Study 2: The Living God

Before you begin

When we think about God, we are not dealing with a subject that can be mastered by mere curiosity. We are thinking about the One who made us, upholds us, judges us rightly, and alone can save us. That means our approach must be humble. We are not here to remake God in a shape that feels comfortable to us. We are here to listen while He tells us what He is like.

For some, that thought is deeply comforting. For others, it is unsettling. Often it is both. Yet that is part of the mercy of God. Better to know the true God, however searching that may be, than to be left clinging to a false and powerless idea of Him.

This study at a glance

Read these passages first

Before dwelling on explanation, it helps us to hear God’s own testimony concerning Himself.

Why is knowing God important?

Because there is no greater question. If God is real, then our lives are not self-created, self-defined, or self-ruled. We belong to Him. More than that, eternal life itself is described by the Lord Jesus as knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

We often speak of wanting peace, meaning, purpose, or answers. Yet beneath those longings lies a greater need: to know God truly. Not merely to know about Him, but to know Him as He really is. That is why this study matters so much. A false god cannot save us. A vague god cannot sustain us. Only the living God can.

How does God make Himself known?

Scripture shows that God has not left Himself without witness. His power and Godhead are seen in creation. Even the human conscience bears traces of His moral order. There are therefore real hints of God’s existence and majesty all around us, and even within us.

Yet those hints do not save. They leave us without excuse, but they do not tell us the way of reconciliation. For that, God must speak more clearly. He has done so in His Word, and supremely in His Son. Hebrews tells us that God has spoken in many ways, but now has spoken unto us by His Son. This is not vague spiritual light. It is gracious, clear revelation.

What is God like?

The Bible does not leave us to imagine God according to our preferences. He tells us who He is. He is spirit, not limited by a human body. He is personal, not an impersonal force. He is perfect, without defect or weakness. He is one God, and yet triune: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This is where our thoughts must become reverent. God is not simply a bigger version of ourselves. He is altogether above us in majesty, purity, wisdom, and being. Yet He is not unknowable. In mercy, He has revealed Himself in ways true enough to be trusted, worshipped, and loved.

Some of God’s glorious attributes

The Scriptures set before us a rich and humbling portrait of the Lord. None of His attributes stands alone. His love is holy love. His justice is perfect justice. His sovereignty is wise sovereignty. Everything in Him is infinitely excellent.

How this fits with the 1689 London Baptist Confession

In harmony with the 1689 Confession, we may say that the Lord our God is one, living and true God, infinite in being and perfection, whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but Himself. He is most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of His own unchangeable and righteous will.

This does not make God distant in a cold sense. Rather, it guards us from reducing Him to something manageable. A god we can fully contain in our minds would not be God. Yet the Lord has made Himself truly known, so that our worship may be real, our trust intelligent, and our hope well founded.

How can sinners approach such a God?

This is the question that must not be avoided. If God is this holy, this just, this majestic, how can guilty people draw near? Not by presumption. Not by self-improvement. Not by religious effort. We need a mediator.

Scripture gives that blessed answer plainly: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” The greatness of God does not shut out the sinner who comes through Christ. Rather, it makes Christ necessary, fitting, and precious. The God who dwells in unapproachable light has Himself provided the way.

Why this matters personally

Some people shrink God to make Him easier to live with. Others push Him far away because the thought of a holy God feels too searching. But neither response helps us. We need the truth. We need the living God as He really is.

There is deep comfort in this. The God who is holy is also faithful. The God who is sovereign is also wise. The God who sees all things is not confused by our tangled hearts. The God who cannot be manipulated can be trusted. For anxious, weary, or uncertain souls, that matters greatly. Our hope does not rest in our grip upon Him, but in His greatness, His steadiness, and His mercy in Christ.

You may be wondering

Reflection and response

Use these questions to slow down and consider what this study is showing you.

A simple prayer before moving on