Series 2
Episode 1
The New Christian Podcast
Title:
Who is God?
1.
Greetings
When we study “God” we could spend an entire series on
just this subject but I only in this episode want to give you an overview of
what Christians believe about God.
First, the study of God is called Theology, let's break
down this word. “Theo” is the root word for God, and “ology” is the root
meaning the study of. Just like Biology, Zoology, ecology, and so on.
So, where to begin? Let’s start with Scripture, The
first is in Psalm 19. It reads: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky
displays his handiwork. Day after day it speaks out; night after night it
reveals his greatness. There is no actual speech or word, nor is its voice
literally heard. Yet its voice echoes throughout the earth; its words carry to
the distant horizon” (Ps 19:1-4). This passage says that every day people can
see the glory and magnificence of God. Everyone day and night 24-7 can
understand the greatness of God.
The second passage occurs in Romans 1. It reads, “for
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness,
because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it
plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes –
his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are
understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse” (Rom
1:18-20). Here Paul states that another thing we can learn from creation is how
powerful God is. A vaguer expression relates to the divine nature of God, which
is seen as well.
Thirdly, in Matthew, Jesus makes a statement that
relates to this topic. He states, “But I say to you, love your enemy and pray
for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt 5:44-45). In arguing that disciples of Jesus
need to love their enemies, Jesus mentions that the blessings of the sun and
rain go to all people whether they are righteous or unrighteous. This would
imply that God’s love toward all is seen in these blessings, which is sometimes
referred to as common grace. In a similar passage, Paul addresses the topic of
God’s goodness as witnessed in the blessings he gives to all people. Luke
records the speech: “In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their
own ways, yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good, by
giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying you with food and
your hearts with joy” (Acts 14:16-17).
The last passage is from Genesis 1. “God created
humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and
female he created them” (Gen 1:27). Since God doesn’t have a physical body God
created man is created in God’s image, this verse says to us, He the image of
God is referring to the capacity of spiritual relationships. I could say more
but I think I would just muddy the discussion.
The question though is: what part of God’s image is
there? Both God and man are personal, relational, moral, and rational. These
seem to be some of the inferred characteristics that both God and man share.
So what about God? Christians believe that God is well
we say that God is immutable, eternal, impassible, immensity, Omnipotent,
omnipresent, and omniscience, and this is just a few.
Immutable: That God never changes in His nature (Ex:
Num. 23:19 - God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he
should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not
fulfill?)
Eternal: The Bible makes it clear that God is beyond
time. (Gen. 1:1- In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.) Since
time does not begin until the universe does, this places God beyond time.
Impassible: This means that God is not passible or
subject to passion. God cannot undergo passion or suffering; nothing in the
created universe can make God fell pain or inflict misery on Him. This does not
mean that God has no feelings, but simply that His feelings are not the result
of actions imposed on Him by others. His feelings flow from His eternal and
unchangeable nature.
Immensity: (Means: non-material). Simply put God is
pure Spirit. Believers are even forbidden to make any physical image of God
(Ex. 20:4). God is not composed of matter, nor is He made of body. Many
passages speak of this, (Gen. 1:1; Ex. 20:4; 33:20; 1 Kings 8:27; Isa. 66:1-2, etc.).
Omnipotent: Means God has unlimited power,
theologically this means that God can do whatever is possible to do. Or, God
can do what is not impossible to do. His power is unlimited and uninhibited by
anything else. Omnipotence does not mean that God can do what is contradictory/
The Scripture affirms that God cannot contradict His nature (Heb. 6:18; 2 Tim.
2:13; and Titus 1:2). He cannot force freedom, (Matt. 23:37). It also does not
mean that God must do all that He can do; It simply means that He has the power
to do whatever is possible, even if He chooses not to do something.
Omnipresent: This means that God is everywhere present at
once, what it doesn’t mean is God is creation; nor does it mean that God is in
creation. So what does it mean it means that all of God is everywhere at once.
In the Bible we see Scripture speaking of this in 1 Kings 8:27; Ps. 95:3-5; Ps.
139:7-10, just to name a few.
Omniscience: Simple means God knows everything, past,
present, future, He knows actual and the possible; only the impossible (the
contradictory) is outside the knowledge of God. References in Scripture for
this are Gen. 6:5; Job 21:22; 36:4; 37:16; Ps. 139:2-4). NT: Matt. 6:8 “Your
Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
I know I just skimmed the surface of this topic and
addressed only a small part of who God is, so if you have specific questions
contact me and I will try to explain more. I will add these show notes to my
blog so you can look up the Scripture references. The link will be posted in the
description of this podcast. You can also find other topics and show notes from
other episodes in my blog.
So what can we understand about God? The following
characteristics are evident: 1) God is glorious; 2) God is powerful; 3) God
loves all; 4) God is good to all and; 5) God is a personal, relational, moral
and rational beings.
Thank you for joining me on this journey and I look
forward to sharing with you more in Series 2 the Doctrines of the Christian
faith.
Comments
Post a Comment