Session 1 of 9

Foundations

Who is God?

Read

²¹Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth? ²²It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in; ²³who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless. ²⁴They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble. ²⁵“To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One. ²⁶Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, Not one is lacking. ²⁷Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?” ²⁸Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, The Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. ³⁰Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; ³¹But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:21–31

Think

Everyone has some picture of God, even if it’s a picture they’ve rejected: a distant force, a stern headmaster, a kindly grandfather. The Bible gives us God’s own self-portrait.

He is the Creator, who made everything and is greater than all of it. The stars are named by him, and the nations are like a drop in a bucket. Yet the same God “gives power to the weak”. He is both far greater and far closer than we imagine.

God is holy, which means utterly good, pure and other. He is also love. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God described himself as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth” (Exodus 34:6).

Christians believe in one God who exists eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit: the Trinity. We can’t fully picture it, and that shouldn’t surprise us. But it means that at the heart of reality there is relationship and love.

Talk it over

1. What picture of God did you grow up with?
2. What in Isaiah 40 stands out to you about who God is?
3. Which matters more to you right now: that God is great, or that God is near? Why?

Learn by heart

Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.

Psalm 103:8

Pray

God, you are greater than I can imagine, and closer than I know. Show me who you really are.