Meaning of “god”

1. God — (A.S. and Dutch God; Dan. Gud; Ger. Gott), the name of the Divine Being. It is the rendering (1) of the Hebrew _'El_, from a word meaning to be strong; (2) of _'Eloah_, plural _'Elohim_. The singular form, _Eloah_, is used only in poetry. The plural form is more commonly used in all parts of the Bible, The Hebrew word Jehovah (q.v.), the only other word generally employed to denote the Supreme Being, is uniformly rendered in the Authorized Version by "LORD," printed in small capitals. The existence of God is taken for granted in the Bible. There is nowhere any argument to prove it. He who disbelieves this truth is spoken of as one devoid of understanding (Ps. 14:1). The arguments generally adduced by theologians in proof of the being of God are: (1.) The a priori argument, which is the testimony afforded by reason. (2.) The a posteriori argument, by which we proceed logically from the facts of experience to causes. These arguments are, (a) The cosmological, by which it is proved that there must be a First Cause of all things, for every effect must have a cause. (b) The teleological, or the argument from design. We see everywhere the operations of an intelligent Cause in nature. (c) The moral argument, called also the anthropological argument, based on the moral consciousness and the history of mankind, which exhibits a moral order and purpose which can only be explained on the supposition of the existence of God. Conscience and human history testify that "verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth." The attributes of God are set forth in order by Moses in Ex. 34:6,7. (see also Deut. 6:4; 10:17; Num. 16:22; Ex. 15:11; 33:19; Isa. 44:6; Hab. 3:6; Ps. 102:26; Job 34:12.) They are also systematically classified in Rev. 5:12 and 7:12. God's attributes are spoken of by some as absolute, i.e., such as belong to his essence as Jehovah, Jah, etc.; and relative, i.e., such as are ascribed to him with relation to his creatures. Others distinguish them into communicable, i.e., those which can be imparted in degree to his creatures: goodness, holiness, wisdom, etc.; and incommunicable, which cannot be so imparted: independence, immutability, immensity, and eternity. They are by some also divided into natural attributes, eternity, immensity, etc.; and moral, holiness, goodness, etc.

2. Decrees of God — "The decrees of God are his eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be in their causes, conditions, successions, and relations, and determining their certain futurition. The several contents of this one eternal purpose are, because of the limitation of our faculties, necessarily conceived of by us in partial aspects, and in logical relations, and are therefore styled Decrees." The decree being the act of an infinite, absolute, eternal, unchangeable, and sovereign Person, comprehending a plan including all his works of all kinds, great and small, from the beginning of creation to an unending eternity; ends as well as means, causes as well as effects, conditions and instrumentalities as well as the events which depend upon them, must be incomprehensible by the finite intellect of man. The decrees are eternal (Acts 15:18; Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13), unchangeable (Ps. 33:11; Isa. 46:9), and comprehend all things that come to pass (Eph. 1:11; Matt. 10:29, 30; Eph. 2:10; Acts 2:23; 4:27, 28; Ps. 17:13, 14). The decrees of God are (1) efficacious, as they respect those events he has determined to bring about by his own immediate agency; or (2) permissive, as they respect those events he has determined that free agents shall be permitted by him to effect. This doctrine ought to produce in our minds "humility, in view of the infinite greatness and sovereignty of God, and of the dependence of man; confidence and implicit reliance upon wisdom, rightenousness, goodness, and immutability of God's purpose."

3. Foreknowledge of God — Acts 2:23; Rom. 8:29; 11:2; 1 Pet. 1:2), one of those high attributes essentially appertaining to him the full import of which we cannot comprehend. In the most absolute sense his knowledge is infinite (1 Sam. 23:9-13; Jer. 38:17-23; 42:9-22, Matt. 11:21, 23; Acts 15:18).

4. Godhead — (Acts 17:29; Rom. 1:20; Col. 2:9), the essential being or the nature of God.

5. Godliness — the whole of practical piety (1 Tim. 4:8; 2 Pet. 1:6). "It supposes knowledge, veneration, affection, dependence, submission, gratitude, and obedience." In 1 Tim. 3:16 it denotes the substance of revealed religion.

6. Goodness of God — a perfection of his character which he exercises towards his creatures according to their various circumstances and relations (Ps. 145:8, 9; 103:8; 1 John 4:8). Viewed generally, it is benevolence; as exercised with respect to the miseries of his creatures it is mercy, pity, compassion, and in the case of impenitent sinners, long-suffering patience; as exercised in communicating favour on the unworthy it is grace. "Goodness and justice are the several aspects of one unchangeable, infinitely wise, and sovereign moral perfection. God is not sometimes merciful and sometimes just, but he is eternally infinitely just and merciful." God is infinitely and unchangeably good (Zeph. 3:17), and his goodness is incomprehensible by the finite mind (Rom. 11: 35, 36). "God's goodness appears in two things, giving and forgiving."

7. Government of God — See PROVIDENCE »T0003012.

8. Judgments of God — (1.) The secret decisions of God's will (Ps. 110:5; 36:6). (2.) The revelations of his will (Ex. 21:1; Deut. 6:20; Ps. 119:7-175). (3.) The infliction of punishment on the wicked (Ex. 6:6; 12:12; Ezek. 25:11; Rev. 16:7), such as is mentioned in Gen. 7; 19:24,25; Judg. 1:6,7; Acts 5:1-10, etc.

