ADD 02-1 Who is God

Who is God

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I have had people say to me, I believe in God’s existance but I don’t need to study the Bible to know Him! But belief in His existence is not enough! Even satan and his demons believe in God’s existence! It is only through the Bible we can study God and His relationship with the universe. All we can know about God is not contained in the Bible, but the Bible contains all we can know about God during our earthly life! That is because God is infinite and beyond our limitations of space and time! Yet the God we as Christian disciples follow and worship, is knowable through the Bible. This means that God is a personal God and not a remote being. That is a key to studying Him! He wants to be known and has given us the Bible in order for us to do so.

How can we know about God?

In the Bible, what we know of God are the fundamental qualities or powers of His being. The Bible elucidates statements about God, by God, through which we try and understand God, using our finite minds. The Bible reveals God to us! God is spirit, yet a personal and infinite being (John 4:24). He is one in substance, nature and being and incapable of division (Deuteronomy 6v4). Yet He is three coequal people, or the Trinity! It is through the Bible we discover what pleases, angers, offends, or gives joy Him!

The words revealed in the Bible describe His attributes! The fact we are able to take hold and understand this about an infinite God is evidence that God desires to be known by humans! So what are some of the attributes of God? There are two different kinds of attributes: natural and moral.

1. Natural Attributes

a. Transcendent – God’s self-existence apart from and independent of creation. This reflects God’s majesty and greatness. Romans 11:33; 1Chronicles 29:11; 1Kings 8:27

b. Immanent/Omnipresent – God is wholly present everywhere. God fills the universe in all it’s parts without division Psalm 139:7-12; Jerermiah 23:23-24

c. Omnipotent – God has power to do all things that are the object of power. With God all things are possible Luke 1:37. He is El Shaddai or God Almighty. Jerermiah 32:17-18 Nothing is too hard for you.

d. Omniscient – God has perfect knowledge of all things – actual, past, present, future and possible. 1 John 3:20 God knows all things; Psalm 47:5 Infinite understanding.

e. Infinite – God has no limits. He has an internal and a qualitative absence of limitation. Boundless activity – Romans 11:33; 1Timothy1:16; Psalm 147:5

f. Immutable – God is unchangeable. Malachi 3:6 - I AM God and I change not; Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

g. Eternal – God is without beginning or end. He is the alpha and omega. God is outside of time – time is in God, and He is free from the succession of time. God lives in the eternal present – past, present and future, are NOW for God – He is the I AM YAHWEH Exodus 3:14. From everlasting to everlasting you are God. 1 Timothy1:17; Psalm 102:7

h. Spirit – God is a free personal Spirit

· God is not material. He is invisible and indestructible. John 4:24; 1Timothy1:17; 1Timothy6:15-16

· God is Life Jn 14:6. Energy & activity!

· God has Personality. Self-consciousness & communicative!

2. Moral Attributes

a. Goodness – absolute perfection. Seeking creations’ welfare.

· Love – God is love 1 John 4:8-10. God communicates and gives of Himself.

· Grace – God gives us what we do not deserve. God’s riches at Christ’s expense Ephesians 2:7; The unmerited goodness of God John 1:16.

· Mercy – God does not give us what we deserve. The goodness of God to those in distress – tenderness & compassion (Ephesians 2:3-5)

· Long-suffering - God is slow to anger. God longs to forgive (Exodus 34:6-7)

· Truth – John 14:6 The revelation source and foundation of all truth is God/Jesus

b. Holiness – moral excellence and perfection of God. Separation from sin. What God is!! Heb 7:26 “Be holy, for I am Holy”.

c. Righteousness – Holiness in action. God’s actions conform to His Holiness. Justice deals with the ab­sence of righteousness. Sin must be dealt with – (Genesis 18:25 & Psalm 89:14)

Why do we study this God? There are at least 4 reasons!

a) Avoids confusion! As we study God, we come to know truths about Him and are able to discern what are true and false facts about Him! “Truth combats error” Satan distorts scripture to put people off the truth.

