Knowing the God Who Speaks

Introduction

What does a Dinosaur look like?

We looks for these pieces and slowly build what we think that looked liked

There is a big argument now about dinosaurs had feathers instead of scales

But what is the problem when it comes to knowing the skin of dinosaurs?

all we have is the fossils

And this is built on the assumption that they believe that the dinosaurs didn’t become extinct, but that a branch of them evolved into birds.

Dinosaurs have be discovered and placed together

So when we discuss dinosaurs, which we cannot see them in flesh, we have to describe what we mean and put the pieces together

So, in the same way, God is spirit and does not have a body like man… we cannot see Him

But we have His words throughout the Bible describing who He is

Who Do we worship? God…. but who is God?

We need to know God, and the right God

TUrn to Exodus 32:1-5

Exodus 32:1–5 NASB95

1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”

Who do they say that this golden calf is?

The golden Calf, this is Yahweh, the god who brought you out of Egypt

How can they say that this is the God who did the Exdous?

Psalm 50:21 NASB95

21 “These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

A small God is controllable, a small God is something we choose to worship

Moses took to God… Yahweh took to long… so they wanted to bring Yahweh to them

People often get upset when you start talking about a sovereign holy God who judges the wicked

It is said that if you preach the true God in most American churches, people would stand up and say, that is not my God

While dinosaurs have to be discovered,

what is the difference we have from God?

Hebrews 1:1–2 NASB95

1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

Why do we have no right to decide who God is?

Everyone is a theologian,

Book quotes Gospel-Centered Kids Ministry (Brian Dembowczyk)

But theology is simply a person's understanding of God. Under this definition, everyone's a theologian because everyone has some understanding of God. Again, the question is whether or not we have a proper understanding of God.

What images/words come to you mind when you think of God?

What are some ways a non-christian God is different from the true God of the bible?

* Matt 22:37- "And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

-If we truly love someone, we will want to know about them

What is an attribute?

-physically? brown hair, brown eyes

-personality? Talkative, etc

Character? Trustworthy, patient, good?

John Miley’s Systematic Theology, Volume 1 1. Definitive Sense of Attribute

Definitive Sense of Attribute.—In a general sense an attribute is any thing which may be affirmed of its subject. This wider sense may include what is accidental as well as what is essential. In the more definite sense an attribute is any quality or property which is intrinsic to the subject, which characterizes and differentiates it, and by virtue of which the subject is what it is.

But God is not just like a person, with various aspects of his personality

For God, An attribute is: His perfections

A Systematic Theology of Biblical Christianity, Volume 1: Prolegomena and the Doctrines of Scripture, God, and Angels The Definition of the Attributes of God

They are sometimes called the “perfections” or the “excellencies” of God, without which He would cease to be God. In this sense, they are essential qualities of God and cannot be separated from His essence.

But they are not simply humanity’s way of conceiving of God or the way humanity structures its idea of God. Rather, the essence of God, His deity, is revealed in the attributes11 

& God is not sometimes holy, sometimes loving, or a mix of righteous and jealous

As Herman Hoeksema says, God’s simplicity means that God is One and cannot be divided (Gal 2:20); He is not “composed.”11 

We categorize them into 2 types:

The incommunicable attributes emphasize the absolute distinctness of God, his transcendent greatness and exalted nature[1]

The Blue in this shows only God is eternal and immutable or unchanging

What are some ways God is unlike anything else?

The communicable attributes find some reflection or analogy in human beings created in God’s image.[2]

Those we can share in/ also have

The red shows what we should be like- God is good, righteous, wise

Isaiah 6:3 “3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.””

Holy= sum of all moral Excellency is found in him. He is absolute purity, unsullied even by shadow of sin. Completely set apart and different.

1 Peter 1:16 NASB95

16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

So, even though God is uniquely holy, set apart he calls us to

What is your favorite attribute of God to see in others?

*in fact, we are supposed to look for the image of God in others and praise that

Here are some examples:

Why do we need the attributes? God reveals himself

iii. AW Pink writes, “An unknown god can neither be trusted, served, nor worshiped.”

For anyone to trust God they have to know something about His character and His power, to worship Him we have to know what He desires in worship and love.

A husband who loves His wife will study her to determine how to love her best, so we too must know God better to show Him our love.

God gives himself attributes

Jeremiah 9:23–24 (NASB95)

23 Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

What does God want us to boast about?

Things we know about Him!

33:5 Loving righteousness and justice means doing acts of righteousness and justice (99:4; Jr 9:24).

They are not just abstract attributes but they involve actions, whether directed toward God or his people.1.

God acts in a righteous manner on behalf of his people, showing that he is present and actively invested in their lives (Jer 9:24). T

Athletes are no longer content to score touchdowns, tackle quarterbacks, or make three-pointers. They want to strut, dance, taunt, jump into the crowd, and humiliate their opponents. Boxers and wrestlers seem to spend as much time jawing as they spend working out. Back in the early seventies, when Muhammad Ali told everyone he was “the greatest,” it was a novelty. Now everyone is doing it.11 

If you must boast—as all human beings must, because we were made to boast—then boast about the understanding and knowledge of God. Your boast is not that you understand and know God. The only reason you know God is because he has revealed himself through his Word and his world11 Ryken, Philip Graham. 2001. Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

John 17:3 NASB95

3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

How would you explain to someone why knowing God is worth whatever it takes?

Where do we know god? From the Bible

How do people try to determine their ideas from God?

