What Is God Like?

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If you are like most people, at one time or another you have pondered this life-changing question: “What is God like?” Therefore, A. W. Tozer began his beloved classic, The Knowledge of the Holy,[1] by saying:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason, . . . the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.” (p. 1)

“What is God like?” If by that question we mean “What is God like in Himself?” there is no answer. If we mean “What has God disclosed about Himself that the reverent reason can comprehend?” there is, I believe, an answer both full and satisfying. For while the name of God is secret and His essential nature incomprehensible, He in condescending love has by revelation declared certain things to be true of Himself. These we call His attributes.” (p. 11)

Because religious thinkers have differed widely as to the number of God’s divine attributes, Tozer decided “to follow the insight of the enraptured heart rather than the more cautious reasonings of the theological mind.” (p. 13) Hence, although he believed “nothing [would] be found [in his book] contrary to Christian theology,” he wrote “not for professional theologians but for plain persons whose hearts stir them up to seek after God Himself.” (p. viii)

So then, how can we get to know what God is like in Himself? Because we can only get to know God by divine revelation, He clearly revealed His eternal power and Godhead (deity or divine nature) through His creation and when the “Word became flesh.”

“Since the creation of the world His invisibleattributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20).[2]

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14).

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds. . . . [For Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Hebrews 1:1–2; Colossians 1:15).

God Is a Trinity in Unity

Through His written Word, the Bible, God reveals His essential nature or essence in great detail—both His unity (oneness) and plurality, yet there is only one God.

“You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).

“. . . The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God’ ” (Isaiah 44:6).

[Jesus said,] “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30).

“And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—‘The LORD is one,’ And His name one” (Zechariah 14:9).

While there is only one God, one of the Scripture’s Hebrew names for God is Elohim, a plural noun that recognizes the Trinity, but not three separate gods. For God subsists (or exists) as a Trinity in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, He should never be explained as one God manifesting Himself three ways. These Persons are equal in the sense that they have the same attributes, and are worthy of worship.

“. . . there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the [Son], and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one” (1 John 5:7).

The Persons of the Godhead, being one, have one will. They work always together, and never one smallest act is done by one without the instant acquiescence of the other two. Every act of God is accomplished by the Trinity in Unity. . . . The dialogue involving the Father and the Son recorded in the Scriptures is always to be understood as being between the Eternal Father and the Man Christ Jesus. That instant, immediate communication between the Persons of the Godhead which has been from all eternity knows not sound nor effort nor motion. (p. 22)

Tozer thus concluded that “The doctrine of the Trinity . . . is truth for the heart. The fact that it cannot be satisfactorily explained, instead of being against it, is in its favor. Such a truth had to be revealed; no one could have imagined it.” (p. 23)

Suggested Hymn: “Holy, Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty” (—Reginal Heber)

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! Amen.

God Is Self-Existent

[God] is everywhere while He is nowhere, for “where” has to do with matter and space, and God is independent of both. He is unaffected by time or motion, is wholly self-dependent and owes nothing to the worlds His hands have made. (p. 26)

While the Bible applies several names to God, the name He gives to Himself is Jehovah, which means “Self-Existent or Eternal.” In other words, God had no origin—no beginning. Jehovah is the Jewish national name for God which is translated in the King James Version as “the LORD.” The name Jehovah is derived from the Hebrew word “havah” which means “to be, to become”—and speaks of God’s very being.

“That they may know that You, whose name alone is [Jehovah],Are the Most High over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18).

“[Jehovah] is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King” (Jeremiah 10:10a).

“[Jehovah] is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods” (Psalm 96:4).

In Scripture, God’s “I AM” name first appears at the burning bush where Moses spoke with God concerning his upcoming mission to deliver God’s people from Egyptian oppression so they may worship the Lord in the Promised Land, as God had promised Abraham many years before. So Moses said to God:

“Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ . . . ‘This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations’ ” (Exodus 3:13–14, 15c).

The greatest of all the names for the Lord Jesus Christ is “I AM.” For example, when the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well perceived that He could possibly be the long awaited for Messiah, Jesus responded to her questioning by saying, “I who speak to you am He ” (John 4:26). Literally, He had just attested to His “I AM” divine title.

Christ also referred to His deity in John 8:24b: “. . . if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” In other words, Jesus was telling His Jewish opponents that they could not be saved unless they recognized and believed that He, Jesus Christ, is God.

