What is God like? (Outline)

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Intro:

A. Lets not assume everyone knows who “God” is and what "God” is like

Illustration: Aunty Jessica’s Do you know God? She wrongly assumed that my cousins knew not only which God but also what He is like.
She wrongly assumed that my cousins knew who God is and what He is like.
The issue is not first and foremost who is God (Khrisna vs Buddha vs Jesus etc), but what does the term “God” even mean (person vs force etc)
“God” means different things to different people depending on their worldviews e.g. Atheism, agnosticism, deism e.g. (Epicureans), pantheism (e.g Stoics), polytheism
Atheism,
e.g. Atheism, agnosticism, deism, dualism, pantheism, polytheism
agnosticism
deism
dualism
pantheism
polytheism
Practical implications for evangelising e.g pantheists and polytheists - they may misunderstand and ‘wrongly’ agree to “Jesus is God”!
“God” means different things to different people
The issue is not first and foremost who is God (Khrisna vs Buddha vs Jesus etc), but what does the term “God” even mean (person vs force etc)
polytheists may add Jesus to existing altars alongside other gods
pantheists already affirm that you, me, trees outside are all god, so why not Jesus?

B. Lets start from scratch

Very often we talk to non-Christians as if they were already Christians. We use our Christian jargon and terms thinking that they understand when they don’t.
Foundation needs to be laid first before the building can be constructed e.g. even the word "god" needs to be properly explained first. See Paul’s example here in Athens.
- the issue is not first of foremost whether "Jesus is God". The issue is what does the word "God" even mean.
- even the word "god" needs to be properly explained first.
- This foundation needs to be laid first before the building can be constructed.
Paul's speech here provides us with a rare opportunity to see how Paul engaged with people with zero background in Christianity. Zero knowledge of the Bible.
- Paul's speech here provides us with a rare opportunity to see how Paul engaged with people with zero background in Christianity. Zero knowledge of the Bible.
Paul starts from scratch: What is God like?
I'll summarise in 4S: Separate, Self-sufficient, Sovereign, and then there’s a bonus S.

What is God like?

1. Separate ()

“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,

24 “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

God is firstly a personal being separate from creation

Contrast pantheism
Pantheists don't believe god is a person but our entire reality.
A personal being separate from creation
believe in the unity and divinity of all things. So basically God is everything, and everything is God. Together god consists of all of us.
Contrast pantheism: unity and divinity of all things. So basically God is everything, and everything is God. Together god consists of all of us.

Idolatrous humans imagine us to be on the same level as God

(or for God to be on the same level as us.)
Pantheism: all of us are god.
​
Polytheism (many gods): god is like us. Since so many different humans must be so many different gods.

But there is no one like God. The universe cannot compare with Him

since so many different humans must be so many different gods.
The universe cannot compare with Him
The universe is not co-eternal like God.
God must be far superior to the universe to create it.
God is omni-present. He is everywhere. But the universe cannot contain Him.
- And He created it from nothing. All this. Billions of galaxies, God created them all just like that. Just think how powerful God is. How awesome He must be.
- Yes God is omni-present. He is everywhere. But the universe cannot contain Him.
So if even the highest heavens cannot contain God, how can man-made temples or church buildings contain Him?
God is one of a kind. Totally in a class of His own. Separate.
- No one comes close to Him in this. God is one of a kind. Totally in a class of His own! There is no one like God. He is separate.

2. Self-sufficient ()

25 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.

​

All of us have needs

physical needs e.g. Food, drink, rest etc.
emotional needs e.g. Approval, companionship and love etc.
We are not broken. We were never designed to be self-sufficient but to ultimately need God.

