“Who
Is God?”
(Message
#2 in SBC Doctrinal Statement Series)
8 Oct. 2017 (SBC, Sligo,
IE)
INTRODUCTION:
I cannot remember when I have been given a
more daunting task than the one I have today. I am here to try and tell you who
God is. In this doctrinal series that Pr. Kirk began last Sunday we looked at
what we believe about the Bible, God’s holy eternal Word. It is upon that book
that we mainly rely to glean our understanding of who God is and what He is
like.
For His own reasons God chose to reveal
Himself to man, and He did this mainly in three ways. First, He has revealed Himself through Creation. By
looking around us at His handiwork in creation we can figure out some things
about Him, but only in a very limited way. Paul, in Romans 1, takes up this subject
and says that by the things that God has made we can learn of His existence,
His power, and His care for all creatures. In this “natural revelation” we have
enough information about Him that we are held accountable to acknowledge Him
and give Him our worship and gratitude. The second way that God has revealed Himself to us is through
His Son, the Living Word made flesh. He came to offer His life as a ransom
for our sins, but Jesus also came to show us what the Father is really like.
The third way God has
revealed Himself to us is through the Scriptures, the Living and Abiding
Word of God in printed form that we can hold and read and study.
I think we will all agree that if we did
not have the Bible our knowledge of God would be very sketchy indeed. But,
Praise God! we do have the Bible and in its pages, we learn what God is really
like. Today we are going to look at some of the things the Bible tells us about
Him and try to wrap our minds around these amazing truths, although I will tell
you at the outset that we will not even come close to plumbing the depths of
who God really is.
TRANSITION:
Before we jump in
I want to explain a little bit about what we are doing. All the studies in this
teaching series fall under the heading of “Systematic Theology.” Don’t let that
name scare you off—it is not as frightening as it sounds. If you were to enroll
as a first-year student in a seminary or Bible College, Systematic Theology
would be a requisite course. The word “theology” is a compound word made up of
two words, theos from Greek meaning
“God”, and logia from Latin meaning
“the study of.” [E.g. Psychology, from psyche + logia, is the study of the
mind. Anthropology, from Anthropos + logia, is the study of man. Biology, from
bios + logia, is the study of living things.]
We say that this study of God is
“systematic” because of the way we go about it. My favorite definition of
“Systematic Theology” is this: “Systematic Theology is the collecting, scientifically
arranging, comparing, exhibiting, and defending of all facts from any and every
source concerning God and the relations between God and the universe,
especially as He has revealed Himself in His Word.” Theology is usually broken down into eight or
nine sub-headings. To muddy the waters just a little bit more for you, what we
will be looking at today and for the next three weeks falls under the heading
of “Theology Proper.” Now that has nothing to do with dressing up for
church or wearing a tie or knowing how to bow or curtsy. No, it just means that
this is the real heart of theology, the most important part of it, the study of
God Himself. In these studies, we will look at what the Bible says about the
Godhead, about God the Father, about Christ Jesus, the Son, and about the blessed
Holy Spirit. We will examine their person, their attributes, and their works.
After that, in subsequent weeks we will look at other aspects of theology to
see them in their relation to God
Our church’s Doctrinal Statement says this
about “The Godhead,” meaning the totality of who God is:
“We believe that there is only one true
God who is at work in the world to accomplish His desired end. He eternally exists as three co-eternal and co-equal
persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While these are distinct persons
performing distinct functions under the headship of the Father, they are of the same essence, one God. Because they
are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, they are also worthy of precisely the same homage,
confidence, and obedience.”
Now what we want to do here today is
unpack that statement and look at its individual pieces, to try and understand
it. So, let’s get to it, shall we? We will break these statements down and
examine the pieces.
MAIN BODY:
- Christianity,
Judaism and Islam are the world’s three great “monotheistic” religions,
meaning that all three acknowledge the existence of only one God, though
that is where the similarity ends. All three stand apart, for example,
from polytheistic Hinduism that believes in thousands, maybe millions of
gods.
- Moreover,
as Bible-believing Christians we believe that this One God is the Creator
of everything that exists. He is the First Cause, the Source of all that
is. The Bible does not try to prove this. It states it as a fact.