He then made His claim to deity even more clearly by stating “before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58b). Because Jewish leaders who were listening knew exactly what He meant, “. . . they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by” (John 8:59).

Furthermore, by using the I AM name to emphatically declare His divinity, Jesus also used that formula coupled with a noun to describe Himself as the only One who can ever meet man’s greatest needs in life. (Note: The following verses were shortened and an emphasis added.)

Jesus fed 5,000 men and declared, “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35).

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5).

Jesus said He is the only door into God’s presence, “I am the Door” (John 10:7, 9).

Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11, 14).

Jesus conquered death. Not only did He say, “I am the Resurrection and Life” (John 11:25–26), but He rose from the dead to prove that He truly is the “I AM WHO I AM.”

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). Only God can claim that.

Jesus Christ sustains our spiritual life because He is the True Vine, the only way, and the giver of life. Thus He said, “I am the True Vine” (John 15:1, 5).

The apostle Paul tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is so far above all other beings that all who are in heaven and earth will one day bow and worship Him:

“. . . God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11).

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Suggested Hymn: “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” (—Edward Perronet)

All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all;
Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all!

Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race, Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace, And crown Him Lord of all;
Hail Him who saves you by His grace, And crown Him Lord of all!

Let every kindred, every tribe, On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe, And crown Him Lord of all;
To Him all majesty ascribe, And crown Him Lord of all!

O that with yonder sacred throng We at His feet may fall!
We’ll join the everlasting song, And crown Him Lord of all;
We’ll join the everlasting song, And crown Him Lord of all!

God Is Eternal

Because God lives in an everlasting now, He has no past and no future. When time-words occur in the Scriptures they refer to our time, not to His. . . . God dwells in eternity but time dwells in God. He has already lived all our tomorrows as He has lived all our yesterdays. (p. 39)

We are made for eternity as certainly as we are made for time, and as responsible moral beings we must deal with both. Because God made men for His eternal purpose, nothing [less than that] can bring them complete satisfaction. (p. 41)

“Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Psalm 90:2).

“. . . I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times the things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all my pleasure . . .’ ” (Isaiah 46:9b–10).

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. . . . He has put eternity in [our] hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

“[God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel . . .” (2 Timothy 1:9–10).

God Is Infinite

Of all that can be thought or said about God, His infinitude is the most difficult to grasp. . . . Yet we must try, for the Holy Scriptures teach that God is infinite, and, if we accept His other attributes, we must of necessity accept this one too. (p. 44)

Tozer concluded: “When we say that God is infinite we mean that He knows no bounds. . . . He is measureless. Measurement is the way created things have of accounting for themselves. It describes limitations, imperfections, and cannot apply to God. . . . All that He is He is without growth or addition or development. Nothing in God is less or more, or large or small. He is what He is in Himself, without qualifying thought or word. He is simply God.” (pp. 45, 46)

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).

“He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:4–5).

Because God’s nature is infinite, everything that flows out of it is infinite also. . . . How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none. Eternal years lie in His heart. For Him time does not pass, it remains; and those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years. God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves. (p. 47)

God Is Immutable

To say that God is immutable is to say that He is changeless—He never differs from Himself. All that God is He has always been, and all that He has been and is He will ever be. In God no change is possible; in men change is impossible to escape. (p. 50)

Have you ever considered that “In this world where men forget us, change their attitude toward us as their private interests dictate, and revise their opinion of us for the slightest cause, is it not a source of wondrous strength to know that the God with whom we have to do changes not? That His attitude toward us now is the same as it was in eternity past and will be in eternity to come?” (p. 53)

“. . . You are the same, And Your years will have no end” (Psalm 102:27).

“. . . I am the LORD, I do not change . . .” (Malachi 3:6).

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

What peace it brings to the Christian’s heart to realize that our Heavenly Father never differs from Himself. In coming to Him at any time we need not wonder whether we shall find Him in a receptive mood. He is always receptive to misery and need, as well as to love and faith. He does not keep office hours nor set aside periods when He will see no one. Neither does He change His mind about anything. Today, this moment, He feels toward His creatures, toward babies, toward the sick, the fallen, the sinful, exactly as He did when He sent His only-begotten Son into the world to die for mankind. . . . His attitude toward the sinner is the same as when He stretched forth His hands and cried, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (p. 53)

God Is Omniscient

To say that God is omniscient is to say that He possesses perfect knowledge and therefore has no need to learn. But it is more: it is to say that God had never learned and cannot learn. (p. 55)

The Scriptures teach that God has never learned from anyone:

“Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:13–14).