The Greek gods had needs

in terms of drama, they were very similar to us
Had superpowers but they were essentially humans! Super-humans!
the kind of relationship the Greeks had with their gods was: you scratch my back, I scratch yours e.g You provide food for the gods in their temples and they'll bless you
Illustration: Wrath of Titans (gods need prayers)

The true God doesn’t have needs

In God says: I don't need your bulls and goats. If I were hungry, I wouldn't need to tell you! The cattle on a thousand hills are mine! Every animal is mine!
, God says: I don't need your bulls and goats. If I were hungry, I wouldn't need to tell you! The cattle on a thousand hills are mine! Every animal is mine!
Logical but its very humbling. Not only do we humans have needs, we also want to feel needed. We need others to need us.
Illustration: being happy about struggling former company - We don’t like to feel useless
We may have unconsciously brought the Greek mindset into our relationship with God
we feel God owes us! So we get upset when after serving Him bad things happen to us.
God did not create us because He needed us but to share His love
If God does not need us, why did He create us?
"God created us because He loved us" is true. But it can still sound like God was lonely and needed to create us so that He would have somebody to love. e.g. Muslim struggle
Christian answer: Trinity
Thats true. God is love. But it can still sound like God was lonely and needed to create us so that He would have somebody to love.
there is only one God. The Father is God. But also the Son is God, and the Spirit is God. And the Father is not the Son. And the Son is not the Spirit. And the Spirit is not the Father.
Even before the creation of the world, the Father, Son and Spirit, loved and enjoyed each other, perfectly.
God is love. Because love is enjoyed within His very being. Even if God never created the world, even if no humans ever existed for God to love, God would still be love.
God did not need to create us because He had a human-shaped hole in His heart. God was not lonely in heaven without us. He was not in heaven: Oh if only there were millions of people singing songs about me!
The Trinity was already perfectly happy and satisfied with each other.
The Father, Son and Spirit decided to create us, not to fill anything lacking in them, but because their love and joy was so much, they wanted to share it with others. e.g. Like a fountain that just keeps overflowing and spilling over to others.

The true God satisfies all our needs:

that God does not need anything is good news. Since "he has no needs...he himself satisfies every need".
Prayer:
Imagine a friend who is always unsatisfied, always grumpy etc. Would you dare to ask that person for help?
God is never like that. He is always free to give. Our Jehovah Jireh who has no needs is able to lavishly supply all our needs.
So don't be afraid to pray! Ask God for anything! We are not self-sufficient. But God is! Wait on God to satisfy all your needs!

For since the world began,

no ear has heard

and no eye has seen a God like you,

who works for those who wait for him!

Sacrifice/service
We are God's servants. We need to serve. But not because God needs us.
When God ask us to give our time, energy, money: God is not taking things from us. He is telling us let go of lesser things to receive more of Him! So that our joy will be full!
God gives far far more than you will ever need to give up. Hymn: “Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repay, from His own fulness all He takes away.”
Illustration: Imagine finding a job where they hire you, not to use you, not for you to work for them. No they hire you to help you, they hire you so that they can work for you.
Thats just a glimpse of what it is to relate to this self-sufficient Triune God.
Still sounds too good to be true right? Just look at how Jesus describes how His faithful servants will be rewarded.
​

35 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!

See that? God will reward His faithful servants by serving them!! So don't you want to serve this God?
Those with needs are controlled by their needs.
Those with needs are controlled by their needs. Our need for money will influence our life decisions, whether its studying hard to work in jobs we don't like, or resorting to stealing.
Since God has no needs, He is not controlled by anything. In fact He is the one in total control.

3. Sovereign (, )

: He is Lord of heaven and earth.
​
​
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

26 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.

Sovereign by right (Creator of humanity)

Those who believe in many many gods believe that there are different gods for different people
But Paul says no, there is only one God who created every nation, beginning with Adam. Everybody should acknowledge Him as Lord.
But God didn’t just stop at creation like the Deists believed.