Can I really trust the bible?

I was asked to teach my sister’s kindergarten Sunday school class. One of the little kids there speaks out… I don’t believe in the bible because it was just written by men.

I later asked her if he came from an unbelieving home, and she said, no… his parents are missionaries and he came up with that all on his own

Ephesians 4:17–19 NASB95

17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

How does this passage describe the unbeliever’s mind?

1. They are not neutral seekers just trying to find the truth of the universe.

2. v17- futility of mind

3. v18- Inability of understanding

4. v19- they are unfeeling, and go after sin

5. V20- We have to learn Christ.

Thus we need a treu bible

The attributes of Scripture

SCAN

These tell us the attributes of God

Sufficiency:

The Scriptures contain everything we need for knowledge of salvation and godly living. We don't need any new revelation from heaven.

The natural world is useful for affirming the truths of Christianity to the church as revealed in special revelation

because God’s spirit is at work in the minds of believers.

Clarity:

Exploring the Attributes of God One

is claimed that the Bible is not the Word of God but that it “becomes the Word of God” when it speaks to us, or that revelation is limited to a nonrational personal encounter with God who is identified as “unknown X.”

The saving message of Jesus Christ is plainly taught in the Scriptures and can be understood by all who have ears to hear it. We don't need an official magisterium to tell us what the Bible means.

Authority:

The last word always goes to the word of God. We must never allow the teachings of science, of human experience, or of church councils to take precedence over Scripture.

Necessity:

General revelation is not enough to save us.

We cannot know God savingly by means of personal experience and human reason. We need God's word to tell us how to live, who Christ is, and how to be saved.

How do we respond to god? With worship

Psalm 33:6–7- By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses.

o We worship a star breathing God!

· This should affect the way we pray!

It humbles us:

1. Study the attributes of God - especially the incommunicable ones.

*let yourself be seen as small.

Job 26:7-14 "He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the water in His thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it. He covers the face of His throne, and spreads His cloud over it. He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters... indeed these are the mere edges of his ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?"1

The grand difference between a human being and a supreme being is precisely this. Apart from God I cannot exist. Apart from me God does exist. God does not need me in order for Him to be. I do need God in order for me to be... we are dependent, we are fragile... no human being has the power of being within himself. Life is lived between two hospitals. We need support system from birth to death in order to sustain life. We are like flowers that bloom and then wither and fade, and this is how we differ from God. God does not wither. God does not fade. God is not fragile." R.C. Sproul

Pride is a telescope turned the wrong way. It magnifies self and makes the heaven small." ~CS. Lewis

Psalm 10:4 “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.”

The more aware we become of the infinite distance between us and God, the more humility we’ll experience and express. -1

He comforts us

When Paul wrote to the Colossians, he indicated that he was praying for them. He did not pray that they would obtain big houses and fancy chariots. He prayed that they would be blessed by God in the spiritual realm with spiritual wealth. Note his words: -James White

That their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3)

He is the answer to Life’s questions

Job had a lot of suffering, right?

Job 1:21–22 NASB95

21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

But how did Job’s friends mess Job up along the way?

Eliphaz ‑ "If you sin, you suffer." Experience teaches that sin leads to suffering.

Bildad ‑ "You must be sinning." Traditions teach that sin leads to suffering.

Zophar ‑ "You are sinning." Religion teaches that sin leads to suffering.

These are wrong views of God

The book of Job ends with Job back on track. What was the secret? He focused on God; Satan and demons are not even mentioned.

Job allowed his thinking to be dominated by frustrated expectations and, later, by the disheartening, untrue accusations of his friends.

very often (as was the case with Job) we are dissatisfied with God’s biblical answers.

We want (and believe we deserve) a specific explanation as to why our catastrophe has happened.

In the middle of calamity, people sometimes oscillate between desperate pleading with and open hostility toward God:

Did Job get an answer?

Job was never told about the heavenly dialogue between God and Satan in chapters 1–2.

God didn’t tell Job that his calamity would be reversed or that he would be in the Bible as an example and have this amazing ministry

James 5:11 “We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”

At the end of the book, Job met a Person so great and so wise

all of Job’s accusations, arguments, and questions melted away like an ice cube in the summer sun.

God questioned Job’s right to ask those questions.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (38:1–2)

although God’s tour of the creation in Job 38–41 might seem strange to us, Job understood perfectly what God was doing:

“Job, let’s have a contest. You believe I have mismanaged your affairs; let’s have a contest to see who has the greater wisdom, you or I. We’ll keep it simple, Job. The physical universe will be our test case. If you can order it better than I can, then we’ll talk about who gets to order your life.”

Putting Job in charge of the universe for a day would be like putting a two-year-old in the cockpit of a Boeing 747 and saying, “Land it.”

Then the Lord said to Job, “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.”

Then Job answered the Lord and said, “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.” (40:1–4)

A missionary in South Africa writes

When Job saw God’s sovereign authority and infinite wisdom as revealed in creation, Job realized that explanations weren’t necessary. If God knew why things had happened, Job didn’t need to. God had a plan, and Job wasn’t going to produce a better one. Instead of trying to find peace in explanations and negotiations, Job lost himself in a Person—One so wise and so great that Job could trust him whether Job understood his painful trials or not. Childlike faith means that children don’t demand that their dad pull over so they can examine the map -Joel James

Let us be thankful we have a God who speaks and worship him as He said.

You can see on the back the schedule we have for the upcoming lessons