God: Father, Son & Holy Spirit

Who is God?

Over the next few weeks we want to give you a clear picture of who God is. More than that, we want you to ...

Develop an intimate friendship with God.

2 Corinthians 13:14 The Message

14 The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.

The reason this is important is

Our view of God determines how we approach him.

There are a lot of distorted views of God that are not Biblical nor are they true. Too many of us base our views of God on bad information we have heard from everyone but God himself.

Today we will dispel three wrong views about God and then I will put before you the right view of God… based on the bible. God is three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Whats your view of God? Bible says...

2 Corinthians 6:18 NLT

18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

God is our father and we are his children. Too many don’t see him that way because of bad relationships with their fathers. Father wounds run deep … not just fathers… it could be uncles, coaches, teachers. The devil knows that if he can pollute those relationships, he will make it difficult for your to relate to God.

Misconceptions of God

God is an Authoritarian God.

This is a popular view. People see God as harsh and angry. So they try to please him with performance, but none of us are perfect so when this is our view of God, we never feel accepted or loved because we are so bad.

We carry guilt and shame with us everywhere we go. It’s a tough way to live and it’s opposite of the life the Bible says God wants for us.

God is a Distant God.

People see god as passive… kind of like an old grandfather. You may winder if he is real and maybe you have tried to talk to him but you got no answers.

God is a Critical God.

God is hard to please.

You may feel like the whole process of religion is too hard. It’s a works based view of God. You can never do enough.

God is a Crutch.

We run to him to bolster us up and make us feel secure. You may like to pray, but never read his word.

God is a Disappointment.

Maybe you are not happy with how your life is going… how you look… what you are doing. God has disappointed you. People blame God for their decisions… We balme him for all types of things. Why should I trust a God who disappoints me?

God is a Baptist.

We like to squeeze God into the mold of our denominations. Too often when people discard their church denomination, they get rid of God too.

God is a Belief.

God is a concept… like a higher power. God = truth, justice… fate

God is Religious.

He is only interested in religious stuff, not with the way you live...

God is a republican.

God is not owned by any political party. He is much bigger than that.

Good news - God is none of those!

What is the correct view of God

The Correct View of God

God’s true self is seen in what we call the Trinity. To put it simply, God is one God existing in three persons at the same time.

Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:16–17 NLT

16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

Here is one God revealed in three persons.

God the Father

speaking as a voice from heaven

God the Son

being baptized and coming up out of the water

God the Spirit

descending like a dove onto the son from the father.

It’s a clear picture of God

God the Father who loves us

God the Son who came to save us

God the Holy Spirit who is with us.

If God said this about Jesus, as his children, he says the same thing about us. It’s important that we have the right view of who God is because it shapes the way we approach him. But we have to see God … the Biblical God. It goes against society and our culture and all the misconceptions we looked at.

How do we live in relationship with God?

Galatians 4:8–9 NLT

8 Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 9 So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?

We see God as a Father.

Matthew 7:9–11 NLT

9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

The picture is of God as a father just waiting and wanting to bless his children.

As his child we have acceptance from Him. God is not just our God, he is our Father. That’s how he wants to relate to us.

Romans 8:15–16 NLT

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.

abba = daddy - it’s the most endearing term for father. God sees us as his family.

Romans 8:16 The Message

16 God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.

Important. So many of you deal with rejection issues… if you feel rejected, you will feel rejected by God too. When we receive God’s acceptance, we don’t need other people’s acceptance like we did before.

God accepts us

God accepts us. That doesn’t mean he approves of everything we say and do. He knows what we will do before we do it, but he still loves us and accepts us. Why? We are his children… his family… if we have accepted his son.

Hebrews 13:5 The Message

5 Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,”

You know you understand this when you run to God after you sin...

2. Approach God through Relationship Not Rules.

God loves us as his children. We have a relationship with him.

John 5:39–40 NLT

39 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

God loves you!

1 John 3:1 NLT

1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.

When God sees you, he smiles… he loves you. If he had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.

You may fell like you are unlovable or that you have done too much for God to love you and forgive you, but he does.

Romans 8:38 NLT

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

God demonstrated his love while we were still sinning. That’s real love. It’s not conditional.

God loves me not for what I do, but because of what Jesus has already done for me.

Romans 5:8 NLT

8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

God loves us because of who we are.

3. I must Give God My Whole Heart.

Jeremiah 29:13–14 NLT

13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

We love him with everything in us and he will take care of us.

He loves us and is proud of us for following Jesus. You may feel like You don’t have anything to be proud of, but

God sees your potential.

He made you. he knows what you can be and can do. He has given you his Holy Spirit to empower you. He sees what you can become as you discover your spiritual gifts, develop them and begin to use them.

1 John 3:2 NLT

2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

Nothing makes the devil more afraid that Christians beginning to realize their God given potential.

Ephesians 2:10 NLT

10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Let’s sum things up...

2 Corinthians 13:14 NLT

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

God is none of those descriptions… authoritarian, distant, crutch…

He id God the Father who loves us. God the Son who saves us. God the Spirit who lives inside us.

When we know this, we really will approach God through relationship and not rules.

Relationship Changes Everything.

Salvation… give him your whole heart… trust him.