May 19 - Who is God?
[ Home ] [ Up ] [ January 6 - Build on the Rock or the Sand ] [ January 13 - Why We Are To Be Faithful ] [ January 20 - Trusting the Word of God ] [ Feb 17 - We Are Not Like The World ] [ Jan 27 - March 31 - Filled With The Spirit ] [ March 14 - Repentance ] [ April 21 - It is No Secret ] [ April 24 - Who is Jesus Christ? ] [ May 12 - The Story of Salvation ] [ May 19 - Who is God? ] [ May 26 - Parable of the Tares ] [ June 2 - Abide With Me ] [ June 9 - Balancing Salvation and Election ] [ June 16 - Well Done ] [ June 19 - Family ] [ June 23 - Five Calls of Life ] [ June 26 - The Result of Sin ] [ July 7 - What Shall This Man Do? ] [ July 14 - The Conspicuous Witness ] [ July 21 - Eternal Security ] [ July 24 - The Ten Virgins ] [ July 28 - The Truth Shall Set You Free ] [ August 7 - Come To Christ As A Little Child ] [ August 11 - Liberty of Christ ] [ August 21 - Right With God ] [ Sept 4 - Why Our Prayers Are Not Answered ] [ Sept 15 - The Return of the Lord ] [ Sept 22 - Eternal Life and Eternal Security ] [ Sept 29 - The Sower ] [ Oct 9 - The Blade, the Ear, the Full Corn ] [ Oct 13 - Complete Salvation ] [ Oct 27 - If The Foundations Are Destroyed ] [ Nov 3 - Rejection of Salvation ] [ Nov 10 - Alone ] [ Nov 17 - The Whole Duty of Man ] [ Nov 24 - A Message of Salvation ] [ Dec 1 - Victories and Defeats ] [ Dec 8 - Mephibosheth ] [ Dec 15 - Can Jesus Help? ] [ Dec 22 - Tools For Perfect Service ] [ Dec 29 - How God Wants Us To Think ]

When I look at the world around me, not just at the beautiful physical world we live in, but at the way people live their lives, how they think, what they do, and why they do it - it is very obvious to me that people don’t know who God is, what He thinks, how he thinks, or whether he is even relevant to what is happening today. It seems people are asking: Does God really see and understand about all the wars and rumors of wars in this unsettled world? Does He really see and is He able to help me during troubling circumstances? Does God really hear when people pray to Him?

I would like for you to know as much about God as you can possible know. I don’t want you to be ignorant of His grace, His love, and His mercy. I want you to understand that you can always go to God and he will understand exactly the situation you are in and will always give the very best to you. While I want to you fully understand the "good" side of God, I also want you to understand that God is also a God of great and terrible judgment. He has a intense hatred of sin and will judge every person - whether they serve Him or not; whether they know Him or not; or whether they believe He will judge them or not.

I would like to discuss with you this morning some of the attributes of God.

First of all, what is an attribute? An attribute is a characteristic, a distinction, a mark that identifies or sets one person or object apart from another person or object. These attributes, or characteristics, let us develop a closeness with God. The more we know about people, the closer we can be to them, and the more we know about God, the closer we can be to Him.

As I begin, I want to say that it is impossible to fully understand God while we are still in these physical sinful bodies. Job 11:7-9, Zophar says, "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." While it is impossible to fully understand God in these natural, physical bodies; it is very needful to our spiritual welfare to learn as much about Him as we possibly can.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, "Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued, investigation of the great subject of the Deity. The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and Him crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity."

I very firmly believe that the Christian has not begun a proper study of the Bible until he begins a study of the Godhead. A Biblical study of God, His Name, His nature, His person, His doings, and His existence is the most challenging, uplifting study possible. It will expand the mind and soul, lifting them above this lowly, fleshly existence to a greater and more fulfilling and glorious existence in our Savior, Jesus Christ. When we study other Biblical subjects, we come away with a good understanding of the subject matter and are apt to say, "I am wise." But a proper study of the Godhead will find us with a subject we cannot reach the end of. We will come away from such a study knowing that we are but flesh and God is spirit. We will know that we are nothing at all and God is all in all. We will worship Him as never before, for we will understand one thing quite well, we can never know all about God. Eph. 2:7 says we will spend all eternity learning about God and never be able to know all about Him.

