Christians and Muslims believe that God exists, but what is God like? As a Christian, I believe that God is one. He is spirit, and he is eternal. I also believe that God is all-powerful, sovereign, and omnipotent. God is perfect; he is sole and supreme ruler of the universe, and nothing is outside of his control (Blanchard, 2014, p. 10). In Jeremiah 32:27 we read this: Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? God is also holy. Holiness “... communicates the idea of being... ‘placed apart’”. This means that God is “... above all His creation and is totally distinct from every created being.”
Although you would probably agree with me so far, the character of God is the departure point for our two faiths, because the Bible reveals much more about God’s character. As a Muslim you might say that “Allah is unknowable” or “... utterly transcendent”, yet I am convinced that God is knowable because God has revealed himself as personal and loving. Now, since love requires an object, I have a question: if, according to the Qur’an, God is unknowable, how can one of his 99 names be ‘Allah the all-loving’? Since love requires an object, and since Allah’s names are eternal, who was Allah loving before he created? You see, it is logical for the Christian to believe that God is loving since we know that Jesus enjoyed an eternal, loving relationship with the Father.
In chapter 17 of the Gospel According to John, we read that Jesus said this: Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world (John 17:24).
One expression of God’s love for his creation is found in Exodus 34:6 - The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness...” And the psalmist in Psalm 89:14 declares this: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. As Christians, God is our loving and faithful Creator, and he is also our Sustainer. We have confidence in God’s love, because in both the Old and NT God is described as unchanging and that His Word is unchanging.
In Psalm 119:89, the psalmist declares this: “Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens”. And in James 1:17 the apostle has this to say about God’s character: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from athe Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
However, God is also our judge. And while Proverbs 3 declares that... the Lord disciplines those he loves,as a father the son he delights, the reality is for the unbeliever is this: The soul who sins shall die (Please see Ezekiel 18:20). Dear listener, God rewards and punishes us in this life and the next by way of his perfect justice. However, God does not in an arbitrary or capricious way, but in a perfectly just and loving way, as a father punishes the child whom he loves.
If you missed number two in our 52 Questions series, listen now to hear how you can have a relationship with this perfectly just and loving God.
Sources:
Blanchard, J., 2014. Ultimate Questions. Welwyn Garden City: EP Books.
Washer, P., 2016. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books.