The Nature of God–Part One: How the Word was made Flesh in Jesus
What does the Bible tell us about the nature of God? Does Scripture present to us a “oneness” about God whose existence is defined in the context of two or three distinct beings who constitute “one” God? Who is God? That is a simple question. However, the answer has become increasingly complicated. And this is understandably so because Scripture has been subjected to various methods of interpretation—some good, some not so good—with some accepted biblical interpretations being formulated in either liberal or conservative traditions, which makes it ever more difficult for people to accept the defined face value of scriptural statements made about God. Nevertheless it is worth reviewing the subject of who God is respective to the defined meanings of scriptural statements while attempting to avoid the influence of traditional interpretations and the mishap of removing or undermining the authority of Scripture. Now notably there is relatively little said about God in Scripture, which may be difficult for some people to believe given that God is understood to be the creator of all that exists in heaven and earth. Still there is not much we can know about the invisible God, even though much has been written about God by many people attempting to explain who God is. So let’s examine the subject of who God is and how the Word who was and is God was “made flesh” in the son of God. And we begin with the story of Moses. Now Moses was at one time a man of some renown in Egyptian society who desired to see his native people freed from their enslavement in the land of Egypt. And as Scripture explains, Moses did receive a command from God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into a land of national inheritance. (This was after Moses had spent many humbling years in exile living among the descendants of Midian.) And we learn from the story of Moses’ calling that an “angel of the Lord” appeared to Moses “in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” (Ex. 3:2). And Moses heard a voice that said to him: “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God” (Ex. 3:6). Here God revealed himself to Moses as the God of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and this declaration established God’s exclusiveness to all others that were perceived as “gods” by the people of Israel. And because of this revelation it was apparent that Moses was concerned about how he would explain who God is to the people of Israel (Ex. 3:15-16). And so Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?” (Ex. 3:13.) [Author’s emphasis throughout.] These were reasonable questions and the answer Moses received is foundational to understanding who God is—and his oneness—from the perspective of Scripture. “And God said unto Moses, I am that I am [I will be who/what I will be]: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM [verbal root of YHWH] hath sent me unto you” (Ex. 3:14). (YHWH is a transliteration of the proper address or personal name for God and is referred to as the Tetragrammaton, meaning “four letters.” It is sometimes written as Yahweh.) This solemn declaration—and memorial—from God regarding his own existence was voiced by God to Moses, and because God’s existence was revealed in this manner—by God speaking—we can conclude that Moses heard a voice from God saying, “I am,” and this utterance characterized God and this utterance was God. Therefore what Moses presented to the people of ancient Israel was the proper address and characterization of God as voiced by God. Or, simply, what Moses told the people was that the voice he heard was God, and what was said was “I am,” which established the evidence of God’s existence by his own utterance, and what God spoke became the defining evidence of the oneness of God for the people of Israel. Unquestionably then the way God revealed himself to Moses became the established way Moses would later explain God’s work with the physical creation and the purpose for that creation respective to humankind. And this revelation from God also became the foundational understanding that guided Moses and others who composed and compiled the Pentateuch and the writings of all the prophets that followed Moses. (The creation account is written as, “and God said,” and the utterance was God.) (See also Ps. 33:6.) Of significance then is that God’s declaration to Moses was not only a memorial to his existence, but it was also a declaration of his oneness, and this revelation holds true throughout Scripture. God confirmed this himself through Isaiah who wrote: “I am the Lord [YHWH], and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord [YHWH], and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it” (Isa. 45:5-8). These are the words—the utterance—of YHWH the creator God—the preserved oracles of “I am” as given to the prophet Isaiah—and this one who is God speaks for himself as recorded by Isaiah and tells us there is no other God but him. But let’s look at this