Most of us carry a picture of God around long before we ever open a Bible.
For some people He's a distant force that got the universe going and walked away. For others He's an angry man in the sky, waiting for you to mess up. For a lot of people He's just a vague feeling. Nice, maybe. But not really anyone.
If that's your picture, I get it. But the Bible tells a better story.
One God, three persons
The Bible is clear that there is one God. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Not a committee of gods. One.
And yet, when Jesus was baptized, the Son stood in the water, the Spirit came down on Him like a dove, and the Father spoke from heaven (Matthew 3:16–17). Later Jesus told His followers to baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). One name. Three persons. Paul blessed a church the same way: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14).
Christians call this the Trinity. One God, eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Equal. Never apart.
Can I fully wrap my mind around that? No. But I'd be nervous about a God small enough to fit in my head. Here's the beauty of it. Before there was a single star, there was love. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit have always loved each other. God didn't make you because He was lonely. He made you because love wants to share.
The Creator who made you on purpose
The Bible's first verse says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).
It doesn't say, "In the beginning, chance." It says, "In the beginning, God." Everything started with Him.
Then He did something He didn't do with anything else. "So God created man in His own image" (Genesis 1:27).
Forces don't make people in their image. Persons do. You weren't an accident. You were His idea.
Holy, just, and love
God is holy. Completely set apart, totally pure. The angels around His throne say it over and over: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts" (Isaiah 6:3).
He's also just. He doesn't shrug at evil. And honestly, you don't want a God who does. If someone hurt your child, you wouldn't want a judge who said, "Eh, it's fine."
But the same Bible says, "God is love" (1 John 4:8). Not just that He loves. He is love (1 John 4:16).
So how do holy and love fit together? At the cross. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). God didn't lower His standard. He paid the price Himself, so that He could be "just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:26).
A God who tells you His name
Forces don't have names. God does. When Moses asked God who He was, God said, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). Later He described Himself in His own words: "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin" (Exodus 34:6–7). Not angry. Merciful. Gracious. Patient. Forgiving.
All through the Bible, people learn new names for God in their hardest moments. Hagar was pregnant and alone in the desert when God met her. She called Him "You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees" (Genesis 16:13). That's El Roi. Abraham was on a mountain with his son when God provided a ram, and he named the place "The-LORD-Will-Provide" (Genesis 22:14). That's Jehovah Jireh.
Every one of His names is a promise. He sees you. He provides for you. We have spent many Sundays preaching through the names of God. You can watch the whole Names of God series.
Want to see God? Look at Jesus.
"No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (John 1:18).
That's why Jesus came. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). Jesus told Philip, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). Paul calls Jesus "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). Hebrews says He is "the express image of His person" (Hebrews 1:3).
So if you want to know what God is like, watch Jesus.
He touched people nobody else would touch. He wept at His friend's tomb. He told a story about a father who saw his runaway son coming home and "ran and fell on his neck and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). And from the cross, He prayed for the men who put Him there: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34).
That's God. If your picture of God doesn't look like Jesus, it's the picture that needs to change.
God with you right now
The night before He died, Jesus made His friends a promise: "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth... for He dwells with you and will be in you" (John 14:16–17).
The Holy Spirit isn't an "it." He's a person, and He's God, living with His people today. Not watching from a distance. With you and in you.
He doesn't change
"For I am the LORD, I do not change" (Malachi 3:6). "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
The God who saw Hagar in the desert sees you. The God who provided on that mountain still provides. The Jesus who forgave from the cross still forgives. He hasn't moved on.
You can know Him
Here's the best part. God doesn't just want you to know about Him. He wants you to know Him. Jesus said, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3).
He's not after a better rule-keeper. He wants a relationship. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
And the way in is simple. "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
You don't need fancy words. You can tell Him right now: Jesus, I believe You're who You say You are. I believe God raised You from the dead. I want to know You. Be my Lord.
If you prayed that, or you're close, we'd love to pray with you. Still have questions? Send us a message, and we'll get back to you.
And come meet the God of the Bible with us. We gather Sundays at 10am at 3102 Prairie Rd in Madison. Bring your questions. Plan your visit here.