God

Knowledge of God, that is, who He is, what attributes He possesses, and His relationship to us, are vital in the scheme of salvation. For if we do not know God, then how can we have trust in Him? What will drive us to serve and worship Him? Ultimately, what kind of relationship can we have with an unknown God? “Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. Receive, please, instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.” (NKJ: Job 22:21-22) “Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.” (NKJ: Jeremiah 9:23-24) We live in a day and age when many people say that they believe in “God” or “a God.” Unfortunately, just because someone says that they believe in “God”, does not mean that they believe in the one and only “God” of the Bible. Many cults and pseudo-religious denominations claim to believe in and worship “God”, but what they have come to worship is their own false version of God--a god that they have designed to conform to their own personal desires: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (NKJ: John 17:3) “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God…” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 1:9) “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (NKJ: I John 5:20) “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.” (NKJ: Philippians 3:19-20) “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (NKJ: II Corinthians 4:3-4) (Note: The “the god of this age” is a reference to Satan.) There is only one true God, the God of the Bible--the God who created us, knows everything about us, and who loves us more than we can earthly imagine. There are not multiple “gods” to choose from, and we cannot design our own version of God that satisfies our own desires and lusts as some, like the “New Age” movements and various Christian cults, would like to do. No, to truly believe in and worship God, is to believe in and worship the one true God of the Holy Bible. The most distinguishing characteristic that separates the true God of the Bible from all other false gods is His Son Jesus Christ. God, in His Word, makes it very clear that He and His Son are inseparable. To believe in the one true God is to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. To reject Jesus Christ, is to reject the one true God. The Scriptures are crystal clear on this foundational Christian doctrine: “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (NKJ: I John 5:11-12) “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (NKJ: Matthew 10:32-33) “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” (NKJ: John 5:22-23) “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” (NKJ: John 1:18) “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (NKJ: John 3:35-36) “…our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (NKJ: I John 1:3) “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (NKJ: I John 2:22-23) “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (NKJ: I John 4:14-15) “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.” (NKJ II John 1:9-11) To know and believe in God, is to know and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. To reject Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is to reject God Himself. No matter how hard one tries to separate the Two, one cannot. I purposefully shared a significant number of verses above to emphasize the point that the Bible is very clear on the subject of the inseparability of God and His Son Jesus Christ. Any religious denomination, doctrine, or spiritual belief that denies Jesus Christ, will be presenting a belief in a false god. As a side note, it is also important that the Jesus Christ being presented is the true Jesus Christ, and not a false one (cf. I Corinthians 11:4) for one must believe in Jesus Christ of the Bible, and not just some made up entity given the name of Jesus Christ. Various pseudo-Christian denominations or cults state that they believe in “Jesus Christ”, but when the “Jesus Christ” they are presenting is examined, it is discovered that he is not the “Jesus Christ” of the Bible, but a derived “Jesus” that the Scriptures. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he specifically warns them against those who would come and preach a Jesus that was “another Jesus”, different from the one and only true Savior, “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” (NKJ: II Corinthians 11:4) I would recommend reading the Bible study on “Jesus Christ” as a compliment to this study. Along these same lines, it is very important to realize that all “roads” do not lead to the true God of the Bible, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (NKJ: Matthew 7:13-14) In the preceding passage, Jesus is explain to His disciples about the road to salvation. There is a “wide road” that represents all the false doctrines with false gods and false Christ’s that appeal to the lusts and desires of humankind. These false doctrines will present many different ways to heaven, all of which are false, but at the same time appealing to those who would want to make their own rules for their lives, and not to submit to the one true God. In contrast is the “narrow road” representing the one and only true path to the one true God—this path being Jesus Christ of the Bible. Some would like to say that we are all actually praying to the same God. They would say that all the different gods of the various religions of the world are really one in the same God. They would argue that all the religions of the world are basically saying the same things, and the only difference is really just the name given to God. There are many reasons why this is not even close to the truth, but the mere fact that no other religion recognizes Jesus Christ for who He is and His inseparable relationship with God, proves the point that the concept of all roads lead to God