GOD

GOD

You must first have it settled that you believe the Bible to be the Word of God or you will continuously struggle with believing that the Lord is speaking to you through the Word and that IT is always TRUTH.  The Bible reveals God as the only Infinite and Eternal Being, having no beginning and no ending.  He is Creator and Sustainer of all things.  He is the Supreme Personal Intelligence, and Righteous Ruler of His universe.  He is life, and therefore, the only Source of life. 

For even as the Father has life in Himself and is self-existent, so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself and be self-existent. John 5:2

Man is natural and cannot know God by wisdom.  “Canst thou by searching find out God?”  Job 11:7.  God is a person and can be known only by revelation.  In the Old Testament He revealed Himself to and through His prophets.  In the New Testament He reveals Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. 

           

In many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the Truth] and in different ways God spoke of old to [our] forefathers in and by the prophets, [But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order!  He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine] And He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s nature], upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power.  When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleaning of sins and riddance of guilt, He  sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high.  Hebrews 1:1-3

I.    The Existence of God

   

      The Bible nowhere attempts to prove or argue the existence of God.  “For he that cometh to God must believe that He is.” The existence of God is a fact taken for granted by the writers of both the Old and New Testaments.  “In the beginning God…”  (Gen. 1:1)  The Bible opens by announcing the sublime fact of God and His existence. 

            But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him.  For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].  Hebrews 11:6

There are arguments for the existence of God, they are not conclusive, but are food for thought:

       1.  Universal belief in God comes from within man.  It is innate in man and comes from rational intuition.

       2.  The argument from “cause and effect.”  Everything that began owes its existence to a cause.  We have a building; we must have a builder.  We have a creation; then we must have a creator.  This creation could not have come into existence without an intelligent, personal creator, any more than the alphabet could produce a book itself without and author. We have a watch; we must have a watchmaker (tell the illustration of the piece of gold that a man put under a drip from a spring on the mountain.  1,000 years later he returned to find a Rolex watch!)

       3.  The argument from anthropology.  Man’s moral and intellectual nature argues for a moral and intellectual Creator.

       4.  The Bible and the Christ that it reveals, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His vicarious death and His bodily resurrection—all of this an much, much more—argue for the existence of God.

II.   The Bible reveals God as a personality.  He is called “the living and true God”—One possessing self-consciousness and self-determination.  His personality is shown in what He does, such as:

       1.  God loves.  “God so loved the world”  (John 3:16)

       2.  God hates.  “These six things doth the Lord hate”  (Proverbs 6:16

       3.  God cares.  “He careth for you”  (I Peter 5:7)

       4.  God grieves.  “It grieved Him at His heart”  (Genesis 6:6)

Only a personality can love, hate, care and grieve; therefore, God must be a living, eternal, personal being. 

III.  There are four definitions of God in the Bible.  Since God cannot be defined, they are incomplete.  However, they do throw light upon the nature of God.  They are:

       1.  “God is love”  This is the nature of God in His divine compassion.

       2.   “God is light”  (I John 1:5)  This is the nature of God in His divine character; in Him there is no darkness. 

       3.  “God is consuming fire”  (Hebrews 12:29)  This is the nature of God in His divine holiness.

       4.  “God is Spirit”  (John 4:24)  This is the nature of God in His divine essence.

The attributes of God reveal His nature.  Do not think of His attributes as abstract, but as vital mediums through which His holy nature is unveiled—attributes ascribed to Him, such as:

             (a)  Life is ascribed to God.  (John 5:26)  [at the beginning]

             (b)  All knowledge is ascribed to God.   (Psa. 147:5) Great is our Lord and of great power; His understanding is inexhaustible and boundless.

             (c)  All power is ascribed to God.  (Rev. 19:6)  After that I heard what sounded like the shout of a vast throng, like the boom of many pounding waves, and like the roar of terrific and mighty peals of thunder, exclaiming, Hallelujah (praise the Lord)!  For now the Lord our God the Omnipotent (the All-Ruler) reigns!

             (d)  Filling the universe with His presence is ascribed to God (Psa. 139:7-10)  Where could I go from Your Spirit?  Or where could I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.

God is everywhere present, but He is not in everything.  If God were in everything, man could worship any object and he would be worshiping God.  God is a Spirit being.  “And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” 

IV.   The Grace of God

        (Ephesians 2:8-9)  For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith.  And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law”s demands] lest any man should boast.  [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]

Grace is the love and mercy of God in action.  Mercy is negative, and love is positive; both together mean grace.  To show mercy in love is grace.  God showed mercy in love when He sent His Son to bear our sins in His own body on the cross.  (John 3:16)

          1.  The grace of God saves forever.  (Romans 8: 38-39)  For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, not angels nor principalities, not things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, Nor height or depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

          2.  The grace of God is unconditional; that is, we are not saved on the condition that we “hold out unto the end” or that we “fail not” or that we “do our best.”  We are saved by the grace of God, apart from works.

