"The Doctrine of God"

INTRO: Knowing what we believe is important but knowing WHY we believe what we believe is equally important. The WHY is relevant to the WHAT. Why? Because what we believe shapes how we live. For example. We believe in gravity. Why? Because jumping off a building will kill you.

I know this may sound surprising and, to some, may sound a bit crazy or even heretical but...

The Bible never tries to argue or prove the existence of God.

The Bible announces its awesome theme in four opening words: “In the beginning God.” The Bible assumes that “God is there and he is not silent.” (Francis Schaeffer)

Psalm 14:1 ESV

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.

“The Bible is much more concerned about those who may believe all the right things about God but whose pride & preoccupations crowd out any room for God in their daily lives.”

Psalm 10:4 ESV

In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

God is Triune

Explain - 3 persons 1 God…not 1 person, 3 gods…etc. God exists as Father, Son, and HS.

“I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the three in one, and one in three. Of whom all nature has creation eternal Father, Spirit, Word, Praise to the Lord of my salvation; salvation is of Christ the Lord.”

(St. Patrick)

“The one, eternal, and living God of the Bible, the only real God there is, is the God who has forever known himself, and who in the history of salvation has revealed himself to us, as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

The word “trinity” is not in the Bible but the Bible is clear.

Genesis 1:1–3 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Mark 1:9–11 ESV

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Everything that it means to be God is true of Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

Holiness

Holiness

Isaiah 6:1–3 ESV

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Holiness means to be set apart - to be other.

1 John 1:5 ESV

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Psalm 86:8 ESV

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.

Jeremiah 10:6 ESV

There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might.

Holiness defines all other attributes of who God is…explain.

God’s righteousness.

Psalm 145:17 ESV

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.

Psalm 96:13 ESV

before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Eternality

He has no beginning and no end…as Revelation tells us he is the Alpha & Omega.

John 1:1 ESV

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

Psalm 102:26 ESV

They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

Psalm 90:2 ESV

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Isaiah 57:15 ESV

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Isaiah

John 8:58 ESV

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Omniscience

All-knowing

“God’s omniscience - his comprehensive knowledge of all that was, is, and ever shall be - is a corollary of his eternity. The Bible teaches that God searches all hearts and knows everyone’s ways. His eyes run to and fro throughout the earth missing nothing that goes on, even those things that are done in secret, hidden from the public glare. Everything is open and laid bare to his eyes, even those things which are yet to come into existence through the free actions of his creatures.

Psalm 139:16 ESV

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Matthew

Matthew 10:30 ESV

But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

Isaiah 44:28 ESV

who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ”

1 Peter 1:20 ESV

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

Acts 2:23 ESV

this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Omnipotence

(all-powerful)

J.I. Packer defines omnipotence as God’s “power to do everything in his rational and moral perfection (wisdom and goodness) God will to do.”

Job 42:2 ESV

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

Job 42:2

Isaiah 1:24 ESV

Therefore the Lord declares, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes.

Isaiah 42:2 ESV

He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;

Psalm 106:2 ESV

Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord, or declare all his praise?

Psalm 115:3 ESV

Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Matthew 28:18 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

17th century confession of faith published by General Baptists “The Orthodox Creed”

“The Almighty God that created all things and gave them their being by his infinite power and wisdom, doth sustain and uphold and move, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things from the greatest to the least, according to the counsel of his own goodwill and pleasure, for his own glory and his creature’s good.”

A) Nothing exists except in some relationship to God.

Ex nihilo

Revelation 4:11 ESV

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

B) Nothing Happens Apart from God’s Purposeful Activity

Psalm 103:19 ESV

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

Psalm 135:5–7 ESV

For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

Ephesians 1:11 ESV

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

C) Nothing Can Thwart God’s Design

Hebrews 1:3 ESV

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Omnipresence

Omnipresence

Psalm 139:7–10 ESV

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Jeremiah 23:23–24 ESV

“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.

Creator

Romans 4:17 ESV

as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Colossians 1:15–17 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Worship

If these things are true, then only the One True God is deserving of our worship, obedience and adoration. Theology must give way to doxology. Paul does this over and over in his writings.

2 Corinthians 9:15 ESV

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Accountability

If God is the holy, righteous Judge, then we understand that the Bible makes clear all of humanity will stand before Him one day in judgement.

“The God of the Bible is the God with whom we have to do in life and death, in time and eternity, the God to whom we must all give an account and whom no one can escape.”

Salvation

Only the creator can save and redeem his creation.

Ephesians 1:3–14 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.