God has always been
Everything we see has a beginning. God does not. When Moses asked for God’s name at the burning bush, God answered in a way that revealed his independent, enduring life (Exodus 3:14). He does not depend on the universe, on people, or on anything else to exist.
The Bible begins with God creating the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). So God is not one part of nature, like the stars, oceans, or human beings. He made all of them. His power is greater than the world, yet he is not distant from it.
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
God is Spirit and personal
Jesus teaches that God is Spirit (John 4:24). God is not limited by a human body, a temple, or an image people can manage. David wondered at God’s presence, recognising that even the furthest places were not beyond him (Psalm 139:7-10).
But God is not simply an energy or an idea. In Scripture, he speaks, hears, knows, chooses, comforts, judges, and loves. The people who prayed to him expected a real response. You can speak honestly to God too, even if your prayer begins with questions.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God is holy and loving
God’s holiness means that he is completely good and separate from evil. When Isaiah saw a vision of God’s holiness, he became sharply aware of his own need for mercy (Isaiah 6:3-5). God does not ignore the damage caused by sin, cruelty, or injustice.
Yet the Bible does not describe God’s holiness as coldness. John says that God is love, and then points to God sending his Son so that people might have life through him (1 John 4:8-9). His love is active, generous, and costly.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Jesus shows us God
Christians worship one God, and Scripture speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Christians often use the word Trinity to describe this. The word is not found in the Bible, but it helps express what Christians see in its teaching about the one God.
John introduces Jesus as the eternal Word, present with God before creation and involved in the making of all things (John 1:1-3). Jesus told Philip that seeing him was seeing the Father (John 14:9). If you want to know what God is like, read the Gospels. Notice how Jesus welcomes the overlooked, confronts evil, forgives, tells the truth, and gives himself for others.
No short definition can contain God. Still, Scripture says God has made himself known. Seeking him is not pretending to have every answer. It is responding to the Creator who has come near.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?