is false. Now, let’s learn more about the one true God of the Holy Bible. One of the best ways to gain a better understanding of God is to study His attributes. So with that, let’s jump into a review of the attributes of God: God is Love Of all of God’s attributes, “love” is to me the most important one for us to comprehend, “…for God is love.” (NKJ: I John 4:8) Here we have the God and Creator of the Universe, who loves each one of us with a divine love that so surpasses any love that we could ever experience here on earth. Before we proceed, let us make sure that we properly understand just what God means when He uses the word “love.” The word “love” to God is not just some term of affection, but is a term used to describe a sacrificial feeling towards another in which their well-being is of paramount importance. We are told in the Scriptures concerning love, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.” (NKJ: I John 3:16) To truly love, in the biblical sense, is to be willing to lay down one’s life for another. This is how God feels towards us. What an awesome revelation is God’s love towards us, such that it should make each one of us shout in amazement and extreme joy. We must first realize that God’s love for us is unmerited and undeserved, but is graciously given to us based on God’s sovereign will. In the following verses, we can get a grasp of the nature of God’s love for us: “We love Him because He first loved us.” (NKJ: I John 4:19) God’s love for us was not predicated on us loving Him first. While we were in rejection of Him, He loved us. His love for us is not contingent on us loving Him. Therefore, even in those times when we may be mad at God or have temporarily pushed Him away, He is still in love with us. “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,…” (NKJ: Ephesians 1:4-5) Though it is incomprehensible to the human mind, even so, God chose to love us before we were even created, before the creation of the world. As we will discuss further along in His attributes, God is omniscient, that is, He knows everything: past, present, and future. He knows everything about us, and everything we will ever do in our lives till the day we pass on from this earth. Therefore, there is nothing we can ever do that will turn His love away from us. “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (NKJ: Romans 5:6-8) One extremely important biblical fact we as Christians must understand is that God loves us inspite of ourselves and our sinful nature. He loves us with all our faults and failings. He demonstrated this to us in giving His only Son as a sacrifice for our sins, that we may be Holy and Righteous through this sacrifice. And Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross was not predicated on us first ceasing to sin, but was given to us freely while we were all, both those present at the time and us being in the future, still sinners. Our Holy God, who hates sin, chose to love us sinners and to provide a way for us to spend eternity with Him through His sacrifice of His Son. We, and this is an all inclusive “we” encompassing every person that has ever lived, are sinners, and do not deserve God’s love. But He chose to love us according to His own will, and not based on anything we have done. For the Scriptures tell us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (NKJ: Romans 3:23-26) “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NKJ: Romans 8:35-39) We are secure in God’s love. The above passage irrefutably tells us that there is nothing that can separate us from the divine love of God. His loving arms are tightly around us, and He will never release us from His loving hold. Hallelujah. Now we should not confuse love with permissiveness. Our heavenly Father only wants the best for us, and sometimes this means He must discipline us to teach us right from wrong, just as an earthly father would, ““My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?” (NIV: Hebrews 12:5-7) There will be times in the life of a Christian when we are acting contrary to the will of God, which will rob us of the joy of receiving God’s best for us. A loving earthly father may discipline his child for improperly running out into the street for the purpose of training them to be careful, and thus protecting them from future harm. At the time, the child might not understand the potential danger, but will yield to their father’s will due to the discipline they received. In the same way, our heavenly Father will discipline us when we are unknowingly, or knowingly, walking out into the street in front of on-coming traffic. His love for us will not permit Him to just stand by and allow us to be harmed. For a more detailed discussion on this topic, I would recommend reading the Bible study on “Trials in the life of a Christian.” As Christians, if we ever come to a point in our walk where we doubt the love that our God has for us, we only need to look to the Cross to bring us to our knees in thankfulness. For God sent His only Son to die a terrible death on the Cross so that we would have the way to eternal salvation, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (NKJ: John 3:16) With our eyes on the Cross, never should we doubt the love that our God has for us. God is Faithful One of my favorite memory verses is II Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” God’s faithfulness to us is not predicated on our faithfulness to Him, but is based solely on His love for us, His children, that is, those who have accepted His Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior of their lives. We are told in the book of Hebrews, “For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (NKJ: Hebrews 12:5) We can find secure rest in the arms of our forever-faithful God. All throughout the Old Testament, we can see the faithfulness of God and His