The Nature of God

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The Nature of God

• Tim Haile

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The Nature of God

• Not Enough to Merely Believe in God In The
  Sense of Merely Holding Some Concept of God Some
  Concepts of God are False!
• People Are Guilty of SIN Who Believe Not On
  Jesus (Jn. 169)
• People Will Die In Their SINS Who Believe Not
  The I Am (Jn. 824)
• Must Believe That God Is, AND That He Rewards
  Those That Diligently Seek Him (Heb. 116)

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The Nature of God

• Religion Is As Universal As Man
• And Though The Ideas May Vastly Differ, Every
  Religion Involves Some Idea or Concept of God
• Gods Design That Men Seek God
• that they should seek God, in the hope that
  they might feel their way toward Him and find
  Him. Though He is actually not far from every one
  of us (Acts 1727)

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The Nature of God

• God Designed Creation To Provide Evidence of His
  Existence, and to Encourage Men to Seek Him
• Because that which may be known of God is
  manifest in them for God hath shown it unto
  them.
• For the invisible things of him from the
  creation of the world are clearly seen, being
  understood by the things that are made, even his
  eternal power and Godhead so that they are
  without excuse (Rom. 119, 20 cp. Ps. 191)

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The Nature of God

• Some Concepts of God
• ANIMISM The Belief That Natural Objects, Natural
  Phenomena, and the Universe Itself Possess Souls
• IDOLATRY The Belief That An Object May Be
  Crafted To Serve As a Habitation For a Spirit
  (Goddoes not dwell in temples made with
  handsWe ought not to think that the Godhead is
  like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by
  art and mans device - Acts 1724, 29)

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The Nature of God

• Some Concepts of God
• POLYTHEISM (Consistent With Animism and
  Idolatry) Belief in, and Worship of Many Gods,
  Whether Disembodied Spirits or Associated With
  Some Object
• HENOTHEISM (MONOLATRY) Worship of One God With
  Belief in Others
• PANTHEISM Belief That God Is (In) The Universe
  (Ex. Brahmanism Opposite of Monolatry
  manifestations of Brahma are worshipped)

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The Nature of God

• Some Concepts of God
• DEISM Belief In The Existence of God on The
  Basis of Reason and Nature Only Denial of
  Supernatural Revelation Belief That God Is, But
  That He Is Indifferent To The Universe
• MONOTHEISM Belief in a Personal God Who Stands
  in Moral Relations to Man Belief That God is
  Sovereign and Authoritative (Biblical Concept)

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The Nature of God

• God Is More Than One Person
• The Biblical Concept of God is GODHEAD or
  GODHOOD
• Acts 1729 Forasmuch then as we are the
  offspring of God (theos), we ought not to think
  that the Godhead (to theion) is like unto gold,
  or silver, or stone, graven by art and mans
  device
• The Deity The God-Class Emphasizes The
  Quality of Being God (cp. childhood boyhood
  manhood)

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The Nature of God

• God Is More Than One Person
• The Biblical Concept of God is GODHEAD or
  GODHOOD
• Romans 120 For the invisible things of Him
  (theos of vs. 19) from the creation of the world
  are clearly seen, even His eternal power and
  Godhead (theiotes), so that they are without
  excuse
• Theiotes Views God Through The Qualities That
  Make Him God

qualities
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The Nature of God

• God Is More Than One Person
• The Biblical Concept of God is GODHEAD or
  GODHOOD
• Colossians 29 For in Him (Christ) dwells all
  the fullness of the Godhead (theotes) bodily
• Fullness of Theotes Views God in His Entirety
• Theiotes and Theotes Are Correlative Terms

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The Nature of God

• God Is More Than One Person Plural Forms Are
  Used of God
• Genesis 11 In the beginning God (Elohim Pl.
  of God) created the heavens and the earth
• John 11 In the beginning was the Word, and
  the Word was with God and the Word was God
• Johns Gospel Confirms At Least Two Persons In
  the Beginning

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The Nature of God

• God Is More Than One Person Plural Forms Are
  Used of God
• Genesis 126 Then God (Elohim) said, Let Us
  Make Man in Our Own Image, After Our Likeness
• Elohim Plural for God
• Plural Pronouns Employed
• Let Earlier Used as a Creation Command (Let
  there be light) Now Suggests Council and
  Common Resolve to Create Let Us

