Foundations of Faith, Day 2

A Youversion devotional

All of Scripture is an intricate mosaic that reveals a God who is deeply involved in creation and who cares intimately for humanity. And if we believe the Bible to be true, then we have to believe that the God it describes is true in His intentions and unified in His character.

So what does God’s Word tell us about who God is and what He cares about? While the following list is nowhere near exhaustive, let’s take a closer look at four foundational truths about God:

God is Creator and He actively creates.

The word God uses to describe Himself—“Yhwh”— essentially means, “I am who I am” or “I absolutely am.” In other words, He is timeless. He is the beginning of all things and the end of all things. Nothing can exist apart from Him, because all life was created by Him and only exists through Him.

God is righteous and just.

In Jeremiah, God describes Himself as the One who practices “justice and righteousness.” In Scripture, those words often go together. The word “justice” describes a legal decision made by God that results in right actions that honor God’s decrees. God is able to perfectly practice justice and righteousness because He is just and righteous. His decrees and actions are based on His own truthful character.

God is relational.

God created us so that we could experience the joy and love that He is and then spread that joy and love to others. He does not need us to complete Him, but He wants us to enjoy His presence and partner with Him in caring for His creation.

God is love.

God creates humans with love. He establishes and keeps His covenant with Israel throughout Scripture because of His faithful love. And He sends His only Son to rescue humanity because of His everlasting love. God is able to do all these things because He is love. And so when we delight in God, we get to experience love that’s beyond our ability to generate.

How do we delight in God?

In John 14, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” To delight in God, we must first come to know Him. And to know Him, we must know Jesus who created the way through His death and resurrection for us to spend eternity with Him.

Because Jesus became “God with us,” we can have a personal understanding of who God is. We can boldly draw close to Him and experience His love for ourselves. And in drawing close to Him, He makes us righteous and shows us what His justice truly looks like.

Action Step:
Ask God to reveal who He is to you as you study today’s Scripture passages. Create highlights and notes on any words about God’s character and nature that stand out to you, and then reflect on that list throughout the day.

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

Exodus 3:14

Behold, God is exalted in His power; Who is a teacher like Him?

Job 36:22

God is to us a God of salvation; And to God the Lord belong ways of escape from death.

Psalms 68:20

This is what the Lord says: “Let no wise man boast of his wisdom, nor let the mighty man boast of his might, nor a rich man boast of his riches; but let the one who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:23‭-‬24

This is what God the Lord says, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it: “I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations,

Isaiah 42:5‭-‬6

For this is what the Lord says, He who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it as a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited): “I am the Lord, and there is no one else. “I have not spoken in secret, In some dark land; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a wasteland’; I, the Lord, speak righteousness, Declaring things that are right.

Isaiah 45:18‭-‬19

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:7‭-‬11

No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

1 John 4:12‭-‬14

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

1 John 4:15‭-‬16

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Colossians 1:15‭-‬16