In the first place it is taught and held that there is . . . ONE DIVINE ESSENCE which is named God and truly is God. But there are three persons in the same one essence, equally powerful, equally eternal: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Decree of the Council of Nicaea

WHO IS GOD? Stop for a moment and think, without reading ahead, how would you answer the question, WHO IS GOD? Ok, got your answer? Now read on.

• WHO IS GOD? According to our 4-year old preschool: God is our helper, care taker, maker of the rainbow, Holy Father-Spirit who loves us and is everywhere.
• WHO IS GOD? According to our kindergarten/1st/2ndgrade: God is the Creator Savior, Rescuer who loves and keeps us safe in our darkest hour, light of world.
• WHO IS GOD? According to our 3rd/4thgrade: God is our Eternal-Mighty Lord, King of Kings, Messiah, our Light and Salvation.

WHO IS GOD? I interviewed students in our school. What about your neighbors? How might they answer? You'd probably get a variety of answers. You might even be rebuffed for asking in the first place. After all people don't typically ask 'religious' personal questions in our modern age of diversity and political correctness. In my Christian Basics (Adult Info) class we begin with this reflection:

If you had no Bible and had never been taught anything about God, what conclusions might you draw about God based on your own observations of nature and life around you? Answer: God is a God of power, wisdom, beauty, order, goodness, etc. And yet such 'natural knowledge' of God, (creations evidence) of God's wisdom, beauty, order, and even goodness has no power to wash away our sins. Bottom Line: the correct answer to the question WHO IS GOD? begins with God's own REVELATION.

God reveals Himself to us in His holy Word and in his Son, Immanuel, Jesus Christ. God chose out of no obligation, to make Himself known to people. Hear O Israel. The LORD our God, the LORD is one. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. God has revealed Himself to us as the Triune God. According to Holy Scriptures, God is three divine persons in one divine essence.

WHO IS GOD? John the Apostle wrote, God is love. (1 John 4.8) Martin Luther once taught that God Himself is love, and His Being is nothing but pure love. Therefore, if anyone wanted to draw and picture God in a telling way, he would have to draw a picture that showed nothing but love, as though the divine nature were nothing but the intense fire and fervor of a love that has filled heavenand earth.

WHO IS GOD? Peppermint Patty, head on her hands sighed deeply. I need to talk to someone who knows what it's like to feel like a fool; someone who knows what it's like to be humiliated, someone who's been disgraced, beaten, and degraded, someone who's been there. In response Linus held out his open arms and quoted: We love because He first loved us. That's Good News; News too Good not to share. And in a Peanuts' way, the answer to the question.

It's almost Lent. Ash Wednesday is next week. Plan ahead. Come to church. God will be here waiting, not as your judge but as your doctor, as your healer, and as your Savior. Jesus will be here all Lent to love you and feed you, to heal you and drive out your demons, to clean up your messes, to forgive your sins, to bless you and give you His Holy Spirit.

~ Pastor Kelly Mitteis