We Believe in God PRE-READING Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen. I Timothy 1:17 Introduction We now consider what the Bible reveals to us about the most important truth of all: God Himself. If the worship of mental images is a form of idolatry, then to say that we worship the God of our own understanding is not solid ground! The God described in Scripture is greater than our ability to imagine and simply cannot be framed within our finite minds For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9) To try and reduce God a series of Bible studies, much less a sermon, would be futile. This, however, does not mean that learning about God is an impossible, or even woolly, exercise. There is much to discover and believe in about the God we worship! Scripture also exposes false ideas about God, things to reject as undermining to our faith. The aim of this study is simply to highlight some non-negotiable truths on what God is and is not, foundations upon which our faith stands. These truths may be related to God s essence, personhood and attributes. 1. The Essence of God The Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Confession of Faith asks the question, What is God? No small feat, then, to reduce an answer to just 18 words! God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. (Shorter Catechism, Question 4) The problem with a formulaic approach to God is that, no matter how hard we try, we are bound to miss out something. In the above answer, for example, some may feel that the divine attribute of love (I John 4:8) might have made it onto the list! That said, the answer does say much about what the Bible says on the essence of God God is spiritual In John 4:24, Jesus tells us, God is Spirit
When Genesis 1:27 says that God made man in His own image, it does not mean that God is physical but that man is spiritual. This is what makes us different from animals. God is self-existent. In Exodus 3:14, God said to Moses, I AM who I AM God is uncaused, holding the grounds of His own existence within Himself, making such questions as Who made God? redundant. Inseparable from God s selfexistence is His self-sufficiency, the fact that He has within Himself an infinite, eternal supply of everything that makes Him God. God is infinite. In II Chronicles 2:6, Solomon asks rhetorically, Who is able to build a house for Him, for the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? God s unlimited nature underlies all of His attributes. Images may reflect aspects of His nature but they can never measure, much less contain Him How unsearchable. Are His judgements and unfathomable Hi ways. (Romans 11:33) God is eternal. In Revelation 1:8 we read, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. The terms alpha and omega, which signify a beginning and an end, are actually an idiom for a beginning-less and endless God (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2 etc.). 2. The Personhood of God God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27) One of the most awesome truths of all is that God is not some kind of Force or Supreme Idea, but a Personal Being with whom humans, created by Him in His own image, may experience a living relationship. Scripture is clear that there are not many gods polytheism but one: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. (Deut. 6:4) Yet one of the most misunderstood beliefs of the Christian faith is the doctrine of the Trinity. This does not mean that Christians believe in three Gods, but one God in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is recorded in Genesis 1:26 as saying, Let Us make man in Our own image. (bold mine), so expressions of the doctrine of the trinity can be traced right back to the beginning of the Bible. That said, the trinity is taught much more clearly in the New Testament. Christ commanded His disciples to initiate new converts in the name of the Triune God: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19) Numerous references to the Trinity appear in the New Testament epistles, such as the benediction in
II Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. The doctrine of the Trinity is again taught in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. In response to Question 6, How many persons are there in the Godhead?, it declares: There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. When non-christian religions such as Jehovah s Witnesses, Mormonism and Islam reject the doctrine of the Trinity, they specifically tend to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ and the personhood of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Incarnation is that God became a man in Christ. John 1:1,14 teaches, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth In similar vein, the Epistle to the Hebrews 1:3 teaches, [God s Son] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power By becoming fully man, Jesus did not resign His divinity but became the bodily manifestation of God Himself: 100% God and 100% man not 50/50! Then, when the same Jesus who taught, I and the Father are one, (John 10:30) spoke of the Spirit as another [Greek, allos] Helper (John 14:16), John s use of allos denotes another of the same kind, as distinct from the word heteros, which would have denoted another of a different kind. If the Father and the Son are One, then so is the Holy Spirit. And that Holy Spirit, like Christ, is also a Person. Only a person can do what Scripture attributes to the Holy Spirit: He teaches (John 14:26), speaks (Acts 8:29), decides (Acts 15:28), can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30) or outraged (Hebrews 10:29), may be lied to (Acts 5:3,4), forbids (Acts 16:6-7), searches (I Corinthians 2:10-11), distributes (I Corinthians 12:11), intercedes (Romans 8:26-27) and bears witness (Romans 8:16). 3. The Attributes of God God has attributes that might be described as both moral and non-moral. (i) Non-Moral Attributes God is omniscient all knowing But the very hairs of your head are all numbered Mat. 10:30 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Ps. 147:4 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son Rom. 8:29 God is omnipotent all powerful Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Acts 19:6
