Credo Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Who is God Anyway?

Chapter 2 Outline

1. Introduction: God was always just a fact of life
2. Who is God Anyways?
1. God is One but there are three persons? (Trinity)
2. Describing an infinite God with a finite language (Attributes)
3. What is God up to in this world?
1. How did this whole world come to be? (Creation)
2. Is God still involved in this world today? (Providence)

Introduction: God was always just a fact of life

The question of who is God is one that has brought about a wide array of reactions throughout history. Some become repulsed by the idea of a higher power, some are comforted, some become defensive about a certain religious perspective, and then there are some who are left in awe, pondering this question at its deepest levels. I think there have been times in my life where I have had many of those reactions, and yet today I believe on my best days, I more resemble a position of awe and reverent humility in trying to answer this question. Part of the reason for this humility is that I truly believe that fully and completely answering this question is impossible. How could I know who the infinite creator of this universe is? I really do not think I can ever truly answer this question. The good news is I do think we have a window into the reality of God so we are not completely in the dark. The only reason I believe I can even begin to consider this question is through the gracious revelation of the Spirit, through whom God actually seeks after his chosen people to reveal God’s self to us. God has given us a Holy and Living Scripture, which we discussed in the previous chapter and through these words and the Spirit’s work a glimpse of the divine is revealed. In describing this divine glimpse, I do not I intend to limit or bind up the infinite God whom, on my best days I try and love with all my heart, soul and might.[1]

Who is God Anyways?

This is the big question that we’ll reverently explore briefly (considering the impossible task). Together we will look at some of the core images, doctrines, and words with which that I can best begin to comprehend and then try and explain God. Before we get into that I would like you to travel back in time with me to a time when I was much younger and much more innocent.

As you already know I was raised in a family where I found one of my many designations as a child included the title of “PK,” which fondly stands for “preacher’s kid” or “pastor’s kid.” If I close my eyes and think of some of my earliest memories and try and imagine a time prior to my belief of God, I draw a big, profound blank! There is not a time in my life when I did not have some concept that God was real to me. God was just part of my reality. One time in Sunday school class we were asked to drawn a picture of God. So as a nine-year-old fairly comfortable with advanced tools of my trade, I grabbed a Crayola crayon and began to draw a picture of God. In my innocence and with little thought of whether I might not get it right or toe the line of heresy I just went for it. In my depiction of the divine I drew a picture of an older looker man in a cloud with rays of light shooting outward with all the brilliance a nine year old wielding a crayon can portray! This is how I pictured God: a man, similar to my dad, who was in heaven, maybe on a throne, and for whatever reason he was glowing like shiny gold. Now my picture would look much different and would be far more abstract, mostly because I do not think my artistic skills have changed much since I was in 3^rd grade! Therefore instead I will use words to shed light on who God is and the first word that I can think of that most encompasses who I believe God to be is Trinity.

A Lesson in Poor Arithmetic and Good Christian Theology: God is three in One (Trinity)

The central confession of Ancient Israel is this, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is alone.”[2] Literally the Hebrew here could be read simply as; the Lord (is) God of us, the Lord (is) one.[3] This means that one of the central confessions of the ancient Israel is that God is one; or that there is only one God. This is what many would refer to as classic monotheism. This same monotheism gave rise to Christianity in the first century in the man Jesus Christ. Christianity, in turn has a new twist to traditional monotheism; Trinitarian Monotheism. Jesus Christ prayed to his Father in heaven, which is what he called the Lord that all other Jews also worshipped in his time (spoken of in Deuteronomy 6:4). As a Christian I not only confess that the God of Judaism is Lord but I also confess (by the power of the Spirit) that Jesus is Lord.[4] Then to make matter a little more confusing, there is one other thing; Jesus speaks of the Advocate[5] whom the Father sends in Jesus’ name to the earth. This is the Holy Spirit who I also confess as Lord. It only takes some basic elementary arithmetic skills to realize that to confess Jesus as “my Lord and my God,”[6] and to confess the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 seems to bring about a mathematical contradiction. Can Jesus be Lord and the Father be Lord and the Holy Spirit be Lord?[7] The Trinity became the language the church formulated in order to try to understand how the answer to this seemingly contradictory question could be YES! Trinity was a new word to describe God. It is not in scripture and yet when we read scripture it best captures what the testimony of the living word describes.

