Introduction - What The Bible Teaches About God

We're going to be beginning tonight a study on what the Bible teaches about God. A. W. Tozer in his book on the person of God called Knowledge of the Holy begins his book this way with this gripping thought. What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. Now just think about that for a moment. What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. He goes on to say the history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshipper entertains high or low thoughts of God that can be documented in every major religion of the world throughout history. Worship is either high or it is base appeals to the baser sinful instincts of man depending on one's view of God. He says for this reason the gravest question before the church is always God himself and the most portentious fact about any man or the fact which says the most about how he will end up is not what he is at a given time he may say or do but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. Those are probing words by a great writer of a generation or two ago. I do believe it is the greatest privilege in all of life to know God and to be known by him. Paul said it this way in Philippians chapter 3 you might want to open your Bible to Philippians 3 and by the way tonight's study is going to be an introduction to what we're going to be doing for this entire study and so we'll not deal with a lot of verses of scripture tonight or passages of scripture but that will change next week because we will be getting into what the Bible teaches about God tonight just kind of introducing you to the topic and what we'll be talking about. But Paul says this in Philippians 3 verse 7 but whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ what is more I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things I consider them garbage that I'm going to gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith I want to know Christ yes to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings becoming like him in his death. Paul says everything else is like garbage next to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ and obviously to know Christ is to know God Jesus himself said that in John chapter 5 the one who knows me knows the Father the one who honors me knows the Father in the one who does not honor me does not honor the Father that's one and the same. So the greatest privilege in all of human life is to know God to know him but we cannot know him personally if we don't know anything about him you can't know another person personally if you really don't know anything about them you got to get to know them first before you can develop a deep personal relationship now it's possible for anyone to know God in salvation as they come to Christ but to grow in a deeper knowledge and personal knowledge in relationship with God it's important that we understand who he is that's really what the fear of God is all about in the Bible so that's the reason for this study of what the Bible teaches about God and this is going to be the direction of our study the direction of our study is is the outline on the screen for him just going to go through this very quickly because it just gives you the the bare bones outline of what we're going to talk about in this study first of all we're going to talk about the personality of God and by that I do not mean is he outgoing is he reserved not that kind of personality but the fact that he does he is a person he does have all of the characteristics of personhood or personality sometimes people think the fact that the Bible says God is a spirit means that he's kind of like a ghost that he's not really there and that's not true at all so we're going to talk about the fact that he's a real person he demonstrates all the characteristics of personality which are these living intelligent purposeive in other words he has purpose and will he is free self conscious emotional and he is a spirit being that is a part of his personality so we'll talk about those characteristics if you will of God in his personhood and then we'll talk about the attributes of God that's something that a lot of writing is done on a lot of people write books on the attributes of God the attributes of God basically are his characteristics and there are two different kinds of attributes or characteristics of God first of all there are attributes of greatness sometimes those are called absolute attributes of God or incomunicable which means they cannot be communicated to man in other words these are attributes that are not shared with us and you can see the list of them here that we'll look at God is self-existent he is eternal he is unchangeable he is omnipresent he is omniscient omnipotent perfect infinite and incomprehensible and we'll take each of those look at what the Bible says about them and describing God define them a little bit try to get some practical application from them as well but in addition to these nine attributes of greatness there are also attributes of goodness these are sometimes called excuse me the communicable attributes of God or the relative attributes of God pardon me these are attributes of God that can be shared with us that we can have to some extent God is holy he's true he is loved he's righteous he's faithful he's merciful now are these all of the attributes of God described in the Bible no depending on how you look at it if you take the attributes of personality and the attributes of greatness and goodness you have a list of 22 some theologians and Bible scholars come up with more than that Norman Geistler has a list of 37 but we will find that some of the ones he lists like we'll not look at his list but some of the ones that he lists will study in other ways or can be combined in two or three into one of the ones we'll talk about so people look at these a little differently but these are the basic attributes of God described in the Bible once we get through the attributes of God and that will be the bulk of our study that will be the main part of our study we really want to know who God is we have to know what the Bible describes him as being then we will look at what we're going to call the triunity of God it's often referred to as the Trinity but we're going to call it the triunity we'll probably call it Trinity as well because that's a more familiar term but triunity describes better this whole idea of the fact that God is both one and three persons he is one God but he manifests himself in three persons it's a very critical doctrine very important doctrine because there are lots of major religions and cults that deny