Have you ever wondered what God is like? I'm not talking about character traits like being just or merciful.

My question is: can I imagine God at all? The Bible helps us here; it opens up a whole new dimension. After all, we are talking about God Himself. Pure human logic cannot cope with this.

The Bible says on the very first page, "The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" (Genesis 1:2), so God has a Spirit that hovers independently over the waters. Can we imagine that? A few lines after this statement, we read God saying, "Let us make mankind in OUR image, in OUR likeness..." (Genesis 1:26). God is talking about Himself in the plural! He speaks to Himself.

We find out the result in the very next verse: "So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:27) Here we are talking about ONE God who has manifested Himself in two physical beings (man and woman).

Could it be that God is more than one person?

After God created humans, the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve find each other: they are the first human couple. The Bible expresses this intimate union between man and woman as follows: "And they become ONE flesh" (Genesis 2:24).

Two people, but one body? The connection between man and woman could hardly be more powerful.

Now comes the fascinating part. The Hebrew word for "ONE" in the phrase "they shall be ONE flesh" occurs in another very significant place: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is ONE" (Deuteronomy 6:4). This is exactly the same word used in the verse about Adam and Eve, "And they shall become ONE flesh".

God Himself gives us a description of Himself in the Bible. He compares Himself to the unity of man and woman. The unity of marriage is meant to describe what unity with God is like. But this requires more than one person in the Godhead. This also makes it clear that God is love. Love absolutely needs a counterpart. Because God consists of several persons, He Himself can be love.

If the Old Testament already points out that God consists of several persons, then Jesus does not surprise us when he says, "[...baptise] them in the name of the FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT..." (Matthew 28:19) At this point Jesus speaks of three divine persons. Paul also writes to a church, "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14).

These three divine persons are inseparable. Jesus even says of himself that God the Father is in Him and He, Jesus, is in the Father (John 17:21). One in the other. Unimaginable for us human beings, but possible for God.

What do these three persons of the Godhead have to do with us? Quite a lot! We saw on the first page of the Bible that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. This must have been the Holy Spirit. He was there when the earth was created. Jesus was also present at creation:

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him" (Colossians 1:15-16).

We owe our very existence to all three Persons of the Godhead. And not only that: Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God the Father are involved in our salvation. This one God, who is love itself, deserves all the honour, worship, and service of His whole creation!

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Bible texts for in-depth study:
Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 6:8; Matthew 28:19; John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 13:13; Ephesians 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2