- A
common question is: “Where did God come from?” The Bible tells us that He
has always existed. He was not made and He did not evolve. It is
interesting to me that the Bible does not argue the existence of God; it only
declares His Being and lays out His will and purpose. Moreover, the Bible
says in Ps. 53:1 that only a fool claims that there is no God.
- Genesis
1:1 begins with these words: “In the beginning God…” That fourth
word is where the atheist gets hung up. He cannot get past the fourth word
in the Bible.
- In
the OT God is pictured in many ways:
- As a Rock (Ps. 18:31, 46
- As a Fortress (2 Sam. 22:2)
- As a Shield (Gen. 15:1)
- As our Strength (1 Sam.
15:29)
- As the Mighty One (Gen.
49:24; Ps. 132:2, 5; Isa. 49:26)
- As a Husband (Jer. 31:32; cf.
Hosea)
- As a Father and Redeemer
(Isa. 63:16
- As the Most High (Num. 24:16;
Ps. 7:17)
- As the Holy One (Job 6:16;
Isa. 29:23)
- Moreover,
the Bible uses many names to refer to Him:
- Elohim (Gen. 1:1) –
a plural Hebrew word meaning God; it is a “plural of majesty” whose root
idea is energy or power. This is the word most often used to refer to God
as the Creator. It is used 2,550 times in the OT. Theos is the NT Greek
word corresponding to Elohim. The short form of Elohim is El, which is often used with
other Hebrew words to form compounds to signify certain aspects of God.
For example,
- El Shaddai, God Almighty
(Gen. 17:1)
- El Elyon, God Most High
(Gen. 14:19)
- El Olam, the Everlasting God
(Gen. 21:33)
- El Roi, the God that sees
(Gen. 16:13)
- Adonai (Gen. 15:2,
8; 19; Josh. 7:10; Judges 6:13, 15) – another plural word meaning Lord or
Master. It is used of God 340 times in the OT. Adonai is the Hebrew
equivalent of the NT Greek word Kurios, translated “Lord” with
reference to Jesus.
- Yahweh (Jehovah) is the
personal name for God in the OT and the name that identifies the God of
the Hebrews as distinct from false gods. In several English versions of
the OT it is translated by the word “LORD” with all caps to distinguish
it from Adonai, which is usually translated as “Lord.” Appearing 6,823
times in the OT it is the most used name for God. It is the name by which
God introduced Himself to Moses from the Burning Bush in Exodus 3:14-15.
And in Isaiah 42:8 the Lord said, “I am Yahweh, that is My name.”
- Just as with Elohim, the name
Yahweh is also used in combination with other words to form compound
names that express various aspects of His person and work:
- Yahweh-Sabaoth, Jehovah of
Hosts or armies (1 Sam. 1:3)
- Yahweh-Jireh, Jehovah will
provide (Gen. 22:14)
- Yahweh-Rapha, Jehovah that
heals (Exod. 15:26)
- Yahweh-Nissi, Jehovah my
banner (Exod. 17:15)
- Yahweh-Shalom, Jehovah send
peace (Judges 6:24)
- Yahweh-Rohi, Jehovah is my
Shepherd (Ps. 23:1)
- Yahweh-Tsidkenu, Jehovah our
righteousness (Jer. 23:6)
- Yahweh-Shammah, Jehovah is
there (Ezek. 48:35)
- We
believe that God is active in this world that He created. He did not
merely create the world and then hurl it off into space as the Deists
claim. The Bible tells us that God knows what is happening in the world
and that He cares about it. He is not “a-pathetic”, which means “without
feelings.”
- The
Bible tells us that God not only created everything but that He also
sustains everything and keeps it all running. Colossians 1:16-17 tell us
that it was the 2nd Person of the Godhead, the One we call
Jesus, that created the world and everything in it and that He, moreover,
is the Sustainer of all of it, meaning that He keeps it running smoothly
and holding together.
“We believe that there is only one true God
who is at work in the world…to accomplish His desired end.”
·
From
before the time when He formed the world God had a plan and a purpose. The
Bible makes this clear. It does not, however, tell us why God decided to
create the world then interact with it. He was not lonely. He was not in need
of anything with which humans could supply Him. The “why” is one of the great
mysteries, the answer known only to God.
