Prayer Service 4-12-23 (2)

Adoration

Divine Unity

Lexham Survey of Theology (God’s Unity)

God’s unity is an incommunicable attribute of the divine essence that refers to the absolute oneness and uniqueness of God (unity of singularity) and to the utter simplicity of his essence (unity of simplicity).

Lexham Survey of Theology (God’s Unity)

The former implies that there is only one divine being. God is numerically one, not in the sense that he is one among others, but exclusively and solely the one God. All other beings exist from him, through him, and to him

Lexham Survey of Theology (God’s Unity)

The latter, God’s unity of singularity, is the inner unity of God’s essence by which all composition is denied. It affirms that in God everything is one; his attributes are identical with his being.

Helpful Explanation:

Lexham Survey of Theology (God’s Unity)

God is not made up of an aggregate of attributes; every attribute is equal to his essence. Everything in God, God is. For example, he does not have love; he is love. He does not have power; he is omnipotent. Thus, God is lovingly powerful and powerfully loving.

Lexham Survey of Theology (God’s Unity)

Scripture attests to God’s utter uniqueness and numerical oneness throughout; Scripture is rigorously monotheistic.

Only one God:

Psalm 18:31 (ESV)

31 For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?—

Deuteronomy 6:4 (ESV)

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

No competing deities

Not composed of parts

Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century (II. God and the Holy Trinity)

The Lord our God is one, the only living and true God. He is self-existent and infinite in being and perfection. His essence cannot be understood by anyone but Him. He is a perfectly pure spirit. He is invisible and has no body, parts, or changeable emotions

Exodus 20:3–6 (ESV)

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is...

5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God...

1 Corinthians 8:4–6 (ESV)

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”

5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—

6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

So does the New Testament (Christianity) nullify the Unity of God?

Romans 3:29–30 (ESV)

29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

His purposes aren’t even divided!

1 Timothy 2:3–6 (ESV)

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Here is (perhaps) the best summary of the way Christians...

…harmonize trinity and unity:

Athanasian Creed:

We worship one God in trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being.

For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Spirit is still another.

But the deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory, coeternal in majesty.

What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit.

Uncreated is the Father; uncreated is the Son; uncreated is the Spirit.

The Father is infinite; the Son is infinite; the Holy Spirit is infinite.

Eternal is the Father; eternal is the Son; eternal is the Spirit: And yet there are not three eternal beings, but one who is eternal; as there are not three uncreated and unlimited beings, but one who is uncreated and unlimited.

Almighty is the Father; almighty is the Son; almighty is the Spirit: And yet there are not three almighty beings, but one who is almighty.

Thus the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God: And yet there are not three gods, but one God.

Thus the Father is Lord; the Son is Lord; the Holy Spirit is Lord: And yet there are not three lords, but one Lord.

As Christian truth compels us to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so catholic religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or lords.

The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten; the Son was neither made nor created, but was alone begotten of the Father; the Spirit was neither made nor created, but is proceeding from the Father and the Son.

Thus there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three spirits.

And in this Trinity, no one is before or after, greater or less than the other; but all three persons are in themselves, coeternal and coequal; and so we must worship the Trinity in unity and the one God in three persons.

Whoever wants to be saved should think thus about the Trinity.

The Son:

John 1:1 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Colossians 2:9 ESV

9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

The Spirit:

Acts 5:3–4 (ESV)

3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

4 ...Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

The Unity of the Christian Faith:

Ephesians 4:4–6 (ESV)

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Prayer of Adoration

Supplication

Deuteronomy 32:39 (ESV)

39 “ ‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Martha Orr: Appointment Today

Dan Larsen, Tony Bridges: Recovery from Open Heart Surgery

Hope Sanders: Hopeful Liver Transplant at Duke

Mark Hill: Hopeful Liver Transplant

Lou Jones: Breast Cancer

Makenna Cook, Ty Benton, Allen Garver, Randy Young

Andrew Herrington and Children, wife.

Prayer of Supplication

Confession

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (ESV)

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Prayer of Confession