Who God Says He Is
Before we say anything about God, we listen to what he has said about himself.
Key passage — Exodus 34:6–7
Every generation is tempted to assemble a God it finds agreeable. The result is
always smaller than the God who is there, and never able to bear the weight a real life
places on him.
Scripture takes another route. It does not argue God into existence; it reports his
self-disclosure. When Moses asks to see God's glory, what he is given is a name and a
character.
The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love
Exodus 34:6–7
and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and
sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.
Two halves of one sentence
Notice that mercy and justice arrive in the same breath. We tend to hold them apart — a God
of love or a God of judgement — and the text will not let us. The same God who forgives
wickedness does not pretend it never happened.
Hold only the first half and you get sentiment. Hold only the second and you get dread.
Hold both and you are standing where the cross becomes not merely moving but necessary.
Why it matters on a Tuesday
Doctrine that stays on the page has not yet been believed. If God is as Exodus 34 says, then
your guilt is neither trivial nor final; your suffering is neither meaningless nor the last
word; and your prayers are heard by someone who is slow to anger — which is to say, patient
with you specifically.
That is where we begin, and it is why everything else on this site is anchored here.