·
The
Bible declares that God loves this world and the people and creatures in it.
Why? We do not know. We just accept this by faith as a fact because the Bible declares
it to be true. The Scriptures declare that God so loved the world that He came
up with a plan to redeem sinners. He knew from before the creation of the world
that mankind would fall into sin and that they would need a Saviour if they
were to have any chance of being saved from certain eternal damnation.
“He eternally exists as three
co-eternal and co-equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
·
He
eternally exists. As I said before, our God was not created by a bigger, more
powerful God. Neither was He begotten. Nor did He evolve out of a mass of matter
floating through the universe. He has always existed. He had no beginning and
He will have no end. He exists independent of time and space, though He can
inhabit both.
·
Moreover,
He has always existed as a triune Being. We use the word “Trinity” to express
this truth. The word Trinity does not appear in the Bible but the concept
appears in many places. The God of the Bible is Three-in-One, a tripartite
Being made up of three Persons, whom we know as the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit.
·
I
will just tell you straight up that you are not going to be able to understand
this, because none of us does. It is a mystery and is beyond our
experience and comprehension. We accept it and believe it but we cannot really
wrap our minds around it.
·
Many
have tried, however, to explain the “three-in-oneness” of God but no analogy
can do the job. The result is always either to make God into a psychotic with a
split personality, or to fall into another error termed “modalism.” Modalism,
also called Sabellianism, is the heretical belief that God is one person who
has revealed Himself in three forms or modes in contrast to the Trinitarian
doctrine where God is one being eternally existing in three persons. According
to Modalism, during the incarnation, for example, Jesus was simply God acting
in one mode or role, and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was God acting in a
different mode. Thus, God does not exist as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at
the same time. Rather, He is one person and has merely manifested Himself in
these three modes at various times. Modalism thus denies the basic
distinctiveness and coexistence of the three persons of the Trinity, and that
is a heresy.
·
People
have also often resorted to physical examples to try and explain God. Some say
that the three persons of the Godhead are like the three hats that any man
might wear. The same man might at once be a husband, a father, and a brother
and he will act differently in each role.
Others say that God is like an egg, made up of shell, yolk, and white.
They are three, yet one. But the problem is that those three parts are distinct
and different from one another. The three Persons of the Godhead are not. Other
people have likened God to the three states of water: it can exist as ice (a
solid), as water (a liquid), and as steam (a gas). This analogy comes a little
closer to the truth but is still defective in explaining the God of the Bible. All
three of the illustrations I have just given are forms of Modalism, trying to
say that sometimes God reveals Himself one way and sometimes another way. Be
careful not to fall into this trap.
·
The
three Persons of the Godhead all have tasks to accomplish. While they are
One-in-Essence they are Three in terms of job descriptions. Yet it seems that
the Father is the one who calls the shots. The Spirit and the Son do the
Father’s will.
- In
terms of allegiance, the Father glorifies His only begotten Son, Jesus,
and commends Him to us. Jesus said that He exists to glorify the Father
and that He came to earth to reveal the Father and to do the will of the
Father. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, seeks to reveal and glorify
the Son. He does everything in His power to make the Son visible and
known. And in return, the Father and the Son together both glorify the
Holy Spirit.
“While these are distinct persons performing distinct
functions under the headship of the Father…they are of the same essence, one
God.”
- Jesus,
in John 14:9, made the statement: “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father,”
and in John 10:30 He said, “I and the Father are one,” meaning
one nature, one essence. He was saying that what One was made of the other
was too, and whatever One thought the other agreed.
- One
God in three persons; one essence yet with three personalities. All three
equally God, yet submitted to one another. They all three have the same
attributes, powers, and qualities; none is inferior to the other two.
“Because they are one God, having precisely the
same nature, attributes, and perfections…”
- Again,
this is impossible for us to fully comprehend, because there is nothing
like it in our experience database. The attributes of God are often broken
down into two categories: 7 natural attributes; and 4 moral attributes.
Let’s list those briefly:
- The
7 Natural Attributes of God:
- God is self-existent – He does not derive His being from any
source outside Himself. He did not think or will Himself into being, but
exists because of what He is within Himself (Gen. 1:1).