“For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” (Romans: 11:34).

These rhetorical questions put by the prophet Isaiah and the apostle Paul declare that God has never learned. From there it is only a step to the conclusion that God cannot learn. Could God at any time or in any manner receive into His mind knowledge that He did not possess and had not possessed from eternity, He would be imperfect and less than Himself. (p. 55)

Because God knows all things perfectly, He knows no thing better than any other thing, but all things equally well. Therefore, the risen and glorified Lord Jesus Christ declared:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is, and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).

Alpha and the Omega. These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. An alphabet is an ingenious way to store and communicate knowledge. The 26 letters in the English alphabet, arranged in almost endless combinations, can hold and convey all knowledge. Christ is the supreme, sovereign alphabet; there is nothing outside His knowledge . . . .[3]

As Tozer has rightfully discerned, “In the divine omniscience we see set forth against each other the terror and fascination of the Godhead. That God knows each person through and through can be a cause of shaking fear to the man that has something to hide—some unforsaken sin, some secret crime committed against man or God. The unblessed soul may well tremble that God knows the flimsiness of every pretest and never accepts the poor excuses given for sinful conduct, since He knows perfectly the real reason for it. ‘Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.’ ” (p. 57)

To us who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us in the gospel, how unutterably sweet is the knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows us completely. . . . For He knew us utterly before we knew Him and called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us. (p. 57)

“. . . by grace [we] have been saved through faith, and that not of [ourselves]; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

“For [we] did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but [we] received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’[4] The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ . . .” (Romans 8:15–17a).

Psalm 139 is an “intensely personal Davidic psalm [which] expresses the psalmist’s awe that God knew him, even to the minutest detail.”[5] In verses 1–6, David expressed deep reflections upon the LORD’s omniscience:

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” (Psalm 139:1–6, NIV).

Our Father in heaven knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. He knew our inborn treachery, and for His own sake engaged to save us (Isa. 48:8–11). His only begotten Son, when He walked among us, felt our pains in their naked intensity of anguish. His knowledge of our afflictions and adversities is more than theoretic; it is personal, warm, and compassionate. Whatever may befall us, God knows and cares as no one else can. (p. 57)

God Is Wise

The idea of God as infinitely wise is at the root of all truth. It is a datum of belief necessary to the soundness of all other beliefs about God.

All God’s acts are done in perfect wisdom, first for His own glory, and then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time. And all His acts are as pure as they are wise, and as good as they are wise and pure. (p. 60)

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).

“OLord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all . . .” (Psalm 104:24a-b).

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding” (Daniel 2:20–21).

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart. [But] there is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God . . . [who] has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him. (p. 63)

God Is Omnipotent

Sovereignty and omnipotence must go together. One cannot exist without the other. To reign, God must have power, and to reign sovereignly, He must have all power. And that is what omnipotent means, having all power. (p. 65)

God possesses what no creature can: an incomprehensible plenitude of power, a potency that is absolute. This we know by divine revelation, but once known, it is recognized as being in full accord with reason. Grant that God is infinite and self-existent and we see at once that He must be all-powerful as well, and reason kneels to worship before the divine omnipotence. (p. 65)

In Psalm 139, David, “a man after God’s own heart,” worshipfully expressed his profound reflections upon God’s omnipotence in his life:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you” (Psalm 139:13–18, NIV).

“Is anything too hard for the LORD? . . .” (Genesis 18:14a).

[Jesus said that] “. . . with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26c).

“Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory

. . .” (Revelation 19:6b–7a).

Since God’s nature is infinite, everything that flows out of it is infinite also. In other words, God’s power knows no bounds:

Omnipotence is not a name given to the sum of all power, but an attribute of a personal God whom we Christians believe to be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all who believe on Him to life eternal. The worshiping man finds this knowledge a source of wonderful strength for his inner life. His faith rises to take the great leap upward into the fellowship of Him who can do whatever He wills to do, for whom nothing is hard or difficult because He possesses power absolute. (p. 67)

Suggested Hymn: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty“

(—Joachim Neander, pub. 1680; tr. by Catherine Winkworth, 1863)

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, Now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration!