that and so we'll take a good look at the triunity the God the fact that he is both unity and try one and three and how that works it's a very difficult doctrine to understand but it is clearly taught both in the Old Testament New Testament and we'll find how that is described first of all in the Old Testament then also in the New Testament once we finish that then we will briefly summarize the works of God and we'll look at the four major works of God his plan his creation his preservation and his providence we'll just take a very basic look at those but those are the four major categories of the works of God and obviously you could expand on those to a great extent we'll probably not do that for instance you could spend a long time just on creation and we would probably if we were to study the doctrine of man we would take a little more time on that but we'll at least describe them in general terms the works of God okay any any comment or question about the general layout of the this study and where we're headed and what we're going to cover any comment question at all okay I guess any study of God needs to begin with a definition of God just who is God and what is he by way of definition and the first thing to understand is that the Bible gives no formal definition of God there's no formal definition of God the Bible reveals a lot about God but it does not anywhere give a formal definition of God the only true view of who God is is found in his word but the Bible know where gives a formal definition God is and then explains by way of definition like Websterwood some people think John 424 is a definition of God God is a spirit they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth but that really is just one description of God we saw that in the list of description of his personality that he is spirit but that doesn't define God that doesn't encompass all that he is so there's no formal definition in fact there's no way to reduce God to a formal definition you can only describe him you can only describe what he's like and you can only adequately describe what he's like in the word of God and the Bible does give us much description about God the personality of God the attributes of God that we will study all deal with that and we'll spend good bit of time on those things so the Bible doesn't give any formal definition but it does give a lot of description and describing what God is like and it is only as we grapple with those concepts that we begin to understand who God is in reality and fullness okay and question comment about the definition of God all right the existence of God this is an introductory topic as well does God exist and how do we know he exists there are two approaches to dealing with the existence of God one the first is the philosophical approach and this basically is to argue for the existence of God based on rational proofs and we're going to look at some of those in just a moment but this approach basically is is to use philosophical arguments rational logical proof to argue for the existence of God is that valid and if so what value does that have what would you think polygetics this is part of the domain of polygetics which is the defense of the faith so this can have some value great value I think in defending the faith particularly with whom what audience would be best served by this kind of proof for the existence of God young people in college okay yes for sure intellectuals okay people who may not have the foundation of understanding or accepting the word of God and if you start with the Bible they just automatically write that off well you can't prove that book you they're not even listening to you that segment of people can be helped sometimes by an approach that answers some of their questions logically rationally answer some of their questions knocks the props out of some of their arguments and then they may be ready to listen to the word of God so it does have value there is there any other value to this philosophical rational approach to proving the existence of God good that we know how to do it okay your head is down a track there that I'm wanting to go down that's good what else comes to your mind there if we take if we take the knowledge that there is and Jesus and then he is the other God there can not be the other God if there is a good so we can't be pointed to a life dedicated to Christ and believe in him without an acknowledgement that there is God certainly faith in Christ and the existence of God are intricately connected aren't they they're very closely connected yes there and there is value in looking at these kind of proofs in confirming our faith now be careful we cannot build our faith on philosophical arguments that's pretty shaky foundation if that's all we've got but we can confirm they give evidence and proof that is good confirmation of our faith and so I think that it has some value in that way in apologetics in both of these ways that in dealing with someone who may not accept the Bible to start with you can you can use this as an inference to be able to get conversation started to be able to to give some rational logical proof and maybe get the conversation started that then may go to the Bible it's very important that I'm jumping a little ahead of myself but it's very important to understand however that faith in Christ always comes through what hearing and hearing through what the Word of God the Bible is very clear about that that nobody will come to Christ through rational arguments is through faith in Christ through faith in God's Word but rational logical proofs do have a place and they have a place in helping us to confirm our faith if we're already believers and for skeptics and unbelievers to maybe get them engaged in conversation and to help them understand that there are rational logical reasons for at least pursuing this and understanding it and coming to grips with it and giving the Holy Spirit a chance to use these words okay so there there is a place for this now there are there are five different philosophical arguments that are usually used to prove the existence of God we're going to look at those tonight just fairly briefly the first is the cosmological argument cosmological comes from the the Greek word cosmos COS MOS literally KOS MOS really is what it is but that word means world it's the Greek word for world and the cosmological argument has to do with the existence of the world okay there the world exists and it must have a cause for being in existence it got here somehow and so the cosmological argument deals with the fact that something the world cannot come from nothing something never comes