WHO is GOD ?
Part I :
" Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." ( Isaiah 45:22) .
By: Pastor Mike :
Many people (BOTH Believers and NON-believers) ask that question . And , it IS a valid one .
The Biblical question is NOT " Does God exist " , but "WHO is God , and how is HE to be known ."
The Scriptures DO recognize the existence of a professed atheism . But such atheism is considered primarily a moral rather than an intellectual problem . The fool who denies God (Psalm 14:1) does so not from philisophical reasons (which are , in any case , incapable of disproving the absolute except by affirming such ) , but from the practical choice ( sometimes tacit ) to live without considering God (10:4) . The Scriptures recognize a willful and therefore culpable supressing of the knowlwdge of God ( Romans 1:18) .
According to the Scriptures , God is known only through His initiative in disclosing Himself through revelation . Human attempts to reason to God by various means including the so - called proofs of God are inevitably limited to the realm of created existence . While providing strong evidence for the probable existence of a god , they do not yet attain to the knowledge of the transcendent God of Scripture ( 1 Cor. 1:21 ) . As a person is truly known only through self-disclosure , God , who alone knows Himself , must disclose Himself by His spirit ( 2: 10-11 ) . In so doing He makes Himself the object of human knowledge .
Something of God's reality and power are revealed in His creation (especially in human beings) and in the preservation of the universe ( Acts 17:29 ; Romans 1:20 ). To the extent that human reason yields a concept of a god , it is undoubtedly related to this general or natural revelation . But the entrance of sin and its alienating effect blinds people from truly seeing God through this means ( Romans 1:18 ; Ephesians 4:18 ) . Apart from faith this natural knowledge of God inevitably results in false gods of idolatry ( Romans 1:21 - 25 ) . Moreover , the Bible indicates that even prior to the fall man's knowledge of God was derived not solely from the natural revelation surrounding Him in creation , but from a direct personal communication with God .
Thus , while God communicates Himself to humans through acts in creation and history , His primary means of revelation is through the Word , for human knowledge is fundamentally a conceptual matter . The revelation of God climaxed in the person of Jesus Christ , who was not simply the bearer of the revelatory Word but the Divine Word person . In Him " all the fullness of the Deity " dwells in bodily form ( Colossians 2:9 ; cf. Hebrews 1: 1-3 ) . Thus , in His mighty acts as Creator and Redeemer and in His revealed words , God by His spirit reveals Himself to give a true knowledge of Himself to those who in faith open themselves to this divine self-disclosure .
The revelation of God does not totally exhaust His being and activity . He remains the incomprehensible one that humans cannot totally fathom , both in His essence and ways ( Job 36:26 ; Isaiah 40:13 , 28 ; cf. Deut. 29:29 ) . Finitude cannot comprehend infinity , nor can human thought patterns , which are associated with the created environment , completely grasp the transcendent realm of God .
On the basis of this limitation of human reason some strains of mystical theology have denied the possibility of knowing or defining God . He could be experienced , but this was only in a state of ecstasy that transcended conceptual thought . Modern rationalism has also argued for the unknowability of God . Such an equation of the incomprehensibility of God with unknowability is valid only on the premise that human knowledge of God is derived through human reason . But. . the incomprehensible God of the Scriptures is the God who reaches out to people with the revelation of Himself . The knowledge thus derived , although according to His good pleasure , is nevertheless a TRUE knowledge of His being and work .
In giving us knowledge of Himself , God gives His Word a finite form compatible with human creatureliness . Despite this necessary accommodation to the limitations of human understanding , the revealed knowledge of God is nevertheless an authentic knowledge of God . Theories that use the difference between God and man to deny the possibility of a genuine communication of true knowledge do not do justice to at least two Biblical facts : (1) that God created man in His own image , which certainly includes a likeness sufficient for communication ; (2) God's omnipotence , which implies that He can make a creature to whom He can truthfully reveal Himself if He so wills . To be sure , there remains a hiddenness in relation to the total comprehension of God . But God Himself does NOT remain hidden , for He has given true though partial knowledge of Himself through self-revelation understandable to man .
Defining God :
Many have also wanted a definition of God . From the Biblical viewpoint it is generally agreed that it is impossible to give a strict definition of the idea of God . Defining , which means limiting , involves the inclusion of the object within a certain class and the indication of its distinguishing features from other object in that same class . Since the Biblical God is unique and incomparable ( Isaiah 40:25 ) , there is no universal abstract category of the divine .
God is PERSONAL : God's personhood has been called into question on the basis of our use of the word person with respect to human beings . But . . human personhood involves limitation that allows relationship with another person or another world . To be a person means to be an individual among individuals . All of this cautions us against an erroneous anthropomorphizing of God . Biblically , it is more proper to see God's personhood as having priority over that of man and therefore to understand human personhood theomorphously , i.e., a finite replica of the infinite divine person ( cf. Genesis 1:26 - 27) . Historically , the concept of "person" stems largely from the theological attempt to understand the meaning of person in relation to the three members of the Trinity and the unified person of Christ as BOTH God and man . So , the Biblical concept of God's personhood refutes all abstarct philisophical ideas of God as merely First Cause or Prime Mover as well as naturalistic and pantheistic concepts .
What many people , like the arrogant atheists refuse to consider is they DO NOT now , nor will they EVER . . know MORE than God ! They DO NOT now - nor will they EVER know what is beyond this earth (until they die , of course , in which case I pray they will have been saved ) .
God DOES NOT depend upon the world or anyone in it for HIS existence ! The WORLD depends on GOD for ITS existence ! God is UNCAUSED , the ONE who always IS ( Exodus 3:14) . Understanding that God is noncontingent helps to understand how God is UNLIMITED by ANYTHING , or infinite , free , self-determined , and NOT determined by ANYTHING other than HIMSELF contrary to His own sovereign purposes .
You see , God's life is from within HIMSELF , not anything that had a beginning in the space-time world . God has NO beginning , period of growth , old age , OR END ! The LORD is enthroned as King FOREVER ( Psalm 29:10 ) . THIS GOD is OUR God forever and forever ( 48:14) .
Remember , God is the same , though everything else in creation becomes old like a garment ( Psalm 102: 25-27 ) . Jesus shared that same unchanging nature ( Hebrews 1: 10 - 12) and vividly exhibited it consistently throughout His active ministry in a variety of situations .
The immutability of God's character means that He never loses His own integrity or lets others down . He " does not change like shifting shadows" ( James 1: 17 ) .God's unshakable nature and Word provide the strongest ground of faith and bring strong consolation ( Hebrews 6: 17-18) . God is not a man , that He should lie ( Numbers 23:19 ) or change His mind ( 1 Samuel 15:29 ) . The counsel of The Lord stands forever ( Psalms 33 : 11 ) . Though heaven and earth pass away God's Words will not fail ( Matthew 5:18 ; 24:35 ) .
In conclusion of this first part of my series of sermons on " Who is God ? " , let me remind you all that God's being is eternal , the world's temporal . God's knowledge is total , human knowledge incomplete . God's character is Holy , humanity's character fallen and sinful . God's desires are consistently against evil yet long-suffering and compassionate ; human desires fluctuate inconsistently and often intermingle evil with the good . God's energy is untiring and inexhaustible ; the world's energy is subject to depletion through entropy . Hence , God is over AND above persons in the world .
Until next time , May God Continue to Bless and Keep you ALL - ALWAYS . . .
Your Brother in Christ - Pastor Mike