Praise to the Lord, Who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, Yea, so gently sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen How thy desires e’er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth? (Hallelujah 4 x)

Praise to the Lord, Who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
And surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew What the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, Come now with praises before Him.
Let the “Amen” sound from His people again:
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Let the “Amen” sound from His people again:
Gladly for aye we adore Him. (Hallelujah 9x; Psalm 8:3–4)

God Is Transcendent

When we speak of God as transcendent we mean of course that He is exalted far above the created universe, so far above that human thought cannot imagine it. To think accurately about this, however, we must keep in mind that “far above” does not here refer to physical distance from the earth but to quality of being. We are concerned not with location in space nor with mere altitude, but with life. (p. 69)

God is spirit, and to Him magnitude and distance have no meaning. To us they are useful as analogies and illustrations, so God refers to them constantly when speaking down to our limited understanding. The words of God as found in Isaiah, “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,” give a distinct impression of altitude, but that is because we who dwell in a world of matter, space, and time tend to think in material terms and can grasp abstract ideas only when they are identified in some way with material things. In its struggle to free itself from the tyranny of the natural world, the human heart must learn to translate upward the language the Spirit uses to instruct us. (p. 69)

[Thus,] we must not compare the being of God with any other . . . . [In other words,] we must not think of God as highest in an ascending order of beings, starting with the single cell and going on up from the fish to the bird to the animal to man to angel to cherub to God. This would be to grant God eminence, even pre-eminence, but that is not enough; we must grant Him transcendence in the fullest meaning of that word. Forever God stands apart, in light unapproachable. (p. 70)

[For example,] in olden days men of faith were said to “walk in the fear of God” and to “serve the Lord with fear.” However intimate their communion with God, however bold their prayers, at the base of their religious life was the conception of God as awesome and dreadful. This idea of God transcendent runs through the whole Bible and gives color and tone to the character of the saints. This fear of God was more than a natural apprehension of danger; it was a nonrational dread, an acute feeling of personal insufficiency in the presence of God the Almighty. (p. 71)

Yet we [can] console ourselves with the knowledge that it is God Himself who puts it in our hearts to seek Him and makes it possible in some measure to know Him, and He is pleased with even the feeblest effort to make Him known. (p. 71)

Lord of all being, throned afar,
Thy glory flames from sun and star;
Center and soul of every sphere,
Yet to each loving heart how near!

Lord of all life, below, above,
Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love;
Before Thy ever-blazing throne
We ask no luster of our own.
Oliver Wendell Holmes (p. 73)

God Is Omnipresent

Because the Scriptures teach that God is infinite, . . . there can be no limit to His presence. He is omnipresent. In His infinitude He surrounds the finite creation and contains it. There is no place beyond Him for anything to be. God is our environment as the sea is to the fish and the air to the bird [and] “. . . in Him we live and move and have our being . . .” (Acts 17:28a). (p. 74)

Few other truths are taught in the Scriptures with as great clarity as the doctrine of divine omnipresence [which] . . . personalizes man’s relation to the universe in which he finds himself. This great central truth gives meaning to all other truths and imparts supreme value to all his little life. God is present, near him, next to him, and this God sees him and knows him through and through. At this point faith begins, and while it may go on to include a thousand other wonderful truths, these all refer back to the truth that God is and God is here. (p. 75)

In Psalm 139, the psalmist David clearly expressed his deep reflections upon the LORD’s omnipresence:

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (Psalm 139:7–12, NIV).

In addition, David revealed great confidence in his omnipresent Lord when he said, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forever-more” (Psalm 16:11).

God Is Faithful

Upon God’s faithfulness rests our whole hope of future blessedness. Only as He is faithful will His covenants stand and His promises be honored. Only as we have complete assurance that He is faithful may we live in peace and look forward with assurance to the life to come. (p. 81)

The tempted, the anxious, the fearful, the discouraged may all find new hope and good cheer in the knowledge that our Heavenly Father is faithful. He will be forever true to His pledged Word:

“. . . theLord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments . . .” (Deuteronomy 7:9).

“Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O LORD, You preserve man and beast” (Psalm 36:5–6).

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

“. . . the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guardyou from the evil one. . . . [For] God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Corinthians 10:13b-c).

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24).

