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Understanding who God is
Introduction
Who is God?
●He is the creator and sustainer of all life and will reward those who
commit their lives to him
●He is called the all knowing God
●He is a God of order
God is
●Spirit
●A person
●Life
●A self-existent being
●Unity (One God)
●Unchangeable
●Eternal and limitless
The necessity of knowing God
●Seeking knowledge of God is a clear command in the Bible (Ps 46:10)
●Knowing God is a prerequisite to knowing ourselves (GEN 1:27)
●Knowing God is foundational for knowledge (John 14:6)
●Knowing God is one of the benefits of eternal life (John 17:3)
●Knowing God promotes spiritual growth (Phil 3:10; 2 Peter 3:18)
●Knowing God precedes loving God (jer 9:23,24)
How to know God
●By faith
●By the word of god
●By desire
●By involvement
The Attributes of God
●Absolute
○Holiness love
○Goodness
●Comparative
○Omniscience
○Omnipresence
○Omnipotence
Introduction
●PROV 9:10
●A culture usually does not advance beyond its view of God
●While God does judge us according to the light each of us has
received. Those of us with access to the Bible will be held
accountable for reading it and learning about God
The Law of God
●(The definition of the law of God): The law of God is more than the
idea of right and wrong that exists as an attitude or idea in the mind
of God
●The law of God is an expression of the will and nature of God
●The law of God is a revelation of God Himself
●God controls his creation through His laws
●The law carries out his desire in heaven and earth
●The law is absolutely necessary for human existence
●The nature of law implies a penalty for its violation
○Judgement cannot be fully carried out during a person’s lifetime
on earth
■We will be continuously sinning up until we die
○Since God is impartial, He must judge every violation of His law
○Because of His nature, God cannot overlook the violation of His
law
Christ lived under the law
●He perfectly kept the law (Matthew 5:17)
●He never sinned (1 peter 2:22)
●He became a substitute for those who violated the law ()
●He paid the price demanded by God's justice for those who broke His
law
●Faith in christ is the sole condition for the sinner to be forgiven of his
violation of the law
Four laws of God
●The natural law of God (col 1:17)
●The moral law of God (James 1:25)
●The social law of God (James 2:8)
●The spiritual law of God (matthew 22:37; 38)
The nature of the law of God (IN THE TEXTBOOK)
The purpose of the law of God
●To reveal the nature of god
●To provide a standard of life
●To instruct israel concerning their messiah
●To reveal sin in our life
●To lead us to Christ
The Christian and the Law of God
●The christian is not expected to keep the entire mosaic law as the
jews in the old testament
●Jesus came to fulfill the law and to be the sacrifice that fulfilled
completely the
sacrificial law
●All of the law’s requirements were satisfied in him
●The great commandment
●The royal law
●The law of Christ
●The law of liberty
The content of the work of God
●The physical work of God
●The work of God in society
●God’s eternal work > salvation
How to know the will of God
●Go to the word of God
●Pray
●Trust the Holy Spirit
●Get counseling
●Circumstances
●Trust your feelings
●Do something
Intriduction
One of the most difficult and yet most important things to understand
about god is that he is triune
The doctrine of the trinity states that god exists in unity and yet exists in
three eternal persons
The members of the trinity are equal in nature and distinct
in person The father eternally begot the son (psalm
2:7)
The son is submissive to do the work of the father yet equal in nature
of the father The father and son sent
The father is the head of
deity The son is revealer of
the deity
The holy spirit is the agent that usually carries out the work of the deity
In some scriptures references one person of the trinity seems to
perform the entire process
The oldest existing identification of the trinity is the athanasian creed
written.
THOSE WHO DENY THE TRINITY
●The word trinity is not found in scripture but the idea and doctrine
of the trinity are derived from scriptural foundation
○The trinity is not equivalent to three gods
○The trinity if not three manifestations of God
○The doctrine of the trinity does not teach that the father
created the son or holy spirit
○The doctrine of the trinity does not teach that christ or the holy
spirit was a
power or attribute of God
THE OLD TESTAMENT POINTS TO THE TRINITY
●The names of God imply the trinity
●The worship of god by use of a trinitarian formula
●All three persons are distinguished as God
●A clear statement points to the Trinity
The father
●Matt 6:32
●For after all these things the gentiles seek for your heavenly father
knows that you need all these things
●The concept of the fatherhood of god comes from the person of the
trinity, who is
addressed as our father which art in heaven
●God established three institutions: family, government, and church
Although god is father of all created some teach that the fatherhood
of god means everyone is a spiritual child of god
THE CHRISTIAN AND HER HEAVENLY FATHER
The heavenly father provides many benefits for the christian
●Fellowship with the father
●Access to the father
●Guidance by the father
●Security from the father
●Inheritance of the father
THE NAMES OF GOD
●Ps 72:17
○He name shall endure forever
○He name shall continue as long as the sun
○And men shall be blessed by him
●ELOHIM = God
●JEHOVAH = LORD
●ADONAI = Lord
El-shaddai: the almighty
God El-elyon: the most
high God El-olam: the
everlasting God
Jehovah-sabaoth: the lord of
hosts Johvah-jireh: the lord
shall provide Rapha: the lord
that healeth
Nissi:
Shalom
Tsidken
u
Shamma
h
The use of the names of god
●Taking gods name in vain
●Cursing is not becoming priests
●Curing may produce detrimental associations
●Cursing is also a characteristic of desperate men
●Cursing is incompatible with personal holiness
