Why I Need God To Be Who He Is

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

Many Christians struggle to see the practical application of our proper theology. We learn things about God-- that He is omnipotent and omniscient and holy-- and we wonder what any of this has to do with our lives. Well, the truth is that we deeply need God to be who He is. Who God is has everything to do with how we live our lives and how our deepest needs are met.

So, why do I need God to be who He is? How does it make a difference to me?

God is omnipresent. He is everywhere and He sees everything. I do not only meet God in church or at my Bible study group, but He is always with me and always watching me. This makes a difference to me because I cannot run from God and I cannot be separated from God. I’m never hiding from God, nor am I ever in a place where I cannot call out to God and have fellowship with him. God is present with us in our so-called “secret” sins, and God is present with us in our deepest trials when we feel most alone and most need His presence.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me. (Psalm 139:7-10, NKJV)

God is omniscient. There is nothing that God does not know completely and perfectly. God knows all things entirely and never has to struggle to learn anything. His thoughts about all things are complete and without mistake. God knows more about the bugs in Microsoft Windows than Bill Gates or any of Microsoft’s army of programmers. Better still, God knows you far better than you know yourself. God sees your thoughts and the desires of your heart with absolute clarity. Nothing you do ever surprises God, and He does not need to study you or question you in order to understand you perfectly.

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. (Psalm 139:1-4)

God is omnipotent. God can do anything He chooses to do. Nothing is impossible for Him. Now, most Christians probably think that the most helpful application of this is that God can solve all of our problems and handle anything that we give to Him. That’s true, of course. We don’t have any problems that God can’t handle, but have you ever thought that perhaps God isn’t interested in simply solving all of your problems for you? Then, what practical application can we draw from God’s omnipotence?

Nothing is impossible for God. He has all power. If that’s true, then why are you trying to control your own life and run things according to your own power? Paul said, “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13)” and “I work with all the power that He supplies (Col. 1:29).” God may not take away all of your problems, but He does want you to turn to Him for the strength you need to face the problems you have. He wants to supply the power you need to stand and obey Him.

God is love. Simply knowing that God is everywhere and knows everything and can do anything is not enough. An all-seeing, all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful God could very easily, and reasonably, see my sin and strike me dead with a bolt of lightning. That’s why I need to know that God is love. Because God is love, His love for me flows out of the very core of who He is. He does not love me because I am deserving or because He needs something from me or because I have pleased Him in some way. No. God loves me because He is love, and that fact never changes and never diminishes.

It is because God is love that He sent His Son into the world to lay down His life for me. It is because God is love that He has called me to place my faith in His Son and find forgiveness for my sin. It is because God is love that He is absolutely committed to my freedom, and He will not stop working in my life until I am completely free of the bonds of sin and completely conformed into the image of His Son.

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. (I John 4:15-19)

God is holy. Perhaps the most single defining aspect of God’s character is His holiness. God’s love is not mere love, but it is a holy love. God’s justice is not mere justice, but it is holy justice. What does it mean when we say that God is holy? Well, it means that He is so pure and radiant that He is separate from us and cannot be united to or defiled by sin at all. God’s holiness is penetrating and can even be devastating to us. He is absolutely pure and separate, and He calls us to be holy even as He is holy.

God’s holiness makes demands on us. If God is holy, then we must be holy if we want to see God and spend eternity with Him. “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14, NIV).” Thankfully, God has provided for the demands that His holiness makes on us (“by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Heb. 10:14).” In Christ, we are made holy and we can stand before God covered with the holiness of Christ.

There’s so much more . . .

We’ve really just scratched the surface of how God’s character offers meaning to our lives. God is the source of all we need in order to be all He has made us to be. The Bible offers us a portrait of God so that we will see and know and grow closer to this One who is the satisfaction of our souls. Look in the Bible and catch a vision of this portrait of God, and allow who He is to transform who you are into who He wants you to be.