Suggested Hymn: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (—Thomas O. Chisholm)

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Summer and winter, springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Refrain:
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain: (2x)
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

God Is Good

The goodness of God is that which disposes Him to be kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of good will toward men. He is tenderhearted and of quick sympathy, and His unfailing attitude toward all moral beings is open, frank, and friendly. By His nature He is inclined to bestow blessedness and He takes holy pleasure in the happiness of His people. (p. 82)

“The Lord, the Lord God, [is] merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin

. . .” (Exodus 34:6–7a).

“I would have lost heart,unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).

“Oh, how greatis Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men! . . . Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalms 31:19; 107:8).

Tozer thus reasoned: “With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack? Surely we are the most favored of all creatures.” (p. 64)

God Is Just

Justice, when used of God, is a name we give to the way God is, nothing more; and when God acts justly He is . . . simply acting like Himself in a given situation. As gold is an element in itself and can never change nor compromise but is gold wherever it is found, so God is God, always, only, fully God, and can never be other than He is. (p. 87)

Justice, a term used commonly for what is right or “as it should be,” is one of God’s attributes and flows out of His holiness. Therefore, justice and righteousness are often used synonymously in the Bible.

“. . . Shallnot the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25b).

“He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4).

“Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested” (Revelation 15:3–4).

There is nothing in His justice which forbids the exercise of mercy. . . . God is never at cross-purposes with Himself. No attribute of God is in conflict with another. God’s compassion flows out of His goodness, and goodness without justice is not goodness. God spares us because He is good, but He could not be good if He were not just. (p. 88 )

For example, “When God punishes the wicked, . . . it is just because it is consistent with their deserts; and when He spares the wicked it is just because it is compatible with His goodness; so God does what becomes Him as the supremely good God. . . . A simpler and more familiar solution for the problem of how God can be just and still justify the unjust is found in the Christian doctrine of redemption. It is that, through the work of Christ in atonement, justice is not violated but satisfied when God spares a sinner. Redemptive theology teaches that mercy does not become effective toward a man until justice has done its work.” (p.88)

“As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one;There is none who understands;There is none who seeks after God. . . . There is none who does good, no, not one’ ” (Romans 3:10–11, 12c).

“. . . the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23, cf. Eph. 2:8–9).

The just penalty for sin was exacted when Christ our Substitute died for us on the cross. . . . But when the penitent sinner casts himself upon Christ for salvation, the moral situation is reversed. Justice confronts the changed situation and pronounces the believing man just. Thus justice actually goes over to the side of God’s trusting children. This is the meaning of “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness'” (1 John 1:9). (pp. 88, 89).

God Is Merciful

Mercy is an attribute of God, an infinite and inexhaustible energy within the divine nature which disposes God to be actively compassionate. (p. 90)

Wherever and whenever God appears to men, He acts like Himself. Whether in the Garden of Eden or the Garden of Gethsemane, God is merciful as well as just. He has always dealt in mercy with mankind and will always deal in justice when His mercy is despised. . . . Forever His mercy stands, a boundless, overwhelming immensity of divine pity and compassion. (p. 91)

“Oh, give thanks to theLord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:1).
“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4–7).

God Is Grace

Grace takes its rise far back in the heart of God, in the awful and incomprehensible abyss of His holy being; but the channel through which it flows out to men is Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. (p.93)

Mercy and grace are often confused. To summarize the difference: mercy is God not punishing us as our sins deserve, and grace is God blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Mercy is deliverance from judgment. Grace is extending kindness to the unworthy.

“. . . He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:4–7).

In the Gospel of John, Christ is also identified as the medium through which grace reaches mankind:

“For the law was giventhrough Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

The law was given to men through Moses, but it did not originate with Moses. It had existed in the heart of God from before the foundation of the world. (p.94)

Since the Old Testament is not a book of law only, and grace is an attribute of God’s holy being, it is important to also consider these classic Old Testament examples of His infinite grace:

Before the great flood, “Noahfound grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8).

The LORD said to Moses, “I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight” (Exodus 33:12c).

Had the Old Testament times been times of stern, unbending law alone, the whole complexion of the early world would have been vastly less cheerful than we find it to be in the ancient writings. There could have been no Abraham, friend of God; no David, man after God’s own heart; no Samuel, no Isaiah, no Daniel. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews, that Westminster Abbey of the spiritually great of the Old Testament, would stand dark and tenantless. (p. 95)

We must keep in mind that the grace of God is infinite and eternal. As it had no beginning, so it can have no end, and being an attribute of God, it is as boundless as infinitude. . . . Grace made sainthood possible in Old Testament days just as it does today. No one was ever saved other than by grace. . . . What we can know is that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” (p. 95)

Suggested Hymn: “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” (—Haldor Lillenas)

Wonderful grace of Jesus, Greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it, Where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden, Setting my spirit free,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Refrain:
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain, All sufficient grace for even me;
Broader than the scope of my transgressions, Greater far than all my sin and shame;
O magnify the precious name of Jesus, Praise His name!

Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned, Saved to the uttermost;
Chains have been torn asunder, Giving me liberty,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

God Is Love

The words “God is love” mean that love is an essential attribute of God. Love is something true of God but it is not God. It expresses the way God is in His unitary being, as do the words holiness, justice, faithfulness and truth. Because God is immutable, He always acts like Himself, and because He is a unity He never suspends one of His attributes in order to exercise another. (p. 98)

It is a strange and beautiful eccentricity of the free God that He has allowed His heart to be emotionally identified with men. Self-sufficient as He is, He wants our love and will not be satisfied till He gets it. Free as He is, He has let His heart be bound to us forever. (p. 100)

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

The Christian witness through the centuries has been that “God so loved the world …”; it remains for us to see that love in the light of God’s infinitude. His love is measureless. It is more: it is boundless. It has no bounds because it is not a thing but a facet of the essential nature of God. His love is something He is, and because He is infinite that love can enfold the whole created world in itself and have room for ten thousand times ten thousand worlds beside. (p. 47)

Another characteristic of [God’s] love is that it takes pleasure in its object. God enjoys His creation. . . . God is happy in His love for all that He has made. We cannot miss the feeling of pleasure in God’s delighted references to his handiwork. [For example,] Psalm 104 is a divinely inspired nature poem almost rhapsodic in its happiness, and the delight of God is felt throughout it. (p. 100)

“The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works” (Psalm 104:31, KJV).

The Lord [especially] takes peculiar pleasure in His saints, . . . [Although] God hates sin and can never look with pleasure upon iniquity, where men seek to do God’s will He responds in genuine affection. [For] Christ in His atonement has removed the bar to the divine fellowship. Now in Christ all believing souls are objects of God’s delight. (pp. 100, 101)

“The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).

Music is both an expression and a source of pleasure, [but] the pleasure that is purest and nearest to God is the pleasure of love. (p. 101)

In Christian experience there is a highly satisfying love content that distinguishes it from all other religions and elevates it to heights far beyond even the purest and noblest philosophy. This love content is more than a thing; it is God Himself in the midst of His church singing over His people. True Christian joy is the heart’s harmonious response to the Lord’s song of love. (p. 102)

Suggested Hymn: “The Love of God” (—Frederick M. Lehman)

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell,
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win:
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin.

Refrain:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry,
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Refrain:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

“. . . Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39).

God Is Holy

Holy is the way God is. To be holy He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard. He is absolutely holy with an infinite, incomprehensible fullness of purity that is incapable of being other than it is. Because He is holy, His attributes are holy; that is, whatever we think of as belonging to God must be thought of as holy. (p. 105)

Only the Spirit of the Holy One can impart to the human spirit the knowledge of the holy: “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” [Romans 10:17]. Theological knowledge is the medium through which the Spirit flows into the human heart. [However,] there must be humble penitence in the heart before truth can produce faith. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. It is possible to have some truth in the mind without having the Spirit in the heart, but it is never possible to have the Spirit apart from truth. (p. 104)

God is holy with an absolute holiness that knows no degrees and this He cannot impart to His creatures. But there is a relative and contingent holiness which He shares with angels and seraphim in heaven and with redeemed men on earth as their preparation for heaven. This holiness God can and does impart to His children . . . because He has made it available to them through the blood of the Lamb, [the Lord Jesus Christ]. (p. 106)

When God said, “Be ye holy; for I am holy,” He did not say “Be ye as holy as I am holy,” for that would be to demand of us absolute holiness, something that belongs to God alone. No honest man can say “I am holy,” but neither is any honest man willing to ignore [these] solemn words of the inspired writer: (p. 106)

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

Caught in this dilemma, what are we Christians to do? . . . Above all we must believe that God sees us perfect in His Son while He disciplines and chastens and purges us that we may be partakers of His holiness. (p. 107)

By faith and obedience, by constant meditation on the holiness of God, by loving righteousness and hating iniquity, by a growing acquaintance with the Spirit of holiness, we can acclimate ourselves to the fellowship of the saints on earth and prepare ourselves for the eternal companionship of God and the saints above. Thus, as they say when humble believers meet, we will have a heaven to go to heaven in. (p. 107)

God Is Sovereign

This is the attribute of God by which He rules His entire creation. No aspect of creation is too large for Him to completely control, and no detail, even to the falling of a sparrow, is too small to be included in His sovereign plan. Since God is sovereign, His will can never be frustrated because nothing happens that is beyond His control.

