Transcript What is God like. Part 2 - Greatbarr Church of Christ, Birmingham

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That God is omniscient simply means that His
knowledge is unlimited.
We read, "For if our heart condemn us, God is
greater than our heart, and knows all things."
(I John 3:20.)
"Great is our Lord, and of great power: His
understanding is infinite." (Psalm 147:5.)
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding
the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3.)
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The knowledge of God even extends to
the little, insignificant thing about us.
"Can you not buy two sparrows for a
penny? And yet not one falls to the
ground without your Father knowing.
Why, every hair on your head has been
counted. So there is no need to be afraid;
you are worth more than many
sparrows." (Matthew 10: 29, 30.)
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He knows our thoughts and
everything about our lives.
"You know when I sit down and when
I rise up; You understand my
thoughts from afar You watch when I
walk or lie down, you know every
detail of my conduct.“
(Psalm 139: 2-4.)
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He is acquainted with our sorrows and
our needs, and being a God of
compassion, He is also interested in our
trials.
Paul cries out “O the depth, of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God! How unsearchable are His
judgments, and His ways past finding
out!" (Romans 11:33.)
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Several terms are applied in the
scriptures to God. One of the first terms
used in the Bible is the expression "God
Almighty."
We read, "And when Abram was ninety
years old, and nine, the Lord appeared to
Abram, and said unto him, I am the
Almighty God; walk before Me, and be
thou perfect." (Genesis 17:1.)
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The expression "Almighty" means
that there is no limit to His power, or,
in other words, that he is omnipotent.
In a vision of the heavenly scene we
have depicted in Revelation 19:6 a
great multitude saying "Alleluia: for
the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
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It was this omnipotence that enabled God to create
the world and it is by the same omnipotence that
the miracles described in the Bible were
performed.
Men have had difficulty accepting Biblical miracles
because they have first denied the Existence of
God and then the Omnipotence or POWER of God.
But Jesus says, "With God all things are possible."
(Matthew 19:26.)
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As the eternity of God means that He is
unlimited in time, as His omniscience
informs us that He is unlimited in
knowledge, and as His omnipotence tells
us that he is unlimited in power, so the
omnipresence of God declares that He is
unlimited in space. God is always present.
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Finite beings that we are, we cannot fully
comprehend how this can be, but by faith
we accept the teachings of the
scriptures.
YAHWEH declares, "Am I a God at hand,
saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?
Can any hide himself in secret places
that I shall not see him? saith the Lord.
Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the
Lord.“ (Jeremiah 23:23, 24.)
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The Psalmist sings, "Whither shall I go
from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven,
thou art there: if I make my bed in Sheol,
behold, thou art there. If I take the wings
of the morning, and dwell in the
uttermost parts of the sea; even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right
hand shall hold me."
(Psalm 139: 7-10-A. S. V.)
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Because God is always present, we know that
He is never far from us. In speaking to the
Athenians on Mars Hill, Paul informed his
pagan audience, "That they should seek the
Lord, if happily they might feel after Him, and
find Him, though He be not far from every one
of us: for in Him we live, and move, and have
our being; as certain also of your own poets
have said, For we are also His offspring."
(Acts 17: 27, 28.)
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God's essence fills the universe, while at
the same time He transcends it.
a. God is totally detached from all His
creatures as an independent, self-existing
Being. He is not shut in by nature - He is
infinitely exalted above it. In other words'
God does not need man, the universe, or
any created thing in order to exist Isaiah 40: l 2-17;.
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b. At the same time, God's all-pervading
power and presence is seen within His
creation. He doesn't stand apart from the
world as a mere spectator of the works of His
hands.
In Isaiah 57:15. we have an expression of the
transcendence of God as "the high and lofty
one that inhabits eternity, whose name is
holy", and yet. He is the One who dwells "with
him also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit."
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c. So, God is SEPERATE from all creation,
and yet IN all creation. This does away
with the false concept of God's parts
being diffused into different parts of the
universe; such a concept takes away from
God's immensity.
Empedocles said: "God is a circle whose
centre is everywhere, and His
circumference nowhere."
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Meditate on Hebrews 2:6,
1. Compared, to the immensity of God,
how small and insignificant is man.
a. It is overwhelming to know that the
boundless God is so mindful of man that
He has numbered the hairs of his head,
and knows what he shall say before he
says it.
b. Matthew 10:30; Psalm 139:2-6.
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2. Also, think of the equality that Christ
gave up to come down to earth and die for
us on the cross - Philippians. 2:5-8.
a. He, whom the heaven and heaven of
the heavens could not contain, came
down "born in the womb of a virgin”.
b. This should cause us to see God‘s
great love and concern for us.
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God's immutability is His unchangeable
nature. It is said of Christ, "Jesus Christ the
same yesterday, and today, and forever,"
(Hebrews 13:8.)
The same thing is true of the entire Godhead.
God was the same in the days of the Old
Testament that He was when Jesus walked
on the earth. His methods and covenants
with man have changed, but His principles
are eternal and His character unalterable.
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YAHWEH says, "For I am the Lord, I change not."
(Malachi 3:6.)
James says of God, "Every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
(James 1:17.)
David declares, "Long ago you laid earth's foundations,
the heavens are the work of your hands. They pass away
but you remain; they all wear out like a garment, like
outworn clothes you change them; but you never alter, and
your years never end.“ (Psalm 102:25-27.)
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The disciples once asked Jesus to
teach them to pray. Jesus replied,
"When ye pray, say, Our father which
art in heaven " (Luke 11:2.)
This beginning of the model prayer
stresses the emphasis in the New
Testament on the fatherhood of God.
