week 03 - the doctrine of god

7/29/2019 Week 03 - The Doctrine of God

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Master Outlines and Study Notes Week 3 - The Doctrine of God

The Doctrine of God www.reconcenter.com

Week 3 - The Doctrine of God The Doctrine of God“He who comes to God must believe that He is.” The only way that man can approach God is by faith.

“He who comes to God must believe that He is [no one has ever honestly sought after God by faith andfailed to find Him], and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Enoch sought God by

faith, found God by faith, walked with God by faith, escaped death by faith, and was rewarded by faith.

“For before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible

to please Him”- and without faith it is impossible to know Him (Heb. 11:5, 6).

None of the patriarchs, prophets, or writers of the Scriptures attempted to prove or argue the existence

of God. It is a fact taken by faith by those who wrote and spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,

who is the one and only author of the Holy Bible (2 Pet 1:21; 2 Tim 3:16, 17).

Although the Holy Spirit did not move the writers of Scripture to argue the existence of God, He did

present some clear facts that will strengthen faith:

1) Creation. This fact demands a living personal Creator. Every effect must be traceable to an adequate

cause. For example, if there is a building, there must be a builder. If there is an automobile, boat, or

airplane, there must be a mechanical engineer. If there is a watch, there must be a watchmaker.

There are thousands of “effects” in the world, such as electric typewriters, cameras of all kinds,

power tools, television, radio, computers, word processors, and so on. And not one of them evolved;

all had an intelligent, adequate cause. We have a creation; therefore, we must have an adequate,

personal Creator. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge” (Psalm 19:1, 2).

2) The written Word, the Bible. “All Scripture [all sixty-six books of the Bible] is given by inspiration of

God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2Tim. 3:16). God the Holy Spirit is the Author of the Scriptures; therefore they are inerrant (2 Pet.

1:21).

3) The living Word, Jesus Christ the Son of God and God the Son. “In the beginning was the Word

[Jesus Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The Word did not

have a beginning because He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8, 9).

3-A. God Is a Personal Being (Jeremiah 10:10-16)

3-B. God Is a Trinity (Luke 3:21, 22)

3-C. God Is Light (1 John 1:5)

3-D. God Is Immutable (Numbers 23:19)

3-E. God Is Eternal (Psalm 102:24-27)

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3-A. God is a Personal Being (Jeremiah 10:10-16) www.reconcenter.com

3-A. God is a Personal Being (Jeremiah 10:10-16)“The LORD [Jehovah] is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King” (v. 10). He is not

dead. He is the eternal, living God, King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16; cf. Dan. 2:47). He created

the heavens and the earth and every living thing in His universe (Gen. 1:1; cf. Isa. 45:18), “And: ‘You,

Lord, in the beginning [the same beginning as in Gen, 1:1] laid the foundation of the earth, and the

heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like agarment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your

years will not fail’ “(Heb. 1:10-12; cf. Ps. 102:24-28). This messianic psalm, as quoted in Hebrews,

attributes the act of creating all things to Christ, and is evidence that God ¡s a l iving person (Col. 1:15-1

9). In the light of the Scriptures, who can deny that Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is a l iving person seated

at the right hand of God the Father (Heb. 1:3)?

Scripture reveals the fact that God is a person, possessing self-consciousness and self-determination. He

is the true and living God. The personality of God was seen when He revealed Himself to Moses in the

burning bush. He said, ‘I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God

of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6). To these words Jesus added, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matt

22:32). To be the God of the living, He must be a living person, infinitely greater than His subjects. “Then

Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The God of your

fathers has sent me to you,” and they say to me, “What is His name?” what shall I say to them?’ And

God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has

sent me to you.” ‘ Moreover God said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: “The LORD

God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.

This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations”’ “(Ex. 3:13-1 5). God said, “I AM

WHO I AM”- the only uncaused, self-existing God (Ex. 20:1-6).

Personality consists of intellect, emotion, and will. The personality of God is seen in certain

characteristics ascribed to Him in the Scriptures.

1. God grieves. “He was grieved in His heart” (Gen. 6:6).

2. God becomes angry. “The LORD became angry with Solomon” (1 Kings 11:9). 3. God ¡s jealous. “For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (Ex. 20:5).

4. God laughs. “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh” (Psalm 2:4).

5. God hates. “These six things the LORD (Jehovah) hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him”

(Prov. 6:16-19).