To be sovereign God must be all-knowing, all-powerful, and absolutely free. Were He lacking one infinitesimal modicum of power, that lack would end His reign and undo His kingdom; that one stray atom of power would belong to someone else and God would be a limited ruler and hence not sovereign. He must be free to do whatever He wills to do anywhere at any time to carry out His eternal purpose in every single detail without interference. Were He less than free, He must be less than sovereign. (p. 108)

Man’s will is, [however,] free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so. Tozer then provided the following illustration to help us better understand this attribute:

An ocean liner leaves New York bound for Liverpool. Its destination has been determined by proper authorities. Nothing can change it. This is at least a faint picture of sovereignty.

On board the liner are several scores of passengers. These are not in chains, neither are their activities determined for them by decree. They are completely free to move about as they will. They eat, sleep, play, lounge about on the deck, read, talk, altogether as they please; but all the while the great liner is carrying them steadily onward toward a predetermined port.

Both freedom and sovereignty are present here and they do not contradict each other. So it is, I believe, with man’s freedom and the sovereignty of God. The mighty liner of God’s sovereign design keeps its steady course over the sea of history. God moves undisturbed and unhindered toward the fulfillment of those eternal purposes which He purposed in Christ Jesus before the world began. We do not know all that is included in those purposes, but enough has been disclosed to furnish us with a broad outline of things to come and to give us good hope and firm assurance of future well-being. (p. 111)

The Bible is therefore deeply concerned about the will of God—His sovereign authority over His creation and everything in it. But when speaking about His will, this is usually done in at least three different ways.

God’s Decretive Will[6]

This is the will by which God brings to pass whatsoever He decrees. This is hidden to us until it happens. Because God is sovereign and His will can never be frustrated, we can be sure that nothing happens over which He is not in control. In other words, He at least must “permit” whatever happens to happen. Yet even when God passively permits things to happen, He chooses to permit them in that He always has the power and right to intervene and prevent the actions and events of this world. Insofar as He lets things happen, He has “willed” them in this certain sense.

God’s decretive will is His “ultimate” will. This facet comes out of the recognition of God’s sovereignty and other aspects of God’s nature because there is nothing that is outside of God’s sovereign will. For example:

“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will . . .” (Ephesians 1:11).

“I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You” (Job 42:2).

Though God’s sovereign will is often hidden from us until after it comes to pass, there is one aspect of His will that is plain to us—His preceptive will.

God’s Preceptive Will

This is God’s declared will in the Bible concerning what we should or should not do. For example, because of this revealed will, we can know that we should not steal, we should love our enemies, we should repent of our sins, and that we are to be holy because God is holy. This expression of God’s will is revealed both in His Word and in our conscience, through which God has written His moral law upon the hearts of all men. The laws of God, whether found in Scripture or in our hearts, are binding upon us.

While we have the power and ability to disobey God’s commands, we do not have the right to do so. Nor can we excuse ourselves for sinning by saying “What will be, will be.” It may be God’s sovereign or hidden will that we be “permitted” to sin, as he brings His sovereign will to pass even through and by means of the sinful acts of people. For example, God ordained that Jesus be betrayed by the instrument of Judas’s treachery plus the Romans who crucified Him. (Acts 4:27–28). But that does not justify their sins. They were no less treacherous or evil, and they were held accountable for their rejection of Christ. For when God “permits us” to break His preceptive will, it is not to be understood as permission in the moral sense of His granting us a moral right. His permission gives us the power, but not the right to sin.

The true mark of spirituality is evidenced when seeking to know the will of God as revealed in His biblical precepts, meditating on God’s laws, and thus seeking to be “led” by the Holy Spirit. Through this, the Holy Spirit will primarily lead us into righteousness. (1 Peter 1:15–16) In other words, we are called to live our lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. For it is His revealed will that we are “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever,” and that is summarized as:

“. . . I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1–2, NIV).