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While God was known to the
patriarchs as "God Almighty" and to
the Jews as "YAHWEH", we know Him
primarily as "Our Father."
Of course, He is still as much "God
Almighty" and "YAHWEH" as He ever
was, but the expression "Father" tells
us that He is a moral God.
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We have learned so far that God
exists, that God is unlimited-in time,
in space, in power, in knowledge.
These attributes do not by
themselves make God good, but the
moral characteristics which enable us
to address Him as "Our Father" show
us that He is good.
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The Holiness of God;
A. The holiness of God Is one of
the most frequent attributes
revealed by God in the Old
Testament.
1 . The word "holy" basically
means separate or separation.
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2. Time after time, God is called "The Holy
One":
a. This expression is found about 30 times In
the book of Isaiah alone - 5:16; 6:1 -5.
b. God alone possesses ALL holiness
because of His perfect moral excellence.
Exodus 15:11 (cf. Revelation 15:4); Psalm
99:9; 89:35 Amos 4:2.
c. In "the New Testament:, read. I John 1 :5
(cf. Matthew 5:14-16).
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3. The word "holy" is also used to describe
things that relate to God:
a. Temple (Habikuk 2:20); sections of the
Tabernacle Exodus 26:33); ground (Exodus
3:5); -the ark of the covenant and. the
tabernacle vessels (I Kings 8:4); The
Sabbath (Exodus 20:8).—
b. Why holy? Because they were separated
to God.' service.
4. The word is applied, to men; a. Ezra 8:28; 2
Kings 4:9; Exodus 19:6.
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In the New Testament each member of the
Godhead, is referred to as holy;
1. Consider these passages: a) Father John 1 7:11 : b) Son - Acts 3:14; c).
Holy Spirit - Acts 13:52 (cf. Acts 2:38;
5:32).
2. God's children must "be holy or
separated from the world and sin" (I Peter
1:15; Ephesians 1 :4: I Peter 2:9)
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The prophet Isaiah saw a vision in which a
heavenly creature cried out, "Holy, holy,
holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth
is full of His glory." (Isaiah 6:3.) A similar
picture is described in Revelation 4:8; in
which the heavenly beings exclaim, "Holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was,
and is, and is to come."
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What is the holiness of God? It is
that characteristic of His being
which takes pleasure in everything
pure and holy, and hates
everything which is morally evil.
Just as God is unlimited in other
ways, so He is unlimited in His
goodness.
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Since there is nothing in His being which is
evil, it is impossible for Him to be impure
because this would be contrary to His divine
nature.
James declares, "Let no man say when he is
tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot
be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any
man." (James 1:13.)
It is His perfect holiness which makes it
impossible for sin to tempt Him.
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The holiness of God is also the basis of His
abhorrence of evil. Habakkuk declares,
“We are wicked, but they far more! Will You,
who cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly
by while they swallow us up? Should You be
silent while the wicked destroy those who are
better than they? "(Habukuk 1:13.)
The Psalmist sings to God, "You hate all
workers of iniquity." (Psalm 5:5.)
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It is not the individual as an
individual that He hates it is
the consequences of sin in the
individuals life, the
destruction and havoc that sin
produces through that
individual
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What is a small sin to man is a great sin to God.
A beautiful woman dressed in her finest clothing
detests dirt far more than a digger of ditches. WHY?
Because the former is clean while the latter is
contaminated by the soil.
Even so God hates sin with a hatred which man, who
is polluted with it, can hardly appreciate. The more
one frees himself from the shackles of sin, the more
he abhors its presence. And since God is completely
holy, His loathing of evil is the greatest of all.
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The destruction of the world by the
flood, the burning of Sodom and
Gomorrah, and the final
destruction of the earth by fire are
all expressions of God's hatred of
sin because of
HIS PERFECT HOLINESS.
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A. Because God is holy, He
hates sin. (Proverbs 15:26;
3:32; Habakkuk 1:12-1)
1. This is why sin separates us
from God. - Isaiah 59:1-2 (cf.
Romans 6:23).
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2. But, God's holiness did. not cause Him to be aloof
from sinful man.
a. In the Old. Testament, we see God involved in
the affairs of Israel - Isaiah 57:15-21,
b. God's holiness is seen in Christ's death on the
cross.
(l) He provided the perfect atonement for sin.
(2) John 1:29; Matthew 26:28; Revelation 1 :5.
c. Therefore, if we wish to "BE HOLY today, it must
be by THE WAY of the CROSS (Galatians 2:20).
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The holiness of God should cause
US to respect HIM in our every
action and word.
1. We should never address Him
in blasphemous language.
2. May we see God as Isaiah saw
Him - Isaiah 6:21
(Psalm 50:21; 99:5).
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The holiness of God should cause us to praise Him.
David sings, "Exalt ye the Lord our God, and
worship at His footstool; for He is holy."
(Psalm 99:5.)
A part of prayer to God which is too often neglected
is such praise as that expressed by Jesus in the
model prayer when He said, "Hallowed (HOLY) be
thy name." (Luke 11:2.)
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The Christian derives his holiness from God.
Peter admonishes disciples of Christ, "As
children of obedience, not fashioning
yourselves according to your former lusts in
the times of your ignorance but like as He who
called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy
in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye
shall be holy; for I am holy."
(I Peter 1:14-16-A. S. V.)
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In Christ, God has given us the perfect
pattern of holiness and as we conform our
lives to His we become holy and in truth
partake of the divine nature.
(See 2 Peter 1:3-4.)
We may then be called "saints" which
simply means "Holy ones". Every child of
God who is living a holy life is a saint.
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