theological Significance
Speaking about God’s attributes helps us hold together truths that are often pulled apart. God alone is without beginning and without end. He does not age, does not grow wiser, and does not shift from one mood to another. “I the Lord do not change,” He says, which means His promises stand and His character is steady, a bedrock under our feet when the ground feels thin (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). He is all-knowing, seeing the end from the beginning and the thoughts of the heart as clearly as the deeds done in daylight, which means surprise never overtakes Him and nothing in our lives is hidden from His wise care (Isaiah 46:10; Psalm 139:1–4). He is all-powerful, not as a tyrant but as a Father whose strength serves His purposes of mercy and truth, and He cannot be thwarted by storm or throne or scheme (Jeremiah 32:17; Job 42:2). He is everywhere present, not diluted across space but fully near to each one of us so that we can say with confidence that even the darkness will not hide us from His sight (Psalm 139:7–12; Acts 17:27–28).
At the same time, God is morally beautiful. He is holy, which means His purity burns brighter than the sun and His goodness defines good itself. The seraphim cry “Holy, holy, holy” because no other word can carry the weight of His worth, and the command “Be holy because I am holy” shows that His moral purity is not a wall that keeps us out but a path He lays before us by grace (Isaiah 6:3; 1 Peter 1:15–16). God is love, not as a soft feeling but as a steady choice to seek the good of the unworthy at real cost, a love displayed most clearly when the Son laid down His life for us while we were still sinners (1 John 4:8–10; Romans 5:8). He is righteous and just, doing what is right in every case and judging with equity, so that no bribe can twist His verdict and no wrong will go unaddressed in the end (Psalm 97:2; Acts 17:31). His mercy is real and wide, and He delights to forgive and to show compassion to those who come to Him in truth, a delight that cancels boasting and draws sinners to hope (Micah 7:18–19; Psalm 103:8–12).
These truths are not mere ideas. They form the backbone of worship, prayer, and obedience. If God is sovereign and good, then we can trust Him when our plans fall apart, because His plans are wiser than ours and His timing is kind even when it is slow to us (Proverbs 19:21; Romans 8:28). If God is holy and just, then sin is not a small matter and grace is not cheap, and we will hate what He hates and cling to what He calls clean, not to earn His favor but because we have already received it in Christ (Habakkuk 1:13; Titus 2:11–12). If God is love and faithful, then we can come boldly in prayer, confident that He hears and gives what is best, and we can wait without despair when the answer is different than we first desired (Hebrews 4:16; 1 John 5:14–15). The more we attend to who God is, the more our hearts are actually formed into the shape of the truth we confess (2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 3:10).
A word should be said about how these truths fit the larger plan of God. The Bible moves by promise and fulfillment, revealing God’s character step by step across ages without ever changing His nature (Hebrews 1:1–2; Numbers 23:19). In this church age the Lord is gathering a people from every nation through the gospel while His covenant commitments to Israel remain in force and will find their exact completion in the days to come, a pattern that keeps God’s faithfulness in full view and guards our reading from flattening His plan (Ephesians 3:6; Romans 11:26–27). The future hope of Christ’s return, judgment, and kingdom is not a footnote but a stage on which God’s holiness, justice, and mercy will all be displayed in perfect clarity, and the saints will praise forever the wisdom and power that guided history to its true end (Revelation 19:11–16; Revelation 21:22–27).
Spiritual Lessons and Application
Knowing who God is steadies ordinary days and dark nights. When temptation whispers that sin is small, God’s holiness reminds us that compromise always wounds and that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a fear that is clean and life-giving rather than crushing (Proverbs 9:10; Psalm 19:9). When shame tells us to hide, God’s mercy invites us to come into the light, confess our sins, and find forgiveness and cleansing through the blood of Jesus, a promise that puts broken pieces back together without pretending they were never cracked (1 John 1:9; Psalm 32:5). When anxiety surges, God’s sovereignty and care teach us to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us, and to trade worry for prayer with thanksgiving, receiving peace that guards the heart and mind in Christ (1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:6–7). When suffering lingers, God’s wisdom and goodness assure us that He is near to the brokenhearted and that He works all things for good for those who love Him, even when we cannot yet see how the threads will tie (Psalm 34:18; Romans 8:28).
God’s attributes also set the course for how we treat others. Because God is true, we speak the truth in love and keep our word even when it costs us, building communities where trust can grow and where honesty is an act of worship (Ephesians 4:15; Psalm 15:1–4). Because God is patient, we learn to be slow to anger and quick to listen, to bear with one another and forgive as the Lord has forgiven us, trading sharpness for gentleness without letting go of what is right (James 1:19–20; Colossians 3:12–13). Because God is generous, we open our hands to the poor and share with the saints, treating every gift we hold as seed to be sown rather than a prize to be guarded (2 Corinthians 9:6–8; Hebrews 13:16). Because God is just, we act fairly in our work, refuse partiality in our judgments, and protect the weak, knowing that righteousness exalts a nation and that the Judge of all the earth does what is right (Proverbs 14:34; Micah 6:8).
For believers, the Spirit makes these graces grow. The Bible calls this fruit, and it looks like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, a harvest that reflects God’s own heart in the character of His children (Galatians 5:22–23; John 15:5). None of this is produced by pride or pretense. We do not become like God by trying to be our own savior but by abiding in Christ, feeding on His Word, living with His people, and walking in step with His Spirit, daily choices that make room for grace to do its slow, steady work (John 17:17; Hebrews 10:24–25). Along the way, the church holds a double calling. We proclaim the gospel to every creature because God desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, and we keep our eyes on the sure hope that Christ will return and set all things right, two horizons that keep zeal and patience together (Mark 16:15; 2 Peter 3:9).
Understanding God’s attributes also reframes guidance. Many wrestle with questions about the future, but the character of God gives a starting point for today. Because He is wise, we seek counsel and measure plans by Scripture. Because He is sovereign, we lay our choices before Him and say “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that,” an attitude that frees us from the grip of control (Proverbs 3:5–6; James 4:15). Because He is near, we pray boldly and act humbly, trusting that He directs steps as we take them and corrects us as needed, like a Father who steadies a child learning to walk (Psalm 37:23–24; Isaiah 30:21). And because He is faithful, we keep going even when fruit seems small, assured that our labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58; Galatians 6:9).
Conclusion
God’s attributes are not shelves in a library but the living truth of the Lord who is and was and is to come. He is eternal and self-existent, yet He entered time to save. He is sovereign over nations and galaxies, yet He counts the hairs of our heads and bottles our tears (Isaiah 40:28; Luke 12:7; Psalm 56:8). He is holy in brightness beyond our bearing, yet He makes sinners sons and daughters and teaches them to walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7; Romans 8:15–16). He is love, and through the cross and the empty tomb He proves that no power in all creation can separate His people from His heart (Romans 5:8; Romans 8:38–39). To know Him as He has revealed Himself is to bow low in worship, lift our eyes in hope, and rise in obedience with courage for the day He gives (Psalm 96:9; Joshua 1:9).
The study of who God is does not end in debate; it ends in doxology. We say with the elders around the throne, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,” because all things are from Him and for Him, and we look for the day when faith becomes sight and the earth is filled with His glory (Revelation 4:11; Habakkuk 2:14). Until then, let His character be your anchor and His promises your song. He does not change. He does not fail. He does not leave. He will keep you to the end and present you blameless with great joy (Jude 24–25; Philippians 1:6).
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” (Psalm 145:8–9)
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