Fundamentals of the Faith

1
Fundamentals of the Faith

• Lesson 3
• God His Character Attributes

2
Character the Person of God

• Gods self-existence
• How many gods are there?
• Where is God?
• How does God manifest Himself?
• The depth of God
• Knowing God

3
Gods self-existence

• Ge 11 In the beginning God created the heavens
  and the earth. (never questioned)
• Ex 314 God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. This
  is what you are to say to the Israelites I AM
  has sent me to you. (self existent)
• Isa 4313 Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No
  one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who
  can reverse it? (eternal)
• Ps 191 The heavens declare the glory of God the
  skies proclaim the work of his hands. (revealed
  in creation)
• Ac 1725 And he is not served by human hands, as
  if he needed anything, because he himself gives
  all men life and breath and everything else.
• Ro 120-22 For since the creation of the world
  Gods invisible qualitieshis eternal power and
  divine naturehave been clearly seen, being
  understood from what has been made, so that men
  are without excuse. For although they knew God,
  they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks
  to him, but their thinking became futile and
  their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they
  claimed to be wise, they became fools (revealed
  in creation)

4
How many gods are there?

• Dt 64 Hear, O Israel The LORD our God, the LORD
  is one.
• Isa 4522 Turn to me and be saved, all you ends
  of the earth for I am God, and there is no
  other.
• Isa 4310 You are my witnesses, declares the
  LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that
  you may know and believe me and understand that I
  am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will
  there be one after me.
• Isa 446-8 This is what the LORD saysIsraels
  King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty I am the
  first and I am the last apart from me there is
  no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
  Let him declare and lay out before me what has
  happened since I established my ancient people,
  and what is yet to comeyes, let him foretell
  what will come. Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
  Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
  You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides
  me? No, there is no other Rock I know not one.
• Ge 126 Then God said, Let us make man in our
  image, in our likeness, and let them rule over
  the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,
  over the livestock, over all the earth, and over
  all the creatures that move along the ground.
• Ge 322 And the LORD God said, The man has now
  become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He
  must not be allowed to reach out his hand and
  take also from the tree of life and eat, and live
  forever.

5
Where is God?

• Mt 69 This, then, is how you should pray
  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name
• Mt 1617 Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon
  son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by
  man, but by my Father in heaven.
• Heb 1012 But when this priest Jesus Christ had
  offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he
  sat down at the right hand of God. (Son at
  Fathers right hand)
• Ro 811 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus
  from the dead is living in you, he who raised
  Christ from the dead will also give life to your
  mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in
  you. (Spirit in us)
• 1Co 316 Dont you know that you yourselves are
  Gods temple and that Gods Spirit lives in you?
• Jn 1426 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom
  the Father will send in my name Jesus Christ,
  will teach you all things and will remind you of
  everything I have said to you.

6
How does God manifest Himself?

• Jn 424 God is spirit, and his worshipers must
  worship in spirit and in truth.
• Col 115 He is the image of the invisible God,
  the firstborn over all creation.
• Ex 2416,17 and the glory of the LORD settled on
  Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the
  mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called
  to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites
  the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming
  fire on top of the mountain.
• Ex 32 There the angel of the LORD appeared to
  him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses
  saw that though the bush was on fire it did not
  burn up.
• Eze 126-28 Above the expanse over their heads
  was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and
  high above on the throne was a figure like that
  of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his
  waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full
  of fire, and that from there down he looked like
  fire and brilliant light surrounded him. Like
  the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a
  rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This
  was the appearance of the likeness of the glory
  of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and
  I heard the voice of one speaking.

7
The depth of God

• Ro 1133,34 Oh, the depth of the riches of the
  wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his
  judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who
  has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been
  his counselor?
• Job 117 Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
  Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

8
Knowing God

• 1Co 29-16 However, as it is written No eye has
  seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived
  what God has prepared for those who love him
  but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The
  Spirit searches all things, even the deep things
  of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a
  man except the mans spirit within him? In the
  same way no one knows the thoughts of God except
  the Spirit of God. We have not received the
  spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from
  God, that we may understand what God has freely
  given us. This is what we speak, not in words
  taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by
  the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in
  spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does
  not accept the things that come from the Spirit
  of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he
  cannot understand them, because they are
  spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes
  judgments about all things, but he himself is not
  subject to any mans judgment For who has known
  the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?