Job 26:14 states that we can know only those "little" parts of God. Consider Moses, Exodus 33:12-33, who desired to see God. God allowed him to see only His hind parts, placing Moses into the cleft of the rock to protect him from the glory of God. Also consider that when Moses had been in the mount 40 days and 40 nights with God that his face actually shone with the glory of God. The Israelites could not stand to look upon Moses because of his brightly shinning face. Exodus 34:29-35. Moses had been with God and people could see it in his brightly shinning face. When we have been with God, people will also be able to see it in our brightly shinning countenance.

In Exodus 33:12, Moses desired to see God face to face, but this wasn’t possible. Moses would have died, therefore God placed Moses in the cleft of the rock and let him see His backside. I Cor. 13:12 states "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." Even then, in our glorified bodies, we won’t be able to look into the depths of God’s glory. Ephesians 2:7 states that we will spend all eternity looking into and discovering the exceeding greatness of the riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. If we could ever, in all of eternity, fully contemplate God and his blessedness toward us, then we would be equal to God. This will never be.

We preached last Sunday morning on the subject, "Who is God." Out text was Psalms 46:10, which states, "Be still and know that I am God…"

This is one thing that is absolutely essential in this dog-eat-dog world in which we live. We are often too busy to take the time to be still. We often think that if we sit down, we aren’t producing. We have forgotten that sitting down and contemplating God is one of the most productive things we can do. Thinking about God will calm the troubled soul, will give reason to existence, will give answers to troubling questions, and will give peace where there is no peace.

Last Sunday morning we spoke on the subject of the glory of God. This morning we would like to speak on the subject of God as creator of everything.

Colossians 1:16,17 states "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." This verse means that God doesn’t need us or any of His creation. He was complete before He created man and He was complete after He created man. When I was in college, I heard a man say that God created the worlds and everything in it because He was lonely – But, nowhere does the Bible state that God was lonely. Actually, if God was lonely before He created the worlds, and isn’t lonely after He created the world, that means that God has changed, or rather than man has changed God. It means that God has been changed by His creation. The Bible states that God doesn’t change. Malachi 3:6 states, "For I am the LORD, I change not;…"

Why did God create the worlds? Because He wanted to. It is as simple as that.

I, personally, have had a difficult time with understanding the creation of the heaven and the earth. When I was young, it never entered my mind that anybody, or anything, but God had created the worlds. I remember in high school our science teacher introducing the theory of evolution to us by stating, "This is a lie. If you want to understand how this world got here, read your Bible." The next instance concerning creation occurred in my freshman year of college. Biology was a required subject, and I remember well going into that class. It was an amphitheater type of classroom where the instructor was well below the students. The instructor had a skeleton in the front of the classroom by his desk. I had never seen a skeleton, and was fascinated by it. The instructor’s desk was located in the front and the center of the classroom. Above his desk, almost to the ceiling, was a large diagram depicting the beginning of life as viewed by the evolutionists. This was something I had never seen before, and immediately caught my attention. The diagram showed the primeval slime, and the single celled living being emerging from the primeval slime. This single cell being slowly evolved during millions of years into plants on the land, and creatures in the sea. Then the creatures in the sea evolved into creatures on the land, which evolved into creatures like monkeys walking upright, and finally evolved into mankind. I had never seen anything like this, and was amazed.

The biology professor was very hard, and condemned anybody and everybody who did not believe in evolution. He called us uneducated, ignorant plow boys, who would soon grow up (as soon as we adopted the theory of evolution as fact). He publicly ridiculed every Christian in the classroom and threatened to fail any student who refused to accept the theory of evolution. He seemingly had an answer to each and every question any doubter would ask. To tell you the absolute truth, what he had to say throughly confused me, and made me begin to wonder whether there was any truth to the Bible story of a literal seven day creation.

I stayed confused for about 10 years. The clearing up of this subject came to me when I purchased a series of lectures on the Bible and Science by Dr. Henry Morris, who was an engineer with the Creation Research Institute of San Diego, California. I was pastoring Salem Baptist Church in Willow Hill, Illinois at the time. I was also working as a maintenance man at the local school during the summer. I would take my tape player to work and put in the tapes and listen to them as I painted a room, or cleaned in some other room. I listened to the tapes until I could almost tell you what Dr. Morris was going to say next.

There are some very interesting facts I learned.

Colossians 1:16,17 states "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." I must either accept this verse or reject the entire Bible. God has either created all things, or He is a liar. God is not a liar, but Satan is the father of all liars, John 8:44. All liars shall have their part in the Lake Of Fire, which burneth forever and ever, Rev. 21:8.

