If you Googled God....
If you google God, you will get 562 million results-making it one of the most poplar subjects in the webiverse. But you don't need to read every result to realize that when you have that many returns you have an equal amount of confusion.
But wait a minute...there's only one God-right? And He has made Himself known-right? So why all the confusion?
In a word...pride. I've done so much thinking about this that my thinker hurts-and what it basically comes down to is the core and foundation of all that is wrong:
Pride.
The way I see it, you can accept God for who He is according to what He has said about Himself in His word, or you can reject it and make God into your own image...you know, one that serves your purposes and lets you be as religious as you think is necessary. I think that's why God said this:
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
This is one of the clearest answers on record to the question of "who is God and what is He like?"-and interestingly enough, it takes on the issue of pride. Notice some of the things He is saying-
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches."
In other words: pride is a bad thing, and if you get caught up in boasting and bragging, you'll forget the most important things in life: God is God and you are not. Think about how stupid it is for people to brag about anything they did. They wouldn't even be breathing if it weren't for God-so how could anyone take the credit for anything? Have you also noticed what all warped views of God have in common? They all leave room for pride and boasting.
"...but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD."
God says "I am knowable" - as in - "I want to have a relationship with you." It starts with realizing He is the Lord, which basically includes all the necessary things that go along with being God: all-powerful, all-knowing, no beginning, no end, perfect in everything, and Creator of the universe. Oh yeah, and also the One who gives you air to breathe.
God also lets you in on part of His character here, because He "exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth." Here's the way another version of the Bible puts it:
"I act in loyal love. I do what's right and set things right and fair."
The basic nature of God is like a two sided coin. On one side is ultimate love-defined as seeking the highest good for the object being loved. And what's the object? Us! God seeks our highest good in everything He does-only pride keeps people from seeing that (as in-I don't need God's love.)
The other side is God's righteousness- defined as acting in the most just and fair way possible. God has no choice but to act righteously- only pride keeps people from seeing that (as in- I know more about fairness than God does).
So maybe I can save you a little google time. Who is God? Well, He's God-Creator and Ruler of the Universe. What is He like? Well, He's a perfect combination of perfect love and perfect righteousness...
Now that's something to brag about!