What We Mean by "God"

This post can act as a continuation of, or an introduction to a blog series on why God is the foundation of everything. Here is the first post of that series: Yeah, but Why?

What We Talk About When We Talk About God

When we engage in discussions about God, it’s essential to first define what we mean. Too often, debates about belief in God fall apart because the participants are working with totally different ideas of who or what God is. For example, some people say, “Believers are atheists about all other gods except their own, so why not just go one god further?” That sounds clever at first, but it actually misses the point in a big way. It’s like comparing apples to space shuttles—they’re not even in the same category. The God of Christianity isn’t just another god; He’s something completely different.

The Big Mix-Up

In polytheistic religions, gods are part of the universe. They might have superpowers, but they’re still bound by time, space, and natural laws. They have needs, rivalries, and limitations. They’re finite (the fancy word is, "immanent")—they rely on something else to exist. The God of Christianity, on the other hand, exists outside the universe. He’s infinite, eternal, and the reason anything exists at all (fancy word: "transcendent"). To lump Him in with Zeus or Thor or Marduk is to miss the fundamental difference between a creature and the Creator.

Beyond Our Fish Tank

Think about it this way: God is outside the fish tank of reality we live in. He’s not just a bigger fish. He’s the one who made the tank, the water, and the laws of physics that keep it all going. That’s what Christians mean when they say God is transcendent—He’s completely beyond our understanding.

But here’s the amazing part: God didn’t stay beyond us. He made Himself known. Christians believe that the ultimate way God revealed Himself was through Jesus. In Jesus, we see who God is, what He’s like, and how much He loves us. This revelation gives us two key types of truths about God:

1. The Obvious Truths: These are truths that just make sense. For example, Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-40). That resonates with pretty much everyone, no matter their beliefs. Love feels like the heart of what it means to be human. It’s like finding out the secret ingredient in your favorite dish is something you already love—of course love is at the center of everything! It just clicks.

2. The Mind-Bending Truths: These are truths that stretch our understanding but, even though we can't understand them perfectly, when we think about them, they bring everything into better focus. Take the Trinity—one God in three persons. At first, it’s hard to make sense of: How can something be both one and three? But this mystery shows us that love is at the core of who God is. For love to exist, there has to be someone to love, and God has always existed in a relationship of love: Father, Son, and Spirit. Even if we can’t fully comprehend it, the idea of the Trinity helps us understand ourselves and the world. It explains why love is so central to human life—because love has always been central to God’s existence. The very things we can’t fully grasp about God end up giving us the clearest view of who He is and why love matters so much.

Here’s why this matters: If God were a solitary being, love wouldn’t be part of His nature. He might learn to love after creating others, but it wouldn’t be who He is. The Christian God, however, has always been love. This eternal love within God Himself is the foundation for why love matters so much to us. When we love, we’re reflecting the God who made us in His image.

Love at the Core

God is bigger than our brains and bigger than logic, because he is the source of it all. That means that our brains and logic cannot perfectly grasp all of who He is. But, since He is the author of our brains and logic, He knows just how to reveal Himself to us to be known how He wants to be known by us. Some of those truths are easy to grasp. Some of them are not. But even the mysterious clarify who we are.

In the end, when we talk about God, we’re not just talking about some powerful being in the sky. We’re talking about the Creator of everything—the source of love, life, and truth. And understanding that changes not only how we think about God but also how we live our lives. Keep reading to explore how God's love is the foundation of morality! Click here