Word. His promise to bring Israel out of their bondage in Egypt, and then again from their bondage in Babylon, His promise to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child even though Sarah was past her child-bearing years, to the ultimate promise of bringing into the world a Savior, Jesus Christ. Without exception, God’s Word has never failed. And, as with any father, God is also faithful to discipline us when we are out-of-line with His Word (cf. Hebrews 12:5-7), as would any loving father who wants the best for His children. The Bible is very clear on the faithfulness of our God: “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,…” (NKJ: Exodus 34:6) “The Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice: a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (ASV: Deuteronomy 32:4) “Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.” (NKJ: Psalm 36:5) “But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness….” (NKJ: Psalm 86:15) “For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (NKJ: Psalm 100:5) “O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.” (NKJ: Isaiah 25:1) “What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all!” (NKJ: Romans 3:3-4) “God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 1:9) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (NKJ: I John 1:9) The attribute of faithfulness indicates that one can be depended upon and trusted in. And in the case of our God, His divine and perfect faithfulness to us means that we never need to fear because God is always there, looking after us. Even in those tough times when hope seems to be lost, our God is there, holding us in His mighty hand, not allowing us to completely fall. Yes, there may be times when God allows us to go through tough situations for our benefit, such as building our faith in Him (see Bible study on “Trials in the Life of a Christian”), but He is always there, in control of every unpleasant situation that may befall us. For in His Word He tells us, “‘Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” (NKJ: Hebrews 13:5-6) God is Omniscient (knowing all things) Our God knows all things: past, present, and future. There is nothing God does not know. We find this evidenced in the following verses: “Do you know how the clouds are balanced, Those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?” (NKJ: Job 37:16) “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.” (NKJ: Psalm 147:5) “For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” (NKJ: I John 3:20) God is perfect in His knowledge in that there is absolutely nothing that He has not known before the beginning of time. All of eternity was in His mind even before the universe was created. The biblical truth that God already knows all future events is very evident based firstly on His Word: “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…” (NKJ: Ephesians 1:4) “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…” (NKJ: I Peter 1:2) “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God…” (NKJ: Acts 2:23) “God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.” (NKJ: Romans 11:2) “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you…” (NKJ: I Peter 1:20) “And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign LORD, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign LORD?” (NKJ: II Samuel 7:19) And secondly God’s omniscience is shown through the prophecies in His Word. For throughout the Old Testament, we are given hundreds of foretellings of future events with a 100% accuracy. The following is a small sampling of some of these prophecies: God prophesied through Jeremiah that Israel would spend 70 years in captivity in Babylon, and then would return to Israel, “For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. “ (NKJ: Jeremiah 29:10) This was fulfilled according to biblical history. In Daniel 11:2-25, we see a detailed future history of Israel and the nations around her over an approximate 400-year period. This prophecy was so detailed, and so perfectly accurate, that, centuries later, atheists would insist that it was not written by Daniel in the sixth century B.C., but was written over 400 years later by another writer. Those not believing in God could not accept this writing as authentic since it alone could prove that there was an omniscient God, and that He was the author of the Bible. God prophesied through the prophet Micah that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) would be born in Bethlehem, ““But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” (NKJ: Micah 5:2) This was literally fulfilled according to the second chapters of both the books of Matthew and Luke. God prophesied through the prophet Zechariah that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) would come riding on the colt of a Donkey, “’Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’” (NKJ: Zechariah 9:9) This was literally fulfilled in the book of Matthew, chapter 21. Only an omniscient God could prophesize with such detail and perfect accuracy. I might add that no other supposed god has ever been able to accomplish this miracle. Let’s now take a look at some specific aspects of God’s infinite knowledge: God See’s Everything God see’s everything that happens here on earth, throughout the universe, and in heaven, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.” (NKJ: Proverbs 15:3) Nothing escapes the eyes of the Lord. Knowing that the eyes of the Lord are continually on us, how much more should we strive to have every step of our lives be in accordance with His Word and His will. God Knows Everything in Creation God is extremely intimate with every aspect of His creation. To the point of calling each of the uncountable number of stars in the universe by name, and knowing each hair of our heads by number: “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.” (NKJ: Psalm 147:4) “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (NKJ: Matthew 10:29-30) God’s knowledge is infinite from the largest planets in the universe down to the individual hairs on our heads. God Intimately Knows Us Most important to us is God’s intimate knowledge of us. God knows everything about us, even our thoughts. In fact, He knew us before the creation of the universe (Ephesians 1:4). God knows everything about us, our past, present, and future. There is nothing about us that God does not know: “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…” (NKJ: Ephesians 1:4) “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (NKJ: Matthew 10:30) “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (NKJ: Jeremiah 17:10) “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (NKJ: Romans 8:29) “The LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.” (NKJ: Psalm 94:11) “…would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?” (NKJ: Psalm 44:21) “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts.” (NKJ: Luke 167:15) The biblical fact that God is omniscient should bring joy to the heart of every Christian. For if God is omniscient, this means that there is nothing we can do that will surprise Him, since He already knows everything, past, present, and future. The Scriptures tell us that He knew us and our lives while we were still in our mother’s womb, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb….Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” (NKJ: Psalm 139:13 & 16) Furthermore, the Scriptures tell us that God knew us before time began, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…” (NKJ: Ephesians 1:4-5) Since there is nothing we can do that will surprise God, that means that there is nothing we can do that will cause God to leave or forsake us. We should feel secure in His love for us, and in our gift of salvation. Yes, there will be times when we sin and act contrary to God’s Word, and our actions may even cause God to have to discipline us in the same way any loving parent would discipline their child. But He will never leave us, or stop loving us. For He has already accepted us with all our faults and failures, even those that are yet in the future. We, as Christians, should feel such comfort in this. God is Eternal God is eternal, and He existed before time even began. In essence, He has no beginning for He has always been. We get a glimpse of this in the following verses: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” (NKJ: Psalm 90:2) “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 33:27) “No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 2:7) We are temporal beings, and, therefore, cannot completely comprehend the concept of an eternal God that existed before time began and has no “beginning.” Nevertheless, though our minds cannot comprehend this, our God is eternal. God is Omnipotent (Infinite Power) God’s power is infinite with no limit. He is the creator all things including us: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (NKJ: Genesis 1:1) “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: ‘I am the LORD, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;…’” (NKJ: Isaiah 44:24) There is nothing that the Lord cannot do: “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” (NKJ: Job 42:2) “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” (NKJ: Psalm 33:6-9) “‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.’” (NKJ: Jeremiah 32:17) “But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (NKJ: Matthew 19:26) Our God is all powerful. There is nothing that he cannot accomplish if He wills. What an awe-inspiring, and, at the same time, extremely joyful feeling this should give to Christians. The God of this universe, who has an infinite love towards us, uniquely and singularly possesses infinite power over everything on earth and in heaven. Everything is subject to His authority. What security we Christians can feel nestled in the arms of our Omnipotent God who has promised to keep our eternal salvation secure through His power and not our own, “who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (NKJ I Peter 1:5) Omnipresence (Present everywhere at the same time) At every moment, God is everywhere—a divine mystery about our infinite God that can never be fully comprehended by finite beings such as ourselves, but true nevertheless. We are told in the Bible that there is no place we can go to hide ourselves from God: “’Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?’ says the LORD; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the LORD.” (NKJ: Jeremiah 23:24) “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.” (NKJ: Psalm 139:7-13) God is present everywhere all the time. How marvelous this is for us as Christians. There will never be a situation or trial that we go through where God is not right there with us every second of the time. What comfort that should bring us. Even in those darkest times, when everything seems to be against us, He is right there beside us, guiding us and protecting us. Even in our mother’s womb, as the last line of the above verse states, He was with us. What could be a more wonderful thought than picturing our God looking over us while we were still being formed in our mother’s womb. Even more important is the security God’s omnipresence should bring us. Not only is He always with us, but we are told that He will never leave us, “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” (NKJ: Hebrews 13:5-6) We will make mistakes in our lives, act in ways that are contrary to God’s Word, or even rebel against Him at times, but, as any loving parent would, God still loves us with all our faults, and will never leave us. Nothing in this world is more precious and secure than the love of our Lord and His