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God
Definition:
In the Bible, the term “God” refers to the eternal being who created the universe out of nothing. God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God’s personal name is “Yahweh.”
- God has always existed; he existed before anything else existed, and he will continue to exist forever.
- He is the only true God and has authority over everything in the universe.
- God is perfectly righteous, infinitely wise, holy, sinless, just, merciful, and loving.
- He is a covenant-keeping God, who always fulfills his promises.
- People were created to worship God and he is the only one they should worship.
- God revealed his name as “Yahweh,” which means “he is” or “I am” or “the One who (always) exists.”
- The Bible also teaches about false “gods,” which are nonliving idols that people wrongly worship.
Translation Suggestions:
- Ways to translate “God” could include “Deity” or “Creator” or “Supreme Being” or “Supreme Creator” or “Infinite Sovereign Lord” or “Eternal Supreme Being.”
- Consider how God is referred to in a local or national language. There may also already be a word for “God” in the language being translated. If so, it is important to make sure that this word fits the characteristics of the one true God as described above.
- Many languages capitalize the first letter of the word for the one true God, to distinguish it from the word for a false god. Another way to make this distinction would be to use different terms for “God” and “god.” NOTE: In the biblical text, when a person who does not worship Yahweh speaks about Yahweh and uses the word “god,” it is acceptable to render the term without a capital letter in reference to Yahweh (see Jonah 1:6, 3:9).
- The phrase “I will be their God and they will be my people” could also be translated as “I, God, will rule over these people and they will worship me.”
(Translation suggestions: How to Translate Names)
(See also: create, false god, God the Father, Holy Spirit, false god, Son of God, Yahweh)
Bible References:
- 1 John 01:07
- 1 Samuel 10:7-8
- 1 Timothy 04:10
- Colossians 01:16
- Deuteronomy 29:14-16
- Ezra 03:1-2
- Genesis 01:02
- Hosea 04:11-12
- Isaiah 36:6-7
- James 02:20
- Jeremiah 05:05
- John 01:03
- Joshua 03:9-11
- Lamentations 03:43
- Micah 04:05
- Philippians 02:06
- Proverbs 24:12
- Psalms 047:09
Examples from the Bible stories:
- 01:01 God created the universe and everything in it in six days.
- 01:15 God made man and woman in his own image.
- 05:03 “I am God Almighty. I will make a covenant with you.”
- 09:14 God said, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell them, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ Also tell them, ‘I am Yahweh, the God of your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is my name forever.’”
- 10:02 Through these plagues, God showed Pharaoh that he is more powerful than Pharaoh and all of Egypt’s gods.
- 16:01 The Israelites began to worship the Canaanite gods instead of Yahweh, the true God.
- 22:07 “You, my son, will be called the prophet of the Most High God who will prepare the people to receive the Messiah!”
- 24:09 There is only one God. But John heard God the Father speak, and saw Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit when he baptized Jesus.
- 25:07 “Worship only the Lord your God and only serve him.”
- 28:01 “There is only one who is good, and that is God.”
- 49:09 But God loved everyone in the world so much that he gave his only Son so that whoever believes in Jesus will not be punished for his sins, but will live with God forever.
- 50:16 But some day God will create a new heaven and a new earth that will be perfect.
Word Data:
- Strong’s: H136, H305, H410, H426, H430, H433, H2486, H2623, H3068, H3069, H3863, H4136, H6697, G112, G516, G932, G935, G1096, G1140, G2098, G2124, G2128, G2150, G2152, G2153, G2299, G2304, G2305, G2312, G2313, G2314, G2315, G2316, G2317, G2318, G2319, G2320, G3361, G3785, G4151, G5207, G5377, G5463, G5537, G5538