The Trinity tells me that the God whom I love is in God’s very nature relational. God is defined by the relationship within the God-head. A perfect divine relationship best described by our limited language by the word love. Love in its purest sense always involves more than one. Love is given. Love is received. This means then that love happens in relationship; therefore, since God is love it makes sense for us to view God as a relational God. God desires to be in relationship to us and yet his relational nature is not dependant on us since there is relationship within the God-head. Ok, that was exciting, but let’s take a moment to ponder and wonder. As a young person I just accepted the idea of the Trinity. It was not until seminary that I really began to ponder this idea and investigate how scriptures testify to this truth. One concept really stood out for me as I began to better understand the Trinity. The balance of three characteristics of the Trinity that include; unity, equality, and distinction.

The Trinity is the belief that God exists in divine relationship characterized by perfect unity, equality and distinction in three persons most often referred to as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The idea that these three characteristics are all crucial in Trinitarian belief was transformational. Sometimes Christians begin to lean toward one or two of these characteristics and thus fall into lesser truths about the God to whom we belong. For much of my life I did not recognize the distinction characteristic and found myself practically thinking of God through a lens of Modalism. This way of viewing God believes that there is one God who “throughout biblical history, has revealed Himself in three modes, or forms”[8] This perspective may solve the mathematical puzzle of the Trinity but it denies the persons of the Trinity’s unique roles and distinction[9] throughout the Biblical testimony and today. It is important in my opinion to keep all three of these characteristics in equal balance as much as my fallen nature will allow. There are also several analogies and illustrations that are often helpful whether trying to get a grasp on the Triune God of love.

These illustrations or analogies are helpful to a point and yet like all analogies they break down at a certain juncture. There are two main kinds of Trinitarian analogies; psychological and sociological analogies. Psychological analogies start with one and try to explain the three parts, while sociological analogies start with the three and try and explain how they are one. An example of a psychological analogy would be the idea that one woman could be a daughter, a mother, and a sister. It is easy to see however this can easily evolve into a kind of Modalism, where it is one singular being fulfilling three different roles in life. An example of a sociological analogy would be the idea that all (or three individuals) the people of the earth are all members of one humanity. This obviously can lead us to over-look the characteristic of unity, and we slip into a kind of polytheism.[10]

Again it is so crucial to keep in mind that when discussing, debating, and learning theology, we should do so on bended knee. This posture will help us to remember our place in this world as the creature and not the creator. I love how God reminds Job of this, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements - surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?”[11] We must remember our place in the order of the universe. When we try to understand and deduce God it is comparable to a colony of ants undertaking organic chemistry; it’s quite laughable. Lucky for us God gives us enough knowledge and faith to be in welcomed into this divine communion of the Trinity! More on that later!

Describing an infinite God with a finite language (Attributes)

Drawings done by 3^rd graders in Sunday School class or the doctrine of the Trinity obviously are not the only ways in which we can describe God. The Bible also gives us words in order to better capture who God is. These words are commonly referred to as the attributes of God. In a similar way, analogies and even the Trinity are ways in which we can better understand God, but they are not perfect. God, because of his loving grace, has given us these means (attributes and doctrine) by the revelation of the Holy Spirit through the Holy Scriptures in order that we might have a comprehendible glimpse into who God is. Language has its limitations but the Bible gives us the best language to use when referring to God. There are many attributes that I could discuss but I have only selected a couple that have been enlightening in my life.

The first words that stand out when I think of the Triune God are holy, righteous, and sovereign. God is holy and righteous. In other words God is pure and set apart. I think of a number of Psalms[12] and the chorus of Revelation 4:8 which sings, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."[13] God is set apart and God is good and righteous in a way that demands our worship and praise. It is a gift to be able to delight in the name of the Lord. Since the Triune God revealed in scripture is Holy, righteous and good, we can find comfort in his Sovereignty and power. We will discuss this more in depth when we explore God’s providence over the earth.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son”[14]… “The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord”[15]… “And these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”[16]… “God is love.”[17] In my opinion love is the attribute of God that stands above all others. It is so crucial in fact, that all other attributes flow from this one attribute that cannot be contained in this four letter English word. Out of God’s love for this earth and his people comes forth other attributes including God’s justice, wrath, salvation, faithfulness, peace, redemption, and hope. God’s interaction with the world can be best understood through the lens God’s love for the world.