Hebrews 11:3 states, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." I am able, by faith, to understand that the worlds were created by the word of God. What is faith? Faith is simply believing what God said. The Bible is God’s Word. The Bible is God’s will revealed to me. All I have to do is believe the Bible. And the Bible states in Genesis 1 that God created the heaven and earth in its perfection in six literal 24 hour days and then rested on the seventh day. Why can’t lost people see and under this simple fact? Eccl. 3:11 clears this up completely, "He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." A person can never understand by looking at the world that it was created by God. A person can never understand by mentally grasping scientific facts that God created the heaven and the earth. The only way a person can really understand that God created all things is by simply believing the Bible, which is the Holy Word of God.

I have learned what people say makes a big difference. My biology professor saying that evolution was a fact, when it was only a theory, bothered me. When he made fun of Christians, calling us nothing but ignorant plowboys who needed to grow up, that bothered me. When he said he would flunk anybody who refused to accept the theory of evolution as fact, that got my attention. My following the instructions of my biology professor created a bad time in my life. It was a time when I was confused about how this world was created. But there is something else to remember. Those tapes I purchased from the Creation Research Institute were very positive things and helped me immensely. The words of Dr. Henry Morris drew me back to the Bible as the final answer. I have been satisfied that the Bible has the answers ever since. Not only did I listen to what Dr. Morris had to say about God creating the world, I used his lectures as a catalysts to study the creation for myself. Today, you may be in the same condition I was in. Somebody may have said some things against God, against His being the creator of this world that has left you totally confused and doubting the Bible. Just remember your confusion is Satan’s plan. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, I Cor. 14:33. If you want lasting answers, and the peace that passes all understanding, you will have to go to the Word of God. You will have to take the time to be still and know that God is God. Nobody can do this for you, and you can’t do it in a hurry.

Is it possible to simply read the Bible and understand by faith that God created this entire world and everything in it? Certainly it is. Notice the following passages.

Heb. 11:3 - "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." The plain truth of this verse is that God has framed the worlds by His Word. By speaking it into existence. This is exactly what Genesis 1 states. Listen to Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Is that clear? The Bible states that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, period.

Somebody might ask, but how did God create the worlds? Did he use evolution? Couldn’t God have used evolution to create the worlds? The answer to this question lies in the Word of God. Read Genesis 1:3, "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." This verse emphatically states how God created light. He spoke it into existence. God did not create light by using evolution.

Somebody would say, "Okay, God created light, but how long did it take Him to create light?" The answer is once again in the Bible, Read Genesis 1:5, "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." This verse tells us that God created light by speaking it into existence in one literal day.

Now skeptics would answer, "Okay, so God created light by speaking it into existence in one day, but how long is a day?" There are some people who believe a day is millions of years long. But they didn’t get that information from the Bible. Once again, the Bible tells us how long a day is. Turn to the ten commandments in Exodus 20. Notice verses 8-10, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:" There is no doubt, is there, that this commandment is speaking about working six days, and resting on the seventh day. Are these literal 24 hour days? Of course they are, and everybody knows it. Now read the next verse, verse 11. This verse reveals that God created the heaven and earth in six literal 24 hour days. Listen to verse 11, "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." The reason God commanded man to work six days and rest on the Sabbath day was because this is what he did when he created the heaven and earth.

When you read the Bible and rightly divide the Scriptures, is there any doubt at all that God created the world in six literal 24 hour days by speaking them into existence? There is no doubt if you believe the Word of God. If you don’t believe the Word of God, the Bible, there is absolutely no way you will ever believe God is the creator. You will go on believing in the theory of evolution, you will go on being confused, and you will go on without the peace of God that passes all understanding. I would urge you to believe the Bible. Be still and know that God is God. Be still and believe God and accept His Word as the final authority for your life and eternity.

God deals with mankind to show them His glory and honor

Tell the entire story of Nebuchadnezzar as related in Daniel chapter 4.

In Daniel 4:34,35 Nebuchadnezzar declared, "And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:" Nebuchadnezzar states that God lives forever and ever, that His dominion is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom is from generation to generation. No one in heaven or on the earth is above God. God is not subject to any rules or laws. He is the rule or law. Nobody is above God, therefore nobody makes any rules that God must obey. There is nothing higher than God. There is no one higher than God. There is no kingdom greater than His kingdom.

