Who God is and What He Does
God is….
During college, I worked at a jewelry store in a local mall. So I learned the cuts and fascinating facets of diamonds and other gems. The multi-faceted parts of these stones make each one brilliant and stunning.
“Facets, those ‘geometrically arranged, flat surfaces’ that cover faceted gemstones, all play specific roles in a gem’s optical performance. When expertly cut, facets not only create beautiful patterns on the gem, they also help it shine. Sometimes, literally. Different types of gemstone facets have specific names, too.” (International Gem Society)
In the same way, God bears various characteristics as God. But we often only focus on the feel-good parts of God’s character. Like how God is good and loving, but not how He is also holy and just.
God bears various characteristics as God. But we often only focus on the feel-good parts of God's character. Like how God is good and loving, but not how He is also holy and just. #God #GodIsGood Click To TweetYet, all the attributes of God working together are what make Him God. Each fascinating facet of the Almighty makes His glory brilliant and stunning.
Because when we separate His goodness from His holiness or His love from His justice, we lose the full nature God.
In essence, we detach who He is from what He does. But the two are one and the same.
Good and loving and merciful and just are not only who the Lord is, but also what He does!
So in this two-part series, we take a look at eight characteristics of God, four this week and four next week. Still, my list’s non-exhaustive—God’s character bears a multitude of wondrous facets.
Believers really celebrate these first four attributes by marking them with a neon highlighter.
God is good.
Since the beginning of time, God’s goodness is weaved throughout the chapters of His-story. It started with creation when He saw everything He made was good.
Goodness is seen when God rescued His people. It’s revealed in Bethlehem’s stable and narrated in Jesus’ ministry. It’s told at the foot of a bloody cross and reported as a victor in an empty tomb.
Now, we see His goodness in our lives through every blessing and promise of Scripture. We are living testimonies to God’s goodness.
“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!” Psalm 27:13 (ESV)
God is good and does good. (Psalm 119:68)
God is kind.
I like the adage, “Kindness goes a long way!” And this definition for a person who’s kind: Sympathetic, friendly, gentle, tenderhearted, generous. (YourDictionary)
But God’s not bound by our human definitions and limitations. Kindness started with Him and He surpasses it all!
The Lord’s lovingkindness is breath in our lungs and grace in our hearts. God’s kindness is eternal and abundant life. Further, God extends kindness to us in provision and care.
God's lovingkindness is breath in our lungs and grace in our hearts. His kindness is eternal and abundant life. The Lord extends kindness to us in provision and care. #God #kindness Click To TweetBecause God’s kind…
“Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:5-6 (ESV)
God is loving.
1 John 4:8 tells us God is love. John 3:16 states how God so loved the world, He gave His only Son. And “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (NIV)
Because the heavenly Father lavished His great love on us, we are called the children of God. (1 John 3:1)
Finally, Psalm 136:26 reminds us how God’s love endures forever! Maybe people stop loving us or fail to fully love us. But not God.
The Lord is love and loving is what He does.
God is merciful.
Although we describe merciful people as compassionate and forgiving, God’s mercy far exceeds human efforts.
The Lord’s mercy took pity on us and offered Christ as the final sacrifice for our sins. He continues to grant us forgiveness for sin, patience for losing our way, and compassion for our pain and suffering.
God's mercy took pity on us and offered Christ as the final sacrifice for our sins. He continues to grant us forgiveness for sin, patience for losing our way, and compassion for our pain and suffering. #God #Mercy Click To Tweet“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)
Who and What
Good, kind, loving, and merciful are who God is and what He does.
Do you see each attribute of God as important to His full character?
Next week, we’ll look at four additional attributes in part 2.
Read my article, 32 Things to Know and Celebrate About God.
Sometimes I participate in these link-ups:
Legacy Linkup/Inspire Me Monday/Tell His Story/Purposeful Faith/Recharge Wednesday/Worth Beyond Rubies/Tune in Thursday/Heart Encouragement/Embracing the Unexpected/Candidly Christian and Faith On Fire.
© 2020 by Karen Friday, All rights reserved
I have felt his mercy keenly lately. I woke up too early this morning, a Martha “worried about many things.” I finally laid them individually at his feet, praying the serenity prayer and accepting those things that are completely in his hands. (Spoiler alert: it’s all in his hands.) Then caught this devotional before heading to work. Thanks, Karen!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Candice. They add a lot of value to this conversation. I tend to be a Martha, but I’m learning to sit at Jesus’ feet more and more often and placing things in God’s hands instead of taking it into my own hands. Oh, His great mercy…new every morning. God. Is. Merciful.
Amen to this! Sometimes I cannot fathom how blessed I am that He forgives all my sins and grants me mercy… just because He loves me and NOT because of anything I can ever do to “make up” for the wrong I’ve done. All I can offer God is love and relationship.
Yes, Jessica! So thankful for the Lord’s mercy is not earned or conditional! Because merciful is who God is and what He does!
Amen! While the “feel good” parts of God’s character is what draws many to Him; we must not forget that He is just and righteous, and we will have to answer for the character of our lives. Either in heaven or not, we must all be judged by the One who is fit and right to judge us.
Oh, yes, J.D., the Lord is full of love and mercy, as well as, justice and righteousness! Every integral part of who God is makes Him the Almighty and unmatched.
This post addresses my favorite topic: the names and attributes of God!
I wrote a one-year devotional on this subject:
https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Reflections-Names-God-Devotional/dp/0800722027/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Ava, I remember your book. Thanks for shairng the link here for my readers. God bless!
All amazing and wonderful attributes of our God, Karen. I’m looking forward to your next installment!
Blessings!
