 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Are you a good person? Click here to take the quiz and win a prize! |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
To find out why we believe Jesus rose from the dead click here |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
|
|
God created us and gave us life. Want to learn more about Him? This short article takes about 6 minutes to read
The God I Know by Mike Sackmary, MDiv., MBA March 2006
Welcome! My goal for this article is to introduce you to the God I know. For those of you who are Type A personalities like me, just chill and stay with me. The first section of this article gives an overview of the contents, the second section gives the details. I hope you enjoy reading this, and I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at pastor@newchurchaustin.com Section I – Overview Here are all the topics I'll be covering. Who is God? Where do I get my information? What God says about Himself The Name of God The titles of God Creator Triune Holy Righteous Truth Love Judge Shared Attributes The ways we are like God Unique Attributes The ways we are not like God What God says about other 'gods' What God says about human beings Creating humans The natural state of people The covenants and their purposes People who reject God People who accept God The need for the Law The need for salvation God's plan for you personally (yes, YOU!) How to join God Section II - The Details Who is God? God is the creator of the heavens and the earth and everything in them. He has directly intervened in various events throughout history. Sometimes He has gotten involved in the affairs of countries, and sometimes in the lives of individuals. Even today He still gets directly involved in our lives. We can't know everything about God because He is just too big for us to get our minds around. What I can tell you about God is that He loves you, and He wants you to willingly commit to being a member of His family. This isn't a light commitment. He demands to be first in our lives. He doesn't take second place to anything. If we put other things first in our lives, our relationship with Him suffers. He doesn't like it when people claim to follow Him, but really just follow their own agenda. God is love. God is truth. God executes perfectly fair judgments. He is the only deity ever known to humans who invites men and women to test Him, check Him out, ask Him questions and get to know Him personally. God never asks us to have blind faith in Him. He always says that faith is to be based on the evidence. There are two main sources of evidence. First, every human being has an inner sense of God. We all know there is "something out there". We all have an inner desire to be complete. None of us enjoys being alone all the time. We have a desire to get to know our Creator, but sometimes our efforts are blocked by the troubles we encounter in our lives. God says that those who seek Him will find Him (Proverbs 8:17). The second main source of evidence for the existence of God is nature. He has made His existence obvious to us by the complexity of the world. Look at trees, ants, animals, your own finger, and then try to convince yourself that there was no designer involved. The principle of entropy states that everything tends toward a state of disorder. This is why our bodies break down as we get older. This is why plants shrivel and die. It is unnatural for anything in the world to become more ordered and more complex. The very fact that complexity and order exist is evidence that God is real. Romans 1:18-20 says "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. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." God invites us to get to know Him on a personal level. He tells us "Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live." Isaiah 55:3a. I have researched many of the world's religions and here's what I've found --- only Christians follow a God who invites people to get to know Him personally. Modern Judaism, as it is practiced in America, no longer focuses on helping people get to know God. Islam has always preached a 'god' who does not allow his followers to know him. Right now, in the year 2006, only Christianity focuses on helping people get to know God personally. So the question for you is this --- if you're not already a Christian, shouldn't you at least investigate the Christian God? If you've ever been burned by a church, or hurt by someone who claimed to be Christian, I offer you this thought – Does their behavior really excuse your behavior? In other words, just because someone who claimed to be Christian caused you to be damaged, this is not an excuse for not getting to know God. There are many people in the world who falsely claim to be Christian, and hurt others. These liars are being allowed to run loose (and hurt others) for a time. God says their end will be eternal torment in a lake of fire. This is what God says about these false pastors in Jeremiah 23:31 "Yes" declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, 'The LORD declares." So, if you've been hurt (I know I have), don't let that stop you from getting to know God personally. He invites all of us to come and be in a personal relationship with Him. Read on, and I'll tell you more about this awesome God. Where I get my information I get my information about God from four main sources. The first source is the Bible. The Bible itself claims to be the very Word of God. This claim is made in multiple places in the Bible. Some of the verses are 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Revelation 1:1. But it is not sufficient to just say that the Bible is the Word of God because other books (such as the Koran) also claim to be the written Word of God. This leads us to my second source of information. My second source of data about