Notice Psalms 2:1-5. God is not concerned with mankind fighting Him, or not recognizing His majesty and splendor. God is still God whether or not men recognize Him. It is a most marvelous thing when God reveals Himself to those that fight against Him. Psalms 2:1-5 states, "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure." When people turn against God and mock Him, and refuse to allow Him to rule over them, God isn’t wringing His hands in despair. God isn’t trying to figure out what He is going to do next to try to convince these rebellious people that it is in their best interest to serve and worship Him. He laughs at rebellious people. Why does He laugh? Because He knows the futility of their rebellious struggles. He knows humans are just grasshoppers to Him and He can overcome them with the smallest effort on His part.

The conclusion to the above story of Nebuchadnezzar is found in I Tim. 1:17, "Now unto the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen."

When people fail to recognize that God exists, that God is the creator of heaven and earth, the end result is a failure to believe that God is their own personal eternal judge. Often, because people don’t want to believe that God will judge their every thought, action and motive, they deny the fact of God’s existence, and His creating the world in six literal 24 hour days. They somehow get the idea that if they will deny what they know is the truth, that God is their creator and judge, it won’t come to pass.

People can deny that God is their judge, but that doesn’t change the fact that God is their judge and that He will judge them. People can deny that God exists, but that doesn’t change the fact that God is alive. People can deny the fact that God created the entire universe in six literal 24 hour days, but that doesn’t change the fact that He did.

First of all, we will not try to prove the existence of God. Psalms 14:1 states, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." If I would try to prove to you that God exists, I would be a fool like you. God does exist as the everlasting existing one, whether we believe it or not.

One time, before I knew better, I tried to prove to a friend that God did exist. The conversation went something like this.

I said - You know God exists, just look at the world around you.

He said - The world was created, not by God, but by two planets or star systems that got to close together, and their combined gravity caused hot gases to spew out from them, and these gases cooled over millions and millions of years into solid planets, which we now see.

I said - Where did the two planets or two star systems come from?

He said - They came from other wandering planets or star systems.

I said - Where did those come from?

He said - They came from others.

He never would admit that God created anything at all, or even that God existed. Do you know why he wouldn’t admit that God existed? The Bible said, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." If this friend would admit there is a God, especially a God who had created this very world in which he lived, he would also have to admit that God would judge his every thought, action and motive. He didn’t want to believe God would judge him, and the best way to deny the judgment of God was to deny there is a God.

The truth is: denying the existence of God doesn’t change God, or the fact that He exists, or the fact that God will judge every person.

Now - there are many issues that arise because people have a warped sense of who God is, or they don’t believe there even is a God. When people deny that God is their creator and eternal judge; that they will each and every one stand before Him and give account of every thought, word, and deed, they conclude they can do anything they want to do, do anything that feels good to them, or that feels right to them, and the only consequence is what happens to them in this life. This is why when people kill themselves, they often state in a note they leave behind, "I am going to end it all. I must kill myself because this is the only way that will end all of my troubles." The fact is, death doesn’t end it all. Their troubles are not all over. This life will end at death, but eternity is where a person goes after death. A person that kills themselves thinking all their worldly troubles are over, will discover just as soon as they are dead that they are facing an eternal God, the creator of this entire universe and He is their final judge. And this eternal Judge will judge them for everything they have ever done upon this world. People that kill themselves, believing they are "ending it all," soon discover it’s not all over. Eternity, for them, has just begun. And it’s too late to change anything.

For a society to continue to exist and prosper, its citizens must believe there is a God who is over all the affairs of their nation, their states, their communities, and their own personal lives. When people don’t know if God exists, when they don’t know if God is their final judge, there are innumerable issues that arise that shouldn’t arise at all. When people don’t have a personal relationship with Almighty God there are innumerable issues that arise in their personal lives that absolutely defy solution.

For example: here is a message I received from Ronnie Wolfe, pastor of First Baptist Church in Harrison, Ohio. It is concerning this thought: murder is not murder - it is compassion.

Today the phone rang in my house, and my wife answered the phone; because I was in another part of the house. There was a hesitation on the phone from the caller, and usually we hang up when this happens, because this usually means that an advertiser is calling.

However, my wife did not hang up but stayed on the phone to see who was at the other end. A lady came on the phone and said something that she could not understand, because it was a subject she was not familiar with. My wife answered that she did not know what the lady was talking about.

Then the lady asked, "Would you support the termination of the life of young children who have terminal illness." My wife said that she would not support a thing like that at all. The lady said, "Think about that when you go to bed tonight."

