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Introduction
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“One of the fundamental questions
of the Hebrew religion is, ‘Who is really God?’”—Helmer
Ringgreen, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament
Most people have their own distinctive opinions of a Supreme Being. But where do these impressions come from? Many are simply reflections of how people perceive God. As a consequence the word God has come to embody a spectrum of meanings, many of them quite foreign to the Bible.
How does the Creator reveal Himself to man?
The principal way is through His Word. The Bible is a book about God and His relationship with human beings. The Scriptures contain a long history of God’s revelation of Himself to man—from Adam to Moses down through the apostles and the early Church.
In contrast to many human assumptions, the Bible communicates a true picture of God. This remarkable book reveals what He is like, what He has done and what He expects of us. It tells us why we are here and reveals His little-understood plan for His creation. This handbook of basic knowledge is fundamentally different from any other source of information. It is genuinely unique because it contains, in many ways, the very signature of the Almighty.
The Creator tells us in His Word: “. . . I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand . . .’” (Isaiah 46:9-10). He tells us He alone not only foretells the future but can bring it to pass. What a powerful testimony to the Mighty God of the Bible!
But, great as He is, God is not unapproachable. He is not beyond our reach. We can come to know this magnificent Being.
As author Karen Armstrong observed: “Throughout history, men and women have experienced a dimension of the spirit that seems to transcend the mundane world. Indeed, it is an arresting characteristic of the human mind to be able to conceive concepts that go beyond it in this way” (A History of God, 1992, p. xxi).
She expressed our innate longing to know and understand things beyond our physical senses. We want to know why we are here, what our purpose is, whether some sort of higher power works in our lives and the world around us.
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Bible itself gives us the master key to knowing God: “Scripture speaks of things beyond our hearing, things beyond our imagining, all prepared by God for those who love him, and these are what God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit explores everything, even the depths of God’s own nature” (1Corinthians 2:9-10, Revised English Bible, emphasis added throughout).
We need to know—from inspired Scripture itself—who God is and how He relates to and reveals Himself to us. We need to understand the very nature of our Creator—to know, in the words of Albert Einstein, “the mind of God.” In a nutshell this is the purpose of this booklet. (Our free booklets Life’s Ultimate Question: Does God Exist? and Creation or Evolution: Does It Really Matter What You Believe? address the question of God’s existence in depth.)
Never has humanity so desperately needed true knowledge about God. One writer aptly described our world as “crowded with bewildered souls: jaded, adrift men and women desperately looking for hope.” Our Creator wants us to understand Him much better so we can have hope and confidence in the veracity of His Word, which describes His plan and purpose for humanity.
Let’s begin our study by seeing
what the Scriptures reveal about the glory and magnificence of God. This provides
us with the proper background—the right attitude and approach—to comprehending
the majestic nature of our Creator.
© 2001 United Church of God, an International Association
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