What is God up to in this world?

Now that we’ve explored how I understand God, the question quite naturally moves to “What does this mean for us here on earth?” So many people have the perception that God is in heaven on a chair watching the earthly theatre from his heavenly box seats. I completely reject this notion of a God who wound up the earth and set it in motion for just to see what would happen. This image not only does not align with what I read in scripture, but it also does not fit with my own experience with God. I cannot believe that God in some fatalistic sense just watches the tragedy on earth un-fold like a sad independent film. I believe God is near. God is present. God is actively involved in and with his beloved creation.

When I look back at my life, I cannot help but see God’s hand guiding and sometimes carrying. It only takes serious pondering over the question, “How in the world did I get here today?” I know it is not an accident. I know and I believe that God’s hands have left their mark all over my life. This is not to say that God’s involvement in this world only involves me or other Christians. I believe it all started before the foundations of the world. God’s continual involvement in this world starts at the beginning of this created universe.

How did this whole world come to be? (Creation)

During a span of three years I became incredibly passionate about the apologetics of creation science. I whole-heartedly rejected the theory of evolution and I even wrote a paper in High School arguing for this position. I read books and went to bible studies that sought to prove that God created the world. I used the research of creation science and sought to refute evolutionary theory. This passion was a huge part of my faith journey even though today I do not hold this same vigor towards the subject surrounding the same issues. My love of the sciences created an easy entry point for igniting a desire to read the scriptures. Years later I can look back and appreciate this time of my journey.

During my time in college I helped out with a high school Christian organization, called Intervarsity and during one lunch time session I recognized a similar fervor in a student presenting on creation science. A very intelligent young man was giving a thorough presentation on creationism and laid out convincing arguments that bashed Darwin’s evolutionary theory. For him, biblical chronology was a high priority and at one point he taught that Genesis’ literal accuracy was the foundation of the entire Biblical story; if it was not true than the validity of the entire scripture was in jeopardy. These assumptions made me nervous as a young religion scholar at Hope College but there was another creation science tendency that I also soon would reject. The emphasis turns to proving the Genesis account to be the exact way in which God created the earth. This causes some to draw the conclusion that God created the earth in seven days and then went back to heaven for all history. This implies a God who is far away and far too passive to put in him, all my trust and hope.

Today I fully believe that the connection between creation and Creator is intimate and dependant, for all time, because I believe all life comes from the hand of God. God did not create the earth in seven days and then leave, only to watch his drama unfold; nor did God set up a world with an evolutionary inkling only to leave and watch species adapt to eventually bring about human life. I believe all life comes from and is sustained by God. Apart from God, without his constant outpouring of grace I believe that I would die along with all else in this world. Here is the shift that has occurred in my belief. I used to think that the earth was placed on its perfect axis. Today I believe not only that God place the earth at the perfect angle circling the sun, but God holds it there. Not only did God know me before the foundations of the world,[18] but it is only because of God that my heart beats and my lungs fill with oxygen.[19] All life flows from God. What I mainly reject is that God is passive in creation throughout time. I maintain that God is actively involved in creating, sustaining and holding life. Psalm 139: 13 says, “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb.”[20] Psalm 147:8-9 reads, “Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains. He gives to the beast its food, and to the young ravens which cry.” This is not a picture of a God who is passive in relation to his creation but rather a God who carefully, and actively provides for all of creation; a God who knows what creation needs and provides it.

Is God still involved in this world today? (Providence)

As I mentioned in the previous section I whole-heartedly believe that God is in no way passive and just lets things happen by chance. God is not sitting in heaven, looking down as the drama of the earth unfolds. In fact I love how the Belgic Confession states this, “We believe that this good God, after creating all things, did not abandon them to chance or fortune but leads and governs them according to the holy divine will, in such a way that nothing happens in this world without God’s orderly arrangement.”[21] This means that I am not left to cruel chance/fate but rather I rest in the arms and providence of my creator God.