9
Knowing God

• Mt 1127 All things have been committed to me by
  my Father. No one knows the Son except the
  Father, and no one knows the Father except the
  Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal
  him.
• Jn 148,9 Philip said, Lord, show us the Father
  and that will be enough for us. Jesus answered
  Dont you know me, Philip, even after I have
  been among you such a long time? Anyone who has
  seen me has seen the Father. How can you say,
  Show us the Father?
• Col 29 For in Christ all the fullness of the
  Deity lives in bodily form,
• Ps 278 My heart says of you, Seek his face!
  Your face, LORD, I will seek.
• Jn 1421 Whoever has my commands and obeys them,
  he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will
  be loved by my Father, and I too will love him
  and show myself to him.
• Dt 2929 The secret things belong to the LORD our
  God, but the things revealed belong to us and to
  our children forever, that we may follow all the
  words of this law.
• God is a spirit. He is alive and has a
  personality. He is morally pure and eternally
  true. He is infinite in all things space, time,
  knowledge, power.

10
Gods Attributes (or Perfections)

• Glory
• Self-existence
• Eternality
• Immutability
• Lordship
• Sovereignty
• Omnipotence
• Omniscience
• Omnipresence

• Holiness
• Righteousness
• Justice
• Wrath
• Goodness
• Love
• Agape vs. Eros
• Mercy
• Covenantal

Communicable vs. Incommunicable
11
Eternality

• Isa 446 This is what the LORD saysIsraels
  King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty I am the
  first and I am the last apart from me there is
  no God.
• Isa 4313 Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No
  one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who
  can reverse it?

12
Immutability

• Mal 36 I the LORD do not change. So you, O
  descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed
• Heb 617,18 Because God wanted to make the
  unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to
  the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it
  with an oath. God did this so that, by two
  unchangeable things in which it is impossible for
  God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the
  hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.
• Jas 117 Every good and perfect gift is from
  above, coming down from the Father of the
  heavenly lights, who does not change like
  shifting shadows.

13
Sovereignty

• Isa 469,10 Remember the former things, those of
  long ago I am God, and there is no other I am
  God, and there is none like me. I make known the
  end from the beginning, from ancient times, what
  is still to come. I say My purpose will stand,
  and I will do all that I please.
• Isa 4523 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has
  uttered in all integrity a word that will not be
  revoked Before me every knee will bow by me
  every tongue will swear.
• Ro 828 And we know that in all things God works
  for the good of those who love him, who have been
  called according to his purpose.

14
Omnipotence

• Rev 196 Then I heard what sounded like a great
  multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and
  like loud peals of thunder, shouting
  Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
• Jer 3217 Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the
  heavens and the earth by your great power and
  outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
• Ps 6211 One thing God has spoken, two things
  have I heard that you, O God, are strong,
• Ge 11,27 In the beginning God created the
  heavens and the earth. So God created man in his
  own image, in the image of God he created him
  male and female he created them.
• Heb 13 The Son is the radiance of Gods glory
  and the exact representation of his being,
  sustaining all things by his powerful word. After
  he had provided purification for sins, he sat
  down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
• Ps 3723,242 If the LORD delights in a mans way,
  he makes his steps firm though he stumble, he
  will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his
  hand.

15
Omniscience

• Job 3421 His eyes are on the ways of men he
  sees their every step.
• Ps 1475 Great is our Lord and mighty in power
  his understanding has no limit.
• Ro 1133,34 Oh, the depth of the riches of the
  wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his
  judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who
  has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been
  his counselor?
• Mt 1225 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to
  them, Every kingdom divided against itself will
  be ruined, and every city or household divided
  against itself will not stand.
• Isa 6618 And I, because of their actions and
  their imaginations, am about to come and gather
  all nations and tongues, and they will come and
  see my glory.

16
Omnipresence

• Pr 153 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,
  keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
• Ps 1397-12 Where can I go from your Spirit?
  Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up
  to the heavens, you are there if I make my bed
  in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the
  wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of
  the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your
  right hand will hold me fast. If I say, Surely
  the darkness will hide me and the light become
  night around me, even the darkness will not be
  dark to you the night will shine like the day,
  for darkness is as light to you.
• Jer 2323,24 Am I only a God nearby, declares
  the LORD, and not a God far away? Can anyone
  hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?
  declares the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and
  earth? declares the LORD.

17
Holiness

• Ex 1511 Who among the gods is like you, O LORD?
  Who is like youmajestic in holiness, awesome in
  glory, working wonders?
• Ps 999 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his
  holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.
• Rev 48 Each of the four living creatures had six
  wings and was covered with eyes all around, even
  under his wings. Day and night they never stop
  saying Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God
  Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.
• Ps 8935 Once for all, I have sworn by my
  holinessand I will not lie to David
• Am 42 The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his
  holiness The time will surely come when you
  will be taken away with hooks, the last of you
  with fishhooks.
• 1Pe 116 for it is written Be holy, because I
  am holy.