God is history. In over 24 years of research, I have never found any historical fact which contradicts the Bible. I think this constitutes a solid indicator that the Bible is true. In comparison I have found many historical facts which contradict the Koran, the Book of Mormon and all the other popular religions. Only the Bible remains unimpeachable in the light of historical facts. My third source of information about God is personal experience. Just as He says in Malachi 3:10 "test Me in this". The meaning of this verse is that we are allowed to test God by obeying Him and seeing if He brings forth the promised results. I take God at His word. I do test Him, and I have never found any portion of the Bible to be lacking in truth or reliability. That is my own experience. God invites you to do the same thing. Test Him honestly, not as a smart-aleck but as someone who really wants to know the truth. God says those who seek Him will find Him. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13. My fourth source of information is miracles. By definition, a miracle is "an event which cannot be explained by natural means". Another way of looking at it is that a miracle always has a supernatural component. If an occurrence can be explained by the laws of physics, it's not a miracle. I have seen many miracles. If you don't believe in miracles, then let me ask you – how else would you explain events that violate the laws of physics? What God says about Himself God invites us to get to know Him on a personal basis. He says that He created us for a purpose. We were created for the purpose of knowing God and enjoying Him forever. This means our lives are significant. In fact, this is what God says about those who willingly choose to follow Him; ”Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" John 1:12. God created a place called heaven. Entry into heaven is not automatic. God tells us in the Bible that He is a righteous judge, and that those who reject Him will not go to heaven. This might seem totally unreasonable. Why would God create people for the purpose of being with Him and enjoying Him, and then throw some people into hell? It is precisely because God is a righteous judge that He does punish those who reject Him. Another way of looking at this is to realize that a person who does not want to get to know God, or spend time with Him, has no reason to expect that God will force them into being with Him in heaven. But wait! What about Joe? Or Susan? Or some other person I loved who has died? They weren't Christians. Are they going to hell? This is one of the most difficult questions I have ever faced. I had to decide whether I was going to let my love for them cloud my ability to face the truth about God. Every one of us wants to say "Well, if God would send Joe to hell, then I don't want anything to do with God. Joe was a great person." I'm sure you can see the problem with this type of thinking. It assumes two things. First, it assumes that we, as humans, get to say who is and isn't good. Second, it assumes we have some right to pass judgment on God. Know this – people go to hell by their own choosing, not by God's choosing. God says He does not want anyone to choose to go to hell "God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" 2 Peter 3:9b. People go to hell because they choose to reject God, and God honors their choice. The Lord loves us more than anything else in all creation. He wants all of us to choose to become His children. "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" John 1:12. I know this hurts, but I had to face it myself. My dead loved ones who rejected God did so of their own free will. They knew the penalty. I cannot let their choice be my choice. I choose God and I hope you choose Him too. God's Name and His titles The Bible tells us that God has one actual name, and that He has many titles. We might think that His name is "God", but that's a title. His actual name is "I AM". In the Hebrew it comes out as YHWH, which is usually rendered in English translations as Yahweh, or Jehovah. It's a name that sounds funny to us because it is a statement of existence. The name "I AM" gives us a clue that God exists much differently than we do. Only God uses God's way of existing. We live in a three-dimensional world. We get older as time passes. We eventually die. But God exists outside time. He gave us His titles as ways of describing various aspects of Himself. The term "God" sums up the idea of an all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful being. God tells us that He was not created by anyone or anything. That's a thought that can blow our minds. Has God always existed? Where did He start? When did He start? We have all these questions, but God has chosen to not answer them. Another fact God tells us is that He is Triune. This is where people can get really confused. But remember, the name "I AM" denotes a unique way of existing. Part of the uniqueness is the fact that God is a trinity. There are three distinct persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are of one essence and are all God. This is a concept that is almost beyond human comprehension. How can three be one? Is this some kind of weird Christian math? This is why God uses the name "I AM". It tells us that His way of existing is infinitely different than any other being. God is Triune – three persons, all God. God says about Himself is that He is creative. God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. Everything that was created was created by Him. He loves creativity. Each human being has a creative spark. You find it fun to paint, doodle, build things, make up songs, and so on. God is creative, and He gave us this trait as well. He is the Creator. God is holy. The issue of how to correctly interpret this word has caused much confusion over