God is such a big and magnificent God, and there are three characteristics that best describe Him. These characteristics are Life, Love and Power. In 1 John 4:8 we see God describing Himself as love. In John 14:6, Jesus states that He is the way, the truth and Life. In Ephesians 1:19 we see that God has mighty power. In Exodus 3:14 when God introduces Himself to Moses, He says “I AM WHO I AM.” In context with the title He is Life, He is Love and He is Power. These 3 are at the core of who God is. His Life manifests in existence (creation) (John 1:3). His Love manifests in Grace (John 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:8). His Power manifests in Faith (Mark 11:20-24). His power, life and love are one thing. You cannot walk in one and expect not to walk the other.

Life

His life is evident in creation. In Hebrews 1:3, the Lord says that He upholds all things by the word of His power. When He created all things, he released life into the unknown. His words began to create things because of the power (faith in His words) that was behind them. That is why He is the creator. He creates the universe with His words.

In John 1:1-5, we see His life and power. John 1 begins with the following statement, “In the beginning was the Word.” The question we should ask is what word? In Ephesians 1:3-10, we see the words spoken before the foundation of the world. Before the foundation of the world the Godhead spoke salvation into existence. From that we can deduce that this was the word that was in the beginning. When Christ volunteered to die for us (John 15:13), that word (salvation) became Him and He became that word (salvation, our savior).

In verse 3 of John 1, it states that all things were created through Him. With the foreknowledge of God, they knew that man would sin, and they would have to be punished. Verse 3 continues to state that without the word nothing could have been made. If there was no way to save His children the plug on creation would have been pulled but since the plan was already in place, God proceeded to create the world. (Side Note: God did not let the fear of failure stop Him from creating the world.)

John 1:4-5, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” In John 14:6, Jesus says that He is the way the truth and the life. This way is the path mentioned in Job 28:7-8. The reason why darkness cannot overcome it is because it can’t find that path. This path is the one Jesus talked about in Matthew 7:13-14, the narrow and the wide path. The ones who find it are the ones who have found Jesus who is our light.

Love

Love is a state of being not an action. When we interact with one another in love, we see the fruits of love. So, when the scripture in 1 John 4:8 says that God is love, it is telling us who He is not what He does. Everything He does is in love. Both mercy and grace are the expression of His love. Throughout the scriptures we see the expression of God is either through mercy or grace. We see mercy and grace because of the fall of man. The question we need to ask ourselves what if Adam never sinned, how was God going to express Himself then? Before answering that question, we must first understand what mercy and grace is. Mercy is when we don’t get the punishment that we deserved. Grace is when we get the good that we don’t serve.

In both mercy and grace, we are getting things that we don’t deserve. Now back to question of how was God going to express Himself before the fall of man. Right now, the way we see God is from the context of fallen man. To get this answer let’s go back to Genesis 2 and see how God interacted with Adam. In Genesis 3:8 states, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” Here we see God coming to visit His creation and spend time with them. This shows us that before the fall the relationship between God and His creation was for fellowship. That was God’s original plan. The results of both grace and mercy is for us to have a relationship with Him.

Power

The earth and universe are characterized by beautiful scenery. All these are made possible by the power of God. Hebrews 1:3 states that He upholds all things by the word of His power. God’s power is evident in creation. Power is defined as the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality. So, Hebrews is telling us that God holds everything by the ability of His words. The bible states that faith comes by hearing the word of God. God’s power and word are one. So, God’s word or power is released through faith. In other words, God is a Faith God. When we get born again, we are born of the word or born of His faith. Galatians 3 tells us that the just shall live by faith. Living this life in faith is living this life by the word of God or living this life by the power of God.