WHO IS GOD

As Christians, we get our ideas about God from the Bible. Therefore, it is the Bible that helps us to know who God is. The Bible says that God is the Supreme Being. God is the Supreme Being because He alone created the world and human beings. In Genesis 1:1, the Bible states: “In the beginning God created heaven and earth.”

In Jeremiah 10:12, the Bible also states:

“It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the heavens.

 

Some Attributes of God

An attribute is the nature, quality or characteristic of someone or something.

As the Supreme Being, God has many attributes. Some of the attributes of God are that He is: The Sovereign Creator who is: Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent and Invisible; the one with: ‘Love’, and is ‘Holy’.

 

God is the Sovereign Creator

A sovereign is a supreme ruler. He has authority and control over the territory or kingdom which he rules. A creator is someone who makes something or brings something into being. God is the Sovereign Creator because it is He who brought the world in which we live in into being. The world is His territory or kingdom. He rules over the world because the world belongs to Him. He alone has authority and control over it.

In Genesis 1 and 2, the Bible tells us how God created the world. In the beginning there was nothing in the world. There were no trees, forests, human beings, animals, rivers, mountains, sun, moon and stars. God then spoke and things formed. God said let there be: ‘This’ or ‘That’ and there was ‘this’ or ‘that’. For example, God said:

“Let there be light; and there was light.”

God spoke and all the things in this world came into being. Thus by the power of the spoken word, God created the world. And, that is what makes Him the Supreme Creator.

 

God is Omnipotent

Omnipotent means ‘that which is all powerful’. Nothing can be compared to that power. God is omnipotent because He is all powerful. He is the greatest of all the powers in this world. In Psalm 48: 1, the Bible states:

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.

This verse is to glorify and magnify God for being the most powerful in heaven and on earth. By His power, He created the world. By His power, He controls the world. By His power, He controls the sun, the seas, the wind, and all other powers in the world. He controls our lives. By His power, He takes good care of everything that is in the world.

 

God is Omniscient

Omniscient means: ‘Someone who sees everything; knows everything and therefore understands everything’. When a person understands everything he is said to be: ‘Wise’. He has: ‘Wisdom’. God is omniscient because He sees everything in the world. He sees all that is happening in the world. Nothing is hidden from him. Even in the dark, God sees everything that is going on.

Because God sees everything, He knows everything. And, because He knows everything, He is all wise. He alone has the fullness of wisdom and understanding. It is He who gives us wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. In Isaiah 11:2, the Bible states:

“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and knowledge.”

We use the wisdom, understanding and knowledge that God has given us to invent things; to govern ourselves; to generate brilliant ideas that make for progress, and to take wise decisions that lead to success and prosperity.

 

God is Omnipresent

Omnipresent means: ‘Being everywhere at the same time’. God is omnipresent because He is everywhere at the same time. He is in heaven, and at the same time He is on earth. In the book of Jonah, the Bible says that God told Jonah to go and preach to the people of Nineveh. But Jonah did not want to go. He ran away thinking that he could escape from God. But God saw him at the place where he had gone to hide.

 

God is Invisible

Invisible means: ‘Something that we cannot see with our eyes’. For example, a spirit is invisible because we cannot see it with our eyes. God is invisible because we cannot see Him with our eyes. We cannot see God with our eyes because He is a Spirit. In John 4:24 the Bible states:

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and truth.”

God is always with us when we think we are alone. He is by our side to protect us from bad people and from our enemies. Therefore, wherever we are we should not be afraid of bad people or our enemies because God is with us to protect us from harm and danger.

 

God is Love

To love means: ‘To care for someone’. It is ‘to be concerned’ about the well being of someone. God is love because He cares for us. God cares for us because He has given us animals and plants as food to eat so that we may not die of hunger; He has given us the sun to keep us warm; He has given us water to drink not to die of thirst; He has given us things to make clothes and build houses to live in; He has given us wisdom, understanding and knowledge to make the world a better place to live in. Above all, God is love because He has given us salvation so that we might not perish but have eternal life after we die. In John 3:16, the Bible says:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten son so that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.”

 

God is Holy

To be holy means: ‘To be righteous’. It is to be without sin. God is holy because He is righteous. There is no sin in Him. In Isaiah 6:3, the Bible says:

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.

Because God is holy, He wants all of us to be holy:

Be holy for I the Lord thy God, I am holy.

 

Religious Guidance and Counselling

1. God wants you to see Him as the Supreme Being: Some of you see God as the Supreme Being who created the world and human beings. As a result you give Him praise, honour and adoration. That is good. But some of you do not see God that way. Consequently, you do not give Him the praise, honour and adoration that He deserves. That is not good. You must give God His due. God wants all of you to see Him as the Supreme Being who created the world and human beings, and give Him the praise, honour and adoration that He deserves.
2. God wants you to know His attributes and their meanings: Some of you know the attributes of God and their meanings. This has helped you to know who God is and What He is, and the close relationship you can have with Him. That is very good. Keep it up. But some of you do not know the attributes of God and their meanings. As a result you do not know who God is and what He is. You have no close relationship with Him. That is not good. God wants all of you to know His attributes and their meanings. This is because the attributes and their meanings help us to know who God is and what He is and the close relationship we can have with Him.
3. God wants you to know the importance of His names in different Nigerian languages: Some of you know the importance of the names of God in different Nigerian languages. That is very good. But some of you do not know the importance of the names of God in different Nigerian languages. That is not good. God wants all of you to know the importance of His names in the different Nigerian languages because they help us to know some of His attributes.

 

Religious and Moral Lessons

1. The Bible tells us that God is the ‘Supreme Being’ because He created the world, and man. You must learn to praise God for being the ‘Supreme Being’ who created the world and man.
2. God is the ‘Sovereign Creator’ of the world who alone has authority and control over it. You must learn to pray to God to give you spiritual power to submit to the authority and control of Him over your life.
3. God is the ‘Omnipotent’ who is all powerful. You must learn to pray to God to give you spiritual power to do great things for the Church, your country and the world.
4. God is the ‘Omniscient’ who is all seeing, all knowing and all wise. You must learn to pray to God to give you wisdom and knowledge to do great things for the Church, your country and the world. You must learn to pray to God to give you the Holy Spirit and the wisdom to understand all that you are taught in the classroom, so that you can pass your exams with distinction.
5. God is the ‘Holy One’ who wants us to be holy because He is holy. You must learn to pray to God to give you spiritual power to be holy and be obedient, faithful and respectful to your parents at home, teachers in school and elders in our community.
6. There are names for God in different Nigerian languages. You must learn some of the names of God in different Nigerian languages.
7. The names of God in different Nigerian languages help us to know some of His attributes. You must learn the attributes of God that come out from His names in different Nigerian languages.
8. The names of God in different Nigerian languages tell us that He is the God with whom we can enter into personal relationship of trust and obedience. You must learn to pray to God to help you enter into a personal relationship of trust and obedience with Him.

 

Names of God in different Nigerian Languages