9. Justice of God — that perfection of his nature whereby he is infinitely righteous in himself and in all he does, the righteousness of the divine nature exercised in his moral government. At first God imposes righteous laws on his creatures and executes them righteously. Justice is not an optional product of his will, but an unchangeable principle of his very nature. His legislative justice is his requiring of his rational creatures conformity in all respects to the moral law. His rectoral or distributive justice is his dealing with his accountable creatures according to the requirements of the law in rewarding or punishing them (Ps. 89:14). In remunerative justice he distributes rewards (James 1:12; 2 Tim. 4:8); in vindictive or punitive justice he inflicts punishment on account of transgression (2 Thess. 1:6). He cannot, as being infinitely righteous, do otherwise than regard and hate sin as intrinsically hateful and deserving of punishment. "He cannot deny himself" (2 Tim. 2:13). His essential and eternal righteousness immutably determines him to visit every sin as such with merited punishment.

10. Kingdom of God — (Matt. 6:33; Mark 1:14, 15; Luke 4:43) = "kingdom of Christ" (Matt. 13:41; 20:21) = "kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph. 5:5) = "kingdom of David" (Mark 11:10) = "the kingdom" (Matt. 8:12; 13:19) = "kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 13:41), all denote the same thing under different aspects, viz.: (1) Christ's mediatorial authority, or his rule on the earth; (2) the blessings and advantages of all kinds that flow from this rule; (3) the subjects of this kingdom taken collectively, or the Church.

11. River of God — (Ps. 65:9), as opposed to earthly streams, denoting that the divine resources are inexhaustible, or the sum of all fertilizing streams that water the earth (Gen. 2:10).

12. Son of God — The plural, "sons of God," is used (Gen. 6:2, 4) to denote the pious descendants of Seth. In Job 1:6; 38:7 this name is applied to the angels. Hosea uses the phrase (1:10) to designate the gracious relation in which men stand to God. In the New Testament this phrase frequently denotes the relation into which we are brought to God by adoption (Rom. 8:14, 19; 2 Cor. 6:18; Gal. 4:5, 6; Phil. 2:15; 1 John 3:1, 2). It occurs thirty-seven times in the New Testament as the distinctive title of our Saviour. He does not bear this title in consequence of his miraculous birth, nor of his incarnation, his resurrection, and exaltation to the Father's right hand. This is a title of nature and not of office. The sonship of Christ denotes his equality with the Father. To call Christ the Son of God is to assert his true and proper divinity. The second Person of the Trinity, because of his eternal relation to the first Person, is the Son of God. He is the Son of God as to his divine nature, while as to his human nature he is the Son of David (Rom. 1:3, 4. Comp. Gal. 4:4; John 1:1-14; 5:18-25; 10:30-38, which prove that Christ was the Son of God before his incarnation, and that his claim to this title is a claim of equality with God). When used with reference to creatures, whether men or angels, this word is always in the plural. In the singular it is always used of the second Person of the Trinity, with the single exception of Luke 3:38, where it is used of Adam.

13. Word of God — (Heb. 4:12, etc.). The Bible so called because the writers of its several books were God's organs in communicating his will to men. It is his "word," because he speaks to us in its sacred pages. Whatever the inspired writers here declare to be true and binding upon us, God declares to be true and binding. This word is infallible, because written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and therefore free from all error of fact or doctrine or precept. (See INSPIRATION »T0001884; BIBLE »T0000580.) All saving knowledge is obtained from the word of God. In the case of adults it is an indispensable means of salvation, and is efficacious thereunto by the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit (John 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:15, 16; 1 Pet. 1:23).

13 results from Easton's Bible Dictionary

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Gad Gaddi Gate Gath Gath-hepher Gath-rimmon Gittah-hepher Goad Goat Goath God

Bible Search for “god”

1. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 31 — And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

2. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 29 — And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

3. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 28 — And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

4. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 27 — So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

5. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 26 — And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

6. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 25 — And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

7. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 24 — And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

8. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 22 — And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

9. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 21 — And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

10. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 20 — And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

11. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 18 — And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

12. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 17 — And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

13. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 16 — And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

14. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 14 — And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 12 — And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

16. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 11 — And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

17. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 10 — And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

18. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 9 — And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

19. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 8 — And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

20. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 7 — And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

21. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 6 — And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

22. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 5 — And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

23. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 4 — And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

24. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 3 — And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

25. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 2 — And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

26. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 1 — In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

27. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 22 — And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

28. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 21 — And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

29. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 19 — And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

30. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 18 — And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

31. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 16 — And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

32. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 15 — And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

33. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 9 — And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

34. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 8 — And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

35. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 7 — And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

36. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 5 — And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

37. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 4 — These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

38. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 3 — And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

39. Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 2 — And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

40. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 23 — Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

41. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 22 — And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

42. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 21 — Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

43. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 14 — And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

44. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 13 — And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

45. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 9 — And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

46. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 8 — And they heard the voice 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 amongst the trees of the garden.

47. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 5 — For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

48. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 3 — But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

49. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 1 — Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

50. Genesis Chapter 4 Verse 25 — And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

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