continual presence in our lives. God is Holy To begin with, what does “holiness” or “holy” mean based on the Bible’s definition. Specifically, this attribute of God points to His moral perfection and His separateness or uniqueness. Let’s take a look at several verses regarding “holiness”: Moral Perfection In the verses below, we see a clear connection between holiness and spiritual cleanness. This spiritual cleanness refers to an absence of those things that are sinful and contrary to what is good according to the Word of God. In particular, note the verse above from I Chronicles, verse 23:28, in which we are specifically told that holy things are to be purified, meaning that all things unclean, symbolically referring to sin, have been removed from them: “For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 23:14) “…that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean…” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 10:10) “…in the purifying of all holy things…” (NKJ: I Chronicles 23:28) “…otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 7:14) “…that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (NKJ: Ephesians 5:27) Separateness or Uniqueness In the below verses, we will see how God uses the word “holy” to signify a separation: “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work…” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 5:12-14) The seventh day was to be separate from all the other days. “’For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.’” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 7:6) God chose Israel and separated them from all other peoples on the earth. The Scriptures tell us that God is a Holy God, “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His footstool—He is holy….Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.” (NKJ: Psalm 99:5,9) And not only is He holy, but He alone, exclusive of everything else in all of creation, is holy, “’Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested.’” (NKJ: Revelation 15:4) He is uniquely holy in that His holiness is not drawn or dependent upon anything else. Old Testament sacrifices, places of worship such as the Temple, and Christians are holy, but this holiness is derived from God and through the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Without God, nothing can be holy. He alone possesses true holiness, and other things deemed holy derive their holiness from Him. For us a Christians, this means that our God is separate and unique from all other gods. In addition, His work in our lives is based on His perfect moral will. Never need we fear about His decisions for our lives. God is Righteous As with our discussion on the holiness of God in the previous section, let us first define what the Bible means by “righteousness.” The attribute of righteousness means that one is truthful and just in their judgments. A righteous person’s beliefs and actions are only for that which is good, and they hate sin The following verses will serve as support for this definition: “And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You…” (NKJ: I Kings 3:6) “therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness…” (NKJ: II Chronicles 9:8) “The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.” (NKJ: Psalm 19:9) “Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.” (NKJ: Proverbs 2:9) “All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; nothing crooked or perverse is in them.” (NKJ: Proverbs 8:8) “The desire of the righteous is only good…” (NKJ: Proverbs 11:23) “The thoughts of the righteous are right…” (NKJ: Proverbs 12:5) “He who speaks truth declares righteousness…” (NKJ: Proverbs 12:17) “A righteous man hates lying…” (NKJ: Proverbs 13:5) “The righteous man walks in his integrity…” (NKJ: Proverbs 20:7) ‘Awake to righteousness, and do not sin…” (NKJ: I Corinthians 15:34) One who is truly righteous, is one who we can completely trust, and our God is righteous, “for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does.” (NKJ: Daniel 9:14) With our God there is only absolute truth and perfect judgment. With God there is only goodness, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (NKJ: I John 1:5) Never should we question His work in our lives, for the foundation of His will for our lives is based on His righteousness, that is, His perfect judgment, truth, and goodness. After studying the above attributes of God, I would hope that the reader would find themselves being drawn to seek a more intimate and trusting relationship with our God and Father in heaven. How awesome and mind-blowing it should be to realize that the infinitely great and powerful God of this universe loves us so much, and that we can, with complete confidence, place our entire lives in His hands. My words cannot properly express the magnitude of this biblical truth. Why God Allows Bad Things to Happen When one looks at the current state of the world, with all its imperfections--famine, sickness, war, hate, and corruption—one would ask themselves, “Why would a loving and all powerful God allow such things to happen.” This is a reasonable question, and begs a reasonable answer. The following is a summary on this topic based on a wonderful little book I read entitled “Why Does God Allow It?!” by A.E. Wilder-Smith. My summary may be adequate, but will definitely not do justice to the work of Mr. Wilder-Smith. I would strongly recommend getting a copy of this short little book (44 pages on small pages with large type) that might take 20 minutes to read, and I guarantee you will be blessed with his writings on this subject as I was. As mentioned, here is a summary of Dr. A.E. Wilder-Smith’s writings: Origin of Evil In trying to understand the corrupt state of God’s creation, we will turn to the use of an analogy. There was a beautiful cathedral built in one of the