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created through Him and for Him. Col. 1:16 NB. God s sovereignty includes His perfect will and His permissive will; for example, He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. Eph. 1:9-12 and His permissive will; for example, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result Gen. 50:20 God in his sovereignty has given man free will. Man has the power to, and frequently does, act against the perfect will of God; this includes, but need not be confined to, obvious moral sin. God is omnipresent everywhere at once In Him we live, and move, and have our being. Acts 17:28 Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the remotest part of the sea; even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. Ps. 139:7-10 God s omnipresence should not be mistaken for pantheism which identifies the Creator with creation seeing the universe as the manifestation of God; such beliefs are found in non-christian faiths such as Hinduism, Native American and African tribal religions. A biblical understanding of God s omnipresence is simply that it is impossible to evade or escape from God s gaze, reach or influence. God is Immutable unchanging Scripture does not portray God as a mercurial, capricious being, but a being of laws and principles that are drawn from His very nature and purpose, which never change: I am the Lord; I change not. Mal. 3:6 Every good thing and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17
(ii) Moral Attributes The God of Scripture is not some kind of Norse or Greek deity, fantastical and egotistical in power but void of moral virtue. God is moral as well as spiritual. Holiness You shall be holy, for I am holy. I Peter 1:16 Because God is a holy God who cannot tolerate sin in His presence. This is why Scripture teaches that we will not see the Lord without it (Hebrews 12:14). Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. Psalm 24:3-4 Righteousness and Justice Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. Psalm 25:8 Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Genesis 18:25 Though we may not understand everything God does or allows to happen, we believe that He is just unlike humans, He will always do what is right. Goodness O taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8 God is not a God of harshness and cruelty; He is a good God who does good to His children. His goodness is demonstrated powerfully through Jesus earthly ministry see, for example, John 10:10, Acts 10:38. God s goodness is expressed through love (I Jn. 4:8, I Cor. 13:4-8), kindness (Tit. 3:4-7), grace (I Pet. 5:10, Eph. 2:8) and mercy (Eph. 2:4-5). Truth He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. John 3:33 God seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:23-24) and Jesus describes Himself as the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). He is the faithful and true (Revelation 19:11) who can always be relied upon to be what His truth (John 17:17) reveals Him to be.
GROUP DISCUSSION Drawing from your pre-reading notes, contribute to the following discussion prompts. 1. Genesis 1:27 teaches that God made man in His own image. What does this say about human beings? Discuss examples of God s nature in mankind that sets us apart from the animals? 2. Has God ever suffered need? Has He ever been in any way incomplete or lacking? Are we ever in danger of trying to make God like we are, and why might this be called a danger? 3. There s always more in God. Discuss. 4. One God Three Persons. Discuss. 5. Read: John 1:1,14,18 and Hebrews 1:3. How do these verses reveal Jesus as God? You may wish to discuss illustrations of this from the life of Jesus in the Gospels. 6. Although the Bible clearly presents Jesus as God, can you think of any Bible passages that also point to His humanity? 7. Have you ever found it difficult to understand the Holy Spirit as a Person? 8. The Holy Spirit is God with, in and upon the church today. Therefore, any personal encounter we may have had with God has been through Him. Are you able to share examples of your personal experience of the Holy Spirit? 9. Read again the scripture references relating to God s non-moral and moral attributes (above, pages 3-5). Do you think any of these need to be particularly reflected upon or emphasised with respect to a) contemporary Christianity, and b) yourself personally? 10. God is not only spiritual, He is also a moral being. Discuss examples of where these attributes may be seen in the lives of Jesus and the apostles. Why is it important to emphasise God s moral attributes as well as His non-moral attributes? (Possible prompts: Hebrews 12:14; I John 4:7-8 etc.)