Who is God?

Have you ever really sat and pondered this deeply?

I'm a Truth seeker. I want to know the Truth. Who is God? 

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6

Unfortunately many Christians are happy just being 'saved' and living their life, having no desire to get to know who God really is.

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963)  is one of my favorite Christian authors and he has helped me a great deal in answering some of my questions. I'm so thankful for his courage to share the Truth.

Tozer says here:

"It is not a cheerful thought that millions of us, who live in a land of Bibles, who belong to churches and labour to promote the Christian religion, may yet pass our whole life on this earth without once having thought or tried to think seriously about the being of God. Few of us have let our hearts gaze in wonder at the I AM, the self-existent Self behind which no creature can think." 

Can you remember the last time your heart gazed in wonder at the Great I AM? Not just at the stars or the sun or moon or the many wonders He has created, but the One Himself?
 

God says of Himself:
  
'I AM THAT I AM'

  
What does this mean?  

Tozer says here:

"God has no origin.

Origin is a word that can apply only to things created. When we think of anything that has origin we are not thinking of God. God is self-existent, while all created things necessarily originated somewhere at some time. Aside from God, nothing is self-caused."

And here:

'The Father has life in Himself,' said our Lord...God, He said, is self-sufficient; He is what He is in Himself

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, in the final meaning of those words. Whatever God is, and all that God is, He is in Himself. All life is in and from God, whether it be the lowest form of unconscious life or the highly self-conscious, intelligent life of a seraph. No creature has life in itself; all life is a gift from God." "For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to have life in himself." John 5:26 Tozer states here on God's attributes: "...an attribute of God is whatever God has in any way revealed as being true to Himself." A few of God's attributes: One in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit Perfect Eternal Self-Existent Immutable Holy Omnipotent Omnipresent Omniscient Righteous True Truthful Faithful Love Creator Sustainer Lawgiver  Judge Lord over all   How are we to think on God's attributes?  Tozer says here: "If we would think accurately about the attributes of God, we must learn to reject certain words that are sure to come crowding into our minds - such words as trait, characteristic, quality, words which are proper and necessary when we are considering created beings but altogether inappropriate when we are thing about God.  We must break ourselves of the habit of thinking of the Creator as we think of His creatures. It is probably impossible to think without words, but if we permit ourselves to think with the wrong words, we shall soon be entertaining erroneous thoughts; for words, which are given us for the expression of thought, have a habit of going beyond their proper bounds and determining the content of thought." In other words it is wrong to look on God as we do each other. For example, He doesn't just feel love or express love or give love...He is LOVE. "And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16 He continues here: "The divine attributes are what we know to be true of God. He does not possess them as qualities; they are how God is as He reveals Himself to His creatures. Love, in instance, is not something God has and which may grow or diminish or cease to be. His love is the way God is, and when He loves He is simply being Himself." And here: "God is what He is in Himself without regard to any other. To believe in Him adds nothing to His perfections; to doubt Him takes nothing away." "I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him." Ecc. 3:14

It's hard to think of God as He really is, because when we do we have to face our own sinful nature.

Tozer says here:

"The natural man is a sinner because and only because he challenges God's selfhood in relation to his own. In all else he may willingly accept the sovereignty of God; in his own life he rejects it. 

For him, God's dominion ends where his begins. For him, self becomes Self, and in this he unconsciously imitates Lucifer, that fallen son of the morning who said in his heart,

'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God...I will be like the most High.' Isa 13:14

  

Sin is rebellion against God.

John Piper explains it this way: 

“What is sin?

It is the glory of God not honored.
The holiness of God not reverenced.
The greatness of God not admired.
The power of God not praised.
The truth of God not sought.
The wisdom of God not esteemed.
The beauty of God not treasured.
The goodness of God not savored.
The faithfulness of God not trusted.
The commandments of God not obeyed.
The justice of God not respected.
The wrath of God not feared.
The grace of God not cherished.
The presence of God not prized.
The person of God not loved.
 
That is sin. ” 

                

Do you honor God's glory? Reverence His holiness? Admire His greatness? Praise His power? Seek His Truth? Esteem His wisdom? Treasure His beauty? Savor His goodness? Trust His faithfulness? Obey His commandments? Respect His justice? Fear His wrath? Cherish His grace? Prize His presence? And Love Him with all your heart, mind and soul?

There is so much more to know of God. Keep seeking Him because you can never know enough of the Great I AM.


*All quotes are from Tozer's book: 'The Knowledge of the Holy' unless otherwise stated. 

Buy it HERE on Amazon