Who is God and What is God Like?
We have our concepts about who God is. He is very different from what we think God is like. Read what the Bible says about God.
"God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." I John 1:5
You may have heard before that God is light. Our Father God shines His light so all can know who He is. Who is God? God is light-shining as the only real truth in the entire universe - and in Him is no darkness at all.
What is light? Darkness can be defined as the absence of light. God’s light saves humankind from being in darkness and death. Darkness can be seen in tragic acts of injustice, or more subtly felt in spoken lies and written falsehoods. Darkness can result in feelings of uneasiness, restlessness, anxiousness, depression and pain. We must know that darkness is never God’s expression. God’s expression is always light.
God’s light can lead you to know what pleases Him and makes Him happy. God can shine upon you through His Spirit, His Word and prayer. If you haven’t already, you can pray, "God, please shine on me as light that I could know who You are." As you abide more in God’s light, He can shine on You in a deeper way, resulting in feelings of life and peace instead of feelings of uneasiness and dissatisfaction.
"God is love." 1 John 4:8
God is also love. This verse doesn't simply say that God is loving, but that He Himself is love. This means that God’s very nature is love itself. God has always loved man, since the beginning of time, from eternity past. God has loved man even in his fallen condition. God continues to love man in this day and age, and God will continue to love man for eternity.
We are created in God's image and according to His likeness, and we can see that our own human virtues are a shadow of who God is. Despite man’s fall and corruption, there is still within an aspiration of love. God is love, and God so loved the world. God has an infinite and limitless love, whereas our own source of love is ultimately finite and limited. Once we touch God’s love, though, we can know what real love is.
For example, you may try to love all of your family members, friends, and even neighbors and co-workers. But are you able to maintain your love for your spouse, children, parents, siblings and friends even when they've made you angry or annoyed? Do you feel that you can properly love each one at all times? Even the innate love towards one's own children eventually will fall short in its expression over the course of all time and situations. Only the Lord in the Bible loved all people and sinners unconditionally, and at all times and in every situation.
Some may think that they need to "do" something to earn God’s love, or that they should suffer in order to please God. These thoughts are in darkness, and are not God’s intention. God’s intention is that you would know Him and His love for you. This is one of the greatest revelations of the Bible - that God loves you. When you are in the light, you also can know God’s love toward you. You even can pray, "Lord, show me Your love that I could know You more, and be the real love in me toward others."