b) Truth develops character 2 Peter 1:3-9 – The strongest Christian disciples are those with a good growing knowledge of biblical truth. Since study increases our knowledge of God, it increases the possibilities of love, growth and service of the Christian disciple. We study it to put it into practice! What we believe about God, affects our behaviour! James 1:22 says “We must be doers of the Word not just hearers of this is to be effective.”

c) We are commanded to grow in our knowledge of God – 2 Timothy 4:2-4

d) This God is to be worshipped and part of our service and submission to this God, is that worship is given to Him alone (Deuteronomy 5v6-9). As humans we are created in His image, and as Christian disciples we were bought at a price when Jesus died on the cross and we accepted Him as our Lord and saviour. He is due our worship and reverence! It is on worship that I hope to discuss next time!

One of the best books regarding getting to know God is the appropriately titled “Knowing God” by JI Packer – it’s a thoroughly modern and readable classic! For more to think about, please do read for yourself 2 Peter 1:3-9. Ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.

Q1. From my knowledge of God, what do I find comforting?

Q2. From my knowledge of God, what do I find disturbing?

Q3. How has my knowledge of God grown and affected my behaviour since I became a Christian disciple?

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WISE – Almighty God

Almighty God

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The word for today is Almighty God! Throughout the Bible, God is called Almighty. But how is God, almighty? God being Almighty, can be summed up in 3 words.

 

 

Omnipresent – That is God is wholly present everywhere. fills the universe in all its parts without division (Psalm 139v7-12; Jeremiah 23v23-24). For example in Ezekiel 1, Israel is in exile in Babylon and they thought God was left in the Temple in Jerusalem. Yet God appears to Ezekiel in order to show that God was also in Babylon with His people!

 

 

Omnipotent – That means God has unlimited power to do all things that are the object of power. With Almighty God nothing is impossible, yet there are things God cannot do such as He cannot do anything that is contrary to His own nature. For instance, He cannot declare something infinite if that something is finite. Omnipotence is an essential quality of God for if God were not all-powerful then He would not be God and would not be worthy of worship. Remember, He stopped the sun during Joshua’s time! Amazing power! God created the universe with His eternal and infinite power! God made everything out of nothing and He sustains it and gives all of it life!

Omniscient – God has perfect knowledge of all things. The Psalmist writes: O Lord, you have searched me and you know me, You know when I sit and when I rise…You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways (Ps. 139:1-2a & 3). God knows all things, past, present, and future and all possible circumstances and outcomes. Therefore He knows all that we do (which includes the remembrance of all that we have done), all that we think (and the record of those thoughts), and all that we do say and all that we could say.

So God is Almighty in presence, power and knowledge and He is mighty to save. As we seek to live holy lives, let us remember that whatever we do, Almighty God is watching. Watching not to condemn us, but watching in order to love us as any good father does to his children.

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36. Partake – The Christian disciple and God the Son

36. Partake – The Christian disciple and God the Son

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Speaking about Jesus Christ, the Apostle John writes: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning… No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. (John 1v1, 18)

• · By becoming a man, He humbled Himself (Philippians 2v8)
• · To confirm God’s promises (Genesis 3v15).
• · To reveal the Father (John 1v18, 14v9)
• · To become our high priest (Hebrews 8v1).
• · To become our representative before God (1 John 2v1).
• · To destroy all the works of satan (1 John 3v8, Hebrews 2v14)
• · To give an example of a holy life (1 Peter 2v21, 1 John 1v6)
• · To prepare for the redemption of all creation (1 John 2v2)

In this way, God himself has taken on the responsibility for our sins. Jesus, the Son of God, bore our sins on the cross, becoming sin for us, even though he was himself, sinless. By doing this, we are drawn to him in a personal way. God has shown that he loves us and wants us in a relationship with himself. Through Jesus, God has bridged the gap between the supernatural and the natural, the infinite and the finite, to show us what He is like. Jesus as God in person gives humanity a focal point to respond to. God does not compel us to love Him, but invites all to a dynamic relationship with Him. If Jesus were not God, then he would be part of the problem and therefore need to be redeemed himself! This is an untenable proposition. Jesus whilst being fully God, didn’t lose any of that divinity when he became human. Instead of losing anything, Jesus gained humanity. This divine and human nature unity is called ‘hypostatic union‘.