- God is immutable – He does not change His character, His
nature, or His purpose, ever (Heb. 13:8; Mal. 3:6).
- God is omnipresent – He is not confined to any part of His
universe but is present in all His power at every point of space and in
every moment of time (Ps. 139:7-12).
- God is immense – He is superior to space so He cannot be
confined to, or limited by space (Isa.57:15). He is also not subject to
the laws of space.
5.
God
is eternal – Past, present,
and future are equally known to Him (2 Peter 3:8; Rev. 1:8). He inhabits
eternity (Isa. 57:15).
- God is omniscient – He knows everything. He possesses all
knowledge (Job 38-39; Rom. 11:33-36). And because He is everywhere at the
same time, both in terms of time and space, He knows everything
simultaneously.
- God is omnipotent – He has unlimited power to do anything
that is consistent with His nature, character, and purpose (Gen. 17:1; 18:14).
The only limitations on God’s power are self-imposed (Gen. 18:25;
Rom.3:26).
- The
4 Moral Attributes of God:
- God is holy – Holiness is the source and ground of all God’s
other moral qualities. Applied to Yahweh it takes in all his moral excellence
and is involved in all His other moral attributes (Exod. 15:11, 13, 17;
Ps. 89:18; Lev. 11:44; 20:26; Deut. 28:9-10).
- God is righteous – His righteousness is threefold:
- Mandatory – With reference
to the moral laws laid down to guide the conduct of men (e.g. the Ten
Commandments).
- Punitive – As seen in His
administering of justice (Gen. 18:25; Deut. 32:4; Rom. 2:6-16).
- Redemptive – As revealed in
His redemptive activity on behalf of man (Isa. 41:2; 43:1-6; 51:5). In
the NT this attribute is identified with the saving ministry of Christ
through whom God picks a man up out of unrighteousness and places him in
a state of righteousness as though he had never been unrighteous (Rom.
1:16-17; 3:24-26; 6:23; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 1:9; 2:1-2).
- God is love – This is the self-imparting quality in God that
leads Him to seek the highest good and the most complete possession of
His creatures (1 John 4:7-10; Exod. 20:5; Hosea 2:19).
- God is truth – He is the source and ground of all forms of
knowing, and all objects of knowledge. He is the basis for all human
knowledge (Rom. 11:33-36). All spheres of truth—natural, physical, and
religious—are grounded in God. For this reason, there can be no conflict
between true science and true religion, for both flow from the same
source of truth—God (John 17:17; John 1:14, 17; 14:6; Col. 2:3).
“Because they are one God, having precisely the same
nature, attributes, and perfections…they are also worthy of precisely the
same homage, confidence, and obedience.”
- There
are self-professed “Christians” who are part of “Oneness Pentecostalism” also
known as the “Jesus Only” movement. Those who ascribe to this doctrine
reject the mainstream Trinitarian belief of Three Persons in One God, and
hold that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are just three modes or
manifestations of a singular God. Those in Oneness churches believe
that "Jesus" is the correct and entire name of God. Their
doctrine states that there is one God, a singular divine Spirit, who
manifests Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This view stands in
sharp contrast to the doctrine of three distinct and eternal persons
posited by Trinitarian theology. Oneness believers baptize strictly in the
name of Jesus, rather than using the Trinitarian formula of Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.
- Because
of their defective view of the Godhead, they basically ignore the Father
and the Spirit, giving their entire attention only to Jesus.
CONCLUSION:
To come to an accurate understanding of
the Godhead is a noble life-goal. In fact, this was the deepest desire of both
Moses and the apostle Paul. In Exodus 33:13 Moses asked of the Lord, “If I have found
favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You.” A
few verses later, in verse 18, Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And in the
NT, in Philippians 3 Paul testifies in verses 8-10, “I count all things to be loss in view of
the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…that I may know Him and
the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death.”
Truly, you may accomplish many things
during your lifetime, but if you go out into eternity still not knowing God in
a personal, life-giving way, your life will have been for naught and you will
have lost everything. Nothing is as important as knowing the One who designed
you, formed you in your mother’s womb, gave His very life to save you, and
loves you with an eternal love.
FEEDBACK:
Any comments, questions, or
observations about what I’ve presented?
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