BFM: God

Introduction

What are some basic things that come up whenever we hear the word “God”? Does God exist, and if so, what is He like? If you look at the chart that you got whenever you came in tonight, you see that there are various ways that we can argue for the “existence” of God from the Bible and from creation in general! We also see that there are various ways that we can know what God is like from His Word and what He has revealed to us through His Son. We’re not going to specifically go through this information tonight (we probably will in the future), but I wanted to distribute it so that you could see some ways that you can support the existence of God to a friend, family member or co-worker who does not agree with you. According to a poll done by Pew Research Center, 90% of Americans believe in some form of “higher power”. This is interesting to note because our culture is so secularized, yet many people still believe in God or at least something about God. As Paul writes in that God has made Himself evident to creation and that mankind is without excuse.

If you look at the handout, you see that there are things that God has revealed to mankind. These things are called incommunicable and communicable. Incommunicable attributes are things of God that we cannot share in. You see the list in front of you but I think that we can agree that there are many things about God that we simply cannot share in, correct? God is perfect, we are sinners. God is infinite, we are finite. God is omnipresent, we are only sometimes present. There are some things that we are able to share in (at least sometimes and at a lesser extent). We see that list as well. Because God is these things, we are called to be them as well. Holy. Truthful. Just. Loving. Merciful. Graceful. These are commands for us today because God demonstrated love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.

With this background in mind, let’s dive into the BFM and see what it says about “God”:

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

Only 1 God

The BFM immediately states that there is only one living and true God. Our culture would love to disagree with this statement, however from , we know this to be true! If you look on the screen, you see that there are various “false” beliefs about God. This one simple sentence completely cancels the belief of atheism and polytheism. If there is a true, living God then Atheism is wrong. If there is only 1 God then polytheism (many + gods) is also, by definition, wrong.

Things that He is...

“He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe.” If these things are true, then God cannot be a “far off” or removed creator. We know this to be the case because of the life of Jesus Christ. God is intimately associated with humanity. He cares for His children! Because of this, pantheism, panentheism and deism are all impossibilities. There is a distinction between God and the created world. The world is not God and God is not the world. God created the world and is involved in the things taking place on the world. He loves and cares for His children as well.

God is infinite and all-knowing

Have you ever thought that God has no beginning or end? That is something impossible for us to truly comprehend and wrap our minds around. He is all powerful, all good and all knowing. “His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present and future, including the future decisions of his free creatures”. This completely destroys the argument of finite theism as these individuals believe that “God” is not all knowing and that he is finite just like us. That is incompatible with Scripture.

The God of Christianity is personal

In other world religions like Buddhism, God is less than personal. Islam views God as utterly transcendent and basically unapproachable. Mysticism and its New Age offspring see God as wholly immanent. The Bible says the one true God is both (transcendent and immanent). He is above us and separate from us, and yet he is also a God who can be known, truly and genuinely known, in a personal relationship. We see in our handout that the God of the Bible is “truine”. There are 3 distinct “persons” but they are united and of the same eternal substance.

Why does this matter?

You might be wondering why we spent 5-10 minutes talking about differences between what people groups believe about “God”. The reason is because what we believe about God shapes our entire lives. If you believe in a finite God who is not associated with your day to day lives then why would you live your life for Him? Why would you share your faith? There would be no reason to do so. It would be all about survival and building monetary success. Only whenever we have a correct view about who God is are we able to proceed correctly in other areas of our lives. Our culture doesn’t believe in “nothing”, they believe in “everything”! We must stand firm in the God of the Bible because we know that His way is the only way. As the age old hymn states, “God in 3 persons, blessed trinity”.

This brings us to our next section as we will spend a little bit of time covering the 3 persons of the Trinity. First, the Father

God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

Genesis 1:1 NASB95

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Exodus 3:14 NASB95

14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

Isaiah 64:8 NASB95

8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.

Isaiah

Isaiah 43:3 NASB95

3 “For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.

Ephesiahs 4:4-6

Ephesians 4:4–6 NASB95

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

As we talked about this morning, we are adopted into the Family of God. This is great news! Through the redemption of Christ, we can now call God our Father. We were once under condemnation (and rightly so) but now there is no condemnation!

The only way that we are able to be in this situation is because of the work of Jesus Christ. We must remind ourselves of that. Finally, we see several things about God throughout Scripture.

God is Father, not an “it”

He is the Lord of all - everything is underneath Him

God is the Alpha and Omega (he has no beginning or end)

God is Omnipotent

God is Omnipresent

God is Omniscient

God is wise

God is loving

God is fatherly towards humanity, but only Father to those who are His adopted sons and daughters

This brings us to the second part of the Trinity: the Son

God the Son

The BFM states that: “Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.”

Isaiah 7:14 NASB95

14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

Matthew 3:17 NASB95

17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Matthew 11:27 NASB95

27 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

Matthew 16:16 NASB95

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

John 10:30 NASB95

30 “I and the Father are one.”