the centuries. We can think of holy in a bad way. We say things like "holy $%^&". That is not the correct use of the word holy. The title Holy is used to describe God's purity. Something is holy when it is completely clean and totally pure. A holy thing is a thing that set apart to God. Holiness denotes the total absence of separation from God. Human beings are not holy by themselves. God promises to make those who believe in and follow Him, holy. This is why the Christian life can be very difficult. Making us clean and pure requires the removal of all the bad stuff that is in our minds, and in our behavior. The official biblical word for the process is 'sanctification'. You can use this word to impress people at parties. ("What do you do? Oh me? I'm being sanctified."). God is righteous. This means He, and only He, gets to say what is right and what is wrong. We like to be judgmental. It's fun to declare what is right and what is wrong. God calls this behavior 'self-righteousness'. None of us like being around self-righteous people. The hard truth is that we are all self-righteous at times. God lets us know that only He is righteous. This fact helps us remain humble. Alongside the title righteous is the title of judge. God gets to judge right from wrong, because He is the one who truly knows the difference. Many times the Bible uses the titles together and refers to God as the righteous judge. God is truth. This title is another concept that is hard for human beings to fully understand. The implications are enormous. How can anyone be truth? We know 2+2 =4. That's true. We know that gravity exists because things fall when we drop them. Gravity is true. But God goes beyond these basic facts. He is truth. A helpful way to look at this title is that everything that we know to be true comes from God. 2+2=4 because God made it so. Gravity exists because God made it that way. When someone lies to us, they are not telling the truth. Lies never come from God. God is love. This title tells us that no matter how much we might want to ask why God lets certain things happen, He is love personified. Bad things do happen. There have been so many bad things happen in my life that I often wonder why I didn't just give up on God. But that right there is the key. When we are sooooo ready to give up on God, He continues to pursue us and to pour out His love upon us. God loves everybody. He loves us because He created us. So why do some people go to hell? Because God loves us so much that He will not force any of us to be heaven with Him. People who choose to reject God get their wish. They spend eternity with all the other people who reject God. They also spend eternity with the devil and his demons. Shared Attributes - The ways we are like God There are some ways in which God made us like Him. We shadow Him in these attributes. We do not possess these traits to the same extent that God does. We just have an amount that He gave us. The purpose of making us a little bit like Himself was so that we could relate to Him better. The attributes below are a partial list, but I think they are the main things that will help you understand ways in which God made us a little bit like Himself. Will. We have the ability to make decisions. We try to exercise our will by making decisions that we think will give us the result we desire. Our will is imperfect because we are imperfect. But because God is truth, His will is always perfect. Wisdom. God gave us the ability to learn. Wisdom is when we learn from our experiences, and from the experiences of others. We possess human wisdom, but God possess infinite wisdom. Knowledge. We have the ability to learn, to retain knowledge. Our knowledge is limited by what we take in through our five senses (eyesight, touch, taste, smell, hearing). God's knowledge is unlimited. Uniqueness. God is unique. We are almost unique. Whereas God is one of a kind, we are individuals among a larger population of human beings. We have two arms, two legs, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc. We say that we are unique individuals but what we really mean is that we are unique within the human species. God, however, has no one else like Him. He is truly unique. Morality. We have the capacity to make right and wrong choices. Left to ourselves we develop our own sense of morals. Every one of us thinks we know right from wrong. God gave us the ability to understand that right and wrong exist. We only come to a correct set of morals when we adopt God's morals. He defines these for us in the Bible. They are summarized by the Ten Commandments. Jealousy. We get jealous when we desire something that we do not possess. Our jealousy is always self-centered. Our jealousy is an unsettling feeling. It causes our stress level to increase. God says He is jealous. "Do not worship any other god, for the Lord is a jealous God" Exodus 34:14. Our jealousy is focused on gaining something we do not have. God's jealousy is centered on protecting His own name and His honor. This has huge implications for us. When we use God's name as a swear word, we are also creating a situation where God will protect His name. What would you think of a person who used your name as a swear word? You can see that the shared attributes allow us to relate to God. He has given us the qualities that are necessary in order for us to be unique individuals who are capable of having a willing and personal relationship with Him. Unique Attributes -The ways we are not like God God says that He is far above us "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8. Our shared attributes allow us to relate to God. But that doesn't mean we have the same thought processes or capabilities that he possesses. Omniscient. God knows everything. All the time. Past, present and future. Omnipresent. God is everywhere all at once.
