Children usually ask the question, “Where did God come from?” This is quite a natural question. It shows that they are thinking about the concepts of origin and source, and there is nothing wrong with this. The answer to his or her question is that God does not come from anyone; He is the uncaused being. Job said, “Can thou by searching find out God?” The answer to that question is, “No”! In God’s Word, we find out more about Him.
For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. (John 5:26)
The first clause makes the point that the Father has self-perpetuating life and that it was not conferred upon Him by an external being. He is self-existing; His life proceeds out of Himself. He cannot die because life comes from Himself.
Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. (1 Timothy 6:15-16)
The word “immortality” comes from the Greek word “athanasia”, which means, “the quality of not dying”. This does not mean endless existence but, rather, deathlessness. Those who are believers have eternal life and endless existence, but even the unbelievers have an endless existence. Since they are not born again, they will find themselves facing eternal death when they appear before the great white throne and are judged. They will exist under the penalty of eternal death. Therefore, theoretically speaking, every human has an endless existence, be it in heaven or hell. We have endless existence with the knowledge that we have the life of God inside. God does not only have endless existence, but He has deathlessness; He cannot die. Therefore, because we have the life of God inside, death has no power over us. In the Old Testament there are verses that show this concept very well, for example:
But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation (Jeremiah 10:10).
We have a familiar expression that occurs often in the Old Testament: “He is the living God”. This is the way He is distinguished from all other gods. He is the living God and this in itself expresses His deathlessness.
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (Exodus 3:13-14)
When Moses asked God His name, He responded by saying, “I AM THAT I AM”. There is no way in which God may define Himself other than from the standpoint of His essential and eternal being. If He were to define Himself from something that is part of our universe, that would limit Him to something humanly defined. So, all He can say is that He is the absolute being. There is also a relative name that is given in verse 15: “I am the Lord God of your Fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”. Therefore, the absolute name of God is simply “I AM”.