What is God like?

God is eternal and never had a beginning or creator to make Him. Unlike angels, humans, or animals, He is the only Being that was never born or created. Because He had no starting point (creation) and will have no ending point (death), there is nothing that was before Him nor will there be anything or anyone after Him—because there will never be an after God! Because God’s essence (what makes Him divine) is changeless (which is why He stays eternal), He will never age or get old or run out of energy. He is the only perfect Being or thing in existence. God reveals His name as ‘YHWH’ (from Heb. verb hayah, ‘to be’) meaning ‘I am who/that I am—the one who is/will be’, hinting at His eternal, changeless nature (Ex. 3:14). No matter when it is, the God who is, is!

Christians/Jews are monotheists (one God) not polytheists (multiple gods). In the OT, God is referred to by singular personal pronouns (He, Him, I) yet also plural (Us, Our; Gen 1:26, 27). In the Shema, God is described in plural, (Heb. Elohim, ‘gods’) and echad ‘one/first/united’ not yachid ‘absolute one’—which is never used to describe God, Deut. 6:4; like Gen. 2:24). The NT Jew worshipped Jesus though they believed in one God (Matt. 14:33; John 20:28). 

God is one in essence, but three Persons share that essence. The word ‘trinity’ (‘tri-unity’ or ‘three united as/of one’) is not in the Bible but a theological term used to describe three Persons in the Bible—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—that have God-like qualities; eternal, creator, judge, forgiver of sin, etc. (Matt. 6:14; Mark 3:28-30; Luke 5:20, 21). God is not expressed in three different modes (modalism), but rather exposed as three different Persons. Each Person shares the same divine power, glory and perfection but with different roles. In the Trinity, the Son willingly submits to the Father and the Holy Spirit willingly submits to both the Father and Son so they always act in perfect unity and community (Matt. 28:19; John 16:13-15). The Trinity allows God to become human (imminent—Jesus) yet remain separately God (transcendent—Father; John 1:18; 3:16). There is none besides Him, and will never be like Them!