There have been many questions as to who God is, but it is very different to ask what God is. There are three aspects as to what God is that people wish to hear. The first of these aspects is one that is above the rest because without it the other aspects would not be possible. If you turn to 1 john 4:7-8, it says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” If God is love, then, it stands to reason that a Christian must love, for it is God we serve. John 3:16 says, “For God so Loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” You see, God is a God of love.
Not only is He love, but God is also a God of mercy. Romans 11:30-32 reads as, “For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.” We have received mercy in the form of a bloody cross that held the dying Savior. Hosea 2:23 says this, “Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, You are My people! And they shall say, You are my God!” Here we have a prediction of the mercy shown to us in the church as a result of the Christ’s suffering. His suffering came from the mercy of God. Did we deserve this mercy? Of course not, God gave us mercy because He is love and He is merciful.
Along these same lines, we can see that God is faithful. First Corinthians 10:13 reads, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” God is faithful to a species that is notoriously unfaithful. Why is He so faithful? He is so faithful because God is love and He is mercy. He has been faithful to His Word; when He promised the Messiah, the Messiah came. His faithfulness will be the source of great sorrow and anguish. Matthew 13:49-50 tells us, “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Not all of God’s faithfulness is something to be jubilant about. For those living in sin, His faithfulness is a nightmare of eternity. Take courage, though, because His promise of a better home for us in Christ will come to fruition, and we will be given a place in heaven.
