We Believe God The Father
Notes
Transcript
Good morning. What a joy to be together this morning. Such a blessing to gather together in worship. God has designed each of us for Christian community and fellowship. It does the heart well to enjoy that worship and fellowship that occurs every time we gather.
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This morning we will continue with our We Believe series with We Believe: God The Father.
God is beyond our human understanding and because of that our attempt to define Him falls so very short. God is so far above us in His thinking and being but He shows us aspects of His character throughout His Word.
I pray the Holy Spirit is alive and active here this morning and that He shows you who God the Father is.
Who is God?
Who is God?
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As I said human definitions fall far short of who God really is but we will try this morning.
God is the personal creator and Lod of the universe.
He is the redeemer of His people.
He is the ultimate author and principal subject of scripture.
He is the object of Christian confession, worship, and service
Again that is a very inadequate definition of God. In fact, we will spend today and the next 2 Sundays looking at God....God the Father....God the Son....God the Holy Spirit
This morning we are going to explore God the Father by going EAST
Existence
Attributes
Sovereignty
Trinity
1. Existence
1. Existence
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Many today struggle believing in a God they can’t see, hear, touch, smell or detect by human senses. People believe in all kinds of things they can’t detect by human senses, they say well there is evidence. An example of this is how the earth began. No human was there so there was no way to use human senses to detect what happened but many believe wholeheartedly in many different theories. They say there is evidence to prove this or that....by the way the more they dig the more evidence of God they uncover!
God gives us plenty of evidence to prove His existence.
Jeremiah 31:35
Jeremiah 31:35
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“This is what the Lord says: The one who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar— the Lord of Armies is his name:”
God says you know He exists by His creation. The sun…the moon and the stars…the oceans and the waves.
I could never buy the big bang argument. Look at how precisely everything is engineered. We know what would happen if the sun wasn’t exactly where it is. Too close and the planet is too hot to support life. Too far away and the planet is too cold to support life.
We have evidence of that in the other planets!
God placed the sun exactly where it is as well as the moon and the stars.
Speaking of the moon, a bang couldn’t tie the moon and tides together. No way…only God a personal creator could do that.
This all points to another scripture
Romans 1:20
Romans 1:20
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“For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”
Paul here says not only does creation prove God exists but it removes anyone's excuse....saying they didn’t believe because they didn’t know.
God is known by His creation....abundant proof that He exists
2. Attributes
2. Attributes
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These are the fundamental characteristics of God
There are 2 types of attributes Divine and Personal
Divine Attributes
Divine Attributes
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We see this divine attribute played out in 3 ways
God is Omnipotent or all-powerful
God is Omnipotent or all-powerful
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I want to look at two scriptures....there are many I could use but felt lead to these two…one old testament and one new testament
Job 42:2
Job 42:2
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“I know that you can do anything and no plan of yours can be thwarted.”
Matthew 19:26
Matthew 19:26
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“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.””
God is all-powerful. Many get hung up here by the way. If God is all-powerful then why did mom get cancer
If God is all-powerful then why did my best friend die in a car accident?
If God is all-powerful then why do bad things happen?
Because sin is in the world. When God created Adam and Eve, male and female He created them, when God created them He created them to live for eternity.
When Adam and Eve sinned and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil God could no longer allow them to live with Him for eternity because of their sin. Disease and sickness and death are here because of sin.
I am not saying that your or anyone’s sin causes cancer....it could such as lung cancer or cirrhosis of the liver due to heavy drinking but usually sickness happens because this is a fallen world and sickness and death are a part of that fallen world.
The other reason is because God loves you so much He give you free will.....not only to you or just His children but all mankind has free will. When people choose to sin, rob a bank, drive drunk or just in a reckless fashion, decide to kill innocent people, including babies.
Bad things happen because this is a fallen world and even though God is all-powerful He allows the world to remain fallen so that all those who are going to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior have that opportunity.
God is Omnipresent
God is Omnipresent
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Psalm 139:7-10
Psalm 139:7-10
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“Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me.”
There is no where you can go that God is not present. All places at the same time.
I ran from God for many years, in fact I have run from God longer than I have ran to God. The only person I was fooling was me. God was there, He is everywhere
When we run from God it is because we know we are sinning and we don’t want to quit sinning so we run away, away from prayer and the secret place, away from church, away from Christian fellowship and community, away from accountability and not only are we hurting ourselves but others as well who love us and want nothing but the best for us
God is Omniscient All-Knowing
God is Omniscient All-Knowing
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Psalm 139:1-4
Psalm 139:1-4
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“Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; you are aware of all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know all about it, Lord.”