Sovereign in reality (Controller of history)

But God didn’t just create humanity (and stop), He continues to control History.
Contrast: Deists believed that God created humanity but wasn't interested or involved in anything that happens with us after that. Their favourite metaphor is that God is like a watchmaker who designs the mechanism of the watch and then lets the watch run on its own without him.
Their favourite metaphor is that God is like a watchmaker who designs the mechanism of the watch and then lets the watch run on its own without him.
God isn't just sovereign in name. He is the one who actively sustains all of life. No molecule can move apart from Him. Without Him, everything falls apart.
Even when we humans rebel against Him and do not acknowledge Him as Lord, God still remains absolutely sovereign. Nothing happens outside of His control.
The Biblical tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility
We can’t blame God for our sin and its consequences, we reap what we sow
But we can’t deny His absolute sovereignty either
NLT: We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall
​
NLT: The king's heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he [God] guides it wherever he pleases.
Here in Paul says God decided beforehand when and where entire nations prosper and fall. God knows the future because He's the one who determines it. The Lord of heaven is also the Lord of history.
​
-Even the most powerful people in the world are under God's hand. That mean God is sovereign over anyone of us too.
The Lord of heaven is also the Lord of history.
The Bible doesn’t teach us how to resolve this tension but it does teach us that when God allows something bad to happen He has good purposes for it.
, Paul says God decided beforehand when and where entire nations prosper and fall. God knows the future because He's the one who determines it.
So why does God determine beforehand which countries rise and fall? Whats His purpose?

4. Soft-hearted

27 “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. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

​

The soft-hearted God sovereignly causes us to seek Him

Why did God allow BN to rule Malaysia for so many decades, and now allow Pakatan Harapan to take over this year? So that we will seek Him and put our faith in Him.
- Why did God allow Pakatan Harapan to take over this year? So that Malaysians will put their faith in Pakatan? In Mahathir? No its so that Malaysians will put their faith in God.
whatever happened to you, God's purpose is so that you will feel our way towards Him and find Him.
Why did God allow Pakatan Harapan to take over this year? So that Malaysians will put their faith in Pakatan? In Mahathir? No its so that Malaysians will put their faith in God.
God can be found. God is separate from us, yet He is very very near to us. You don't have to climb some sacred mountain. You will find Him when you search for Him with all your heart.

The soft-heated God offers us salvation in Christ

29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

- You don't have to climb some sacred mountain to find Him. You will find Him when you search for Him with all your heart.

Repentance before judgment:

Even though God is so awesome. We turn to idols. - Like the ancient people we still worship the god of money. The god of romance. The god of food.
there will be judgement day
good news/bad news is God will judge everyone.
there will be perfect justice at the end.
One reason why we can trust in God during bad times is because He always has good purposes for it. The second reason is because one day God will make everything right. Perfect justice at the end.
Everyone will be judged. The rich and the poor. The religious and the non-religious. Everyone. There will be no where to hide. (More thorough than Msia Anti Corruption Commission).
Everything will be exposed. There will be perfect justice at the end.
there will be perfect justice at the end. Thats good news in one sense. But bad news because we ourselves have not been innocent.
Thats good news in one sense. But bad news because we ourselves have not been innocent.
Our idolatry
Even though God is so awesome. We turn to idols. Like the ancient people we still worship the god of money. The god of romance. The god of food.
- So this soft-hearted God calls us to repent. To repent is to acknowledge how wrong we were and turn away from our wrong ways, away from our false gods back to God, acknowledging that God alone is truly separate, self-sufficient, and sovereign over all.
forgiveness to those who repent.
To repent is to acknowledge how wrong we were and turn away from our wrong ways, away from our false gods back to God, acknowledging that God alone is truly separate, self-sufficient, and sovereign over all.
Our soft-hearted God is a God of second-chances. We just need to repent.
- We need to repent because there will be a judgment day- One reason why we can trust in God during bad times is because He always has good purposes for it. The second reason is because one day God will make everything right. - There will be perfect justice at the end. No wickedness will go unpunished. - Everyone will be judged. The rich and the poor. The religious and the non-religious. Everyone. There will be no where to hide. - God will be more thorough than the MAAC (Msia Anti Corruption Commission). Everything will be exposed. So thats bad news right.- But there is also forgiveness. The same God who gives freely, also forgives freely - Our soft-hearted God is a God of second-chances. We just need to repent. - But that presents a problem. Today if the true culprits behind the 1MDB scandal is found guilty, and they beg for leniency, and our government just say "Nvm lah. Lets forgive them." Will you be okay with that? Will you say our government is good? No we will probably think our new government is also corrupt!- So how can our good God both freely forgive sinners and still be perfectly fair and just?- He sent His son Jesus to die for our sins.
To repent is to acknowledge how wrong we were and turn away from our wrong ways, away from our false gods back to God, acknowledging that God alone is truly separate, self-sufficient, and sovereign over all.
Our soft-hearted God is a God of second-chances. We just need to repent.
But that presents a problem: how can our good God both freely forgive sinners and still be perfectly fair and just? (Imagine 1MDB culprits forgiven)
Answer: He sent His son Jesus to die for our sins.
how can our good God both freely forgive sinners and still be perfectly fair and just? He sent His son Jesus to die for our sins.