There are points in life when the loving guidance of God seem so apparently clear. Mostly this is true when looking at life. I know when I look back at my life and see how God brought me to the place where I am today it is a miracle. Even when I think about how I met my wife Evonne, it is a miracle! I can tell you that a flippant descision to try-out for an improvisational comedy team, my sophomore year in college eventually led me to California 3 years later where I met my wife, Evonne. It wasn’t like we were going to bump into each other in a local grocery store! God brought us together and was working to make that happen years before we even had a notion of one another. When I look back at these moments where God has blessed me with good gifts, it is natural and easy to remember and trust in his providence, but I will be the first to admit though that this is much easier to believe at some moments in life than others.

When I was in 3^rd grade my teacher had us practice our writing skills by keeping a journal that she would respond to everyday. I can only imagine the work and time this took her every not, but this was why she was an excellent teacher. I remember specifically when she asked us to start writing three sentences and on some days I would manage this feat in under 10 words (pretty impressive lethargic tendencies). Aside from practicing my penmanship it offers a beautiful lens into my 3^rd grade mind. When I read through bits of it with Evonne some moments were more memorable than others. About half-way through there is an entry that says, “There were ambulances at my neighbor Tiffany’s house last night. She went to the hospital. I think she will be ok.” The next day I wrote, “Tiffany died last night. She committed suicide.” I will never forget this moment in my life because Tiffany was my friend. She had a terrible time in High School but in my 3^rd grade mind, she was a princess! Yet something made her take her own life…how could this be?!? “In such a way that nothing happens in this world without God’s orderly arrangement.” There are times when this is hard to believe and yet it is a far better option that to consider to alternative.

The Belgic Confession makes it very clear and I would agree that God is NOT the author of evil. This is a huge point of tension that I recognize and embrace. I believe that God is sovereign over all the earth. This means then that God is all powerful and in control of everything in heaven and on earth. Jesus says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”[22] This means yes that nothing can happen outside of God’s providence! It may make us angry at God and question God, but he can handle that. The point is that even when loved ones are dying and things seem to be spinning out of control; the truth is they are not. God is in control. The God who loves us is in control and with us. The Christian hope is not that God will never allow evil to happen, but rather the Christian hope is that God’s children are never alone.

When we explore such matters it is crucial to again remember our place. We are creatures pondering the infinite creator God. Much will not make sense to us. Belgic speaks on this as well in the same article, “We do not wish to inquire with undue curiosity into what God does that surpasses human understanding and is beyond our ability to comprehend.”[23] This doctrine of God’s providence, which at times is incredibly difficult to believe also is a source of unspeakable comfort for me, “since it teaches us that nothing can happen to us by chance but only by the arrangement of our gracious heavenly Father.”[24] I must take a humble approach to God who is beyond my understanding and at the same time I trust that God’s good purpose in my life will always prevail.

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

---

[1] Deut 6:5 (NRSV) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

[2] Deuteronomy 6:4 (NRSV)

[3] In Hebrew class we spent a semester in this passage memorizing it and putting these words on our hearts. The word in Hebrew [dj2a6], which is translated in the NRSV as alone is literally the word for the number one.

[4] Romans 10: 9 and 1 Corinthians 12: 3 (NIV)

[5] John 14: 26 (NRSV)

[6] John 20:28 (NRSV) This is the same confess Thomas declares after the resurrected Jesus appears to him at the end of the fourth gospel.

[7] This language is used purposefully because this trinity conversation was birthed out of a confession found in scripture and out of the worshipping life of the early church.

[8] Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry: Modalism, http://www.carm.org/modalism, Accessed January 29, 2010.

[9] In later chapters we will explore more in depth the person’s roles within the Godhead.

[10] Polytheism is the belief that there are many Gods and of course is contrary to the strict monotheism at witnessed to throughout scripture.

[11] Job 38: 4-5 (NRSV)

[12] Ps. 30; 33; 99 (NIV)

[13] Revelation 4:8 (NIV) and also remember Isaiah 6:3 - “And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’” (NIV)

[14] John 3:16 (NIV)

[15] Psalm 33:5

[16] 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

[17] 1 John 4:8 (NRSV)

[18] Jeremiah 1:5 (NRSV) "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Cf. Matt 25:34 (NRSV)

[19] Acts 17: 28 (NRSV) For In him we live and move and have our being,

[20] Psalm 139:13 (NRSV)

[21] Belgic Confession [Article 13]

[22] Matthew 10: 29-31 (NIV)

[23] Belgic Confession [Article 13]

[24] Ibid.