1. The Incarnate Of God

His full glory was hidden (John 17v6). He lived on the resources of his Father (John 5v19-20 & 30, 14v10). He emptied Himself (Philippians 2v5-7) and this process is called ‘kenosis’.

• Surrendered the relative divine attributes (e.g. omnipotence) –>> tends to deny Jesus’ deity.
• He gave up all of the divine attributes. —>> Rejects outright Jesus’ deity.
• He was made like us (Philippians 2v7). God the Son, The Word, Jesus Christ became flesh (John 1v4).

2. The Humanity of Christ

He was fully human and explicitly called a man (John 8v40; 1 Timothy 2v5). He was born of a woman (Galatians 4v4), so at least in a prenatal state he was nurtured and formed as any other male baby was and is. With his humanity, he exhibited normal human emotions such as love, weeping, sadness, anger and anguish. Jesus ate and drank. He had a body and a soul (Matthew 26v26-38). Jesus grew tired. He slept and perspired. He had human experiences – temptations (Hebrews 2v18) ; hunger (Matthew 4v12). Jesus died just as all mortal people do. Religiously, he worshipped as a Jew. He was human in every way that we are – physically, mentally and emotionally.

The only exception to this is that He was sinless (2 Corinthians 5v21; Hebrews 2v26). He was the Son of Man and Son of God and did not inherit the carnal nature that all humans have.

But why did Jesus need to fully human? Firstly, so Jesus death could appease God’s anger with us. Secondly so that Jesus can empathize and pray for us. Thirdly, Jesus exhibited true and perfect humanity. Fourthly, due to his perfect humanity, Jesus is to be our example to follow. Fifthly, while God is both above and beyond, the incarnation He is not so far removed from us, that He cannot interact with his creation.

One of the church father’s, Anselm, wrote that God’s salvation plan for humanity involved triumphant victory over sin, death and the grave. However no person could be found that was eligible or capable to do this. Because of this, God stepped into the human history, so that this victory could be achieved. This God-man would be fully human, so as to live every feature of humanity, including suffering and death. This God-man would also need to remain fully God, so as to defeat sin, death and the grave. Jesus, being sinless, was this God-man, consisting as he did of two complete natures, the God nature and the human nature.

3. The Deity Of Christ

·Jesus is expressly called God – (John 1v1) The Word was God; (John 1v14) The Word became flesh; (John 1v18) The only begotten God; (John 20v28) My Lord and my God as declared by Thomas; (Titus 2v13) Our great God and Saviour, Jesus; (Romans 9v 5) Christ who is God overall; (Hebrews 1v8) About the Son, He says ‘Your throne O God is forever and ever…’; (1 John 5v20) Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

• Old Testament description of God was applied to Jesus. (Matthew 3v3) ‘Prepare ye the way of Jehovah’
• He possessed the attributes of God – (John 14v6) Life; (John 8v58) Eternal; (John 14v6) Truth
• The works of God were ascribed to Him – (Col 1v16) Creation; (John 20v28; 5v23) Receives honour worship and glory belonging to God.
• Jesus had equality with God – (John 10v30, 33) I and the Father are One; John 5v18) Making Himself equal with God; (Philippians 2v6) In His very nature God; (1 Timothy 6v15) King of Kings and Lord of Lords – God; (Revelations 19v16) King of Kings and Lord of Lords – Christ; (Isaiah 44v6; Revelations 1v8) – Alpha and Omega – God; (Revelations 22v13-16) – Alpha and Omega – Christ; (John 8v58) Before Abraham was I AM

4. Major Historical Heresies Concerning The Person of Christ

• Ebionite - Jewish heresy. Jesus was a man who received divine power at His baptism
• Docetist - believed that the material world was evil (Common Greek & Eastern idea). So Jesus could not have had a real body, He only appeared to be human, denying His deity.
• Arian - 4th Century. Arius taught that Christ was a created being, trying to explain the idea of Christ being the ‘firstborn’ or ‘begotten’. Denied the deity of Christ
• Apollinarian – taught that Christ had a human body and soul, but that His spirit was divine. Denies the humanity of Christ.
• Nestorian - 5th Century. Denied the union of the divine and human natures in Christ. Christ became 2 people (man and God) in one body.
• Eutychian - 5th Century. Mixed divine and human natures to create a third type of person. The human nature was absorbed into the divine.

