Who Is God? What Do We Mean When We Say, I believe in God?

What does it mean when we say, “I believe in one God”? Who is this God that we profess belief in? The simplest answer is that God is not just some super-powered being that people happen to call ‘God’. That opening statement of the Nicene-Constantinoplitan Creed expresses our faith in something far greater than that. It is a statement of fact that God is ‘Being Itself,’ the very Ground of Being, from which all that is, ever has been, or will ever be, takes its being. God is transcendent, unlimited by space or time, infinite in power, knowledge, and goodness. God is the very Act of Being and, as such, is infinite in all respects.

To put this another way, God is not simply one being among many. God is the very source and foundation of all existence. Everything derives its being, and its existence from God. He is “Being itself”, not just ‘a being’. God transcends creation, that is, He is beyond the created universe, and yet, He is intimately involved with all of creation, at every level, sustaining every part of it, from the farthest expanses of the universe to the smallest subatomic particle, and each one of us.

In the Book of Exodus, chapter 3, Moses encounters God in a burning bush and is commissioned to go and bring the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt. When Moses asked God, “When the Israelites ask me what is the name of the God of our ancestors who sent me?” God replied, ‘I AM WHO I AM. Then He added, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM sent me to’” (Ex. 3:14). This is the first time God reveals his name in the scriptures. Prior to this moment, the Israelite people used terms like Elohim, or El when speaking about God. This is a title, rather than a personal name. They also used the term El Shaddai, translated often as, God Almighty. But when God gave his name to Moses it instantly conveyed His dominion over all things, his power, and His eternal nature. When he says, “I AM,” He is revealing that He is the self-sufficient, self-sustaining One who was, who is, and who always will be.

When Jesus says, “I am,” we believe that we are hearing the very Word of God, that he is the very Ground of Being, come to us in the flesh, and that He is revealing the truth of who he is to us. Jesus is “God from God, light from light, true God from True God begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made” (Nicene Creed). Jesus makes seven such “I AM” statements in John’s Gospel. “I am the bread of life” (Jn. 6:35); “I am the light of the world” (8:12); “I am the door” (10:7); “I am the good shepherd” (10:11,14); I am the resurrection and the life (11:25); “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14:6); and “I am the true vine” (15:1). When we hear Jesus say, “I am,” we are to hear each of these statements as coming to us from the great I AM, for Jesus is the Word of God, the I AM, come to us in the flesh.

To know God is the work of a lifetime of contemplation, study, and prayer. Just these seven “I AM” statements alone are worthy of such a lifetime’s work. They are at the very heart of the revelation of God’s love, care, constancy, faithfulness, and concern for us. We will not know God fully, of course, until through faith and God’s grace, we are united with him in heaven. Only then will we see Him face to face and, finally, know Him for WHO HE IS, WHO HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN, AND WHO HE ALWAYS WILL BE. And, O, how we long to see his face!