from nothing it has to come from something else and so you trace this back and you've got basically three options as to where the world came from if it had to come from somewhere something in existence cannot come from nothing so if it came from something you've got three basic options as to where it came from one is eternal matter in other words matter has always existed but really that doesn't answer the question because that just keeps pushing back well where did that matter come from and then where did that come from and where did that come from and it's just an infinite you know question where did start so you've got either eternal matter or eternal chance maybe something just happened to get it all started that answers nothing or you've got an eternal God that is the first cause that actually began things and that's the cosmological argument the very existence of the world proves there must have been a cause for this to come into being and that will lead you through a series of logical deductions it will lead you to see God has to be the cause there has to be a being greater and outside of matter greater than matter that caused the first matter to come into existence that's the cosmological argument questions comments about that anybody have a question about that good because I've told you about everything I know about that or even okay the second one is what's called the teleological argument and you say well where in the world are these words come from teleological well this one comes again from a Greek word by the way the Greek language is the root of much of our English language many of our words particularly in the medical field come from Greek words cardiologists comes from the Greek word for heart cardia and so a lot a lot of words a lot of similarities but teleological comes from the Greek word telos TELOS not in telos but telos okay different different concepts altogether the word telos means end or purpose the end of something or the purpose for something the end toward which something is headed or the purpose for something and here's the idea there is purpose order and design in the universe that purpose that order that design argues for a designer if there is design in the universe that didn't come into being by chance it must have been designed if there is order it must have been put into order by some being and there are many examples given of this example of a watch for instance would you expect all of the intricate details inside a watch just to come together by chance and actually form a working timepiece of course not some have said that the chances of that happening I'm going to give you some mathematical proof of this in just a moment but the chances mathematically of the order and complexity of the universe just happening by chance the chance of that happening is less than the chance of a monkey sitting at a typewriter just randomly hitting keys and producing the entire works of Shakespeare now that's been mathematically proven so it's literally a ridiculous thought that the complexity of this universe could have happened by chance mathematically it's impossible and and really you say well that's not some some would say it's not scientific but it is every scientist operates by this principle that design and order argues for some intelligence that is put it there an archaeologist finds a mound in North America or Central America or South America and they know that nature does not just automatically produce by chance these mounds somebody some ancient civilization some intelligent group of people must be responsible for creating that or they uncover cities structures they just didn't happen they just didn't grow up and develop and the will some intelligent society was responsible for developing that that's the way scientists come to their conclusions so you would expect that this is a very reasonable rational logical argument and it is so much so that proof has been given from the field of mathematics Murray Eden a professor at MIT who is who works with high speed computers works worked with his high speed computer to answer this question beginning this is the question beginning with chaos and by the way that's a very popular theory as scientists have become to have come to realize with with all of the advances in science the increasing complexity of nature and of the universe as scientists have become aware that this is extremely complex even the cell is extremely complex then they have begun to realize that it's mathematically impossible for that to have developed my chance so they start to say it all started with chaos and just random random chaos finally brought this about well this this guy at MIT this professor at MIT tried to answer that question beginning with chaos at any acceptable amount of time up to eight billion years ago could the present complexity of the universe come about by chance and he proved absolutely not there is no mathematical possibility that could have happened going back eight billion years and most scientists if they argue for millions and billions of years only go back to about four to four and a half billion so he went back further than most anybody would dare to go and showed that it was scientifically impossible another mathematician Sir Fred Hoyle an English mathematician and astronomer calculated that it would take 10 to the 40,000th power number of years for chance to produce even the simplest cell now 10 to the 40,000th power is 10 with 40,000 zeros behind it there is no calculation of number of years that even fits that it's impossible so mathematicians and scientists themselves have shown that it is impossible for the complexity of this universe to have come about by chance and that's why the cosm or the the teleological argument is such a powerful argument for the existence of God how did it come about then if it's impossible to have come about by chance there must be a designer a divine being above this matter that has put it into existence that's the teleological argument any question or comment about those some of you've gone much deeper into this with the class and origins than I'm doing tonight yes yes yes Yes. That is a great, great distinction. I hope everybody caught that because there's no way I could repeat that. Did you get that distinction? That was very important. Historical science is not the same as observation science. And what is passed off as observation science really is historical. It's not capable of being observed today or proven scientifically. And yet it is passed off as scientific proof. Yeah. So the argument from design to a designer is a very powerful argument for those who are more