Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Who is God? Is God a supreme being in Christianity? For countless generations, the question of ‘Who is God?’ has been a profound one. The concept of a god is that of a supreme, supernatural being with powers far beyond those of any human. Since the dawn of recorded history, approximately 6,000 years ago, historians have identified a staggering 3,000 known deities worldwide. The Hindus, however, have a vast belief system, with a belief in 330 million gods, a number so vast that they cannot even name them all.
The Supreme Deity of the Bible
In Christianity, God is the Supreme Being. Christians uphold the belief in the existence of only one God, emphasizing that knowledge of Him is primarily accessed through faith. The existence of God is often regarded as self-evident, with the majesty of the night sky serving as a testament to His grandeur, while the entirety of creation serves to affirm His glory. Additionally, the Bible introduces various names for God, each reflecting different aspects of His character and nature.
The name of Christianity’s deity is YAHWEH. Some translations render the name as Jehovah. Either way, His name describes who He is. But many Christians, especially those who have not studied their faith, do not know what they believe. This lack of knowledge has encouraged the resurfacing of the age-old question, “Who is God?” and whether God is the supreme being of Christianity.
Christianity’s supreme deity is not like the deities of the world’s religions. Men make their gods from silver and gold. They have mouths that do not speak, eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, hands that cannot do anything, and feet that cannot walk (Psalm 115:4-7). Christianity’s God is most impressive because, unlike other deities, He is alive. That is why the Bible calls Him the living God (Deuteronomy 5:26; 1 Samuel 17:26; Psalm 42:2; Isaiah 34:17; Daniel 6:26; Matthew 16:16; Mark 12:17; Acts 14:15; Romans 9:26; 1 Timothy 4:10; Hebrews 9:14).
The Heavens Declare The Almighty’s Majesty
The sheer size of the universe is beyond human comprehension. If you truly want to grasp the magnitude of the Creator, you need only to gaze at the sky on a clear night. The first of His creations – the heavens – proclaim the glory of the God of the Bible, and Christianity’s supreme deity (Psalm 19:1). They bear witness to His majesty and splendor on a level that leaves you in awe. The enormity of His creation is staggering, a concept that can only be grasped by our imagination.
The Bible tells us that God marvelously “stretched out the heavens” (Isaiah 48:13). The universe is believed to contain at least 100 billion individual galaxies, many of which have 200 billion stars or more. The heavens truly declare the Creator’s glory.
To help us understand these vast numbers, the British Astronomer and Astrophysicist Sir James Jeans speculated that the total number of stars in the universe could equal or surpass the total number of grains of sand on all the world’s seashores.
Faith Affirms God’s Glory
No one can fully comprehend the existence of a Supreme Being as powerful as Christianity’s God. The only way to honestly know Him is through faith. God has woven faith into the fabric of humanity. It is the one thing the Creator has given to every individual in equal measure. The Scripture says in Romans 2:3 that He has given every person “the measure of faith,” so no one has more faith than another. We may each possess different levels of faith. However, everyone has “the measure of faith.” This inclusivity is a testament to God’s love for all.
Whoever petitions the Creator must first believe that He exists. By faith, He wants us to know that He is whatever we need Him to be when we need Him to be it. When Moses asked God to identify Himself, He answered, “I Am Who I Am.” This statement says everything about who God is. He is who He is, and He will be whatever we need Him to be whenever we need Him.
The Bible clarifies our understanding of God, Christianity’s Supreme Being, who made the heavens and us. When we read it with an open mind, we will see that the heavens declare His glory. More importantly, when we read it with an open heart, we will see God’s character and discern His deepest thoughts and feelings.
Yahweh’s True Character
The Creator’s attributes describe His majesty, character, and glory. If you are like me, you’ve probably wondered what God is like. So, how do you fathom Christianity’s Supreme Being, a God whom no one has ever seen? To experience Him, all you have to do is read the Bible. God reveals Himself to us in the Scriptures. Reading the Bible will help you better understand His true character, characterized by love, justice, mercy, and righteousness.
The Creator’s attributes are invisible because He is invisible. However, the heavens declare God’s glory as well as His attributes. When we look at the night sky, the trees, or the birds perched on their branches, surely we discern that these things could not have come into existence on their own.
