God is Faithful, Part 1
Characteristics of God, God is an Example to Imitate
Welcome to the first Bible study lesson of 2024! We are currently in the middle of our Bible Essentials: Stories in Genesis series. Within that series, I’ve been highlighting some of the characteristics of God that are key to understanding the stories in Genesis. Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at God’s faithfulness. God was faithful to keep his promise to Abraham to give him a son, and we see God’s faithfulness to his covenant in the lives of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. And beyond that, God is faithful to us today. That’s a great encouragement as we go into a new year!
We will break up our study of God’s faithfulness into three sections:
Part 1: Faithfulness as a characteristic of God
Part 3: Who does God show faithfulness to, and how do we respond to God’s faithfulness?
Today, we are going to focus on two aspects of God’s faithfulness: the characteristics of God’s faithfulness, and other characteristics of God associated with his faithfulness.
Characteristics of God’s Faithfulness
As always, the first thing we must do in studying the characteristics of God is to establish that the characteristic is truly a characteristic of God. We see God’s faithfulness clearly in many verses, including this one:
1 Corinthians 1:9: God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
It doesn’t get more direct than that! God is faithful. In fact, God’s faithfulness surrounds him.
Psalm 89:8: Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?
You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
We also see that God’s faithfulness is so great that it reaches to the skies.
Lamentations 3:22-23: 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Psalm 36:5: Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
God is not faithful some of the time. He is faithful all of the time. When we are struggling, sometimes it can seem like God has abandoned us or forgotten us. But the Bible tells us that God is faithful in all things.
Psalm 33:4: For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
In fact, God’s faithfulness is perfect.
Isaiah 25:1: Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
Finally, God’s faithfulness is eternal. As faithful as God was to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the nation of Israel, he is equally faithful to us today.
Psalm 100:5: For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 117:2: For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Through these verses, we learn that God’s faithfulness is beyond the bounds of space and time. It is perfect, and it is reflected in everything he does. It is a key component of God’s character.
Characteristics Associated with God’s Faithfulness
As I read and studied about God’s faithfulness, I couldn’t help but notice that God’s faithfulness is frequently linked to his other characteristics. In fact, if you read through the verses in the Faithfulness Verse List resource, you will find that God’s faithfulness is mentioned alongside over half of the other characteristics of God that we’ve previously identified, as you can see in the table below (highlighted in green) and in the verses we’ve already listed above.
Obviously, it would be too much to review verses for each of these in this one Bible study lesson. I would encourage you to read through the Verse List resource and find evidence of each of these for yourself. But I do want to mention some of the most common characteristics that we see alongside God’s faithfulness. These characteristics work together to form the essence of who God is and how he acts. Many verses list multiple characteristics that work alongside God’s faithfulness. I’ll provide some of these verses and the characteristics that they mention (bolded in each verse).
Deuteronomy 32:4 mentions that God is a refuge (rock), he performs wonders (his works), he is perfect and just and righteous (upright).
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.
Psalm 40:10-11 mentions God’s righteousness, his saving help (Savior), and his love and mercy. It also mentions that God is a protector.
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
from the great assembly.11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;
may your love and faithfulness always protect me.
Psalm 43:3 recalls that God is light, and he provides faithful care. This light and care guide us to dwell with him.
Send me your light and your faithful care,
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
Psalm 89:14 talks about God’s righteousness, justice, and love. It also refers to God’s sovereignty because of his throne.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
love and faithfulness go before you.
Psalm 92:1-2 tells us that God is worthy of praise, and he is exalted. Why do we praise him? Because of his love and faithfulness.
1 It is good to praise the Lord
and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 reminds us that because of God’s faithfulness, he will strengthen us and protect us.
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.
Hebrews 10:23 tells us that because God is faithful, we can have hope.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible also mentions God’s faithfulness, along with his justice and forgiveness.
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Conclusion
I hope these verses give you just a taste of God’s faithfulness. It is a core part of who God is. In fact, the Bible tells us that God cannot be anything but faithful.
2 Timothy 2:13: If we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
Next week, we’ll look at what God is faithful to do. It’s another long list! Because being faithful is essential to God’s identity, it permeates everything he does.
Premium Resources
Each individual characteristic of God study will come with two resources: a word search just for fun (including an answer key), and a list of verses for if you want to investigate that individual characteristic of God more completely.
You can access these resources by clicking here: God Is Faithful Resources
Or you can download them here:
I love to praise God in prayer and this is perfect to accompany it.
This was some great teaching. Incredible job Karen!!!!