Question 4: God

Question 4: What is God?

Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

Of all of the questions and answers in the catechism, this certainly must be the boldest. How could we dare to ask, and hope to answer, a question about the nature of God himself? To speak about God is to speak about something great, something mysterious, something that certainly cannot be contained within a few words. If people ever think that they have put God in a box or fit him into a definition, they have a creation not a Creator, something smaller than themselves, not something bigger.

But in fact, it is this very truth that the catechism's short and careful statement preserves. God is described as infinite and eternal. He is not bound by space or time, things he created to be boundaries for the existence of his creatures (Genesis 1:1). He is unchangeable, which means that what mere humans say about him does not affect who he is. In answering the question, "What is God", the catechism carefully affirms that he is beyond us and our ability to describe him.

However, while we cannot fully describe God, God can describe himself. This is also what the catechism affirms. God is exactly who he says he is. We confess that God is a Spirit because John 4:24 says, "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." We believe that God is wise according to Romans 11:33-34, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and unfathomable his ways!" We know that God has infinite power because Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, "With God all things are possible." We marvel at his holiness because we have heard the seraphim proclaim in Isaiah 6:3, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!" We submit to God's justice because Deuteronomy 32:4 reminds us, "He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice." We remember God's goodness when we read passages like Exodus 34:6, "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." We rejoice in God's truth based on Psalm 117:2, "The truth of the Lord endures forever." What is God? Exactly what he has told us he is.

How do you answer the question, "What is God?" Have you come up with your own definition and (perhaps uninentionally) put God in a box? Or do you acknowledge the fact that he is infinitely beyond you, and describe him only using the words and ideas that he has chosen to describe himself?

Reference: Explanation of the Shorter Catechism by Thomas Vincent.