If you don’t KNOW God, you’ll make one of your own liking …

One of the most important reasons for discipling new Christians is so that they can begin to sincerely, personally, deeply begin to KNOW who it is they’ve surrendered their lives and “first love” to.

Unfortunately, real discipleship in the church is grossly lacking. And what do we do when we really don’t KNOW God? We make one of our own liking.

Someone once wrote, “We want, in fact, not so much a father in heaven as a grandfather in heaven: a senile benevolence who, as they say, ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves’ and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, ‘a good time was had by all.'”

Well, God is much more than a father in heaven, and certainly is NOT a senile old grandfather! So what is He really like?

Instead of making a God of your own liking because you really don’t know what God is like, let me encourage you to make priority a personal study of God, especially learning about His character. Like with any person, the more you understand the character of God, the better you understand Him and the closer you are drawn to Him as your knowledge of God becomes more intimate.

Do you KNOW the character of God?

While it is impossible for us little humans to fully understand who God is and what He is like, God wants us to know Him; for that very reason, He purposely reveals Himself to us in part through the Bible. By studying the attributes of God, we can begin to piece together what His character is really like. One quick study of the attributes of God isn’t going to make you an expert on His character, but it’s a vital starting point in learning about God.

So let me help you start your exploration of the attributes of God that comprise His character by sharing below just 20 of the key attributes God reveals about Himself in the Bible. I’ll share the attribute, perhaps a comment about it, and a Bible verse or two relating to the attribute. Then I encourage you to search further in the Bible for additional insights about these attributes of God:

1. SPIRIT
“For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth,” John 4:24. While Jesus was unique in that He “became flesh” by being born into this world in human form, God was not, God is Spirit.

2. INFINITE
God is self-existing, in other words, He is without origin.

“Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness,” Psalm 145:3.

“Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite,” Psalm 147:5 (NASB).

“Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding,” Isaiah 40:28.

“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega — the beginning and the end,’ says the Lord God. ‘I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come — the Almighty One,'” Revelation 1:8.

3. TRANSCENDENT
To transcend means “to exist above and independent from; to rise above, surpass, succeed.” By this definition, God is truly transcendent.

“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts,'” Isaiah 55:8-9.

“Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen,” Romans 11:33-36.

4. SOVEREIGN
To be sovereign means that God has rule and authority over everything; there is nothing that happens in the universe that is outside of God’s influence and authority.

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength,” 1 Chronicles 29:11-12.

“The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything,” Psalm 103:19.

5. IMMUTABLE
This means that God does not change.

“I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed,” Malachi 3:6.

“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow,” James 1:17.

6. SELF-SUFFICIENT
God wants for nothing and lacks nothing; He is complete in Himself. One unidentified writer notes, ” From the start, only God is self-sufficient, because he does not need from nothing or anyone. He doesn’t need life, because he is the Life; he does not need provisions; he is the Provider; he doesn’t have a beginning, because he exists from before the beginning. The self-sufficiency of God is part of his nature.”

“The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son,” John 5:26.

“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs — for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries,” Acts 17:24-26.

7. OMNIPOTENT
This means God is all-powerful, He is not subject to physical limitations like human beings are, His power is infinite or without limit.

“Then Job replied to the Lord: ‘I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you,'” Job 42:1-2.

“The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him. For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command,” Psalm 33:6-9.

“How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!” Psalm 147:5

“Jesus looked at them intently and said, ‘Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible,'” Matthew 19:26.

8. OMNISCIENT
For God to be omniscient means that He is all-knowing.

“Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds, the wonders of one perfect in knowledge,” Job 37:16 (NASB).

“Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish,” Isaiah 46:9-10.

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable,” Hebrews 4:13.

“Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything,” 1 John 3:20.

9. OMNIPRESENT
For God to be omnipresent means that He is present everywhere.

“The Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good,” Proverbs 15:3.

“‘Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?’ says the Lord,” Jeremiah 23:24.

“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night — but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you,” Psalm 139:7-12.

10. TRUTH
Pastor John MacArthur gives us a concise statement about this topic: “Truth is the self-expression of God.” God is truth, and all that God speaks is true.

“The very essence of your words is truth; all your just regulations will stand forever,” Psalm 119:160.

“Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth,” John 17:17.

11. WISE
A theologian once noted, “To affirm that God is wise is to characterize God as the God of wisdom. Wisdom is not something He possesses but wisdom is identified with His essence. His wisdom is His essence, not separate from His essence, and it is not increased by experience and age; it remains constant. He is eternally and infinitely wise.”

“By wisdom the Lord founded the earth; by understanding he created the heavens,” Proverbs 3:19.

“But true wisdom and power are found in God; counsel and understanding are his,” Job 12:13.

“All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. Amen,” Romans 16:27.

12. FAITHFUL
To say God is faithful means He is totally, perfectly trustworthy.

“Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands,” Deuteronomy 7:9.

“But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one,” 2 Thessalonians 3:3.

“If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is,” 2 Timothy 2:13.

13.GOOD
God Himself is the standard and measure for what is good; He always acts according to what is good and right.

“How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world,” Psalm 31:19

“Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8.

“The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation,” Psalm 145:9.

14. JUST
To say God is just means more than being fair, but that He always does what is right and good. God judges righteously and without partiality.

“He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!” Deuteronomy 32:4.

“Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him,” Isaiah 30:18 (NASB).

15. MERCIFUL
Mercy is the lessening of a just sentence.

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” Luke 6:36 (NASB).

“So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it,” Romans 9:16.

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!),” Ephesians 2:4-5.

16. GRACIOUS
When God is gracious with us, He gives us something we don’t deserve. In general, the word means “to favor,” “to show kindness” to an inferior and “to be compassionate.”

“For if you return to the Lord, your relatives and your children will be treated mercifully by their captors, and they will be able to return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. If you return to him, he will not continue to turn his face from you,” 2 Chronicles 30:9.

“But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth,” Psalm 86:15 (NASB).

“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people,” Titus 2:11.

17. GLORIOUS
A writer for Got Questions offers this take on what it means when we say God is glorious: “The glory of God is the beauty of His spirit. It is not an aesthetic beauty or a material beauty, but it is the beauty that emanates from His character, from all that He is.”

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship,” Psalm 19:1.

“I see God moving across the deserts from Edom, the Holy One coming from Mount Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with his praise. His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise. Rays of light flash from his hands, where his awesome power is hidden,” Habakkuk 3:3-4.

“For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen,” Romans 11:36.

18. HOLY
Regarding God being holy, writer Philip Wijaya notes, “The root word for holy is qadosh (Hebrew) and hagios (Greek), which mean ‘set apart, sacred, sanctified.’ God’s holiness includes His two essential qualities: absolute transcendence and infinite purity.” God is perfect, spotless, without sin. Henry C. Thiessen states, “God is holy means that He is absolutely separate from and exalted above all His creatures and creation, and He is entirely separate from all moral evil and sin.”

“No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God,” 1 Samuel 2:2.

“The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: ‘I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts,'” Isaiah 57:15.

“Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty — the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come,” Revelation 4:8.

19. LOVE
It isn’t that God is just loving, but the Bible helps us understand that God IS love!

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love,” 1 John 4:7-8.

“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them,” 1 John 4:16.

“But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness,” Psalm 86:15.

20. FORGIVING
Our natural default when someone wrongs us is to get revenge. The same isn’t true of God. God is inclined to, and desires, to forgive.

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you,” Ephesians 4:31-32.

“And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins,” Hebrews 8:12.

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness,” 1 John 1:9.

Scotty