Some may praise God and others may curse God. But who are they actually talking about?

When we say "God" with a capital G, we mean a god with a lowercase G. The same word. But the capital letter picks out one particular member of the category. So before we can say who God is, we need to say what a god is.

What is a god?

  • A god enjoys a special, meaningful independence from other things.
    • This can also be described as a lack of limitation.
    • The contrast between dependence and independence can be used to distinguish between gods and lesser creatures.
  • A god has an inhuman knowledge or ability that makes it a beneficial ally (or a feared foe).
    • The powers of a god can cut both ways.
  • A god is revered for an element of its goodness, knowledge or power.
    • Humans throughout history have revered gods of all different sorts.
    • A god can also be revered by other gods.
  • Gods are often personified.
  • It can be beneficial to think of your "God" as whatever holds the highest value in your hierarchy of values. Whatever person, place or thing that holds the most value in your life is functionally equivalent to a god and is something you cherish and defend as such.

When we want to convey an idea about something that has the above characteristics, we use the English word "god" (lowercase G), to stand in for the more complete idea, or at least some part of it. Words are placeholders that we use so that we don't have to give definitions in every conversation. Languages are built using these placeholders, and every language has a different set of placeholders.

There are words in other languages that are functionally equivalent to the English word god: dios (Spanish), dieu (French), jumala (Finnish), gud (Swedish), dio (Italian), θεός (Greek), el/elohim (Hebrew).

In English, we use the same word (god) to refer to both the idea of a god and the specific god that Jews and Christians worship — the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is only a difference in capitalization.

The English word God, a proper noun with a capital G, describes one particular God. So who is this god?

You have been thinking about gods as a category — independence, power, reverence. But the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not one entry in the list. He is the reason the list exists.

Goodness alone sets him apart. Not a hint of goodness, not a streak — but a fullness that runs through everything he does.

Goodness

God's goodness runs through everything scripture says about him. He is love — not merely that he loves, but that love is part of who he is. When John writes that God gave his Son, the point is not just the giving. It is the kind of God who gives.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

— John 3:16

And his love is not soft. It is paired with mercy — a mercy that does not exhaust itself but renews with every morning.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

— Psalm 103:8

And it is paired with justice. The same God who abounds in love does not look the other way when the world breaks.

The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.

— Psalm 33:5

Knowledge

Goodness alone would not be enough if God did not also know. The God of scripture is not powerful and blind. He knows everything — not just what has happened, but what you are thinking before you think it.

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.

— Psalm 139:1–4

And this knowledge is not sterile. It is the source of a wisdom so deep it cannot be exhausted.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

— Romans 11:33

God does not hoard his knowledge either. He reveals it — through his Spirit, which searches even the deepest things of God.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

— 1 Corinthians 2:10–11

Power

Goodness. Knowledge. And then there is power. Not just ability, but the kind of power that speaks and it happens.

Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.

— Jeremiah 32:17

This power is not temporary. God is not bound by time or space. His word does not fade.

Your word, O LORD, is everlasting; it is firmly fixed in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures.

— Psalm 119:89–90

He sees the end from the beginning. Nothing surprises him. His purposes do not change.

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'

— Isaiah 46:10

And everything — every atom, every breath, every heartbeat — comes from him.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

— Genesis 1:1

Not only is scripture full of accounts that reinforce these observations, God continues to reveal himself to people even today, in very personal ways.

Throughout history, you will find instances of humans worshiping all kinds of gods. Gods of the moon, gods of the seas, gods of the harvest, gods of fertility, gods of the sky. They each have their own domain. There are even 23 "false" or "pagan" gods mentioned in scripture.

But as we list the attributes for the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 3:6), we can tell that He is different from the others. This god checks all the boxes. This is the god of everything.

There is another thing that sets the god of Abraham apart from other gods. This god doesn't just have the attributes and characteristics we've listed earlier — they are who this god is. As the God with the power to create, and the source of earthly creation, He is also the source for all his divine attributes.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.

— Deuteronomy 6:4

This idea of oneness — and the alignment between attributes, character and essence — can also be understood in His name. God reveals himself to Moses as ehyeh asher ehyeh — "I AM WHO I AM," or "I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE." The Hebrew verb carries all three tenses at once. God is not bound to a moment. He is the one who was, who is, and who will be — the same.

How do we get from such a profound and enigmatic name to simply "God"? That is a topic for another post.