Crnerstne See Gd Rightly When we study the Bible it is f vital imprtance that we shuld always keep this idea.that the ne great bject and intentin thrughut is Gd revealing Himself; and yu and I must discver the ways in which He has been pleased t d this. If Gd des nt reveal Himself, I cannt knw Him; but he has revealed Himself, and that revelatin is t be fund in this bk (The Bible). This questin f knwing Gd is the end, the supreme end, f all religin; it is the great thing that shuld be in the frefrnt f the mind and heart f every ne f us. What is yur need, what is yur bject, why are yu studying these dctrines (Attributes f Gd)? We see that thugh Gd is finally incmprehensible, he is nevertheless knwable; He cannt be cmprehended, but thank Gd that He can be knwn. Unless we understand what the Bible teaches us abut Gd, ur wrship can never be real. And they that wrship Him must wrship in Spirit and Truth. (Jhn 4:24) Martyn Llyd-Jnes The church tday has surrendered her nce lfty cncept f Gd and has substituted fr it ne s lw, s ignble, as t be utterly unwrthy f thinking, wrshipping men. This she has dne nt deliberately, but little by little and withut her knwledge; and her very unawareness nly makes her situatin all the mre tragic. If we wuld bring back the spiritual pwer t ur lives, we must begin t think f Gd mre nearly as He is. What cmes t ur minds when we think abut Gd is the mst imprtant thing abut us. I believe there is scarcely an errr in dctrine r a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannt be traced finally t imperfect and ignble thughts abut Gd. A.W. Tzer Let nt he wise man glry in his wisdm, let nt the mighty man glry in his might, let nt the rich man glry in his riches; but let him wh glries glry in this, that he understands and knw me, that I am the Lrd wh practices steadfast lve, justice, and righteusness in the earth; fr in these things I delight, says the Lrd. Gd (Jeremiah 9:23-24) Intrductin: Gd is beynd ur cmprehensin. It is nly by His grace that we can knw anything f wh He is. He has revealed Himself t us partially as we culd never fully fathm Him entirely. Furthermre, in ur culture tday, we all have a desperately inadequate view f wh He really is. We have bught int lies and perversins f His character that are fed t us daily in ur media inundated envirnment. If we want t live the lives that He has intended, lives f jy, peace, satisfactin and health, we need t fill ur minds with crrect thinking abut the wnder and greatness f ur Gd s character. Once we knw Him, we will knw wh we are in light f being created in His image. We will then understand thers better and finally live ut f a respnse t the wnder and greatness f wh He is! This Outline serves t highlight the different Attributes f Gd frm the Bible. It is nly a partial cmpilatin as His character is infinitely wnderful which n mind can fully cmprehend. Even nce we are mre and mre familiar with His character, there is still difficulty in taking this infrmatin the 12 inch distance frm the head t the heart. Actually nly the Lrd can d this (Ephesians 1:21), but we have a part in building this infrmatin int ur hearts and minds and letting urselves be transfrmed, (Rmans 12:1,2). Lk up the passages, with a ntebk, answer the questins that fllw. Meditate f these passages and themes and ask the Lrd t slidify the realities f his incredible character deeply within yur heart. See Gd Rightly 1
A. Hly Definitin: Ttally set apart. Pure, with n blemish. (This characteristic is hlistic in that it encmpasses all ther attributes f Gd s character. N ther attribute can be seen utside the cnstrains f His perfectin in Hliness. S it is a separate categry here, but is really the framewrk that underlies every ther characteristic frm big t small) 1. Biblical Claims Exdus 15:11 1 Samuel 2:2 Psalm 33 Isaiah 5:16 Isaiah 6:1-3 Isaiah 40:21-31 Isaiah 57:15 Ezekiel 36:22 2 Chrnicles 30:27 Revelatin 15:4 2. Biblical examples Exdus 19:10-25 Exdus 33:20-23 Leviticus 16 Revelatin 1:12-18 Summary: Summarize Gd s Hliness. What are its qualities? What effects des it have, n Him..n us? What are the ramificatins f His hliness? What stands ut t yu abut His hliness? B. Eternal/Immutable Definitin: Gd is withut beginning and withut ending, He is everlasting and unchanging. He can never be different in essence. It is never pssible that He shuld differ in any respect frm what He always is and always has been. 1. Eternal/Unchanging Psalm 90 Psalm 102 Numbers 23:19 Deuternmy 32:4 1 Samuel 2:2,15:29 2 Samuel 22:2 Psalm 18, 95:1, 102:25-27 Isaiah 40:6-8 James 1:17 2. Fundatin f Truth 2 Samuel 7:28 Psalm 31:5 Jhn 17:3, 17:17 Rmans 1:18-25 The Fundatin f the Law (Derived frm Gd s character); leads us t his desire fr us f healing, prtectin and gdness; leads us t a rule r law; which leads us back t Him and the ability t relate t Him in jy and satisfactin. Persn------------> Principle------------> Precept-----------> Persn Gd s Character Why? Law/rule Gd s Character Change and Decay in all arund I see, Oh Thu wh changest nt, abide with me. H.F. Lyte Summary: What are the ramificatins f Gd s immutability? What effect des it have n yu t knw that He never changes? What des ur sciety say abut abslute truth? Hw can Gd claim that He is the ultimate truth? What makes His ways right?
