Beginner Bible Study Lesson 1

LESSON ONE

WHAT IS GOD LIKE ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE?  

Discuss this question:              What do you think of when you see or hear the word "God"?

There are many ideas about God and many religions in the world.  So which one is true?  Or will any one of them do?  Or after all, is there no real, living God anyway?

We can't see, hear or touch God.  Unless he reveals himself to us, we cannot know anything about him with certainty.  Has he ever done so?  The purpose of these four lessons is to see what the Bible says about God and about his relationship with us.  This is not to force you to believe, but to consider honestly what the Bible says. 

In this first lesson we will see what the Bible says God is like.

I.  IN THE BEGINNING  -- 

As you read this first part of the Bible, think about what God is like as he appears here.

1.    a.     What impressions of God do you receive?  How would you describe him?

       b.     What are the verbs which express God's activities in v.1-5?

       c.     What do these verbs indicate about God?  What would he have to be like in order to do those things?

       d.     This also says God blessed  (v.22,28) and gave (v. 29,30).  What do those words reveal about God?

       e.     Do you notice any other things about God in this chapter?

2.    Man can also speak, make things, etc. How are God’s abilities much greater than man’s?   

3.    According to the Bible, what was the method God used to create things? (v. 3,6,9, 14-15, etc.)

4.    a.  What did God think of each thing when it was finished? (v.4,10,12,18, etc.)

       b.  How does this compare with most things we make?      

5.    a.  What do we learn about God from the order in which he made things?

       b.  What if he had made man first?

6.    a.  According to v.1, when did God make the heavens and the earth?

       b.  What do the words "In the beginning" tell us about God and his existence?

7.    How long did it take God to make everything?

The Hebrew word for "day" can mean either a 24 hour day or a period of time.  If a period of time is meant here, the length of each day may have been different, some even long ages.  In any case, the Bible is not trying to explain everything scientifically, but is saying that God brought everything into existence.

8.    a.  What do you think is the climax of God's creation?

       b.  How is the creation of man different from anything else in this record?               

9.    a.  Read John 4:24.  Does God have a physical body?

       b.  In view of what God is like, and because he said, "Let us make man in our own image," what characteristics would you expect man to have?

       c.  In what ways is man like God?

The Bible says "God is spirit" (John 4:24), so we are different from him in that we have physical bodies though he does not.  Being in his image means having personality, the basic characteristic of which is a free will (an ability to make meaningful moral choices.)

10.  Some people read this chapter and think,"God is like man." How is our understanding of God different if we think "God is like man" instead of "man is like God'?

If we think of God as being like man, we tend to think of him having human limitations, and it is difficult to believe that he could create the universe.  But if we remember that we are only extremely limited replicas of the God who made us, we can begin to understand how great he is, and also to understand the rest of the Bible.

11.  Consider how the God revealed in the Bible is different from some of the other ideas people sometimes have about God.

       a.  Some people think God is a product of our own minds:  "If you believe he exists, he does; if you don't, he doesn't."  Compare this idea with the God of the Bible.                

b.  Another idea is that God is there only to answer our prayers when we need help.  For example, we may pray when we are about to take the college entrance exam or when a family member is very sick. But when we don’t need him we think we can forget about him.  How does this compare with the God of the Bible?

12.  Genesis 1 presents God as a living person who created the whole universe as well as the first human beings. 

       a.  How would you describe man's position in relation to a God like that? 

       b.  What attitudes should we have toward him?

 II. GOD AND ME

In most religions man is seeking God or seeking "something."  According to the Bible, God is seeking man.  That can be seen clearly in this psalm.  (Psalm means “song”.)

1

As you read these verses, look for what God knows about "me."

1.    a.  In these verses, list the specific things that God knows about me.

b.      How much of your life do these things include?

2.    a.  In verse 5, what contact is made between this person and the God who knows so much about him?

       b.  What different kinds of feelings can you have when someone puts a hand on your shoulder? Under what circumstances are those feelings positive?/negative?

As you read this passage, look for the way this man reacted to the fact that God knew him completely and laid his hand on him.

3.    a.  What is the writer's reaction to God's knowing him so well?

       b.  What possibilities of escape does he think of?

       c.     Why do those places of escape from God fail?  What further characteristic of God does this reveal?

       d.  What are some of the ways we try to escape from God today?

4.    a.     In verses 1 to 12, do you think God has a positive or negative attitude towards the person who is writing?      

       b.  What does God want to do with his hand? (v. 5,10)?   

       c.  How does the writer think and feel about God?

       d.     Why would it be difficult for God to lead a person who was thinking and feeling as the writer does?

5.    a.  What change do you find in the writer's attitude in verses 23-24?

       b.  What is he now asking from God?

       c.  How is this different from what he was seeking in verses 7-12?

       d.  What do you think could have made this change in him?

       e.     Since God already knows everything about him, why do you think the writer asks God to know him and search him even more?

We can have the same reactions as the writer--either try to run away or ask God to lead us.  Would you like to ask God to lead you as the writer does in verses 23 and 24?  If so, take a few moments now to tell him whatever you are thinking.

III - SUMMARY

According to the Bible, God is the Creator who is almighty, all-knowing, and present everywhere, and who cares about us and wants to lead us.  But if he really does exist, why is the world in this condition?  We will consider that question in the next lesson.  It is suggested that before then you read Genesis 2 and 3, and Romans 1:18-32.  If you want to read more about what God is like, Psalm 103 and Isaiah 40 are interesting.