Christian Living
When we talk about the study of God we’re talking about the study of His existence, nature, attributes, and triunity. This subject cannot be covered in one message let alone in one year but as a church the study of God or Theology is significant. Some may question if theology is really necessary? I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I believe in the Bible. Isn't that enough?
George Barna asserts,
“Too many people who are not yet able to identify differences in theology randomly pick up books that espouse a God that is not the God of the Bible. What is popular may not be right, and what is right may not be popular. Many adults develop their own set of religious beliefs rather than accept the teachings of the word of God. More people now serve as their own theologian-in-residence.”
In other words, many people in today’s culture, piece together their own theology, determining and defining who the Creator is, rather than submitting to who God, their Creator, says He is.
Our relationship with God will be determined by how well we know Him. Knowing the reality about who God is, who Jesus is, and who the Holy Spirit is, how we can be saved and reconciled with God is not only important, but also vital with regards to our eternal destination.
Jesus called His followers to worship God, "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24), and later stated, "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32). We must be careful in our study of God, because good theology ensures that we are indeed worshiping God "in spirit and in truth," and that we "know Christ" as He would have us know Him. Jesus commanded us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. How can we love someone with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength if we do not intimately and accurately know them? The relationship you have with God is the most important relationship you will ever have because He is your Creator. But this relationship must be founded on a proper knowledge and understanding of who God is.
The first question we ought to ask is, “Can God actually be known?” If so, can the truth about God be known? Dr. Norman Geisler, propounds, “Few (if any) studies are more important than that of the attributes of God.” So how can we as human beings comprehend who the transcendent God is?
God Confirms the Reality of His Existence through:
- Natural revelation: In creation we see God’s fingerprint. Creation is where “God communicates Himself to all persons at all times and in all places”[1] whether in NY, Paris, or London, whether in the Gobi Desert, the open grasslands of Africa, the jungles of the Amazon, or in the wastelands of Siberia, God’s existence is exhibited in nature through the stars, the sun and the moon, the trees, the mountains and the mighty oceans. This form of revelation informs us about God’s existence but is non-redemptive. General revelation means that God has so created the world that in it, is embedded evidence to demonstrate His existence. Creation reveals God’s eternal power and divine nature.
Psalm 19:1-4 states,
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world (ESV).
The evidence of God’s existence through creation is so compelling that the Bible says that those who reject His existence do so willfully and will be held accountable for their actions (Rom 1:18-21). God has revealed Himself in creation, in history (especially Israel) and in the conscience of every person (Rom 2:1-16). All persons have a knowledge about God and although it may be suppressed to the extent of being unconscious or unrecognizable, it is nonetheless part of our God-created design, providing us with areas of sensitivity to which the gospel message may be effectively directed as a starting point. These areas of sensitivity will vary from one person to another, but there are features of the creation to which the believer may point, features that will enable the unbeliever to recognize something of the truth of the message.[2]
We all have different beliefs, including many basic beliefs about God, not based of proofs or arguments or inferences from observational evidence. The Bible says that every person is given a measure of faith. For some there is no need to prove the existence of God in order for them to have a rational belief in Him. Others may choose to take their measure of faith and place their hope in other beliefs or secular ideologies and that is their choice.
In a commencement address at Kenyon College, the American novelist and essayist David Foster Wallace said that: “Everybody worships.” The only choice we get is what to worship.”[3]
In Rom 1:25 it says, “They worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.” Tim Keller said, “If we look to some created thing to give us the meaning, hope, and happiness only God himself can give, it will eventually fail to deliver and break our hearts.[4] In other words, God is the only One who can satisfy the greatest yearnings of our hearts and everything else will eventually disappoint.
But for those who desire to have the assurance of their faith in God, there are many credible, cumulative reasons to believe beyond a reasonable doubt that God exists and to place our faith in the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Though we do not have time to cover all of them here, I will name just a few.
- The Cosmological Argument:
1. Everything that had a beginning had a cause. 2. The universe had a beginning. 3. Therefore the universe had a cause.[5] How did we get here? Why is anything here at all? Time, matter, and space all points to a first cause which we know to be God.
