Fundamentals: Part 1 - God

Introduction:

Pilot analogy:

One of the first things pilots are taught to do when flying a plane is to keep their eyes on the horizon. They are trained to set their eyes on the horizon because this will keep the plane from plummeting dangerously close to the ground, from ascending too quickly into the sky, or from tilting to the right or the left. Keeping your eyes on the horizon is the basic instinct of any pilot flying a plane.

But what happens when a pilot is unable to keep his eyes on the horizon? What happens when clouds, rain, snow, and darkness limit a pilot’s ability to see? The instinct of most pilots is to trust their intuition and spatial orientation. In other words, they want to feel their way through their inability to see. Yet, all pilots are taught not to trust their intuition in moments like this because of spatial disorientation.

Spatial disorientation is the phenomenon of not being able to tell where your body—or plane, in this instance—is in space. In a sense, your instincts and feelings lie to you. In spatial disorientation you cannot tell where your body is in space, even though you think you can. You may feel right side up, but in reality you are upside down. Pilots are trained, if they can’t see the horizon, to keep their eyes on the gauges—even and especially when it may feel like the plane is plummeting or ascending. By trusting their gauges, they are able to keep the plane on course and away from anything that could harm the plane and the passengers.

Think about how counterintuitive that is. Trusting the gauges requires an incredible amount of faith because at times it doesn’t feel right. It feels disorienting, and it feels dangerous. But when they trust the gauges and visibility is restored, they are flying right side up and in the right direction.

Doctrine is the gauges of the Christian life. It is what orients disciples in a disorienting world. When the church fails to give disciples theology, we are abandoning them to trust their intuition in the darkness of the world. We are telling them that they do not need to receive direction from anything else other than what they feel is right—and many of them are crashing. Misguided beliefs lead to a misguided life.

Why this series?

Study after study shows that Christians do not know their Bible, the basics of the faith, or how to practice spiritual disciplines. We are basically illiterate when it comes to the Christian faith, yet we are adopting philosophies and beliefs that de-emphasize the importance of learning for the Christian life. For some reason, we have grown skeptical of learning and education in the church. This is unfortunate, given the overwhelming evidence that what is lacking in our discipleship is basic biblical and theological literacy.

Sermon: God:

Psalm 89:8-13

O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you? You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded (Hebrew: Yaw-sad - establish, lay as in foundation) them. The north and the south, you have created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name. You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand.

Revelation 4:8-11

A. W. Tozer (1897–1963) said, “What you think of God is the most important thing about you”. In our spiritual lives, we cannot transcend the God we worship; we can rise no higher than what we believe to be the highest. Our concept of God will have a marked effect on our practical lives.

Our concept of God informs our worship: How we live for God.

– What we say to grieving parents

– How we pray

– How we view our role in the church

- How we live

-How we treat others.

-How we live out our faith

Who is God? - The Definition

Thinking correctly about God is of utmost importance because a false idea about God is idolatry. A good summary definition of God is “He is the Supreme Being; the Creator and Ruler of all that is; the Self-existent One who is perfect.”

Exodus 3:14

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

God is not just someone who exists—

God is existence itself.

Everything else in creation receives life and existence from somewhere else.

We are alive because God gives us life. We exist because God sustains us.

But God is different.

God doesn’t receive existence—He is existence.

His being and His essence are the same thing.

That means:

God doesn’t depend on anything

God doesn’t come from anywhere

God simply is—fully, perfectly, eternally

Everything else is like a lamp that needs electricity.

God is not the lamp—He is the power itself.

So when we say “God is,” we’re saying something deeper than just “He exists.”

We’re saying:

He is the source of all existence.

Everything that exists only exists because of Him.

God doesn’t just have life—He is Life itself, and everything else lives because of Him.

Acts 17:28

…in the most literal terms, we can’t have the concept of what God is in our minds because He is so big and transcendent that our minds cannot comprehend. But we can know Him truly… through a relationship with Him.

Who is God? - His Nature

We know certain things to be true of God for one reason: He has revealed Himself to us through Scripture and through nature. God is spirit, intangible. God is One, but He exists as three Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is infinite, incomparable, and unchanging.

Who is God? - His Character

Here are some of God’s characteristics as revealed in the Bible:

God is:

Unchanging

Eternal

Infinate

All powerful

Everywhere present

All knowing

Wisdom

Light

Majesty, beauty, transcendent

Life

Imortal

Holy, Righteous, Jealous, Perfect

Truth

Love

Mecy, and Wrath

HE judges sin (Psalm 5:5) but also offers forgiveness.

Who is God? - His involvement in life

What God does flows from who He is. He actively sustains the world. He is executing His eternal plan, which involves the redemption of man from the curse of sin and death; He draws people to Christ; He disciplines His children; and He will judge the world at the end of the age.

Who is God? - A Relationship with Him

In the Person of the Son, God became incarnate. The Son of God became the Son of Man and is therefore the “bridge” between God and man. It is only through the Son that we can have forgiveness of sins, be reconciled back to God, and have eternal salvation. In Jesus Christ, “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”.

So, to really know who God is, all we have to do is look at Jesus.

Conclusion

God did not intend for us to study Him and His attributes without a response to follow Him. The more you get to know God, and the more you learn about Him, the more your life should change. Meditating on the Master should make a difference in the life of the Servant.

Calls us to a response

God is an awesome God, and He should be responded to in awe.

He is the King of the universe, and He should be approached with Deep respect and reverence shown through actions to His royalty.

He is the Sovereign before whom “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth”.

He is the great Creator around whose throne all angels and redeemed people gather and sing:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Rev. 4:11).

And He is the loving Redeemer before whom John heard “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’ ” (Rev. 5:13).