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The Nature of God

• God Is More Than One Person Plural Forms Are
  Used of God
• Genesis 322 And the Lord God (Elohim) said,
  The man has become as one of us
• Elohim Plural for God
• Plural Pronoun Employed
• Genesis 117 Come, let us go down and there
  confuse their language
• Plural Pronoun, But Lord is Jehovah

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The Nature of God

• God Is More Than One Person Plural Forms Are
  Used of God
• Isaiah 68 And I heard the voice of the Lord
  (Adonay) saying, Whom shall I send, and who will
  go for us?
• As With Elohim and Jehovah, Adonay Governs the
  Plural Pronoun
• Language Reminiscent of the Council Language of
  Genesis 126
• Us Doesnt Include Isaiah, For He Answered the
  Lords Invitation

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The Nature of God

• God Is More Than One Person Plural Forms Are
  Used of God
• Ecclesiates 121 Remember now thy creator in
  the days of thy youth
• Creator is Plural
• Job 3510 But none saith, Where is God my
  Maker
• Maker is Plural
• God Exists in Multiple Persons

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The Nature of God

• God Is Three Persons
• Matthew 316-17 And Jesus, when he was
  baptized, went up straightway out of the water
  and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he
  saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and
  lighting upon him And lo, a voice from heaven
  saying, This is my beloved Son (Words of a
  Father), in whom I am well pleased

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The Nature of God

• God Is Three Persons
• Matthew 2819 Baptizing them in the name of
  the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
  Ghost
• 2 Corinthians 1314 The grace of our Lord
  Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
  communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.
  Amen
• Ephesians 218 For through Him (Christ) we
  both have access by one Spirit to the Father

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The Nature of God

• God Is Three Persons NOT THREE GODS!
• Polytheism Has Its Divine Triads
• Egyptians Had Osiris, Isis and Horus (Analogy of
  Father, Mother and Son)
• Hindu Has Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
• Bible Doctrine Represents God As One in
  Substance, But Not in Subsistence

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The Nature of God

• God Is Three United Persons God is One
• Deuteronomy 64 Hear, O Israel The Lord
  (Jehovah) our God (Elohim) is one Lord (Jehovah)
• Elohim is Plural
• One is the Numeral 1
• Some Ask, How Can 3 be 1?
• The Persons of God Are a United One

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The Nature of God

• God Is Three United Persons God is One
• Deuteronomy 435 Unto thee it was showed, that
  thou mightest know that the Lord (Jehovah) He is
  God (Elohim) And there is none else beside Him
• No Other God Means No Other Godhead No Other
  State of God No Other God Class

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The Nature of God

• God Is Three United Persons God is One
• Isaiah 4310 Ye are my witnesses, saith the
  Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen that ye
  may know and believe me, and understand that I am
  He before me was no god formed, neither shall
  there be after me
• Means No Other Kind of God No Other Concept of
  God

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The Nature of God

• God Is Three United Persons God is One
• John 1030 I and my Father are one
• John 1720, 21 I do not pray for these alone,
  but also for those who shall believe on me
  through their word, that they all may be one, as
  You, Father, are in Me, and I in You

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The Nature of God

• God Has Location
• Ecclesiates 52 Be not rash with thy mouth,
  and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any
  thing before God for God is in heaven, and thou
  upon earth therefore let thy words be few. (cp.
  Matt. 69)
• 1 Kings 830, 39, 43, 49 Hear Thou in Heaven,
  Thy Dwelling Place
• Psalm 114 The Lord is in His holy temple, the
  Lords throne is in heaven

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The Nature of God

• God Has Locomotion
• Jesus (God, John 11) Came Down From Heaven
  (John 638)
• Jesus Was Sent From Heaven to the Earth (John
  317 173)
• Jesus Fulfilled His Earthly Mission (Lk. 2426)
  and Returned Heaven to Continue His Work (Heb.
  924 725)
• Jesus Presently Resides in Heaven (1 Peter 322)

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The Nature of God

• God Has Locomotion
• Genesis 181-2 The Lord Appeared to Abraham
  in the Form of Three Men
• Two of Them Went to Sodom and Identified as
  Angels (Gen. 191)
• Genesis 1924 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom
  and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the
  Lord in Heaven