C. Omnipresent Definitin: Gd is present everywhere. Yet there are certain places where it seems that Gd is especially present i.e. Heaven. This des nt mean that Gd is, r is in everything r everywhere, that is Pantheism. Psalm 139:7-12 Jeremiah 23:23-24 Acts 17:28 Summary: Hw des this characteristic serve as a blessing? Hw des it serve as a warning? D. Omniscient Definitin: Gd knws all things and His knwledge is always abslute knwledge. It is perfect knwledge, a cmplete knwledge f everything. 1. Knwledge Psalm 147 Prverbs 15:3 Matthew 10:29 Psalm 139:2.3 Exdus 3:7 Luke 12:7 Hebrews 4:13 2. Wisdm 1 Crinthians 1:22-30 Prverbs 1-4 James 3:17-18 Summary: What is the difference between Knwledge and Wisdm? Hw d Gd s attributes f Knwledge and Wisdm cmpliment each ther? What if Gd nly had divine knwledge, but n wisdm? E. Omniptent Definitin: Hw wuld yu define mniptence? 1. Creatr Genesis 1-2 Psalm 104 Jhn 1:1-5 2 Crinthians 4:16-5:5 2. Svereignty Daniel 4:35 Psalm 147:15-18, 148:8 Isaiah 55:10-11 Rmans 8:19-39, 9 Ephesians 1:3-14 Summary: Hw des ur sciety differ with these explanatins f life? Hw d yu buy int sciety s views subcnsciusly? F. Pursuer f Man Definitin: Gd is in active, relentless pursuit f man. The whle Bible reveals His character in this area. Frm beginning t end, it is the stry f Gd s glry being prmted by Him building a kingdm f redeemed peple n Earth. -Read these passages and meditate n Gd as the Pursuer f Man Exdus 3 (Mses) Jhn 1 Acts 9:1-31 (Paul) Luke 15 Jhn 3:16-2 See Gd Rightly 3
Summary: What difference des it make t knw hw He pursues us? As yu read thrugh the Bible in the cming days, mnths and years. Take nte f hw Gd pursues us Exercises: Gd s Character in the Old Testament Belw are sme additinal selectins f scripture that help illuminate in narrative frm, the character f Gd. Read the sectins with a ntebk and pen. Write dwn the different aspects f Gd s character frm abve that yu cme acrss. As yu read the OT in particular, read it as Gd shwing us thrugh example Wh He is. The Bible is Gd s revelatin f Himself and He is giving us glimpses f wh He is. He ften uses His relatinships with peple t highlight wh He is and the principles f His character that we can expect t see in His interactin with us. It is nt s much the stry f Wh Gd s peple are, as much as it is the stry f wh Gd is with His peple. Enjy these passages and let them wrk deep int yur sul. Giden (Judges 6) Abraham (Genesis 12-25) Jshua (Jshua 1-11) Psalms Jseph (Genesis 37-50) Saul (1 Samuel 9-10) David (1 Samuel 16, 2 Samuel 12-21) Gd s Character in the Psalm Read Psalm 1-150. Just take an verview, read 2-4 Psalms a day fr as lng as it takes t read all f them. As yu read, write dwn all the instances f Gd s character that yu find. Meditate daily n His character, writing dwn thughts, praises, respnses. Categrize the main characteristics that yu find. Cntinually ask Gd as yu read and meditate t make His character knwn deep within yu in a way that causes yu t respnd with all yur heart! Gd Character in the New Testament The Gd f the New Testament is nt a different Gd than in the Old Testament! He is perating in a new cvenant r agreement with man, but He nr any f His character has changed in any way. Take ne f yur favrite epistles r letters f the New Testament r try Hebrews 1-4 r Jhn 1. Read it thrugh in its entirety in ne sitting the first time. Ask yurself wh Gd is revealing Himself t be in this letter. What d His cmmands, ideas, thughts, ways f relating t peple that He reveals thrugh the writer reveal abut Himself? What must the writer knw and believe abut Gd s character t write r say the things that He des? Take sme f thse classificatins f Gd s character that yu came up with in the Old Testament r the Psalms, and add the New Testament revelatin f thse same characteristics f Gd t the list. Tp bk picks n the attributes f Gd (with Amazn.cm links) Knwing Gd, J.I. Packer Pursuit f Gd, A.W. Tzer Gd the Father, Gd the Sn, Martyn Llyd Jnes The Attributes f Gd, A.W. Pink Knwledge f the Hly, A.W. Tzer
See Gd Rightly 5