For more to think about please do read John 14v5-14. Ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.

Q1. How does Jesus’ relationship with the Father, reflect my relationship with God?

Q2. How as a Christian disciple, do I explain to others about how to get to know God the Father?

Q3. How did Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, reflect the Trinitarian relationship between Father and Son?

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WISE – Resurrection

Partake – Words In Scripture Explored -Resurrection

Resurrection means rising or raising up. It certainly means more than coming back to life as some people think. Jesus raised three people from the dead, but that was more a resuscitation than a resurrection – those three people would die again! So lets start by looking at Jesus’ resurrection.

Jesus’ Resurrection

The resurrection of Jesus Christ provides the central theme for the sermons and teaching in the early church (Acts 1v22; Acts 4v33, Acts 17v18). But what significance is there in Jesus’ resurrection?

Jesus’ resurrection proves and vindicates all of His teaching. It certifies His claims to be the suffering Servant, just as it attests to His being fully God and the last Judge of all mankind (Isaiah 53v10-12; Acts 2v36; Acts 3v13-15; Romans 1v4).

God’s approval of Jesus obedient service and the fulfilment of all the Old Testament promises is declared through the resurrection. The result of which, is forgiveness of sins and salvation being only found in and through Jesus Christ. In the early church this was the prime motive for evangelism (Acts 2v32, Romans 4v24-25)

As the resurrected King, Jesus now intercedes for us. More than that, He has perfected the redemption of all those who choose to follow Him (Romans 5v10; Hebrews 6v20, 1 Peter 1v21).

These facts remain for Jesus’ resurrection, despite what some people say including Islam and other detractors of historical Christianity.

The changed attitude of the disciples after seeing the risen Jesus. The disciples changed from defeated, cowardly people into victorious, brave and bold people. Nobody who could have produced the dead body of Jesus did so. This led to the survival and inordinate growth and impact of the early church. If there was no bodily resurrection of Jesus’ would people really have risked persecution and death for a known lie? Finally, there were multiple appearances of Jesus! These appearances were to various numbers of individuals and groups of people, at various times of the day and in differing circumstances.

Jesus’ resurrection is a sign of the bodily resurrection for all those who believe and trust in Him during their earthly life! This should give you a new attitude to death and the transforming of hopes (1 Corinthians 15v12-58, Romans 8v10, 2 Corinthians 4v14; 1 Peter 1v3 & 21)

Believers Resurrection

The bodily resurrection of the dead, those who are saved and those who are unsaved, is clearly taught in Bible (John 5v28-29; Acts 24v15). Christ’s resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection (1 Corinthians 15v20-22)

Christian Disciples resurrected body will be:

• Like Christ’s glorious body (1 Corinthians 15v49; Philippians 3v21; 1 John 3v2)
• Not flesh and blood (1 Corinthians 15v50ff)
• Not partly spiritual (Luke 24v39; 1 Corinthians 15v42, 53)

Those who are or were non-believers will be resurrected (John 5v28-29), but not entered into heaven but rather cast into the lake of fire. It makes the work of evangelism for all Christian Disciples, all the more imperative. Go tell somebody today, the good news about what Jesus resurrection means to them.

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Remember Who You Are – Colossians 3v1-4

This was uploaded today because I gave these bible verses to Lorri Mazara -Pringle on the occasion of her baptism on August 10th, 2008!!

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Colossians 3v1-4 “Remember Who You Are!”

Preached as my homiletics assessment in Year 1.

3:1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.

3:2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.

3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

3:4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.

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