My wife was devastated. She had never encountered a call like this before. I do not know who this lady was nor what organization she represented. I do not know if she wanted a donation or not; but the question is a cold-blooded one.

After thinking about it, I told my wife a good answer is found in Rev. 21:8, "All murderers ... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. Think about that when you go to bed tonight."

Euthanasia is on the rise. The spirit of murder is everywhere. These folks want to murder unborn babies, the young children who have terminal illness, and the elderly who are in the way or have a terminal illness. They have murder on the mind. And with the events surrounding Dr. Kavorkian, we now have so-called "assisted suicide."

With murder on the mind, some are soliciting the common person to be won over to their side. Murder is a serious thing. But when murder becomes compassion, correct attitudes are confused, and roles are reversed.

Our lesson is found in Isaiah 5:20 "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

Cain slew Abel; Joab and Abishai slew Abner. Are we beginning to devour ourselves by a fancy kind of murder? When we lose the value of life, then we begin to destroy the thing which is most precious to our survival--our attitude toward life.

When people want to deny the fact that God is their final judge, they will reason God out of existence, they will reason God to not be the creator. Their logic is: If God doesn’t exist, God isn’t the creator, therefore God isn’t the final judge. When men, by their own wicked reasonings, deny the existence of God and their accountability to God, there will be all sorts of wicked and terrible things happening in that society. This is the reason there are so many terrible acts of violence being committed in our land and country in this day and age.

I know you have heard of the many shootings that have taken place recently. The history of all this terrible violence is long. There were times many years ago when some crazed person would slink into a fast food restaurant and start randomly shooting. This sort of violent behavior hasn’t decreased, it has increased. And the people doing the violence have gotten younger and younger. Think of all the innocent people who have died because a single individual has some sort of terrible problem and they believe the only way out is to kill as many people as they can and then kill themselves. To end it all, they say. Because one person believes life isn’t worth living, or some injustice has been done to them, or just wants a thrill, they go out and commit violent acts against an innocent person or persons.

Why has all these terrible acts of violence been committed and what can be done to stop this outrage? Many assumed "experts" in our nation are looking into this issue, and they are coming up with all kinds of supposed solutions. But the answer is very simple. The very existence of God has been challenged. Many people do not believe God created this universe, instead they believe this universe got here by random acts of nothingness, which is call evolution. What has happened is that in the minds of many people God has been taken off his throne, and Satan has been installed in His place. This is a literal fulfillment of II Thess. 2:3,4 which states, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, (the day of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth in the rapture) except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."

Many people are following the desires of Satan, not the desires of a Most Holy God. Each person needs to recognize not only the existence of God, but the fact of our being accountable to Him and to Him alone.

When men try to remove the idea of God, and our being accountable to Him, from their hearts and minds, the result is what we see in our nation today - the foundations are destroyed. Psalms 11:3 states, "When the foundations are destroyed, what shall the righteous do?" The foundation of every society is in Christ Jesus, who is the express image of the everlasting God. The Bible, God’s Holy Word, gives instructions for daily living. When God is removed from the mind and heart of people, when God’s Word is removed from the minds of men, chaos remains. And chaos will remain until people realize the fact that God not only exists, but is the very foundation of their earthly existence. People just don’t know what to do, they don’t know which direction to take in their lives when they refuse to accept the fact of God’s existence, and His right to judge sin. People don’t even know what sin is, or what God expects of them when the Bible is removed. People need the instructions which are clearly set out in the Bible. The problems we face today is because God and God’s Word have been discarded.

Someone might ask, "How can God be completely at peace when people are openly rebelling against Him and His authority over them?" The answer lies in Psalms 2:1-5, "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure."

When people turn against God and mock Him, and refuse to allow Him to rule over them, God isn’t wringing His hands in despair. God isn’t trying to figure out what He is going to do next to try to convince these rebellious people that it is in their best interest to serve and worship Him. He laughs at rebellious people. Why does He laugh? Because He knows the futility of their rebellious struggles. He knows humans are just grasshoppers to Him and He can overcome them with the smallest effort on His part.

Today, if you are denying the existence of God, if you are denying that God is the creator of this universe and everything in it, you will soon deny, if you haven’t already, that God is your final judge. Just remember this: without God there is no hope in this world, or in the world to come. Without God, there wouldn’t be a world. Without God, there wouldn’t be a Jesus Christ. Without God, there wouldn’t be a Saviour. Without God, there wouldn’t be a sacrifice for our sinfulness. Without God, there wouldn’t be a heaven. Without God, there wouldn’t be eternal bliss, eternal peace, and eternal happiness. But listen: without God, there is hell, and where God is not, that is hell!