inclined to think along these lines. Thirdly, the anthropological argument, you know this word, the Greek word anthropos means man. And we get our discipline of anthropology, the study of the culture and history of man from this very word, anthropos. Well, here's the idea. Man is a unique creation. He has a conscious conscience. He has other qualities about him that separate him from the animal world and argue for a being that he corresponds to that is higher than him. Here's the idea in a little bit more explanation. Only man longs to know who he is. Only man among all the creatures that God created. Only man longs to know where he came from, where he's going. Only man has this, what the Bible calls, eternity in their hearts. This longing for knowing what happens beyond the grave, knowing what immortality is all about. This desire for purpose and meaning in life, what lies beyond the grave. Only man kind has that. And so he must, there must be someone who has given him that. It did not arise from the animals because animals don't have that. So it must have come down. It must have been given. There is an explanation that is only possible apart from physical processes. Physical processes could not produce this. Because certainly they're not producing it now. It's not observable science, is it? There's none of this happening. So this argues for a creator with the same qualities which the Bible calls what? Us being created in the image of God. The image of God is what produces that in us. There is something in us that corresponds to the creator, the one who made us and thus gives us an innate inborn desire to know him and to know meaning and purpose in life and to know what lies beyond the grave. I like the way one writer said it. It's such gripping and terminology we can get. Pigs don't commit suicide out of despair over the meaninglessness of life. Kangaroos don't revolt against their superiors because of discrimination in the herd. Penguins don't form support groups to help each other deal with personal trauma. Will the beasts don't record their history or trace their family trees? Buffalo never draw crude sketches of themselves on a cave wall. Do you get his point? Well made, right? The animal kingdom does not operate like humans do. There is no longing for purpose and meaning and what am I here for? Where am I going? And what is beyond life? But we have that. That's what the image of God is all about. That did not come up through the animal kingdom. It has come down from God and it argues strongly for a creator. That's the anthropological argument. Any comments or questions there about that rational proof of the existence of God? Leave the monkeys out. Sad to say. Yep. They're out on a limb somewhere. Okay, the moral argument. The moral argument is very close, very, it's tied to the anthropological argument. And that's this. That man also has a moral sense. And this sets him apart from the animal kingdom as well. A moral sense, that means an awareness of right and wrong. That is not the result of biological processes. It finds its origin only in God. Again, it's part of the image of God that we have this inborn sense of right and wrong, a moral, a moral awareness. Now obviously that can be corrupted. That can be hardened. It can be perverted and twisted. Obviously a lot of bad things can happen to that moral awareness, but it is there. It's there. It's a part of who we are. It's part of how we're made. And that doesn't come from physical processes. It's an argument for God. Let me mention this last one. Then we're going to have to stop. Number five is the ontological argument. And this is this is the most shaky. I think even philosophically it comes from the Greek word on toss, which is a form of the verb to be. And the ontological argument basically goes something like this. Man has an awareness of God. We could not conceive of God if he didn't exist. Our very ability to conceive of God means that he must exist. This is not like the tooth fairy. There are good reasons for why the tooth fairy, the idea of the tooth fairy has come into existence. And we tell stories about the tooth fairy, which we know we think doesn't exist. But may. But that's unlike our awareness of God, the awareness of God, recognition of God, the only reasonable explanation for the idea that we even have that God exists is the fact that he does exist. And I think that one could be poked with a few holes. So it's not as strong as the others. But at any rate, that is, that's a summary of the philosophical proofs for the existence of God. I want to just at least mention the biblical approach because I hate to end where we just ended. And that's this. The biblical approach is that belief in the existence of God is a faith commitment. And we'll look at a couple of scriptures that talk about that. Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God created heavens and earth. There is no explanation of where he came from. There's no proof given for the fact he existed. Just in the very first verse of the Bible, he's there. And you just have to believe that he's there. Psalm 141, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And Hebrews 116 is another. He that comes with the God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So the Bible treats the existence of God as a faith commitment. There are no formal proofs. It's just assumed in the Bible and you must believe it. Now that's really what we base our belief in God on. The existence of God is assumed on a faith commitment to the Word of God. Now those philosophical proofs have their place. But basically we believe what we believe about God because the Bible teaches it. And we'll talk about some other ways. The Bible assumes that and indicates that next time. But our time is up for tonight. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your precious Word. Thank you that your Word does tell us that you exist. In the beginning, you were there. Only the fool says there is no God. We must believe that you are and that you reward those who diligently seek you. We have made that faith commitment in you. We have many evidences of you being alive and that work in our lives. And we're grateful for those. We thank you that you've given us your revealed Word which describes who you are. As we match up our experience, circumstances of our lives against who you are, we recognize it really is true, really is real. And so we thank you for who you are. May we come to know you more fully, more completely, better in a more personal way as we look at what your Word teaches about you in these weeks ahead. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.