6. God cares. “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7).

7. God hears. “He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?” (Psalm 94:9).

8. God sees. “He who formed the eye, shall He not see?” (Psalm 94:9; Psalm 11:4).

Our God is an eternal, living, personal being.







3-B. God Is a Trinity (Luke 3:21, 22) www.reconcenter.com

3-B. God Is a Trinity (Luke 3:21, 22)By the Trinity, we mean that God is three persons in one Being. The Trinity is His tri-personal existence

in one Godhead, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:16, 17). They are three distinct persons in one

God. Hear, O Israel: The LORD [Jehovah] our God, the LORD is one!” (Deut. 6:4). The Father is Jehovah,

the Son is Jehovah, and the Holy Spirit is Jehovah, and the three are a tri -unity, as the following passages

demonstrate:1. Peter speaks of the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Pet. 1:2). God the

Father is the fullness of the Godhead, unseeable. “No one has seen God at any time” (John 1:18).

2. The Father says to God the Son, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of

righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom” (Heb. 1:8). God the Son is the fullness of the

Godhead bodily. “And the Word [Christi became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

3. “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?. . . You have not

lied to men but to God’ “(Acts 5:3, 4). God the Holy Spirit is the fullness of the Godhead,

convicting man of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 1 6:7-1 1).

The Trinity is also seen

1. In the Creation:

a. “In the beginning God [God the Father] created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

b. “And the Spirit of God [God the Holy Spirit] was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen.

1:2).

c. “You, LORD [God the Son], in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the

heavens are the work of Your hands” (Heb. 1:10). God the Son, Jesus Christ, “is the image of

the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him Jesus Christi all things were

created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or

dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And

He ¡s before all things, and ¡n Him all things consist” (Col. 1:15-17)

In the above verses we see the Trinity creating and sustaining the heavens and the earth.

2. In the baptism of the believer: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them

in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). We are to baptizein the name (not names) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because the three are one God.

3. In the baptism of Jesus: -

a. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist.

b. The Holy Spirit descended like a dove and alighted upon Him.

c. God the Father spoke from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well

pleased” (Matt 3:13-17).

The Lord our God is one God in three persons. Paul closes 2 Corinthians with a trinitarian blessing: “The

grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you

all" (2 Cor. 13:14).







3-C. God Is Light (1 John 1:5) www.reconcenter.com

3-C. God Is Light (1 John 1:5)The Scriptures contain four definitions of the nature of God. They do not fully define His, infinite,

spiritual nature; however, they do give believers reason to stand in reverential awe as, by faith, they

touch the hem of His holy nature. The four definitions are:

1. ‘God is light” (v. 5). “In Him was life [eternal life], and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4).

There is life in light (even the house plant will lean toward the window to feed upon God’s createdlight). “Light [Jesus] has come into the world” (John 3:19-21). Those who hate the light (Jesus)

seek darkness, but those who love the truth will come to the light by faith and feast on eternal life

that comes from God the Son, who is pure light. Jesus is “the light of the world” (John 8:12). He is

the spiritual life of all who come to the light (John 9:5).

2. “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). God, in His spiritual nature, is without material substance, and

therefore invisible to the world of matter. The things of this material world are temporal, while

the things of the spiritual world are eternal (2 Cor. 4:18). Some theologians teach that when God

said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26), He did not mean that

man’s physical likeness would be in the image and likeness of God’s spiritual essence but rather in

the image and likeness of the Trinity of God. Man is a trinity, not three persons in one man, but

three elements-spirit, soul, and body-in one person (1 Thess. 5:23). Other theologians believe that

the image and likeness of God in man consisted of the moral and intellectual likeness rather than

the physical. God is an infinite Spirit and is limited only by His own intrinsic character-His

unchangeable wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and truth.

3. “God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28, 29). We are to worship and serve God in reverential awe

because He is the Holy God, and His holiness demands justice and judgment. As the lost of all ages

stand before Him at the Great White Throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15), they will know that our

“God is a consuming fire” (Deut. 4:24).

4. “God is love” (1 John 4:8). It is God’s nature to love. The love of God is more than an attribute. It is

the essence of His invisible, unchangeable nature. God expresses His love in that:

a. He is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to

repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9; cf. Ex. 34:6-9).

b. “He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). God loved us before we were born. “I have loved you withan everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you” (Jer. 31:3; Jer. 1:4-5).

c. He “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” (John 3:16, 17).

d. He sent the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and lives with His love (Rom. 5:5).

e. There is no separation of the saints “from the love of God” (Rom. 8:38, 39).