          3.  The grace of God is sufficient.  (II Cor. 12:9) But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]: for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness.  Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

            4.  The grace of God makes no discrimination (Rev. 22:17)  The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come!  And let him who is listening say, Come!  And let everyone come who is thirsty [who is painfully conscious of his need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened]; and whoever [earnestly] desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost.

          5.  The grace of God justifies (Romans 3:23-24) Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and received.  [All] are justified aand made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,

          6.  The grace of God makes every believer an heir.  (Titus 3:7) [He did it in order] that we might be justified by His grace (by His favor, wholly undeserved), [that we might be acknowledged and counted as conformed to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action], and that we might become heirs of eternal life according to [our] hope.

         7.  The grace of God teaches the believer how to live.  (Titus 2:11-12) For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessings) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind.  It has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness, (irreligion) and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, devout (spiritually whole) lives in this present world.

The grace of God is nothing less than the unlimited love of God expressed in the gift of His Son, our Savior.  It is the undeserved love of God toward sinners. 

V.    The Trinity of God

        (Matthew 3:16-17) And when Jesus was baptized, He went up at once out of the water and behold, the heavens were opened, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him.  And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight! 

By the Trinity of God we mean His tri-personal existence as Father, Son and Holy Spirit—three distinct persons in One God.

         1.  The Father is recognized as God (I Peter 1:2) Who were chosen and foreknown by God the Father and consecrated (sanctified, made holy) by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and to be sprinkled with [His] blood: May grace (spiritual blessing) and peace be given you in increasing abundance [that spiritual peace to be realized in and through Christ, freedom from fears, agitating passions and moral conflicts].

And in all the fullness of the Godhead invisible.  (John 1:18) No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known].

          2.   The Son is recognized as God (Hebrews 1:8) But as to the Son, He says to Him, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever (to the ages of the ages), and the scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of absolute righteousness (of justice and straightforwardness). 

And is all the fullness of the Godhead manifested in the flesh.  (John 1:14) And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacles (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.

         3.  The Holy Spirit is recognized as God (Acts 5:3-4) But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart that you should lie to and attempt to deceive the Holy Spirit, and should [in violation of your promise] withdraw secretly and appropriate to your own use part of the price from the sale of the land?  As long as it remained unsold, was it not still your own?  And [even] after it was sold, was not [the money] at your disposal and under your control?  Why then, is it that you have proposed and purposed in your in your heart to do this thing?  [How could you have the heart to do such a deed?]  You have not [simply] lied to men [playing false and showing yourself utterly deceitful[ but to God.

And is all the fullness of the Godhead acting upon man, convicting him of sin

(John 16:7-11) However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away.  Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [to be in close fellowship with you].  And when He comes, He will convict and convince the world and bring demonstration to it about sin and about righteousness, (uprightness of heart and right standing with God) and about judgment:  About sin, because they do not believe in Me [trust in, rely on, and adhere to Me]; About righteousness (uprightness of heart and right standing with God), because I go to My Father, and you will see Me no longer; About judgment because the ruler (evil genius, prince) of this world [Satan”] is judged and condemned and sentence already is passed upon him. 

And guiding the believer into all truth (John 16:12-15) I have still many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them or to take them upon you or to grasp them now.  But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes; He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth).  For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].  He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receiver, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.  Everything that the Father has is Mine.  That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.

      4.  The doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the Old Testament, but is rather implied.  The Amplified amplifies and includes more than implies.  (Genesis 1: 26) And God said, Let US [Father, Son and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them …

      5.  The doctrine of the Trinity is revealed in the New Testament Matthew 3: 16-17 (FIRST POINT UNDER TRINITY) We have Christ being baptized in water, the Father speaking from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descending as a dove.  We are to baptize “into the name (NOT NAMES) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)

      6.  Even creation implies the doctrine of the Trinity.  In creation, we have space, matter, and time in one creation.  In space, we have length, breath and height in one space.  In matter, we have energy, motion, and phenomena in one substance.  In time, we have past, present and future in one time.  In man, we have body, soul, and spirit in one man.  (I Thess.5:23) And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be [preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

       7.  In the Holy Trinity, we have Father, Son and Holy Spirit in one God.