Appreciate you commenting, Martha! I hope to keep discovering and learning more about God’s multi-faceted character.
I’m reading In His Image by Jen Wilkin and before that read None Like Him by her, both on the attributes of God. Such a rich study! Sometimes we rattle them off without stopping to really think about them.
Hey Barbara, I’m not familiar with those books by Jen, although I’ve read some of her other works and studies. I’ll have to check them out.
Karen, this is so good! Yes, God is a multi-faceted God, and He works in multi-faceted ways in our lives. And because He’s GOD, we do need to be careful not to try and separate out the facets of who He is by what we’re comfortable with and what we’re not comfortable with. And yes, I do see each of His attributes as facets of His full character. I’m so glad He is complex and bigger than our minds can fathom.
You expressed it so well, Jeanne. Trying to mold the Lord into the God we want and wish for takes away from His glory and awe. Instead, I pray to see His attributes and His hand in faceted ways in my life and the world at large.
I really loved the way you used facets to describe God’s traits. It is a very helpful way to remember how we must look at all the traits of God and not just the ones we like. I look forward to reading next week’s post too.
Thank you, Yvonne. I hope we dig deeper into God’s Word to uncover more treasures about who He is and what He does.
What joy we find in knowing He is who He says He is! Amen. Hallelujah! He loves us forever. He carries our burdens. He is with us always. I am thankful to know Him.
So true, Melissa. God is true to His Word and to being the only God.
Very gracious article touching my heart and inspiring me to love God and people more. Very well written.
Thanks for your encouraging words, N.E. I’m glad this inspired you.
This: “Because when we separate His goodness from His holiness or His love from His justice, we lose the full nature God. In essence, we detach who He is from what He does. But the two are one and the same. Good and loving and merciful and just are not only who the Lord is, but also what He does!” This is so good and so true! Thank you for always sharing the truth! May God bless you, Karen!
Grateful this spoke to you, Stephanie. And grateful God IS God and equally loving, merciful, just and holy.
I love how you keep saying that what God does is who God is. But thanks to Jesus, it’s opposite for us- we soon but we are His
Valerie, that’s good insight and I didn’t consider how the opposite is true for us. We are not tied to our actions, our doing, but our being.
Karen, this is a wonderful analogy! It is the fullness of who God is, that helps us understand the magnificence of what He has done. And the many facets of God do indeed allow His beauty, glory, truth and goodness to shine brighter in our hearts and minds. God embodies all that we long for. May we rest in Him alone.
Love how you expressed this, Melissa: “It is the fullness of who God is, that helps us understand the magnificence of what He has done.” Amen, sister!
I love this part of what you said, “Good and loving and merciful and just are not only who the Lord is, but also what He does!” He demonstrates to us who he is by what he does. He is faithful to his word and to who he is. Great reminder! Thank you, Karen!
Marcie, God does demonstrate each of His attributes in our lives. Just like He demonstrated His love by sending Jesus to die for our sins.
Amen! Thank you for this important and hopeful reminder of who God is. This quote especially resonated with me, “God’s not bound by our human definitions and limitations. Kindness started with Him and He surpasses it all!” Very well said!
Appreciate your encouraging comment, Jed. I agree, we often try to put limits on God in what we see in other people or define Him within the boundaries of this earth. Neither are truthful to who He IS.
I’ve noticed that I keep saving songs to my playlist lately that talk about God being good. I guess that’s what I need the most reminding about! And indeed he IS good. I want to give him praise again and again for his goodness.
Lisa, it is powerful to sing and reflect about God’s goodness. What’s key for me is to remember He is good no matter my circumstances or what happens in the world.
I needed these reminders, Karen. Each and every one of them challenge me to mirror my Father’s goodness, mercy and love–a TALL order! But with the Lord doing the work in and through me, I know it can be done! Thank you for this beautiful and inspiring post, my friend! I look forward to the next one in this series! Pinning and tweeting, my friend!
So true, Beth, we were created in the Father’s image and made to reflect these characteristics of who He is. Thanks for sharing! God bless!
I’m looking forward to the day we will know Him even as we are know now. Thanks for this great post.
Oh, June, a beautiful reminder.
Good morning, Karen! This right here, caught my eye and grabbed my heart –> ‘Each fascinating facet of the Almighty makes His glory brilliant and stunning.’
This is what I want to aim to focus on … not all the events that endlessly grab at our attention …
What a good point, Linda. The world certainly offers plenty of things to take our focus away from the Lord and on to things that perish. May we focus on the eternal Lord and Savior.
Thanks for these reminders about who God is and what He does. It is indeed so important to remember His goodness with his holiness, His justice with his love. I have been in the Old Testament for a few years now where I see more and more that these two facets of God indeed work together, one never working without the other. Ultimately ALL that God does is good.
Great, edifying post!
Blessings,
Agree, Karen. We do ourselves a disservice when we fail to understand the other important aspects of the heavenly Father. Because a god who’s not equally holy and just, doesn’t meet the requirements for a higher power.
Karen,
Thanks for reminding us that God has many facets and these qualities are not only Who He is but what He does! One of my very favorite words is lovingkindness. God is not just loving, He is the very embodiment of love. These are all the nice warm fuzzies that we love to focus on, but He is also holy and just. I enjoyed this piece on what I love so much about my Lord…thank you!
Blessings,
Bev xx
Hi Bev,
The Lord’s lovingkindness is breath in our lungs and grace in our hearts. God’s kindness is eternal and abundant life. Further, God extends kindness to us in provision and care.
[…] In part 1, we covered how God is a multi-faceted God and who He is and what He does are one and the same: God is good, kind, loving and merciful. […]