I know many people who struggle with this as well. Again they argue that a loving God couldn’t be all-knowing and still love us.
Look at the world we are living in right now they say. Hate fills the air. Hate crimes are the norm. People are greedy and only care about themselves. Marriage is not important. Children are not important. Responsibilities are not important. The only thing that is important is self-gratification, you do you, you only live once, you define your truth....those are all selfish motives to do what you want when you want without consequences.
Again God gives us free will and part of that is knowing that we will make bad decisions and that many will reject Him altogether.
There is nothing God doesn’t control, no where God is not, and nothing that God doesn’t know.
God also has
Personal Attributes
Personal Attributes
Holy
Holy
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Isaiah 5:16
Isaiah 5:16
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“But the Lord of Armies is exalted by his justice, and the holy God demonstrates his holiness through his righteousness.”
His righteousness proves His holiness
God cannot stand sin. God knew man would sin before He created them. God knew that man’s sin would require a Savior and that Savior was Jesus who would have to be born of a virgin live on this earth be rejected by the people He came to save and die a terrible death on a cross to pay the price for your sin
He knew all of that and because of His great love for you created you and me anyway.
Love
Love
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I John 4:8
I John 4:8
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“The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Agape love…sacrificial love. When you love like God it costs you something. God’s love drove Jesus to a cross to become sin and die in our place.
One could define this love as a love that ALWAYS seeks the best for others regardless of the cost to the one who loves.
Just
Just
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Colossians 3:25
Colossians 3:25
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“For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.”
God applies righteous consequences equally to everyone. God also loves everyone equally.
You and I struggle with just because we want what we define as justice.
They did something to hurt me or someone else so they must be punished. They must pay the price so I can have justice.
I am not sure that is God’s justice. The wicked will perish and will go to hell. That is very true but God’s heart is that none will perish but all will come to repentance. That is justice that someone finds Jesus and understands the price that was paid on their behalf and accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
If they do not God is a just God and will hold them accountable for that.
3. God is Sovereign
3. God is Sovereign
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God can do whatever He wills
Psalm 135:5-7
Psalm 135:5-7
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“For I know that the Lord is great; our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths. He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from his storehouses.”
God is in total control and can do whatever He wills. He is also holy and righteous and only exercises His sovereignty in harmony with His goodness, righteousness, and other attributes.
There are many truths and principals in the Bible that I believe we will never truly understand until we get to heaven. Sovereignty is one of those. God knows everything that has happened, everything that is happening, and everything that will happen in a way that truly gives us a choice......that blows my mind and while I don’t claim to truly understand how that works I truly believe in God and that it is the truth because He says so.
4. Trinity
4. Trinity
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God in three persons yet one God
Deuteronomy 6:4
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“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
One God. It is stated many times in scripture however that one God can and does exist in three persons.
I get the trinity in my head and I totally believe it in my heart but to say that I truly understand it would be lying.
Again however God has given us evidence in His Word
Isaiah 55:9
Isaiah 55:9
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“For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
The trinity is one of those ways and thoughts that are so much higher than ours.
God in three persons yet one God
There are many scriptural references to God in three persons so let’s look at a few
Genesis 1:26
Genesis 1:26
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“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.””
Let us…our likeness....plural here…not a typo or mistake but truth
Matthew 3:13-17
Matthew 3:13-17
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“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him to be baptized. When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”
We see all three in one place....Jesus....God the Father....the Holy Spirit....Trinity
God exists. God has divine and personal attributes. God is sovereign. God is one God who exists in three persons
God the Father is the personal creator of the universe and everything in it.
He is all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing
He is holy…cannot stand sin yet He loves us so much He sent Jesus to become our sin and die for our sin on the cross
Jesus had to die for you and me because God is just
God the Father is to be respected. His Word is to be followed and the driving factor behind all His children do and say and think.
If God is for it so are His children. If God is against it so are His children. We find that in His Word.
God controls and knows all things yet because of His love He gives you and me free will. He knows that means many will reject Him but it also means those who truly accept Jesus and follow God truly love Him and do that of their own free will
The question is who do you choose this morning?
If you have never accepted Jesus today is the day. He stands knocking at the door of your heart…won’t you let Him in?
Maybe you are mad at God or hold something against God. Bring that to Him. Talk with Him about it. Give that anger and maybe even hate to Him this morning.
I don’t know what you are struggling with but you do and God does He is the answer.