It's likely I've already written something like this before, but I've been thinking about it today, and I wanted to write it down. So this could very well be a sort of rehash.
2 Corinthians 1:9 talks about "God who raises the dead." This description sets a theme for the entire epistle: we're not much, but God is. 2 Corinthians 4:6 carries this idea forward when it talks about "the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness." The God who can command light to shine out of darkness is the God that doesn't need anything to work with. He can shine in our hearts even though there's no light naturally occurring in there.
He is the God who doesn't need our help.
I'm not sure how many places in Scripture we could find "the God who." Romans 4 doesn't use the exact wording when it introduces "Him who justifies the ungodly" (Romans 4:5), but the idea is the same. The God who doesn't need to find any good in us is able to justify on the principle of faith.
All told, I found four places in Romans 4 where we get similar statements:
- "who justifies the ungodly" Romans 4:5
- "who quickens the dead" Romans 4:17
- "who... calls the things which be not as being" Romans 4:17
- "who has raised from among [the] dead Jesus our Lord" Romans 4:24
We could spend quite a bit of time talking about each of those, and it would be time well spent. In the end, we can think about each of these as a sort of a brush stroke that gives us a glimpse into who God is. He is the God who raises the dead. He is the God who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead.
It occurs to me that Psalm 80 starts with some similar statements:
- "thou that leadest Joseph as a flock" (Psalm 80:1)
- "thou that dwellest between the cherubim" (Psalm 80:1)
We might look into that Psalm to see how those descriptions begin themes that carry through it. I don't know what we'd find, I'm curious to look into that.
Just in these eight statements, we have a striking portrait of God. He is the God who raises the dead. It is never too late for Him to help. Even if we should die, we aren't beyond His ability to help us. That might remind us of John 6:39–40. But that falls short of what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 1:9. His claim is actually that God had put them (that is, Paul and his companions) into an impossible position with the express intention that they wouldn't be able to trust themselves, but would have to trust Him. That's a claim about God's purpose, not merely His help.
He is the God who justifies the ungodly. As far as I can tell from Romans 4:5, there are only two ways we can put ourselves beyond the Gospel. First, we can work, second, we can refuse to believe God. But the one who – without working – believes God, that person is declared by God to be righteous. He doesn't need any godliness in us: on the contrary, He's the God who justifies the ungodly. If we know ourselves to be ungodly, we know ourselves to be exactly the kind of people He forgives.
He is the God who calls things that are not as though they were. This sounds strange, like God is deluded. That's not what it means, although that's not as far off as your Sunday School teacher might like you to think. He is the God who, in the act of speaking, changes reality. He is not bound by reality: reality is bound by Him. So when He makes a statement, it is true because He said it. He justifies the ungodly by declaring them to be righteous with absolutely no regard to whether they actually are. He gives life to the dead by declaring the to be alive, and they come to life as a result (cf. Ezekiel 37:1–10).
He is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness. He doesn't need our help. There is a tendency for us to see ourselves as bringing some sort of raw material for God. Like, we provide some raw talent, and He uses it to build. 2 Corinthians 4:6 turns that on its head: the God who made light shine out of darkness doesn't need anything we can offer Him. The shining of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is something He does ex nihilo. The weight of glory in our lives is something He does with no help from us.
He is the God who leads His people like a shepherd. Jacob's description of the life of a shepherd doesn't sound like a fun job (Genesis 31:38–40). That's the role God takes with His people. In the Old Testament and the New, God is a shepherd (see Psalm 23:1–6, Ezekiel 34:11ff, John 10:11ff). And here's a thought: what does Genesis 33:13–14 say about God as the Shepherd? Jacob had learned he couldn't overdrive sheep, or they would die. How often does our Shepherd go at a frustratingly slow pace, because He knows we just can't keep up?
He is the God who dwells between the cherubim. I'm sure this is a reference to the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:22), but we notice that when Ezekiel sees God, he describes Him as sitting between cherubim (compare Ezekiel 1:5–26 with Ezekiel 10:20). Ezekiel sees the vision of God enthroned between cherubim four times (Ezekiel 1:1ff, Ezekiel 3:23, Ezekiel 8:1–4, Ezekiel 43:3), which is remarkable.
Notice Psalm 80 puts Ezekiel's terrifying view of God right next to the view of God the Shepherd. They go together in Psalm 80.
We might notice that 2 Corinthians 1:9 calls Him the God "who raises the dead," while Romans 4:17 calls Him the God "who quickens the dead." Very similar, not exactly the same. We could spend some time exploring that.
We didn't even look at 1 Timothy 6:13 ("God who preserves all things in life") and 1 Timothy 6:17 ("the God who affords us all things richly for [our] enjoyment"), I'm sure there are many more we could consider.
I've found it helpful to remember these brush strokes that help us get a glimpse at who God is. They are short and pithy character sketches that help align my thoughts about Him.
