God

 

We know that God was in the beginning, even before the universe (Gen. 1:1)  Though God has shown Himself physically to a few men, we also know that no man who has walked this earth, other than Jesus, has ever seen God in all of his glory (Gen. 32:24-32; Ex. 19:11-24; Ex. 24:12-18; Ex. 33:12-23).  However, God does reveal His character and personality to man through His Word.

  I.              The Word teaches us that God is

B.     Omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-12)

C.     Omniscient (Ps. 147:5, I John 3:20)

D.     Omnipotent (Jer. 32:17, 27; Rev.19:6)

E.      Love (I John 4:8)

F.      Light (I John 1:5)

G.     Holy (I Pet. 1:16)

H.     Impartial (I Pet. 1:17)

I.        A consuming fire (Heb. 12:29)

J.       A Spirit (John 4:24)

K.    Perfect (Matt. 5:48)

  II.              We also learn about God through the names used to describe God in the Bible.

B.     Jehovah-Elohim (Gen. 2:4-25) – self-existent one, eternal creator

C.     Jehovah-Adonai (Gen. 15:2, 8) – the Lord our sovereign master

D.     Jehovah-Jireh (Gen. 22:8-14) – the Lord will see or provide

E.      Jehovah-Nissi (Ex. 17:15) – the Lord our banner

F.      Jehovah-Ropheka (Ex. 15:26) – the Lord our healer

G.     Jehovah-Shalom (Judges 6:24) – the Lord our peace

H.     Jehovah-Tsidkeenu (Jer. 23:6; Jer. 33:16) the Lord our righteousness

  III.               Through the Word we can also discover what God’s attitude towards the believer is

B.     God loves man (John 3:16)

C.     God is merciful (Titus 3:5)

D.     God cares for us (I Peter 5:7)

E.      He call us His sons and daughters (I John 3:1-2)

F.      He is faithful and just (I John 1:9)

G.     He requires our obedience (Deut. 10:12; Micah 6:8)

H.     He works in the believer (Phil. 2:13)

  IV.              Believers attitude towards God

B.     Believers must realize that God’s ways are

2.      righteous (Ps. 145:17)

3.      just and true (Rev. 15:3)

C.     Believers must trust God to keep us (I Peter 1:5; Phil. 1:6)

D.     Believers must know that God is able to do what He promises (Rom. 4:21)

E.      Believers must look to God as our source (Phil. 4:13, 19; James 1:17)

 Remember that you are now a member of God’s family.  He has adopted you as His child, and given to you all the rights and privileges of being His child.  You are now joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:16-17).  Just as we are to give our earthly fathers respect, love and obedience, we are also to love, respect and obey God.  Even as we often copy attitudes and attributes from our earthly parents, let us begin now to develop the image of God as portrayed by His word.