God is...Just

Scripture tells us that every human who has ever drawn a breath is guilty before God. Romans 3:10 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” And Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

So, all of us are liable to God’s judgment. We all deserve His wrath. And though some think, "God wouldn’t send me to Hell. I’m a pretty good guy." The truth is that God must punish us because He is a just God. God must punish every sin or cease to be just.

‌Yet we know from Scripture that God is loving, that He desires to show us mercy, and that He offers us forgiveness in Christ. How? How can God continue to be just and offer forgiveness for our sins?

The answer is found at the cross of Christ. Romans 3:25-26 explains. It says..

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Every sin must be punished, so God the Son took on flesh and bore the punishment that our sins deserved on the cross. He did this so that God the Father might forgive all who believe on Him while still remaining just. In Jesus, every sin can be forgiven and ever sin be punished still. Jesus took God’s wrath on Himself, He took the punishment you deserved so you could be forgiven.

‌The doctrine of God’s justice reminds us that judgment is coming. And it isn’t just coming for them. It’s coming for me and for you too. We have done wrong as well. We have sinned against an Almighty God, and every sin must be punished. But Jesus has taken that punishment for us, and His sacrifice can be applied to you if you will only believe and make Him Lord of your life. Flee the coming judgment. Run to the cross.

If you are ready to receive Jesus' forgiveness and apply His sacrifice to your life, then here is how you can become a Christian. 

• A- Admit that you are a sinner and in need of God's grace (Romans 3:10 and 3:23).
• B- Believe that Jesus is God's Son, that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, and that He was raised from the dead (Romans 6:23 and 5:8).
• C- Confess Jesus as Lord of your life. Turn from sin (from living life your way) and commit to live your life for God (Romans 10:9).

God is... All-Knowing

Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,

or instruct the Lord as his counselor?

Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,

and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge,

or showed him the path of understanding?

Isaiah 40:13–14

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The obvious answer to all these questions is that no one taught the Lord any of these things. Since God knows everything, He does not learn. Not even the highest angel has even one thing he could teach God. Which means that it could not be any more certain, that God doesn’t need you to tell Him anything. He doesn’t need you to explain anything to Him. He doesn’t need your advice or your counsel.

Yet, sometimes we’re tempted to talk to God like He does, aren’t we? In our arrogance, we sometimes want to give God a piece of our mind. We want to explain our situation to Him more fully. We want to tell Him what He should do. We want to put God on trial and ask Him why He isn’t doing this or why He hasn’t already done that. This is nothing more than foolish arrogance.

Don’t lecture God. Don’t allow yourself to think that you know better than Him. Don’t give Him advice. Don’t allow your prayers to become you telling God what He should do. Ask Him for what you need. Ask Him for what you want. But then humbly submit to His better plan. 

That’s the example Jesus left us on the night of His death. He prayed “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). ‌‌If Jesus Himself wouldn’t dare to presume that He knew better than God the Father, if Jesus wouldn’t lecture God, advise God, or criticize God… then you shouldn’t either. Don’t do it. Humble yourself under His perfect wisdom and perfect knowledge and trust His plan.

God is... Holy

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:15–16

The word holy, when applied to God, means that He is undefiled by sin, free from all wickedness. He is perfectly pure and morally clean, set apart and sacred. Scripture tells us over and over again that this is what God is like. 

1 Samuel 2:2, for example, says, “There is no one holy like the Lord.” Other people and things may be holy, but none of them are holy like our God is holy. God’s holiness is unique. In Revelation 15:4 seven angels sing a song to God that says in part, “Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy.” So, God is holy! 

That truth has import for our lives in many ways. But let me point out two. First, Hebrews 12:14 says, “without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Holiness really does matter, because without it you will not see God! This is why Jesus died. He died to set you free from sin and make you holy. Hebrews 10:14 says this of Jesus. It says by His “sacrifice he made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Jesus died, so you could be made holy that you might see the Lord. 

Which brings us to our second application. Every believer is called to pursue holiness and Christ-likeness. We're called to keep ourselves separate from sin and set apart for God’s use. As Christians we are called to be holy like God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). So, pursue holiness. Live a set-apart life. Live set apart from this world and its desires and temptations. Don't indulge your flesh; feed your spirit. Then you will live a life that is pleasing to God.

God is... Everywhere

But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!

1 Kings 8:27

1 Kings 8:27 records part of King Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the magnificent temple he had built for the Lord. Solomon readily admits that “the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands (Acts 17:24). Solomon says that even the heavens themselves cannot contain God!

‌Add to that truth what God says of Himself in Jeremiah 23:24. “‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.” So, more than just being bigger than the heavens, God says He fills heaven and earth. God is everywhere!

And if you were to try to picture God filling heaven and earth you would probably picture God as being very big. And that can be helpful. Thinking of God as being big helps us to fear Him. It helps us to understand His power. It helps us to understand our smallness and the smallness of our problems in relation to Him. But in actuality it's important that we understand that the idea that God is big is a metaphor. It helps us understand God, but it is not strictly true. 

God is not big. God is spirit. He has no physical body. He has no physical dimensions. To describe God as being big or small would be to suggest that He exists in space, but God lives outside time and space. We can’t say that God is here now and He will be there later, because for God there is no here or there or now or later. Those are things we experience, not Him. He does not have spatial dimensions. He is not limited by space in any way. God cannot be measured. He exists beyond space and location.

‌Now, that may seem a bit mindblowing to you. I am sure that I don’t completely understand it. But the point is that God is more than just big! God’s nature, His being is too different from ours and too wonderful for us to fully understand and wrap our minds around. ‌And that is a good reminder that God is in many ways beyond our understanding. 

Sometimes we can begin to think that we "get" God, that we understand Him and know who He is. But that can only ever be true by degrees. God is so wonderful and His being is so glorious and different from ours that the human mind cannot completely understand or comprehend who He is. Right now, we see only through a glass darkly, one day we will see God as He is and we will know Him fully in Heaven (1 Corinthians 13:12). For now, we can only know and understand Him in part. That ought to humble us, and help us remember that God is far more wonderful and glorious than maybe we had realized.