God’s Permissive Will

Within the broad field of God’s sovereign, permissive will, the deadly conflict of good with evil continues with increasing fury. [Therefore,] as responsible beings we must make our choice in the present moral situation. [In other words,] there is freedom to choose which side we shall be on but no freedom to negotiate the results of the choice once it is made. By the mercy of God we may repent a wrong choice and alter the consequences by making a new and right choice. Beyond that we cannot go. (p. 112)

As Tozer then explained, “The whole matter of moral choice centers around Jesus Christ. Christ stated it plainly: ‘He that is not with me is against me,’ and ‘No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’ The gospel message embodies three distinct elements: an announcement, a command, and a call. It announces the good news of redemption accomplished in mercy; it commands all men everywhere to repent and it calls all men to surrender to the terms of grace by believing on Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.” (p. 112)

Prayer of Faith: I worship You, oh mighty King, for there is none like You! For it is truly extravagant of You to have taken me from the pit, out of the miry clay, to wash and robe me with Your righteousness; to set my feet upon the Rock; to give me a new name, and a personal intimate relationship with You—and to promise to me all the rights of being a joint heir with You, oh Jesus! I am thus overwhelmed with unspeakable gratitude because of Your love! So, please fill my heart with the wonders of who You have revealed Yourself to be! For You are the incredible “Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come” (Revelation 11:17)—the King of kings and Lord of lords! For in Your precious name I pray. Amen.

Suggested Hymn: “Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting” (—Jean Sophia Pigott)

Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee, And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power Thou hast made me whole.

Refrain:
Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.

O, how great Thy loving kindness, Vaster, broader than the sea!
O, how marvelous Thy goodness, Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved, Know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise, And have made it mine.

Refrain:
Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless, Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings, Meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings: Thine is love indeed!

Ever lift Thy face upon me As I work and wait for Thee;
Resting ‘neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus, Earth’s dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father’s glory, Sunshine of my Father’s face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting, Fill me with Thy grace.

Refrain:
Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.
Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.
I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.

Conclusion: “What Is God Like?” was prayerfully compiled in the hope of whetting the appetite of “plain persons whose hearts stir them up to seek after God Himself” to hunger to learn more about how to appreciate each of God’s divine aspects! If you haven’t read A. W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy, may the Spirit of God stir your heart to do so! For this devotional classic, which has sold millions since 1961, is filled with both informative and worshipful writings which reveal new ways to experience and understand the wonder and the power of God’s spirit in our daily life.

On behalf of the countless “plain persons” who have experienced tremendous blessings through reverent meditations on Tozer’s eloquent witness to God’s majesty in The Knowledge of the Holy, I believe the greatest long-lasting impact can best be described as follows:

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, . . .

Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you”
(Psalm 63:1a–b, 3–5 (NIV).

Note: The Knowledge of the Holy is available in several formats at www.christianbook.com (800-247-4784) and Amazon.com plus other book suppliers. [7]

Special Note: Frequent meditations upon the nature of God can also “bring a deeper sense of intimacy into your prayer life. [For] your focus will turn from a ‘prayer list’—gazing at needs—to the Supplier—gazing at God.[8] Therefore, to help you establish a pattern for systematic Word-filled praying, a daily prayer journal based upon the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13) was developed. Through its seven daily themes, some of the sweetest times possible with the Lord can result as you see His sovereign hand move faithfully in response to such prayers! A PDF copy of “The Lord’s Prayer—A Perfect Model” is free at www.oakpca.org/prayer.

[2] Unless otherwise identified, all Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version (NKJV).

[4] “Abba” is an informal Aramaic term for Father that conveys a sense of intimacy. Like the English terms “Daddy” or “Papa,” it connotes tenderness, dependence, and a relationship free of fear or anxiety (cf. Mark 14:36).[4] Ibid, p. 1708.

[5] Ibid, p. 865.

[6] Portions on God’s will were adapted from http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/wills_sproul.html

[7] About A. W. Tozer (1897–1963): Tozer began his lifelong pursuit of God at the age of seventeen after hearing a street preacher in Akron, Ohio. As a self-taught theologian, he was a pastor, writer, and editor whose powerful use of words continues to grip the intellect and stir the soul of today’s readers! As the author of more than 40 books, he was considered to be one of the most influential American evangelists of the twentieth century.