Many people try to understand God from the perspective of their own depraved minds. This simply cannot be done. God is not like man because mankind is full of sin and wickedness. God is altogether holy and has no sin or wickedness at all.

A description of God is given in John 4:24 which states, "God is a spirit…". This means that God does not exist in a body like ours. He is entirely invisible and is able to be in every part of every place at all times. Men bring their gods down to their level by making images of them, but this is not so with our God. We could never make an image that fully or partially describes God. He is pure spirit and cannot be described in material terms. This is why God demands in Exodus 20:4, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:"

Why does God say not to make a graven image of Him? Because that image will never do justice to God’s majesty and splendor. And people will soon forget that the image isn’t God and will begin to worship the image as if it is God. Notice Isaiah 44 and what Isaiah says about images that represent God. Isaiah speaks about images made out of wood, but an image made out of concrete, gold, silver, or any other substance will turn out about the same. First of all, in verse 13, the carpenter makes an image out of wood that looks like a man, according to the beauty of a man. Why does the image have to look like a man? The latter part of verse 13 explains, "That it may remain in the house." In other words, the chunk of wood is decorated so it will look nice and will be an accessory to all the other decorations in the house. To put it very bluntly, a person wouldn’t let any image that represents their God stay in the house if it didn’t look nice.

Think what has happened here. God, instead of being the center, vocal point of lives, has become an accessory to all the other decorations in the house. God has been taken off His throne, by the image maker and worshipper, and placed alongside other articles that a man owns. But God is not something that a person owns. God is not an accessory alongside all the other possessions of man. God is not something a person can move about at his own will. God is not something a person can use as is pleasing to himself, change as it pleases himself, or discard as it pleases himself. God is God, and He is greater and more necessary than anything else a man may have. Without God, there is absolutely nothing at all. With God and in God, all things consist, Colossians 1:17.

Notice what verse 15 says about wood and what it is used for. Wood, from a tree, is used to burn for heat. Wood, from that same tree, is used to cook food. Wood, from that same tree, is used to make a god, and the people fall down before that piece of wood to worship. Isn’t that amazing? A person will cut down a tree and use it for three purposes. One: to burn it for heat; two: to cook his food, and three: to make an image to worship and call god. This is what Isaiah 44:15 states.

Verse 19 of Isaiah 44 declares that even though this is done, none stop to consider what they are doing. They don’t stop to think that the image of their God is made out of wood. They don’t stop to think that they have used part of the tree to burn for heat, part of the tree to cook their food, and the other part to make an image that they bow down to in order to worship. Verse 19 concludes by stating, "…shall I fall down to the stock of a tree."

Now remember again our point. John 4:24 states, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Any image that represents God will not cause us to increase our admiration of God. Rather any image will cause us to forget how great God is. No image, real or imagined, can really capture the essence of God. God is greater than we can ever image. He is stronger than any strength imaginable. Do you remember when God caused all the plagues to come upon Egypt? When the magicians of Egypt couldn’t produce lice, they said, "This is the finger of God." If God can produce lice with his finger, what could He do if He used His whole hand? If God can speak and create the entire universe in six literal 24 hour days, what could He do if He began to move His "spiritual body" in working labor? When God created this universe by speaking it into existence He only gave one command a day. How much could God do if he gave more than one command a day?

You see what I am saying? God is a spirit. He is very powerful, very great, splendors and magnificence beyond any comprehending of men. God is so great that men cannot understand or even conceive of His greatness.

Another way that men try to understand God is to try to figure out how He thinks. This is an admirable thing to do, but one that will never be achieved. Notice what Isaiah 55:8,9 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." God lives in a realm very much above the realm in which we live. God is Spirit, not physical, or fleshly. God does not think like we think, and His ways are not like ours either. While humans often worry and fret about everyday circumstances, God’s life is entirely unburdened by any care or worry or any such thing. He is completely satisfied and at peace with everything in heaven and earth. From God’s high vantage point, He is able to see the beginning from the end (and all the middle). Not only can God see the end from the beginning and all the middle, He has the power to control every event, regardless of how small and insignificant that event is. God knows and understands all about every person on the face of the entire world, regardless of how essential, or nonessential, that person, that place, or that nation is in the eyes of men.

