Post by The Ambassador on Jun 29, 2019 11:25:49 GMT
Knowing God
From
Humans have developed many complex and
ethereal ideas about what God is like. But how
does our loving Creator reveal Himself in the
pages of the Bible? It’s both more accessible
and more incredible than people have imagined.
Really getting to know God will transform your
life for the better forever!
ethereal ideas about what God is like. But how
does our loving Creator reveal Himself in the
pages of the Bible? It’s both more accessible
and more incredible than people have imagined.
Really getting to know God will transform your
life for the better forever!
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” ~ John 17: 3
Introduction:
Can we get to know God? Is He so far off, so mysterious, that we could never understand Him? Or does God want to have a close, personal relationship with us? Does He reveal Himself clearly in the Bible? Our world is filled with myriad gods and ideas about God, most of which seem inconsistent or unintelligible.
One of the most common beliefs in Christianity today is the mystery of the Trinity—that there is one God who appears as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Many have accepted this explanation of God as the defining doctrine of orthodoxy without studying its origin.
Chapter Two Part Two; “What Jesus and the New Testament Reveal About God”
This Sabbath, we continue with our study of the true nature of God. Our discussion this week centers
on revelations about God from Jesus and the New Testament.
on revelations about God from Jesus and the New Testament.
Jesus said that He came to reveal the Father (Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22). Jesus did this by teaching His disciples and by simply interacting with them on a human level. Because He was so much like the Father, Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). John, one of the disciples who was especially close to Jesus, learned much about God through his personal experience with Christ. In the books bearing his name he conveys information about God not found in the Old Testament.
John begins his Gospel account: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3). A few verses later, John adds: “And the Word became 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. ... No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (verses 14, 18).
In these verses John reveals several important concepts about God that were not as fully explained in the Old Testament.
The Word (who became flesh) existed from the beginning with God. These were two distinct beings, as the phrase with God indicates. As the late British theologian F.F. Bruce comments on the opening passages of the Gospel of John: “The Personal Word is uncreated,* not only enjoying the divine companionship, but sharing the divine essence” (The Message of the New Testament, 1972, p. 105). Thus, both God and the Word are God, and both have eternally existed.
* Comment: There is no basis for the assumption that Jesus is uncreated by God since, at Colossians 1, it clearly states that, "15 [Jesus] who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation . . . However, as we have discussed, time itself is a created thing and both Jesus and the Father existed before time was created. Therefore, there is no basis for the assumption that Jesus was any other than a created being. Created by God as the beginning of His ways and before time began.
• John speaks of the “Father” and the “Son” as the spirit beings currently in the Godhead. John uses these familial terms in John 1:14, 18, 34, and no doubt learned this from Jesus. Christ taught His disciples to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9) and that He was the Son of God (Luke 22:70). These familial terms—Father and Son—harmonize with the amazing revelation in Ephesians 3:15 that God has a “ family in heaven and earth.”
Let’s now consider what the Bible further reveals about the roles of God the Father and the Word, who became Jesus, the Son of God.
God the Father
God the Father is the eternally existing, supreme spirit being in the Godhead, who has great love, intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, justice, power and authority. Jesus clearly stated, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28),
and Paul confirmed that there is “one God and Father of all, who is above all” (Ephesians 4:6).
These passages and others, such as John 20:17 and Romans 15:6, show that the Father and the Word are not the same being simply appearing as different persons. They can’t be the same being if one is greater than the other or interacts with the other. They are distinct beings, each having a distinct role in the Godhead.
The Father created all things that exist through the Word (who became Jesus Christ). Because the Father authorized and took a special interest in the creation of mankind, God the Father is truly the Father of mankind—the One responsible for our existence. Based on the Old Testament, the Jews during the first century knew God was their spiritual Father (Malachi 2:10; John 8:41), though they didn’t really know Him.
God the Father’s designation Father came to be more fully understood after He caused Mary to be impregnated with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and after His purpose for mankind was revealed. Luke 1:35 explains how Mary came to be pregnant and that she was told “that the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” God the Father was in [the fullest] sense the Father of Jesus, and Jesus referred to Him as “Father” throughout His earthly existence.
While God the Father cares deeply about His creation, the Old Testament doesn’t reveal much information about the Father. This is why it was necessary for Jesus to “reveal” the Father (Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22). Jesus further explained, “No one has seen God [the Father] at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18).
