God: The Person

I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Jesus is God

John 20:28 NLT

“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

John 1:1 NLT

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Holy Spirit is called God.

John 14:16–17 NLT

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

Acts 5:3–4 NLT

Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”

Father, Son and Spirit are Distinct from one another.

Jesus is distinct from the Father.

The Spirit is distinct from the Father.

John 14:26 NLT

But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

The Son is distinct from the Spirit.

John 14:16–17 NLT

The conclusion is: God is one being, but he exists in three persons.

Father, Son and Spirit are all one.

Father, Son and Spirit are distinct persons.

The Trinity… on God… Three persons

Anyone who deny’s the Trinity is denying one of these truths about God.

Glimpses of the Trinity

God speaks of Himself as “US” in four places in the Old Testament. Gen 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa 6:8

Genesis 1:26 NLT

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

Genesis 3:22 NLT

Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!”

Genesis 11:7 NLT

Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

Isaiah 6:8 NLT

Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

All three persons were involved in Creation. The Spirit - Gen 1:2; The Father - Heb 1:2; the Son - Col 1:15-16

The Spirit

Genesis 1:2 NLT

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

The Father

Hebrews 1:2 NLT

And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.

The Son

Colossians 1:15–16 NLT

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.

We are Baptized in the name of the Father, Son and the Spirit.

Matthew 28:19 NLT

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

All three persons were at Jesus Baptism. Mark 1:10-11

Mark 1:10–11 NLT

As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”

All three persons were in Jesus Birth Announcement. LUKE 1:35

Luke 1:35 NLT

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

All Three persons were the power behind the Resurrection.

John 2:19 NLT

“All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Romans 8:11 NLT

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Acts 3:26 NLT

When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.”

Paul’s prayer in 2 CO 13:14

2 Corinthians 13:14 NLT

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Jesus promise to his disciples in John 14:16-17

John 14:16–17 NLT

Theologically, understanding the Trinity keeps us from adopting an inadequate and wring view of God. It prevents us from seeing Jesus and the Holy Spirit as less than God. It prevents us from seeing Jesus and the father as the same person… they are separate, but one. It prevents us from thinking of God as three Gods.

Personally, understanding the Trinity is a reminder of the majesty and mystery of the God who gave himself for us on the cross.

When you ask for Salvation, the Spirit convicts (john 16:8) the Song sacrifices (Heb 10:10) and the Father gives (John 3:16).

Everytime you pray… the Spirit communicates (Rom 8:26), Jesus intercedes (Rom 8:34), and the Father answers (John 16:23-24)

Relationally, understanding the Trinity shows us that God in his very essence is relational.

Before he created us, there was a perfect relationship between the Father, Son and Spirit. He did not need to create us to have someone to relate to, he had a perfect relationship.

We're like the fourth grader who was asked by his parents on the way home from church what he had learned in Sunday school. He said, "We learned that Moses was sent by God to be the general to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. He went down there and organized them into an army and led them out to the edge of the Red Sea. There he ordered his corps of engineers to build a pontoon bridge across the Red Sea. When all the people of Israel had passed over on the pontoon bridge, the Egyptians tried to follow. When they got out into the middle, the Israelites blew up the bridge, the Egyptians were drowned, and the Israelites escaped."

His parents were a little suspicious of this story and said, "Is that what the Sunday school teacher taught you?"

And the boy said. "Well, no, not exactly. But if I gave it the way she told it, you'd never believe it!"

God is an awesome God.

God is absolutely SOVEREIGN.

Sovereign is not a word we use a lot today. The idea that someone is absolutely incharge is different that our minds can comprehend. It’s different than being a president who has the Congress or the Courts to keep you in line… It’s like the King or Queen of England a few hundred years ago.

Sovereignty does not mean we are chess pieces in a chess game. God is sovereign but is also able to give us genuine choice. God’s sovereignty means that His will is going to be done… sometime with us and sometimes in spite of us.

Sovereignty refers not to God's attitude but to the reality of who he is. God is not someone with a dominating personality; he is a person who is absolutely dominant. God is not controlling; he is in ultimate control. God does not need to take charge because he always is in charge.

1. He is greater than and exist above his creation. He is TRANSCENDENT.

1 Kings 8:27 NLT

“But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!