While men worry and fret about many things, God is completely at peace about all things. While men worry and fret about how things will turn out, God isn’t anxious at all, because He knows how everything will turn out. He sees the end from the beginning and all the middle. God is the one who not only sees what will happen, He is the one who brings it to pass. God is not an inactive viewer of events. He is the one who causes each and every event to take place. God has the power to move in the hearts of kings to turn nations which soever way pleases Him. He can also turn the hearts of the most insignificant person which soever way it pleases Him. God can do whatever He wants to do, and there is none to stay His hand, or to ask him why He has done such and such.

God is not even concerned when people rebel against Him, his authority over them, or even deny the fact of His existence. Psalms 2:1-5 gives the account of men who turn against God and His leadership. These verses state, "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. What does God do, or what does God think about all this rebellion? 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure." Is God worried or full of hand wringing fretfulness when people decide they will not have God to rule over them? No, He laughs. Why does He laugh? Because God knows the weakness of man, his total inability to control his everyday affairs. Mankind cannot even live if God doesn’t give him life.

Men also try to understand God by understanding His person. First of all, let us discover a definition of God as a triune being. That is: God is one divine essence of being subsisting in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We can correctly state, "We worship one God in trinity and trinity in unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance." In other words, God is a spirit. We worship God in spirit and in truth, and we worship the three persons of the Godhead, which are only one substance, (that is - God), and each person is all of God. When we are worshipping Jesus Christ in spirit and truth, we are worshipping all of the Godhead because all of the Godhead is found in Christ. Colossians 2:9, in speaking about Jesus Christ, states, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." This passage clearly states that Christ is God, all of God, and He is the Godhead revealed to fallen, sinful man in a fleshly body. And again, Christ, in Colossians 1:15, is called "…the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature."

When we worship God the Father, in spirit and truth, we are also worshipping the entire Godhead because all of the Godhead is found in God the Father. The same principle exists concerning the Holy Spirit of God.

God has three modes of being, three centers of personal consciousness. He is one essentially, but three persons relatively. And in these relations He exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Think of the Godhead like this: In the matter of source, origin, and authority, He is the Father. In the matter of expression, medium and revelation, He is the Son. In the matter of apprehension, accomplishment, and realization, He is the Spirit.

In A. H. Strong's Systematic Theology, p. 144, the trinity of the Godhead is defined as follows: "In the nature of the one God there are three eternal distinctions which are represented to us under the figure of persons, and these three are equal." The word "trinity" does not appear in the Bible, but the principle behind the doctrine certainly does appear as we shall see in this study.

Now, note this: God is not three persons in the same sense that Father, mother, and daughter are three persons in one family. You see, it could not be said that any one of three persons is the family. It takes all three persons to make the family. One person is not the family, but remains a separate individual in the family. Now, concerning God, it can be said, that any single part of the trinity is all of the Godhead.

The Father is God. John 6:27 states, "Labour not for the meat which perished...for him hath God the Father sealed." Now read I Peter 1:1,2. "Elect...according to the foreknowledge of God the Father". This passage states that it is God the Father who has the foreknowledge necessary to elect to salvation. There are many scriptures that teach that the Father is God, but these two should suffice.

Now, let us prove that the son is God. Compare John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" to John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth". When we compare these two verses we find that the Word, who is God, is said to be Jesus. Therefore Jesus is God. Now read John 10:29,30 which states, "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one". Could there be any clearer scripture to teach that Jesus and His Father are One?

Now, let’s go one step farther and prove from the Bible that the Holy Spirit is God. In Acts 5:3,4 Peter states, "…Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?...thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." Peter says there is no difference between lying to the Holy Spirit and to God. To lie to the Holy spirit is to lie to God and to lie to God is to lie to the Holy Spirit. They are the same.

So you see that we have proved from the Scriptures that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Now let us go one step farther and prove that the three parts of the Godhead are equal.

God the Father is equal to the Holy Spirit. I Peter 1:2 states, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you and peace, be multiplied". All three distinctions of the Godhead have a part in our salvation. We are elected by God the Father, cleansed by the blood of Jesus, and sanctified (set apart) by the Holy Spirit. Without each part of the Godhead doing His job, we could not be saved.

Matt. 28:19 teaches that the authority of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal. The verse states, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost". It is not baptism unless the authority of all three parts of the Godhead are used. Some claim to baptize while baptizing only in the name (authority) of Jesus. But this is not baptism at all.