Not mentioned here but bears mentioning:

Micah 5:2 NASB95

2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

We see Jesus as the Son of God throughout Scripture. Jesus Himself taught us this truth! Demons, Satan and the voice from heaven all attested that Jesus was in fact the Son of God. Jesus acted as though He had authority numerous times during His earthly ministry. He cleansed the temple, showed His power over demons through exorcisms, power over diseases by healing them and death by rising from the grave. Jesus claimed to be greater than those who came before Him and He claimed to be able to forgive sins (as we see in ) as well as judge the world (as we see in ).

We see in that Jesus existed before creation and that He is listed as being the creator (). The earliest Christian heresy (Doceticism) denied the human nature of Jesus Christ. As followers of Christ and people who know their Bible (as you all do!), we see that there are numerous references to Jesus’ human nature. He was fully God and fully man. shows that Jesus was tempted like you and I, yet He was without sin. shows us that He experienced sorrow and agony. shows that He was hungry. shows us that He was thirsty. He was very much a human!

He was also God and He brings great truths to mankind. Justification. Peace. Reconciliation. Forgiveness. Adoption. Dying to sin. Eternal Life.

5 things about the Son of God:

He was pre-existent. Some people say that the Son was created by the Father. No. He was pre-existent just as the Father was. Christ always was, Christ always is, and Christ always will be! He is of the same substance with the Father.

Christ humbled Himself and put on flesh in the incarnation.

He was born of the virgin Mary. Not through the virgin Mary. He was conceived through the Holy Spirit.

substituitionary death of Jesus means that Jesus became our sacrifice for sin, substituted Himself for us, and bore our iniquities and curse.

The substitutionary death of Jesus means that Jesus became our sacrifice for sin, substituted Himself for us, and bore our iniquities and curse. The BFM states that Jesus’ death was a substitute for our death. We should have died, but He died for us.

God exalted the Son. Because God exalted Jesus above all, He is our mediator, intercessor and the giver of all gifts! Jesus literally, physically rose from the dead. Jesus then ascended into heaven, and He sat down at the right hand of God the Father. He sat down as King. He sat down as our priest. Our high priest sat down because He completed His priestly service. God the Son will return personally, visibly, and gloriously.

Now we get to our final part of the trinity: God the Spirit

God the Holy Spirit

The BFM states: “The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.”

Genesis 1:2 NASB95

2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

John 14:26 NASB95

26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Acts 1:8 NASB95

8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

1 Corinthians 12:13 NASB95

13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30 NASB95

30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is a divine person. Not an “it” or a “force” like many people make Him out to be. He is of the same nature as the Father and Son. The Holy Spirit is “active”! We see this in the verbs used to describe Him in the BFM. inspired ―enables ―exalts ―convicts, ―calls,―effects, regeneration, ―baptizes,―cultivates,―seals, ―enlightens and ―empowers.

The Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures. We talked about this last Sunday night as we saw that He worked through the men who were inspired to write. Because of the Holy Spirit, we have confidence in what these men wrote was truthful and perfect. Without error.

The Holy Spirit helps us to interpret the Word of God today. The Spirit helps us to apply the teachings in Scripture into our lives thousands of years after it was written.

The Holy Spirit brings sinners to salvation! We see that the Spirit brings conviction to our sinful ways and calls us to repent and look to Christ. states that on our own we see the cross as foolish and weakness, however with the Spirit we see it as the only way. We are able to come to faith in Christ because of the Holy Spirit opening up our blind eyes to see the truth.

The Holy Spirit transforms us to be sanctified. We have talked about the Fruits of the Spirit, walking in the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit. If we do these things then we are a completely different creation than we were before Christ!

As we talked about this morning, the Spirit is the seal and promise. This work will continue until we are called home to heaven. In Christ and the Work of the Spirit, we are assured the certainty of our full and final sanctification!

The Holy Spirit equips us for ministry in the church. Each member receives a gift that is supposed to be used to bring about strengthening and growing the body of Christ. Spiritual Gifts come from the Greek word “Charisma” which comes from “Charis” which means grace and “ma” which means result. A spiritual gift (a charisma) is a grace gift that produces results. Praise God that the Holy Spirit produces results and praise God that our spiritual gifts produce results as well whenever we use them!

Conclusion

Tonight we looked at “God” and saw what some people believe about Him versus what we believe about Him. We looked at the different persons of God (Father, Son and Spirit) and saw how it is important for us to recognize that they are of the same nature/substance. These persons have different things associated with them. Jesus is the manifestation of God in human flesh. The Spirit continues the work of God today and is a part of each Christian’s life. Whenever we have a correct view of God, everything else falls into place. Whenever we have an incorrect view of God, things are out of order and difficult for us to stand for anything.