Thus “light,” “Spirit,” “fire,” and “love” describe His eternal, immutable, and holy nature.







3-D. God Is Immutable (Numbers 23:19) www.reconcenter.com

3-D. God Is Immutable (Numbers 23:19)’God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent” i.e., change His mind.

Indeed, He does not change at all. Immutability - the quality of never changing or being changed - is one

of His attributes that relates to all others. The attributes of God are characteristics that cannot be

attributed to anyone but Jehovah God. They are fundamental powers or qualities of His eternal being,

and because He is immutable, they are always fact. "For I am the LORD Jehovah, I do not change" (Mal.3:6). Our God is unchangingly:

1. Omnipotent (almighty). He has all power in heaven and earth. “Alleluia! For the Lord [Jehovah]

God Omnipotent reigns!” (Rev. 19:6). He has all power over all His universe. Jesus said, “With God

all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26).

2. Omniscient (all-knowing). “His understanding is infinite” (Ps. 147:5). His knowledge is perfect (Job

37:16). He knows every word spoken by man (Ps. 139:4). He knows all our thoughts (Ps. 139:2). He

knows all His works from the beginning of the world (Acts 15:18). God knows from eternity to

eternity. He knows every minute detail of all things. There are no surprises to our God, who is

perfect in knowledge.

3. Omnipresent (everywhere present at the same time). ‘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” (Ps. 139:7-10). He is

omnipresent in His vision. “ ‘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” (Jer. 23:23, 24).

God is everywhere present in His universe, hut He does not “indwell” material things; for if He did,

we could worship sticks, stones, or any man-made idol. Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and those who

worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). God gave Moses the commandments,

saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of

bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image

- any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the

water under the earth; you shall not how clown to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your

God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourthgenerations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and

keep My commandments” (Ex. 20:2-6).

4. Holy. God is absolutely pure, undefiled, and undefilable. He is eternally free from all impurities

(Lev. 11:43-45). His holiness demands separation from sinners. “Your iniquities have separated

you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Is.

59:1, 2). But “there is one God and one Mediator between God [the Father] and men, the Man

Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5, 6). Christ is the mediator of the new covenant (Heb. 8:8), which is better

than all previous covenants:

a. The Edenic covenant (Gen. 2:16);

b. The Adamic covenant (Gen. 3:15);

c.

The Noahic covenant (Gen. 9:16);d. The Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 12:2);

e. The Mosaic covenant (Ex. 19:5);

f. The Palestinian covenant (Deut. 30:3);

g. The Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7:16).

This new covenant is better because it is sealed by the blood of the holy mediator, the God-Man, Jesus

Christ, who mediates the eternal rights of all believers who have, by faith, “washed their robes and

made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:13, 14).







3-E. God Is Eternal (Psalm 102:24-27) www.reconcenter.com

3-E. God Is Eternal (Psalm 102:24-27)God had no beginning, but “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). He has

no ending. He is eternal. Our God exists totally from Himself.

1. “Abraham.. . called on the name of the LORD [Jehovah], the Everlasting God” (Gen. 21:33).

2. Habakkuk asked, “Are You not from everlasting, O LORD [Jehovah] my God, my Holy One?” (Hab.

1:12)3. Moses prayed to God saying, “From everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:2).

God’s dimension is beyond geometric space, eternal, without bounds, without past or future. He is one

eternal “Now.” He ¡s not a being of time as we are. He is eternal, self -existent life, and therefore free

from all succession of time. The clock never ticks for God. He was not created, so there is none greater.

He was not born, so He will never die. The one and only true and living God is eternal; all other gods are

false. The first commandment ¡s, “You shall have no other gods before Me (Ex. 20:3).

“Your years are throughout all generations” (v. 24). Our true and living God is ageless. But His creation

will grow old like a garment, and He will recreate the heavens and the earth, making them new, without

the curse of sin (Isa 34:4).

After Satan and all of his followers are judged and cast into the lake of eternal fire, there will come “a

new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Rev. 20:10-

21:1).

“But You are the same [God is immutable], and Your years will have no end [God is eternal]” (Psalm 012:

25-27).




week 03 - the doctrine of god

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