Notes compiled by Marty Zide and Steve McAtee
Introduction
Apart from God taking the initiative to reveal Himself to man, we would never have known the truth about Him. Mankind does not simply stumble upon the truth of who God is.
Is. 55:8-9 -For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor 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.
Problems with this truth arise, because, unregenerate man believes that his ways are just fine and that his understanding of who God is, is adequate.
Ezek. 18:29 -But the house of Israel says, The way of the Lord is not right. Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?
Prov. 14:12 -There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
The importance of knowing God can clearly be seen in a statement that Jesus made when He was praying to God the Father in John 17.
John 17:3 -This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus the Messiah whom You have sent.
1. False Theories and Systems About God
It should not surprise us when we discover that there is so much false teaching about God. God’s arch-enemy, the Devil tries to confuse people on this important issue.
A. Deism
This view represents the universe as a self-sustained mechanism from which God withdraws as soon as He created it, leaving it to a process of self-development. They deny that God has any personal involvement with the present world. According to a deist, after God created the universe, He allows it to run on its own by natural laws without His personal involvement. A deist would not see the need for prayer or seek an intimate fellowship with God
B. Atheism
This view totally denies God’s existence. Only the foolish and wicked person can come to a place where they deny the existence of God.
Ps. 14:1 -The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.
Ps. 53:1 -The fool has said in his heart, There is no God, They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good.
Ps. 10:3-4 -For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, There is no God.
C. Agnosticism
This view holds that there is no sufficient ground for either a positive or a negative answer to the question: Does God exist?
Rom. 1:18-19, 21 -For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
D. Pantheism
This view holds the belief that God is everything and that everything is God. This belief confuses God with nature and with the matter. It confuses the Creator with the things He has created. In some instances, the excessive concern for the environment that is prevalent in our day is a result of pantheistic beliefs.
E. Polytheism
This view involves the belief in many gods, or in a plurality of gods. Many people in India are polytheistic.
All of these views of God are wrong and are not found in Scripture. They lead to wrong conclusions about the one true God as revealed in the Bible.
2. God’s Essential Nature
The Bible speaks of several different characteristics of God that helps us understand who He is.
A. God is Personality
The Bible presents God as a being with self-consciousness and will, capable of feeling and choosing and having the capacity of entering into relationships with other personal beings.
Evidence of God’s Personality:
He has a name, intellect, emotions, and a will.
Ex. 3:13-14 -Then Moses said to God, Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you. Now they may say to me, What is His name? What shall I say to them? God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM; and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.
Ps. 115:3 -But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.
Ps. 147:5 -Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.
Is. 46:10 -Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure.
Dan. 4:35 -All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, What have You done?
1 John 4:16 -We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
B. God is Spirit
The Bible presents God as Spirit. No one has seen God at anytime. In the Old Testament, there were several ways that God presence was manifested. The pillar of fire, the cloud by day, and the Shekina Glory are but a few. He is best seen in the person of Jesus the Messiah.
John 4:24 -God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 1:18 -No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
John 14:9 -Jesus said to him, Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, Show us the Father?
1 Tim. 1:17 -Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Coming Next –Attributes Of God The Father
Comentários