International Bible Teaching Ministries
Attributes of God
Question 1: What is God like?
ANSWER: We believe none can answer this question fully! There is neither human knowledge, time, nor space that would permit it. Though we may know some things about Him, we can never fully comprehend such concepts as limitless, eternal, and infinite concerning His being and will.
Some attributes of God often ascribed to Him are: self-existent, unchangeable, infinite knowledge, total independence, all-powerful, all-present, righteous, holy, and good. Toward us as sinners, He is full of mercy, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9). In I John 4:8, we are told that He is love! One of the most beautiful pictures of God in the Bible is found in Luke 15:11-32. Here we see our God lovingly concerned about His children and willing to forgive to the uttermost.
However, we also see Him described as a God of goodness and severity; goodness toward those who continue in Him, but severity toward the disobedient. He will one day judge each of us by Christ (Acts 17:31) according to our deeds (Revelation 20:12).
The nearest one can come to knowing God is through a deep, thoughtful study of His Word. This we recommend to you!
Question 2: How do we see (know) God in our everyday living?
ANSWER: We can partially see (know) God through His creative handiwork (Psalms 19:1-4 & Romans 1:20) and come to know Him more perfectly through learning (biblical studies) and obedience to His will (I John 4:6). But humankind cannot see (know) Him in the fullest sense; "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Question 3: A student asked, "who created God?" What are your views on this? How can I make it clear?
ANSWER: The Bible is clear! "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Psalms 90:1-2). God has always existed!
Question 4: In Genesis 1:27, God created man in His own image. Then in John 4:24, we see that God is a spirit. Now, what kind of man did God create, spiritual or man in the flesh? Are we really like God?
ANSWER: God created the physical body and the spirit of man. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). Man is a living soul (the total being) only when the body and the spirit are joined together. When a body exists without the spirit, there is death, not life (James 2:26). Clearly, since God is a spirit, it must then follow that the spirit of man was created in His image! We have physical bodies. God does not. Therefore, the spirit of man is in His image, but the total man is not! Faithful Christians will not be like Him in the fullest sense until Christ comes again. "Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2).
Question 5: Is God a person like you and me? Exodus 33:11: “And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to a friend . . .?
ANSWER: No! God is not like you and me in the sense that He is not a physical being as we are, i.e., He is not made up of flesh, blood, and bones! This fact is made completely clear throughout the Bible. Firstly, God makes a definite distinction between Deity and humans in Hosea 11:9, where He says, “For I am God, and not man.” Secondly, in John 4:24, we are told by our Lord that “God is a spirit.” Then, in Luke 24:39, after His resurrection, we find Him saying, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” We can, therefore, safely conclude that God does not have a physical body made up of flesh and bones, as does man! He (God) is a spirit and a spirit does not have flesh and bones! Thirdly, in John 1:1-14, we learn that Jesus Christ was in the beginning with God the Father. This is to say that He was with God in heaven at the beginning. Upon, His coming to earth to dwell among us (Verse 14), He was then “made” flesh. Obviously then, before He came to earth (when He was in heaven), He was not in the “flesh,” but was “made flesh” upon His arrival. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:5-8, that Jesus, prior to coming to earth, had been “in the form of God” and that He was “equal to God.” Further, that He “made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man.” We can understand then, from these passages, that when Jesus was in heaven He was “in the form of God,” but when He came to earth, He took upon Himself the “form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man.” In other words, His new “earthly form” (flesh and blood)) was different from His and the Father’s “heavenly form” (Spirit). In each of the above passages, we clearly see the truth that heavenly beings are “spirits” and do not have bodies of flesh and blood, as do we! Indeed, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (I Corinthians 15:50)!
The above paragraph tells us what Exodus 33:11 does not say, but what does it say? What does it mean? Well, we can see from the above that it is not teaching that God has a physical face as Moses had. If one were to conclude that God was a human being, because He is said to have a face, in order to be consistent that one would also have to say that He was a “chicken,” based on Psalms 91:4, where it is stated that, “He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.” The use of such physical things, such as “face, feathers, and wings,” to describe God, or an action God may take, is a figure of speech known as “anthropomorphism.” The World Book dictionary defines this word as: “the act or practice of attributing human form to gods, animals, or things.” It also records the following: “Today we speak of the eye of a needle, the finger of a sundial, the hands of a clock, the teeth of a comb or saw, and so on. All these expressions, which seem to be so simple and obvious, imply the use of anthropomorphic similes.” To attribute a human face to God makes Him no more human than it makes a clock human when we attribute to it a face! In our subject verse when it says that the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face, it simply implies that He spoke to Moses directly, positively, and forthrightly as one would a friend! In addition to our discussion above, this conclusion is further evidenced by what the apostle John wrote in I John 4:12, “No man has seen God at any time.” Also, later in our chapter of study (Exodus 33:18), we find Moses speaking to God and saying, “I beseech thee, show me thy glory.” God’s reply to Moses’ request is found in Exodus 33:20, “Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live.” To say then, that Exodus 33:11 teaches that Moses actually and physically talked face to face with God is to fly in the face of the proving material presented above, as well as the immediate context of Exodus, Chapter thirty-three.
The teaching that God has a physical body, as does man, can be attributed to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Certainly, it can not be attributed to the Word of God, since, as shown above, we have seen it stand in direct opposition to this errant teaching. Note what is taught in their literature and then consider the contrast between that and what the Bible teaches. From one of their books that they accept as inspired, “Doctrines and Covenants, 130:22,” we read the following: “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as a man’s; the Son also, but the Holy Spirit has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of spirit.” Note that this book contrasts a “body of flesh and bones” with a “personage of spirit,” i.e., that they are two different things. Yet in the same book, on page 54, it says, “the Father being a personage of spirit.” On one hand it is taught that the Holy Spirit does not have a body of flesh and bones because He is a “personage of spirit.” On the other hand, it is taught that the Father has a body of flesh and bones in spite of the claim that He is also said to be a “personage of spirit.” The logic of the book is elusive, to say the least! Clearly, this teaching is at odds with what has been shown above from the Bible and certainly appears to be at odds with itself!
To adopt, as inspiration, this errant teaching of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is to reject the Bible and the God of the Bible! One cannot, ethically, logically, or scripturally adopt two opposing and contradictory doctrines as truth. Truth cannot contradict itself! For one to say, “I believe what is written in Doctrines and Covenants and I also believe what is written in the Bible” is an inaccurate and illogical statement. One must either support the Bible or Doctrines and Covenants, because to accept one is to reject the other!
Question 6: Where did God come from and who were the father and mother of God?
ANSWER: God does not have a mother or a father. He has always existed and will never have an end. In the Bible we are told that “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalms 90:2). In Isaiah 57:15, we are told that God is “One that inhabiteth eternity.” It is difficult for us to understand eternity, because we live in a world where everything we see has a beginning and an end, but eternity and the God of eternity is unlike anything that man has seen. Of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are God, there is neither beginning nor end!