18
Righteousness

• Ps 14517 The LORD is righteous in all his ways
  and loving toward all he has made.
• Ps 119137 Righteous are you, O LORD, and your
  laws are right.
• Ps 8914 Righteousness and justice are the
  foundation of your throne love and faithfulness
  go before you.
• Jer 236 In his days Judah will be saved and
  Israel will live in safety.This is the name by
  which he will be called The LORD Our
  Righteousness.
• Mt 548 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly
  Father is perfect.
• 2Co 521 God made him who had no sin to be sin
  for us, so that in him we might become the
  righteousness of God.

19
Justice

• Dt 324 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
  and all his ways are just. A faithful God who
  does no wrong, upright and just is he.
• Jer 1120 But, O LORD Almighty, you who judge
  righteously and test the heart and mind, let me
  see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have
  committed my cause.
• Heb 927 Just as man is destined to die once, and
  after that to face judgment
• 1Jn 19 If we confess our sins, he is faithful
  and just and will forgive us our sins and purify
  us from all unrighteousness.

20
Wrath

• Ro 118,20 The wrath of God is being revealed
  from heaven against all the godlessness and
  wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their
  wickedness, since what may be known about God is
  plain to them, because God has made it plain to
  them.
• Ps 7831 Gods anger rose against them he put to
  death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the
  young men of Israel.
• Hos 510 Judahs leaders are like those who move
  boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them
  like a flood of water.
• Jn 336 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal
  life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see
  life, for Gods wrath remains on him.
• Eph 23 All of us also lived among them at one
  time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful
  nature and following its desires and thoughts.
  Like the rest, we were by nature objects of
  wrath.
• 1Th 110 and to wait for his Son from heaven,
  whom he raised from the deadJesus, who rescues
  us from the coming wrath.
• Rev 616 They called to the mountains and the
  rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of
  him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of
  the Lamb!

21
Goodness

• Ex 3319 And the LORD said, I will cause all my
  goodness to pass in front of you, and I will
  proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I
  will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I
  will have compassion on whom I will have
  compassion.
• 1Ki 866 On the following day he sent the people
  away. They blessed the king and then went home,
  joyful and glad in heart for all the good things
  the LORD had done for his servant David and his
  people Israel.
• Ps 348 Taste and see that the LORD is good
  blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
• Ro 24 Or do you show contempt for the riches of
  his kindness, tolerance and patience, not
  realizing that Gods kindness leads you toward
  repentance?

22
Love (aka Kindness, Goodness)

• Agape vs. Eros
• Agape love of that which is unworthy
• Eros love of the which is worthy
• Mercy
• Withholding the judgment and wrath that we do
  deserve
• Grace
• Granting us peace and gifts that we dont deserve

23
Love

• Dt 77 The LORD did not set his affection on you
  and choose you because you were more numerous
  than other peoples, for you were the fewest of
  all peoples.
• 1Jn 48,10,19 Whoever does not love does not know
  God, because God is love. This is love not that
  we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his
  Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. We love
  because he first loved us.
• Jn 316 For God so loved the world that he gave
  his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
  him shall not perish but have eternal life.
• Ro 58 But God demonstrates his own love for us
  in this While we were still sinners, Christ died
  for us.
• Eph 24,5 But because of his great love for us,
  God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with
  Christ even when we were dead in
  transgressionsit is by grace you have been
  saved.
• 1Co 134-6 Love is patient, love is kind. It does
  not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It
  is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not
  easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with
  the truth.

24
Who is this God?

• Here the is the God of the Bible
• the glorious God, unapproachable and exalted in
  majesty,
• the Lord, exalted over all things and bringing
  all things into the service of His purpose,
• the Holy One, exalted and separated from sin and
  evil,
• the God of love, everlasting, gracious and
  redeeming.

Bruce Milne, Know the Truth
25
Conclusion

• Fear God
• Rev 154 Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring
  glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All
  nations will come and worship before you, for
  your righteous acts have been revealed.
• Pr 910 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
  wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is
  understanding.
• Desire To know God
• Ps 278 My heart says of you, Seek his face!
  Your face, LORD, I will seek.
• Proclaim God
• 1Pe 29 But you are a chosen people, a royal
  priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
  God, that you may declare the praises of him who
  called you out of darkness into his wonderful
  light.