Spirit
God is Spirit, but what does that mean? When we think of a spirit, we think of a ghost. However, ghosts are supernatural beings that do not possess physical bodies. The Creator is not a spirit. He is the Spirit of spirits – the Supreme Supernatural Being – the Creator of spirits. Though He is Spirit, He has a body – a spirit body.
No one has ever seen God, and no one has seen the wind, either, but we can feel it. And while we cannot visibly see the oxygen we breathe, without it, we would all die. The scriptures reveal God as our invisible, eternal, and immortal King. Although no one has ever seen the invisible God, we have seen visible manifestations of Him in His Son, Jesus, who fully demonstrates the character of God. Because of Jesus, we know God as our Heavenly Father.
Love
Love is one of the Creator’s most profound attributes, for God is love. He does not impose Himself on anyone. He is kind to everyone, even those who do not reciprocate His love. Jesus is the perfect representation of God’s love (Colossians 1:15).
Through Jesus, we see God’s true character. Jesus did not exalt Himself above others. He was content to live a humble life without complaining. Jesus has shown us that God is not demanding and always looks out for the best interests of others.
Light
1 John 1:5 says, “God is light.” But what does that mean? It means that God is the source of truth, for there is no darkness (untruth) in Him. The truth of His word is the light that leads to all truth. When we walk in the light of His word, we will be equipped for everything and lack nothing.
Wisdom
God is wisdom. A simple way to define wisdom is that it is the ability to use the knowledge acquired. In the Bible, wisdom and knowledge are often mentioned together (Jeremiah 10:12; Romans 11:33; Colossians 2:3). The wisdom of the Creator devised a foolproof plan whereby He would redeem His beloved Adam from death. Through His infinite wisdom, God recognized the futility of our works. No amount of our good works, morality, or religious worship can gain acceptance with God. That is because, with God, all people are the same, whether good, moral, religious, or non-religious.
Holiness
The word “holy” is “qadesh,” which means separate. It signifies that God is separate. He is far above and beyond all creation, different in every way.
The God of the Bible is holy, perfect in every way, morally excellent, and unmatched in integrity. His holiness sets Him apart from His creation. The Old Testament refers to the Almighty as the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 1:4). Even His name is holy (Isaiah 57:15). Of His sovereign holiness, 1 Samuel 2:2 says, “No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none besides You.”
Sovereignty
God is sovereign. He is the Supreme Ruler of the universe. The sovereign Creator is in control of all things. He governs His creation with natural laws that He has put in motion. He stands all alone among all the deities of the world. There is nothing in the universe that is outside of Yahweh’s authority and influence. His sovereignty implies that He has no limitations whatsoever.
One of God’s fundamental attributes is mercy. Because He loves us, He is merciful toward us. He desires that we abide with Him forever. God’s love and His mercy are inseparable. His mercy prompted Him to permit His Son to be condemned in our place at the cross, thus becoming the sacrificial lamb for our sins. To sum it up, God’s mercy declares His compassion for humanity. Justice has been satisfied at the cross; therefore, God can justifiably show mercy to everyone who has chosen to follow His Son, Jesus Christ.
Faithful
God is faithful. “Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, he remains faithful to us and will help us, for he cannot disown us who are part of himself, and he will always carry out his promises to us” (2 Timothy 2:13 TLB). His faithfulness guarantees that He cannot lie, and what He has said in the Bible about Himself is true. Our hope of obtaining eternal life is established on His faithfulness.
Omnipresent
God is omnipresent, meaning that He is everywhere at the same time. His holy presence knows no boundaries, and He is with us always. This truth is taught throughout the Bible. “I am with you always” is repeated 22 times in the Old and New Testaments. Jesus even assured His disciples that He would take the gospel message to the world.
This statement brings controversy to many. For example, when people experience an emotionally catastrophic event, such as the death of someone close to them, they might ask, “Where was God?” The answer is, He is everywhere simultaneously. He sees and knows everything that happens anywhere, at all times.
Eternal
God is eternal because He is self-existent. The Creator has always been and will forever be immortal. One of the names of God in the Bible is El Olam, Hebrew for “God of eternity; God the everlasting; God forever.” The Almighty is the Creator of everything. He was before all time and all worlds. He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. The best way to describe our eternal God is that He exists beyond time, with no beginning and no end.