Revelation of Christ

Actually to really know what God is like, we need to look at the one who perfectly revealed God: His only son Jesus Christ.
The eternal Son of God who was separate from and supreme over all creation, became a commoner among us on earth.
He who was always self-sufficient chose to experience thirst and tiredness.
He who was absolutely sovereign became a captured prisoner, tortured and executed.
All for our sakes. And in this way He shows us who He is.
That’s why. After Jesus died for our sins, God raised Him back from the dead.
Paul says that Jesus's bodily resurrection is proof that He is the one with authority to judge everyone at the end. It is proof that Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth.

The resurrection and its reality

Its offence
The offence of the resurrection
Talking about Jesus and the resurrection was what got Paul brought before the city council in the first place ().
​
The city council of Athens, also known as the Areopagus, was in charge of examining every new teaching in the city, to see whether it contradicted with their established religions and traditions.
Up till now the city council appeared to be patiently listening. Paul's tone was respectful, even favourably quoting their pagan philosophers and poets. So far so good. Until Paul talks about Jesus and the resurrection again.
).

32 When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.”

Until Paul talks about Jesus and the resurrection again.
​
What is resurrection?
- First I need to clarify. Resurrection and your spirit going to heaven are two separate things. Resurrection refers to your physical body coming back to life.
The unbelievableness of it
- the resurrection was not more believable in the 1st century either for Jew or Greek
]ks.
- That Jesus rose from the dead was not easier to believe back in the 1st century than it is now in the 21st century.
either Jew or Greeks.
- Greeks didn't believe in a bodily resurrection at all. For them everything that is physical is evil. The point of salvation is to escape the physical. Why on earth would you want to be resurrected back into a physical body?
- So it was no more believable than it is now.
Resurrection and reality
- Its no longer about theological concepts and ideas which tickle your mind.
- if it is a historical fact that Jesus rose then you have to deal with it.
- God who acted in our space, time and history to resurrect Jesus will surely act in judgment at the end of human history.

Closing

- Let me close with this: I recently listened to a very insightful debate between a Christian and Richard Dawkins (one of the most famous atheists).
- Dawkins, a scientist, admits that we don't know how the universe began. We have no good explanation. But he doesn't want to admit it is God who created it.
He'll back ask the question: If the universe is created by God, who created God?
Every Sunday school kid knows the answer to that: nobody created God. Thats why He God.
But Dawkins refuses to accept that answer. He says that answer is too easy.
- At some point in the debate he said that the only God he could ever imagine existing is a deist God. Remember deists believe that God created the universe but now left the universe to run according the laws of nature. No miracles. Nothing supernatural. God is not interested or involved in what happens now.
- Dawkins said a God who created such a magnificent universe would not be interested in petty things like human sin and judgment. He wouldn't send His Son be born of a virgin and die on a cross for sinners, and then be resurrected.
- To Dawkins all this is too petty and incompatible with such an awesome God who would create billions of galaxies.
- But what Dawkins kept calling 'petty', is what the Psalmist finds praiseworthy!
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? ( NIV)
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