What do Christadelphians believe about God?
To explain what Christadelphians believe about God, I will answer the following questions.
- Who is God?
- What is God’s personality?
- Where does God dwell?
- What does God want?
Who is God?
God is the creator of the universe, who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), then on days 1-6:
- Light and dark (Genesis 1:3-5)
- Sea and sky (Genesis 1:6-10)
- Fertile earth (Genesis 1:11-14)
- Lights of day and night (Genesis 1:14-19)
- Fish and birds (Genesis 1:20-23)
- Land animals and mankind (Genesis 1:24-8)
On day 7, God rested.
God is immortal, invisible, the only God as it is written in 1 Timothy 1:17. He is the one and only God (Isaiah 46:9), who anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit, which includes the power of God (Acts 10:38).
What is God’s personality?
The LORD described Himself to Moses by the following in Exodus 34:5-7 : Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed His name, the LORD. And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”
God is love (1 John 4:7), perfect (Matthew 5:48) and cannot be tempted with evil (James 1:13) as wickedness and evil cannot dwell with Him (Psalm 5:4).
God raised His son, Jesus Christ from the dead after the crucifixion and He will raise believers to be united with Christ when he returns in the future (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).
Where does God dwell?
God dwells in heaven: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9) and no one has ever seen God (John 1:18).
What does God want from us?
God wants us to be His children. God wants to be our heavenly Father — this is one of the most powerful messages in the Bible. God is willing to make us part of His special family, summed up in these words:
“Yet to all who received Jesus, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103: 13-14).
God is referred to as Father in the New Testament thanks to Jesus, who could fully reveal the Father because he was exactly like his Father. The first chapter of Hebrews tells us this:
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:1-3).
God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us, as it is written in John 3:16-8:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
This is one of the most encouraging passages written in the Bible because it offers hope, happiness, and a reason that our existence should be to want to do what God wants of us. God gives His steadfast love in abundance and further topics such as baptism and the Kingdom will be covered in subsequent articles.
If you have any questions, ask them in the comments below.
MM
