Who is this God?...the Wayfarer 2/11/13

For the true searchers out there, you know who you are. You have no fear of searching, even if it involves the word of God. The ones who claim to be searchers will scoff....Their loss,,,,, Too bad they are blinded by their own selfish  justification of their way of life.


2/11/13

Who is this God we Worship?

"I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me"

(Deuteronomy 5: 6 & 7)

As promised in the inaugural sermon, we will delve more deeply into the tenants on which we are predicated. Today, we look more closely at the one God we acknowledge a faith and belief in. In order to do this we will attempt, to the best of our poor ability, to define the characteristics of our Lord, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

This is the creator of our Universe. Genesis 1:1 states, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." This tells us that God was there before time, as we know it, existed. It shows us that He is an all -powerful and all -knowing Being: Next we are introduced to God, the Holy Spirit. Vs 2 tells us: "And the earth was without form and void; darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." This tells us that the Holy Spirit was also present before time began.

Vs 3 though 27 takes us completely through the creation process climaxing in the creation of man. Quite a feat for six days work, until you comprehend that time for God is completely different than our understanding of it. "One day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day to Him."

(2 Peter 3:8 )

 John 1:1-4 tells us that the Word (Jesus) was also present and a participant in the creation. "In the beginning was the Word, And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made. In him was life and the life was the light of man.

Jesus was therefore not only present and participating in the creation, He shared the power and glory of His Father. This makes His choice to come to this world in human form, be crucified and die, and be resurrected just so that we have an acceptable path to salvation through repentance and through faith in Him all the more unfathomable and precious.

Genesis teaches the omniscience of God (Gen 4:10) and this is further proven throughout both old and new testaments. Job 38:4 through Job 41:34 show us the power of our Lord. I would ask, in respect of both time and my poor editing ability that you read for yourself these graphic illustrations and portrayals of His power. Psalms 94:7-11 also testifies to his omniscience. Again I ask you read this passage for yourself.

Romans 1: 18--20 tells us,"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed 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." What a statement!! This tells us there is no excuse for not accepting the existence of God because the proof is clearly there to see in the daily miracle of life and in everything around us. All men have had this revelation of God in His creations and therefore ALL men are accountable to Him.

1 John 4:8 says, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In order to know God you have to know love and in order to know love, you must also know God, anything less is merely lust or self- deception! We will be going much deeper into this at a later date, but a good description of love can be found in 1 Corinthians 1-8 please take the time to read this passage and see how you measure up. Again, anything that falls short of this description is something far less than love!

1 John 1:5 tells us, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness."

God is the essence of what is good and therefore can never do evil. This shows us the absolute simplicity of our Father. Even when He is wrathful, that wrath is to the benefit of mankind.

God loves Mankind!!

John 3:16 is my favorite verse that proves this love for me. It foretells the fact that Christ would be sacrificed for your and my sins. It is a promise of the new covenant that Jew and Gentile fall under. It foretells the fulfillment of the old mosaic covenant. This covenant shows us that the only path to eternal life is through Christ Jesus. It is through this sacrifice - freely, given, that we may be made acceptable to God.

My God is a great big God!!

1 Kings 8:27 tells us a bit about the immensity of our Lord.:

" But will God dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house I have builded."

God does not live in any church building, chapel or cathedral or even temple. He encompasses the entire universe and lives with, around and most importantly in us. He is far larger than our ability to understand, despite our centuries of accumulated "knowledge that we are so sure of in our sciences, philosophies, and studies. We are not capable of fully knowing God in this corrupt world, but must first become incorruptible through death and resurrection. Despite our efforts to live a Christian life, we will never attain the quality of goodness. Jesus in talking to a young man about eternal life said:" Why callest thou me good there is none good but God"

We need to thank God daily therefore for the benefit of His grace. Ephisians 2:8-10 teaches us," For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

Salvation then is a gift. of God given freely that no man my ever give or take away from you. No one can preach you into heaven or hell; that is a choice you make for yourself. Good works won’t get you into heaven, only repentance, and Jesus’ remission of your sin will. We are not capable of doing anything good without God’s guidance and help. We are but poor tools that, if we allow him, are used to accomplish His purpose.

I could go on for hours about my God and His attributes, but will limit this particular message to one final thought.

My god is a living God!!

(Matthew 22:31 &32)

God bless you and keep you, lift up your spirits and understanding. I salute you in the name of my Saviour and hopefully yours Jesus Christ.

Who is this God? The god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Author and finisher. Creator and Judge. Alpha and Omega, the FIRST and the LAST!

2 Timothy 1:12
¹²For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

AMEN and AMEN
The Wayfarer

Q. Who is This God We Worship

I loved this lesson I feel like for the most part I really understood but there is one part that confused me and that is the part about creation where Jesus existed with God during the Creation process. Can you further help me to understand please.

How Jesus coexisted with God

A. The gospel of John tells us in the first four verses 1-4 tells us that Jesus (the Word) was there and that all things were made with Him. This is also a proof of the unity within the trinity. There are three personages of God, but they are inseparable from each other. We cannot worship only one of the three without worshiping all three! It takes the spirit of God to touch our heart to truly know God. We cannot reach God without our Intercessor, Jesus. With both of these we are able to reach the Father without being too sinful to be heard!