All three parts of the Godhead were present when Jesus Christ was baptized. Matt. 3:16,17 declares, "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". When Jesus began His personal ministry, He did not begin with only His authority, but with the authority of the entire Godhead. Not only did Jesus began His personal ministry with the full authority of the Godhead, all three parts of the Godhead were present: Jesus Christ was being baptized, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and the voice of God expressed approval.

Paul taught that the three parts of the Godhead are equal. Turn to II Cor. 13:14. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen". In this benediction, Paul prays that Jesus will give grace, God the Father will give love, and the Holy Spirit will enable the believer to be in communion (partnership) with the other two parts of the Godhead. This combination will provide all the necessary ingredients for the successful Christian life.

Now that we have proven that each part of the trinity is God and that each part of the trinity is equal, let us now distinguish between the three parts of the Godhead.

First, The Father and Son are different from each other. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life". This well known passage makes the distinction between the begetter and the begotten. God the Father was the sender, Jesus was the sent.

Secondly, The Spirit and the Father are different from each other. John 15:26 states, "But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:" Jesus declares that the Spirit comes from the Father, therefore the Spirit is different from the Father. The Son and the Spirit are different from each other. John 14:16, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;" Jesus is the first comforter, the Holy Spirit is the second comforter and is sent at the request of Jesus. Therefore, the Son and the Spirit are different.

The conclusion is: We do not believe in three Gods, but in one God who manifest Himself to us in three distinct ways. The doctrine of the Trinity is not self-contradictory and we will make no attempt to explain away the mysteries of the nature of the Godhead. We can only search the scriptures, believing by faith what they teach us, leaving the mystery for solution in eternity.

There are two general names given to God. (1) Genesis 1:1, "Elohim", meaning the "God of creation", and (2), "Jehovah", which means the "everlasting, or eternally existing one".

Every person, including lost people, can recognize "Elohim," the God of creation, and worship Him as such. But the saved can go one step further by worshipping Jehovah, the everlasting One. In this lesson, we would like to notice seven ways the saved can worship Jehovah.

1. Genesis 22:14, Jehovah-Jireh - "God will provide." When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Abraham was willing, but God intervened and provided a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So it is with us today. God will ask us to give our most precious possession to Him. He may not want that possession, but He wants us to be willing to give it to Him.

2. Exodus 15:26, Jehovah-Roefeckie - "The Lord Heals". God promised Israel that He would keep diseases from them if they followed His commands. This doesn’t mean we will never be sick if we worship God. It means we will avoid many of the sicknesses associated with worldly living. Your "chances" of getting lung cancer is less if you don’t smoke, mouth cancer if you don’t dip or chew tobacco, skin cancer if you cover your body from the sun, (avoiding nakedness, forgetting the "tan") cirrhosis of the liver if you don’t drink. Most of all, Jesus heals us from our sinfulness, giving us a home in heaven.

3. Exodus 17:15, Jehovah-Nissi - "The Lord is my banner", or "The battle is the Lord’s". When Israel defeated the Amalekites, Moses gave the glory to the Lord. When God gives us the victory over our enemies, we can also give Him the glory. It is not what we have done, but what God has done.

4. Judges 6:24, Jehovah-Shalom - "God is peace". God had given Gideon a job he didn’t want. He was to lead Israel against the Midians who held them captive. Before the battle ever started, God gave Gideon peace that everything would turn out all right. This is an example of living by faith, totally trusting an all wise God to make everything right. Isn’t this the true peace the world is searching for today?

5. Jeremiah 23:6, Jehovah-Tsidkenu - "God is our righteousness". We, like Israel, do not stand on our own righteousness, but on the righteousness of God. Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We must be cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

6. Ezekiel 48:35, Jehovah-Shammah - "God is there, or God is ever present". Today we may erroneously "feel" that God is somewhere else and that He doesn’t watch over us like we think He ought to. But there is coming a day when our feeling will be the same as the facts. We will know that God is present with us.

7. Psalms 23:1, Jehovah-Roeshee - "God is the one who shepherds me". We were as sheep going astray, but Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He found us headed for eternal destruction, picked us up in His arms, and brought us back to the fold. He continually watches over our lives, guiding us toward the green pastures and keeping Satan from devouring us. We don’t have to worry, for our Shepherd watches over us all the day long.

It is very interesting to think of God in the above mentioned ways. He is everything to us. We are able to say with Moses in Deuteronomy 32:4,31, "...there is no God like our God".