Question 9
QUESTION #9
What is God?
ANSWER
God is spirit*. He does not have a body like men.
‘God is Spirit. Those who worship* him must worship him in spirit and in truth.’[1]
God is spirit. God does not have a body like we do. A house can be made of wood or stones. We are made of skin and bones. But God is not made of skin or bones. God is not made of parts or pieces like the things that he created.* He is spirit. He is different from any of the things that he made. He is not made of anything that we find in creation.*
Because he is spirit, the things that limit us cannot limit God. Because we have a body, we grow old. We grow tired. Our minds grow weak. God does not have a body. So, he does not grow old or tired. Because God is spirit, he has no shape or size. He cannot be measured like the things that he made. We cannot weigh him. We cannot find where he begins or ends. He cannot be limited to one place or one time. No place can hold God inside it. Because he is spirit, he can be in all places at one time. He is always present. He is present in all places. He is present at all times.
Although God is spirit and does not have a body, he is a true person. God cares for people. He thinks and acts and decides. God speaks to people. And God listens to his people. He hears and answers people when they pray. He is alive in every way. In fact, the scriptures* say that he is life. It is God who gives life to all things that live.[2] All life comes from God because he is life.
There are places where the scriptures speak about God as if he does have a body. They may speak of God’s eyes or hands or arm. For example, ‘God rules by his power forever. His eyes watch the nations.’[3] But, when the Bible* speaks this way, it does not mean that God has eyes like we do. The scriptures use those words to tell us that God can see. He can see us. He can see all things. When the Bible says that God has hands, it does not mean that God has hands like our hands. Those words tell us that God can act. God can make things. He can do things like a person might do with their hands. When the Bible says that God has an arm, it means to tell us that God is strong.[4] He is great and has great power. He can overcome anyone who stands against him. He can protect his people from their enemies. He can remove anything that stands in his way.