God: getting to know Him

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Deuteronomy 6:4.

Chance has no capacity for introducing itself. On the other hand the Lord God of the Bible reveals Himself, what He has done, and how. This is the exciting discovery you make from the opening verse of Genesis. In our English translation of the names for God we have been robbed of their meaning and the significance of when and why used. This is a shame.

‘God’ in Genesis 1:1 is Elohim. This is the plural form of El, God. Straight away we are introduced to another mystery embracing God. For whenever the term is used it is with a verb in the singular. So? So!  We are confronted with an understanding of the Eternal God which stretches our heart and mind without fully comprehending its significance! Genesis 1:26: ‘Then God said, “Let us make man I. our image, in our likeness…”’ (Emphasis added). In Isaiah 6 a similar thing takes place. “Then I (Isaiah) heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”’ Other verses could be searched out. However the most defining one is from Jesus in Matthew 28:19: ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ (Emphasis added.)

Deuteronomy 6:4 is termed by the Jewish people, ‘the Shema.’ It comes from the word, ‘hear!’ In this declaration are two names for God. There is ‘Elohim’ referring to His work in creation and there is ‘Jehovah (also translated Yahweh). We will consider Jehovah’s name later. It is His personal name. We could quite correctly translate the verse, “The Jehovah, our Elohim, the Jehovah is one.’ The mystery of the Godhead will never be explained. Christians do not worship three gods but one. Part of the reason for the coming of our Lord and Saviour to earth was so that we might focus on Him and His work. When we do that we honour the Father and the Spirit. He is Heaven's focal point, majoring in His work on the cross and his resurrection. Claiming Jesus as  our Saviour and  brings us into a wonderful yet hard to define relationship. The Eternal God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. abides within. 1 John 2:23b.3:24. This is why the apostle Paul defines Christians as being the ‘temple of God'

When we try to understand what God looks like we are often befuddled by artistic impressions from caricatures to master painters. I think this is one reason why Jesus never allowed any likeness of Himself to be created. In John 4:24 Jesus tells us that God is Spirit. John 10:30: ‘I and the Father are one.’ This is not referring to purpose but to essence. Again the description of Genesis 1:1 comes to the fore. The apostle Philip couldn’t get his mind around the saying of Jesus in John 14:6: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except though me.’ Philip said, show us the Father. Jesus reply? You see me and you have an understanding of the Father. This cannot be a physical likeness. Rather it pushed Philip and so too us, to understand God in the character and actions of the One with the title, ‘Emmanuel,’ God with us.

 

The significance of the number '3' arises from its use throughout the Bible in unique but expressive expressions of God. Check it out through the following scriptures: Isaiah 6:3. Numbers 6:24-26 Daniel 9:19. Matthew 28:19 [and others]..

God is the greatest of mysteries. But He wants to make Himself known to us. This is the purpose of the Bible.  He is indescribable, yet He is 'touchable'  because of Christmas, the gospel accounts, the cross and resurrection and by your conviction born of research and faith, He is Lord and Saviour.