- The Teleological Argument
1. Everything that has a design implies there was a designer.
2. Great design implies a great designer.
3. There is great design in the world (i.e. huge machinery, the human eye, DNA, etc.),
4. Therefore, there must be a great Designer of the world. Who is that designer? It is God.
- The Moral law/Law giver Argument
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
1. There must be a universal moral law or law giver or else
A. Disagreements would make no sense.
B. All criticisms are meaningless (e.g., if there is not universal moral law, we can’t say the Nazis were wrong)
C. Promise and treaty keeping are unnecessary.
D. We would not make excuses for breaking the moralLaw
E. There is no basis for human rights,
An writer for the Gospel Coalition stated that when these proofs or arguments for the existence of God are methodically examined, comparing the biblical revelation with what we can observe in reality or in science, they can clarify our understanding of God, His attributes, and His relationship to the creation; they can increase our appreciation of God's majesty and our utter dependence on Him; they can help us answer the objections of unbelievers and remove the doubts in the minds of the believers; and they can reveal the irrationality of unbelief—all to the glory of God.” [6]
We see that natural revelation, everything we can see in creation, points to a Creator God. But how does a person study the Person and nature of God more specifically? How can we really know God’s plans and purposes for His creation - why He even created the world in the first place? How can each one of us in this room know what the plans and purposes of God is for us as individuals, or what the plan of salvation is for every human being? We can find the answers to these questions in what God has provided to us through: (SLIDE)
- Special revelation. Just as nature provides natural revelation of God, the Bible is God’s special revelation written down for us. It is God’s personal revelation of Himself to people through the Holy Spirit and His Word; Special revelation includes God’s overarching plans and purposes by which He governs mankind, and His plan of salvation to specific people at specific times in specific places so that His creation may know who He is and what He is doing. Most importantly, special revelation tells us as individuals how to enter into a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The study of His Word explains the reason for all the things God purposed to do in the past and what He will do in the future.
Heb 1:1-2 says,
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe.
In the OT God spoke directly to Adam and Eve in the garden. He also communicated through dreams, visions, miracles, through the prophets and various other ways. Thousands of years later, God revealed Himself by becoming a human being and living on the earth for 33 years. Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God while He was on the earth and told the people that if they had seen Him, they had seen God the Father. The knowledge of God and an intimate relationship with Him is possible because Christ bridged the gap between Himself and humankind.
After Jesus died, was resurrected and ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit spoke through the apostles in the NT. What was communicated by God was written down, recorded so it would be possible for us to know Him. Natural and Special revelation give us a big picture of who God is and what He is like.
Some people think of God as a type of celestial police officer just looking for opportunities to pounce upon wrongdoers and write out fines. Or that God is a kindly elderly gentleman sitting in heaven who would never want to interfere with human’s enjoyment of life. Is He so separate and removed from the creation (transcendent) that once He created everything He no longer works through it and has nothing to do with us?
We study the Scriptures to specifically discover the truth of the unchanging attributes or intrinsic quality/essence of the Godhead so that we do not speculate beyond what the Scriptures have revealed. When we speak of attributes, this is who God in His entirety. The attributes of God describe who He is and are found in the Scriptures, God’s Special Revelation.
God is holy, just, loving, powerful, sovereign, perfect, complete. In John 4:24 He is described as a Spirit, which means He is not affected or limited by time, space, or matter.
There is no one like Him. Isaiah wrote: 40:25-26
25 To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
The Psalmist asked:
5 Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, 6who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? (Psalm 113:5,6)
- He is all knowing -He know the past present and future so nothing surprises Him. Is 46:10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'
- He is all powerful - Job 42:2 "I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
- He is everywhere present at the same time - Psalm 139:7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
God is not detached from His creation, He is personal. God has a name, which refers primarily to his relationship with persons rather than with nature. [7] He is not a nebulous force, or the celestial police or elderly grandfather that we can manipulate with our prayers or through religious rituals. The God of the universe is a Personal Being, separate from us because He is not dependent on anyone or anything but at the same time an all-wise, all-good, perfectly just God who desires to have a relationship with the people He created.
Isaiah 57:15 says:
For this is what the high and exalted One says-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
As a personal Being, God has all the capacities associated with personality: knowing, feeling, willing, acting. God is a Person, the first Person of the Trinity, and His relationship with us is portrayed as a caring and understanding Father who loves us and defends us.
2 Cor 6:18
"And I will be a Father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," says the Lord Almighty.
God desires that the knowledge of who He is goes beyond mere information or affirmation of His existence. He desires that we would enter into a personal relationship with Him. He is a knowing, loving, good Father. He is approachable. We can speak to Him and He answers us. He is a living Being who is concerned about our needs (Matt 7:11). He is not someone we only hear or read about but One whom we can know personally and grow in relationship with.
John 1:12-13
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Psalm 68:5 He is a Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, God is holy and in his holy dwelling.
God can be known! This is why we share the good news of the gospel. God cares about His creation. He cares for the poor, the orphans and the widows, the lost and we have been created in His image. We are His hands and feet on this earth. God can be known and desires to be made known.
As a church we don’t aspire to be, we are God’s children, and like Him, we care for our community and we are committed to connecting people to the Savior.
Sermon Notes:
Pastor Brian Williams (IBCV)
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