God: 3 Character Traits

Tonight I need to catch up on my study of God. I'll be looking at 3 facets of God's character/personality. The more time I spend thinking about God and just who He is, the more I realize I don't know, but the more I realize He is completely amazing!

God is Just
God is justice and He demands payment for sin. Romans 6:23a tells us "For the wages of sin is death..." God is impartial in His condemnation and justice, as we are shown in Romans 3:23 "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." God's standard for justice is perfection, morally, ethically, righteously perfect. God is totally perfect and we are measured by His standard. When it comes to sin and eternity, God is impartial. You either measure up (are perfect) or you don't.

God is Forgiving
God's forgiving nature comes hand in hand with His justice and His measuring us by the ultimate standard. The continuation of Romans 6:23 says, "But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God's knows that if His sense of justice alone was what guided Him, we would all be spending eternity in Hell. So, God made a way for us to pay for our sins. First it was through the blood sacrifice of animals. Then, Jesus Christ (God the Son) came down, lived a perfect life and was therefore able to be the sacrifice for all. He gave Himself up to be crucified. He went to Hell for us, and He arose, defeating death once and for all. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are able to seek (and find!) forgiveness. If we call to God through Jesus, we can be forgiven. God forgives ALL sins, without partiality.

God is Eternal
There has never been a time when God did not exist. This idea is hard for me to fathom. I can understand that there was a moment when creation began. I just can't imagine before the universe existed. In that time God still was. God is, and God will always be. God has never changed. Who He is has never changed. God was, is and always will be God, and He will always be the same God. That is comforting, astounding and weird to my human brain.

There is so much to God. Even after spending 10 MILLION years in Heaven I won't be able to say I totally know God. That is part of what makes this life and this relationship so vibrant and vital. I am always learning more about God. It is exciting to see what He will reveal to me next.

I hope that y'all are having as much fun as I am learning about God, delving deeper, and growing more intimate with our: Father, Savior, Judge, Friend, Doctor, Comforter, and Creator.

-JP-