Who Is God?
Who is God?
To you. Who is God to you? Have you ever stopped and answered that question?
In America, close to 88% of adults in America believe in God, according to 2017 research data by the Pew Research Center. This number is staggering. And perplexing. It makes me wonder why we are so divided as a nation if so many of us profess to believe in God.
This 88% has not changed much over the past 7 years as a total number of people who profess to believe in God. What has changed, is how this 88% is allocated between confidence levels in the existence of God. In 2007, 71% believed in God absolutely. In 2014 that percentage had dropped to 63% with the 8% shifting to increasingly lower confidence levels that God exists.
So roughly 88% percent still believe in God, but fewer profess an unshakeable faith in him. Why is this?
Maybe part of the reason is because we don’t agree on who God is.
Contrary to a popular cultural leaning, God is not the same across all religions. Muslims believe in Allah, Jews believe in Yahweh, Hindus believe in Buddah, and Christians believe in the Triune God. There may be some similarities in what each of these religions teach about their god. But they are not the same.
I believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is who Christians call the Triune God. One God manifested in three distinct persons. The basis of the Christian faith is believing in God the Son (Jesus Christ) for salvation (reconciling our sinful selves with our Holy God the Father). Through Jesus, we have full rights as a child of God and are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. No other world religion believes this same thing.
It’s quite the mystery.
Maybe part of the reason why we see eroding confidence in God’s existence is because we have not taken the time to get to know God.
People often read the Bible to prove the existence of God. But the Bible does not prove his existence. It assumes God’s existence and then sets about revealing God’s character so that we can know him. Not “know about God” but really know him. As we grow in our knowledge, we gain wisdom and revelation specifically for the purpose of knowing God even more.
His greatest desire is for each one of us to know him personally, intimately, and with an unshakeable confidence that he is Who he says he is. We are meant to do more than exist. More than survive. We are meant to flourish and bear out beautiful fruit that comes from living a life of purpose.
Our #Flourish journey starts the moment we choose to know God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Click To TweetYou may not be quite ready to do that. That’s okay. Might I encourage you to join me in discovering God by unearthing his character through the richness of his Word?
Let’s begin today. I hope you have your own personal copy of the Bible. I believe you’ll want to underline passages and make notes. I do. If you don’t, you can access the Bible online. I’ve included links for each of the following passages.
Take some time today looking these up and record what you learn about the character of God. This is not an exhaustive list. It is a starting point. Is this a God you can be confident in? I believe so.
Joining the community at #HeartEncouragement today!
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