God the Father’s desire is for humans to come to know Him, respect Him, obey Him and come to Him through His Son, Jesus (John 14:6). Speaking of the Word, who became Jesus, John explains, “But as many as received Him [Jesus] to them He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). While we come to the Father through Jesus, we should also note the Father’s personal interaction with mankind. The book of Hebrews explains: “God [the Father], who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in the last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). The Father was also the being who sent His Son into the world “that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17, compare John 20:21).
In the process of becoming children of God, Jesus explained that humans need a special calling from the Father in order to understand and respond. Describing this profound truth, Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44, compare verse 65).
God the Father, who knows when a sparrow falls to the ground and who loves humans deeply (Matthew 10:29-31), determines when to call people. In teaching us how to respond to God, Jesus instructed us to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9). And there is no doubt that God hears and is touched by our prayers, for they are described as incense—a sweet-smelling aroma—to Him (1 Peter 3:12; James 5:16; Revelation 5:8).
Prior to leaving earth after His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus also told His disciples about two other significant roles of the Father. First, He spoke of the Holy Spirit, for which they were to wait in Jerusalem, as “the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me’” (Acts 1:4). Then Jesus said that God the Father would determine when future prophetic events would be fulfilled (verses 6-7). Earlier Jesus had explained that the Father was the One who knew or would determine the precise time of His second coming to earth (Matthew 24:36).
The actions we have just considered show God the Father to be intimately involved with His creation and the head of the family of God (Ephesians 3:14- 15). These actions are indeed fatherly. We will consider more fully the meaning of God being a family in the concluding chapter of this booklet.
Jesus as God
Various ideas about Jesus have been proposed. Some think He was a created being—a great rabbi or a prophet or an angel. Some think Jesus was simply one of three ways the singular God has appeared to mankind. But, as we have already seen, what many people think is not always what the Bible teaches.
So what does the Bible say about Jesus?
Earlier we saw that Jesus said He came to reveal the Father (Matthew 11:27) and that John 1 explains that the Word (the One who became Jesus) existed with the Father and created the universe under the jurisdiction of the Father. next week we will expand on these concepts and focus on a few more to see a bigger picture as to who Jesus is.
Next Sabbath: Chapter 2, Part 2
Bible Reading
Judith Chapter 12
Judith stood by Holofernes' bed and prayed silently, "O Lord, God Almighty, help me with what I am about to do for the glory of Jerusalem. 5 Now is the time to rescue your chosen people and to help me carry out my plan to destroy the enemies who are threatening us." 6 Judith went to the bedpost by Holofernes' head and took down his sword. 7 She came closer, seized Holofernes by the hair of his head, and said, "O Lord, God of Israel, give me strength now."
8 Then Judith raised the sword and struck him twice in the neck as hard as she could, chopping off his head. 9 She rolled his body off the bed and took down the mosquito net from the bedposts. Then she came out and gave Holofernes' head to her slave, 10 who put it in the food bag. Then the two women left together, as they always did when they went to pray.
After they had walked through the Assyrian camp, they crossed the valley and went up the mountainside until they came to the gates of Bethulia. 11 When they were a short distance away, Judith called out to the guards at the gate, "Open the gate! Open the gate! Our God is still with us. Today he has once again shown his strength in Israel and used his power against our enemies."
12 When the men heard her voice, they hurried down to the gates and called for the town officials. 13 Everyone, young and old, ran together to the gate. No one could believe that Judith had come back. They opened the gate for her and her slave and welcomed them. Then, when they had lit a fire to give some light and had gathered around the two women,
14 Judith shouted, "Praise God, give him praise! Praise God, who has not held back his mercy from the people of Israel. Tonight he has used me to destroy our enemies." 15 She then took the head out of the food bag and showed it to the people. "Here," she said, "is the head of Holofernes, the general of the Assyrian army, and here is the mosquito net from his bed, where he lay in a drunken stupor. The Lord used a woman to kill him. 16 As the Lord lives, I swear that Holofernes never touched me, although my beauty deceived him and brought him to his ruin. I was not defiled or disgraced; the Lord took care of me through it all."
17 Everyone in the city was utterly amazed. They bowed down and worshiped God, praying together, "Our God, you are worthy of great praise. Today you have triumphed over the enemies of your people."
18 Then Uzziah said, "Judith, my dear, the Most High God has blessed you more than any other woman on earth. How worthy of praise is the Lord God who created heaven and earth! He guided you as you cut off the head of our deadliest enemy. 19 Your trust in God will never be forgotten by those who tell of God's power. 20 May God give you everlasting honor for what you have done. May he reward you with blessings, because you remained faithful to him and did not hesitate to risk your own life to relieve the oppression of your people." All the people replied, "Amen, amen!"
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