Chapter 1. 6
Who is God?
The
fear of the Lord
is
the beginning
of
wisdom.
Psalms 111:10 NIV
First
Word
Question: By the scriptures we know what God has
done and can do; but WHO IS God?
Statement: Christianity has the Holy Bible the
only book that is directly from God’s mouth to the pen of man that tells us
about who God is. Although this
information is available, we have to spend time in the word for it to be
revealed to us. To really get to know
someone intimately, you have to stay in constant contact and continuous
conversations with them.
In Genesis 1:1 we are told in the
beginning God created everything; and goes on to tell us He can speak things
into existence with full detail. But
this is what He does and not who He is. Let’s
check out what was going on in eternity past, BEFORE creation began. Before creation there was God the father and
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. In
the beginning God
was God and the Word was God; they are the Kingdom of God. With this thought, the stage is set to
read what the scriptures say concerning who God is.
The Book tells us that apart from God there is
no other God; none were before Him and none will be formed after Him. It says in the very beginning was God and Jesus
His son “The
Word” was with Him and Jesus was God; God and Jesus are one; all the
fullness of the Deity of God lives in Jesus.
Jesus looks like God, so if you have seen Jesus, you have seen God. We are created in God’s Image, so we also look
like God.[1]
The Book states that all things were created by Him and
for His pleasure, both visible and invisible.[2]
He is invisible; all knowing and is present
everywhere and is all powerful. God is a
spirit and must be worshipped in spirit.[3]
The Golden Calf
Did you ever wonder
why the Israelites made a calf to worship while Moses was on Mount Sinai
talking with God? While they were in
captivity they had lost their identity with God, but still had a desire to
worship. They
wanted to worship God! Nobody knew what God looked like and somebody
thought, well in Egypt, God was like a bull, the symbol of strength and
fertility, let’s build a PEDESTAL like that for our God to stand on.[4] It was a common practice to build PEDESTALS
for their God to stand on to indicate He was superior and a higher God. At
the entrance of Solomon’s temple are 12 bronze bulls PEDESTALS supporting the “Molten Sea”.
Somehow, I want to believe their hearts were right, just misguided, just
saying.
They did not yet have the Bible, Jesus or even the 10
commandment to guide them, but even without the Bible to give spiritual wisdom; we all are still able to see the
invisible qualities, power and nature of a Divine God just by observing our
created world; so we are without excuse.
With all the great wisdom and information that is available today, men
still do not honor God and therefore their minds
are darkened and they have become fools concerning spiritual things’; they have
willingly just exchanged the Truth of God for a lie.[5]
Passive Hostile
– Willingly Ignorant
It’s odd to me that
the Israelites had a desire to worship, even if it was the sun, stars or a
piece of wood. Today it does not cross
the mind of man to worship; we are self-sufficient. Man is passive hostile to God, not caring one
way or the other about spiritual things, this is because of the sinful nature
of man. Without realizing it, man is WILLINGLY IGNORANT of God.
The
Book says that those who live
according to their sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature
desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set
on what the Spirit desires. The mind of
sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not
submit to God's law, NOR CAN IT DO
SO.
Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God[6].
It seems that in the United States, most
have it so good that we look to ourselves for everything that we need, and we
have a lot. There’s just not much need
for God. It’s the valleys and low points
of our life that lets us see our need for God in our lives. Blessed are those with a broken spirit who
know they need a Savior, for theirs is the kingdom of God.[7] It’ in the Book
Mystery Sign
The
real mystery is why God even gives a rip about man at all.[8] We are here today and gone tomorrow and most
reject the creator and embrace the creation of stuff, things, and toys. That brings us up to God making a way for man
to enter into His Holy presence.
God is
invisible, has spiritual and divine
qualities and man has no way to relate to Him. So God divested all the divine and spiritual
qualities and glory from “God the Word” and sent Him as flesh and blood
to live among us.[9] (Man has the image of God as He is in the physical
realm.)
Through the Virgin Mary God gave man a SIGN. A man who
would dwell among them. A man who would save God’s people from their
sins and bring them back into fellowship with Him.
God the Word;
Jesus, became the only begotten Son of God.[10]
[1] Colossians 2:9 – All the fullness of the Deity lives in
Jesus -- John 8:58 - God and Jesus are one -- John 10:30 – Jesus and God are
one -- Hebrews 1:3 – Jesus looks like God -- John 14:9 – When you see Jesus you
see the Father -- Genesis 1:26 – God looks like us
[2] Isaiah 44:6 – There is no
other God -- John 1:1-3 - In the beginning the Word (Jesus)
already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with
God. -- Genesis 1:1-2 - God was at the creation. God existed before the creation -- Isaiah 43:10 – God is the only god; He has
always existed -- Colossians 1:16-17– He creates for his own pleasure
[3] John 4:24 - God is a spirit
-- Colossians 1:15 – God is invisible -- Isaiah 46:10 – God is all knowing – OMNISICENCE – Jeremiah 23:24 – God is ever present – OMNIPRESENT -- Revelation 19:6 – He
is all powerful – OMNIPOTENT
–
[4] Exodus 32:4 – Image of
God – The Golden Calf
[5] Romans 1:19-20 – Men are
without excuse
[6] Romans 8:5-8 – A sinful
mind cannot submit to God
[7] Proverbs 30:8-9 – The
Rich and Independent do not need God -- Matthew 5:3 – Blessed
are those with a broken spirit, who know they need God.
[8] Psalms 144:3-4 – Why does
God even bother with man? -- 1 John 4:8 – God is love
[9] John 1:14 – The Word gave
up his spiritual attributes
[10] Isaiah 7:14 – God gave man a sign and it was JESUS
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