Ephesians 4:6 NLT

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

He is greater than time.

Isaiah 57:15 NLT

The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.

Deuteronomy 33:27 NLT

The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He drives out the enemy before you; he cries out, ‘Destroy them!’

Psalm 90:2 NLT

Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.

He is greater than Place.

Psalm 139:7–10 NLT

I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

Jeremiah 23:23 NLT

Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord. “No, I am far away at the same time.

Acts 17:24–28 NLT

“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

He is greater than Circumstance

James 1:17 NLT

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

1 Samuel 15:29 NLT

And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!”

Malachi 3:6 NLT

“I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.

Put as dot on the paper. Star at it. God looks at human history as you are looking at that dot. He sees it all at one time.

Nothing surprises God. Ps. 139:2-4

Psalm 139:2–4 NCV

You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them. You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do. Lord, even before I say a word, you already know it.

God is not surprised by anything that happens.

2. He never needs permission or help. He is ALL-SUFFICIENT.

Acts 17:25 NLT

and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.

As much as God loves us, we must remember. God does not need us. He is all sufficient.

He did not create us because he was lonely and wanted company. He didn’t create us to do work on the earth. He created us as an act of his love. He does not choose us because he could not get things done without us. He is not limited in any way, even though he chooses to use us.

Romans 9:20 NLT

No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”

3. God can do anything He wants. He is ALMIGHTY.

Psalm 147:4–5 NLT

He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!

56 times the Bible uses the phrase… Almighty One.

Have you noticed that God’s plans don’t alway fit into your schedule?

Planning is good, but we must ALWAYS remember… God is in Control.

Review of some of the words we are using about God.

Holy

Holy does not mean God is picky or judgmental or "holier than thou." To be holy, literally, is to be separate and distinct. Holy means God has perfect integrity. In fact, he is the only being in the universe with perfect integrity.

Eternal

Eternal does not mean that God is old or tired or out of date. God has always existed. He stands outside of time, able to see the en tire history of the universe at a glance.

Transcendent

Transcendent does not mean that God cannot understand our needs and hurts. It does not mean, as in the Bette Midler song, that he's watching us "from a distance." The fact that God stands above and beyond his creation does not mean he stands outside his creation. He is both transcendent (above and beyond his creation) and immanent (within and throughout his creation).

Almighty

Almighty does not mean that God does whatever he wants with no thought to the impact on us. He uses his power to create and to love his creation.

All-knowing

All-knowing does not mean that God is some kind of cosmic Big Brother, watching and judging us but never really caring about us. We know that as human beings we could not see all of the pain in the world without somehow becoming numb to it, but God is not like that. He can see all that happens and still deeply care about everything that happens.

GOD IS PERFECTLY MORAL.

God is Good, all the time. All the Time, God is good.

God is perfectly moral is not like our morality. We tend to equate God’s morality with that of people… it’s not the case. God is not made in our image. We are made in His image.

Let’s look at his characteristics… who he is and who he wants us to become.

1. He acts in HOLINESS.

Leviticus 11:44 NLT

For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves with any of these small animals that scurry along the ground.

Isaiah 6:1–3 NLT

It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

While God is our Savior, and our best friend, he is also Holy and when we are in his presence, we are in the presence of Holy God like Isa described.

2. He relates in COMPASSION.

Exodus 34:6 NLT

The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22 NLT

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.

James 5:11 NLT

We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.

God loves us and responds to us with compassion and mercy.

3. His FAITHFULNESS can be trusted.

Psalm 36:5 NLT

Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

Hebrews 10:23 NLT

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

Other people will let you down, but God will not.

4. His GOODNESS is unequaled.

Psalm 34:8 NLT

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

2 Peter 1:3 NLT

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

5. His JUSTICE is impartial and fair.

Isaiah 30:18 NLT

So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.

Luke 18:7–8 NLT

Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

6. He reacts to sin in WRATH.

Genesis 6:5–8 NLT

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” But Noah found favor with the Lord.

Romans 2:5–9 NLT

But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.

1 Thessalonians 2:16 NLT

as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last.

7. He is LOVE.

1 John 4:7 NLT

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.

John 3:16 NLT

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

The Bible talks about God’s Nature in terms of a personal challenge. We are created in God’s Image and his purpose for us to become more and more like him.

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