European states centuries ago. Its magnificent architecture and beauty was astonishing to behold, especially when considering the time during which it was built, and the lack of modern technology. It was a tribute to the architects who built it. Unfortunately, it was built near what was later to become a critical railway station that was a prime target of the German forces during WWII. During the course of the war, the beautiful edifice received a lot of damage. After the war, much of the beauty was lost; however, one could still see areas in the cathedral where its original beauty was still evident. Moreover, through the bombings, the magnificence of the architecture was made even more evident based on how the cathedral, though damaged, stood strong through the bombings. Even the walls with huge holes from direct hits of bombs testified to the skill of the original architects. One then must ask, “Would we now blame the architects for the condition of the now severely damaged cathedral?” Of course not. Had the cathedral been properly used and taken care of per the original intentions of the architects, it would still be standing in its pristine state today. However, men chose to not appreciate this wonderful creation, and to misuse it; thus, bringing it to its current state--as so with God’s creation. God wonderfully and masterfully created a perfect world where man could dwell in a utopian environment, and to fellowship with God. However, man chose to rebel against God, and to turn from Him. We took His creation, and misused it, bringing it to its current state. We cannot look to God and blame Him for what we have done with His creation. Why Does God Allow It Our example above, however, is incomplete for the architects are long-since dead, and have no control over the actions taken against their cathedral. But, God can control what happens to His creation. So, why does He allow such destruction and abuse of His creation? Strangely enough, we must look for the reason in God’s love. God’s love is infinite, and we, as finite beings, can never fully comprehend His love, but we can understand to a lesser extent His love when we study His love in the context of human love. God loves every person that ever did or will exist, and He desires to have us love Him and to fellowship with Him. However, God did not make us like robots where He pushes the right button and we automatically love Him. No, He wanted a true loving relationship with us. To accomplish this, He created us with a free will to decide for ourselves. We possess the ability to decide whether we will accept God’s love and to love Him back, or to reject His love. This is the risk that God knowingly took in giving us a free will. And with any relationship, love cannot be forced or controlled, but must be patiently pursued. God pursues us for our love every day of our lives, but does not force His love on us. If we were not given the ability to hate as well as love, to sin as well as obey, to kill as well as to care, or to destroy as well as to build, then how could we truly have a system of true love? The existence of evil in a world created by an all-powerful and all-mighty God only goes to prove that He is a God a love, for He loved us so much He was willing to give us the ability to reject Him. As stated by Dr. Wilder-Smith, “Thus, we conclude that God allowed the universe to be “bombarded” because the plan was to establish a realm of free choice. The bombardment was merely the confrontation with a choice to do good or evil. Only in this way could a realm arise which was capable of genuine love and virtue. The construction of a kingdom of love, a kingdom of perfect freedom, involved the built-in risk of a kingdom of hell. Without this true possibility of a free-will decision for heaven or hell, one can never establish the best—the perfect kingdom of love.” (page 32) God’s Options After the human race made a shambles of God’s perfect creation, what were God’s options? The Scriptures tell us that even before the foundations of the earth, God knew that the human race would make wrong decisions and would go down the road of slowly destroying God’s perfect creation. And knowing this, He, even before time began, carefully mapped out a plan of redemption for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. God’s foreknowledge of the fall of the human race, beginning with Adam and Eve, however, does not necessarily mean that He was responsible for the fall. As Dr. Wilder-Smith states, “In fact, quite the contrary is the case. Man was given a truly free will, and with it came the possibility of real love and virtue…or real hate and sin. This fact decides forever the creature’s genuine guilt in the face of the Creator’s love and righteousness in making in His own image, that is, capable of in-dependent choice and, like God, capable of real love.” (page 34) The next question that arises is that if God saw in advance how His creation would turn out, why did He proceed with His creation? Let’s take a look at our own lives to in an attempt to understand God’s purpose. We make such decisions every day of our lives, that is, choosing to proceed in certain life directions that are mixed with joy and sorrow. Take for instance pets such as dogs and cats. Most people make the decision to bring pets into their lives for the joy that they bring us, knowing that one day they will die, sometimes after being sick for a period of time. We know that this will bring deep pain into our lives, but the years of joy that a pet will bring outweighs the pain that will come when they leave us. As so with God, He created all of us with free will, knowing that some of us would turn to Him in love and fellowship while others would turn away and reject Him. The joy of fellowship with those who would come to Him in love outweighs the sorrow God will have for those who reject Him. Dr. Wilder-Smith states, “We shall escape the trials and sufferings of this life at death, but our character of love (ennobled through our trials) will continue to live forever. So whichever way we look we must admit that the creation, if it produced the possibility of love, is quite worthwhile, even if suffering may be involved. For love is the greatest of all virtues and far surpasses the misery which the freedom to love may entail.” (page 35) What would God do with a creation that was largely rejecting Him? Dr. Wilder-Smith states, “God saw man’s wrong choice which would lead to chaos and anguish long before the choice was made. When it did come, however, He did not disgustedly dismiss and destroy the object of His love as one might expect of someone treated unjustly. Instead, through loving patience, He tried to salvage what He could out of the ruins.” (page 37) Being the loving God that He is, He is patient with us, pursuing us in love, and desiring to salvage all those who would ultimately come to Him. We read in the Scriptures: “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” (NKJ: Romans 2:4) “God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (NKJ: I Timothy 2:4) “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9) God’s love for us is shown through His patience and lovingkindness towards us: a sinful and rebellious creation. He so desires to have us truly love Him and to fellowship with Him that He holds back any wrath that we deserve, and replaces it with outstretched patient and loving arms. Epilogue God’s original creation of this world and of us was perfect. However, His desire to have a system of true love lead Him to provide us with a free will that would ultimately allow us to reject Him and to abuse this world He created for us. As stated by Dr. Wilder-Smith, “A consideration of the nature of evil and the nature of God’s love leads us to believe that it is perfectly reasonable to believe in an all-powerful loving God, in spite of the terrible state of affairs in the world He has created. If God is, in fact, love, and if He has revealed Himself as a perfect man in Christ, we should actually expect the world to be in the position it is today.” (page 43) God and Sin AND God and the Sinner As we learned above, God is a righteous God, and, as a righteous God, He hates sin. And that which is sinful is not holy, and cannot be in the presence of God. This concept confuses many people, but can be easily understood when viewed in a proper context. My grandmother has a severe heart problem, in particular, extremely clogged arteries. Being 92, a surgical procedure to remedy the situation is not an option. I hate this health problem that is slowly taking the life of my beloved grandmother--this thing that is robbing the life and joy from herr. I love her dearly, and hate her affliction. The same is with God in that He hates the sin in our lives that is robbing us of joy and everlasting life and fellowship with Him, but, at the same time, He loves us with an infinite love, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (NKJ: Romans 5:8) This is an area where we must be clear, God’s love does not supersede His righteousness, that is, even though He loves us, as sinners, we cannot fellowship with God in our sinful state. Therefore, because of God’s infinite love for us, and His desire that we spend eternity in heaven with Him in fellowship, He provided a way for us to be with Him. This way is Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. God sent His Son down to earth to be born a human just like you and me. Jesus lead a perfect sinless life while He was here on earth. When He was crucified on the Cross, He took on all the sins of the world, past, present and future. Through His work on the Cross, we were provided the gift of salvation--for through the shedding of His blood, we can become perfect and righteous before God. Not by anything we have done, but solely on the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. We are still sinners, but Jesus Christ paid for our sins, thus providing a way to make us pure and sinless in the sight of God. All that is required of us is to accept the gift, for it is not automatically received. To accept the gift, all one needs to do is, with a sincere heart, confess before the Lord that they are a sinner, ask God for foregiveness, and then ask to have Jesus Christ become Lord of one’s life. Below is the Scriptural path for salvation: Everyone has sinned, without exception, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (NKJ: Romans 3:23) Because of our sin, we deserve an eternity away from God, “For the wages of sin is death.” (NKJ: Romans 6:23) God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die for all our sins, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (NKJ: John 3:16) By confessing our sins, asking for foregiveness, and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, anyone can be saved, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation…. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Seems to simple?? Well it is just that simple. The work has already been completed by Jesus Christ on the Cross. All that is now left to us is to accept His work, and to receive Him as Lord and Savior. That’s it, nothing more. If someone is reading this Bible Study who has not accepted the Lord, I would humbly request that they read the Bible Studies on Jesus Christ and on Salvation. If you still have questions, please feel free to send me an e:mail at the address listed on the home page of this site. This Bible study was designed to build a foundation in understanding just who God is—a foundation that can and will be built upon. The immenseness of God and who He is is a wonderful journey that will take one a lifetime to complete. I wish you a joyous journey. God Bless.