Eternal. God has always existed and will always exist. Each of us human beings had a starting point. We are creations and God is our creator. Unchangeable. God never changes. "I the LORD do not change." Malachi 3:6a. Truthful. God never lies. This is because God is truth. There is no falsehood with God. He is always truthful. " Hear what the LORD says to you... the LORD is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King. When He is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure His wrath." Jeremiah 10:1,10 Independence. God does not need us, or any other part of creation. Yet, we and the rest of creation can bring Him joy and glorify Him. Also, we depend on many parts of creation. We eat food. We breathe air. We survive because of what God has provided. Unity. God is unified. He allows us to see different parts of Himself at different times. The Father, the Holy Spirit and Jesus the Son, are all God, all one essence, and all manifest differently. We, on the other hand, are constantly at war within ourselves. Our human nature is always fighting against our sense of right and wrong. What God says about other 'gods' The First Commandment says "You shall have no other gods before Me." Throughout history, our Lord has spoken of the other gods which various people have chosen to worship. Here are some of the things God tells us about other gods. Dagon (god of the Philistines) - This 'god' was broken by God. This showed that Dagon had no power against the real God. 1 Samuel 5. Baal (god of the Canaanites) "You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are still alive today." Deuteronomy 4:3-4. Asherah (female god of the Canaanites) God said "This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire." Deuteronomy 7:5. God says this about people who worship other gods. "Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save." Isaiah 45:20b. These are some of the testimonies that God gives concerning other gods. Some of these other gods are actually demons. Some are simply inanimate objects carved by human hands. Gad asks us this question "How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?" Psalm 4:2 The question is – why would you want to worship a god that did not create you? The only reasonable answer is because it makes you feel better to follow a god of your own creation, a god you control with your own mind, a god that fits everything you want. The true God challenges us to grow, to love other people, to worship only Him. What God says about human beings Creating humans The natural state of people The covenants and their purposes People who reject God People who accept God The need for the Law The need for salvation Creating humans God says a lot about human beings. Genesis chapter one says God created us in His own image. This is why we share some attributes with God. He made us somewhat like Him, so that we could have a way to relate to Him on many levels. God created us. We did not create ourselves. Nor are we the accidental byproduct of some primordial goop. We were designed, planned and created. The natural state of people The natural state of people is spiritual darkness. Human nature is nasty, dirty, stinky. God says that no one seeks after Him "there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God." Romans 3:11. Our natural state is to disobey the Lord. "All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." Psalm 14:3. The covenants and their purposes God gave several covenants to people. A covenant is an unbreakable promise from God. Covenants are issued by God, and are unchangeable. Here is a summary of the major covenants. Covenant with Noah and all of us – God will never again flood the entire earth. The sign of this promise is the rainbow which appears after every rainstorm. "I do set my (rain)bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh." Genesis 9:13,15. We know this promise is true because we see rainbows after it rains. Covenant with Abraham - When Abraham was 99 years old God told him that his wife Sarah, who was 90- years old would have a son. Sarah had never had children, and at 90 was well past the point of being able to bear children. But God promised to do a miracle and allow Sarah to bear a son to Abraham. God told Abraham "I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you." Genesis 17:6-7. This was an incredible promise because Abraham has no children, and his wife Sarah was 99 years old. We know this promise is true because the Hebrews are all descendants of Abraham and Sarah. Covenant with Moses – God a two-part covenant to Moses and all the people of Israel. Part one was that God gave them His Law (the Ten Commandments). This part of the covenant provided people with God's measuring stick for goodness. In other words, God's Law was to act as tutor - to help people learn that they were never righteous or good on their own. The Law was there to teach people that God deserved their full worship and praise. He alone was the source of their lives. The second part of the covenant with Moses was God's promise that as long as they worshipped only God and obeyed Him, they would live in the land of Canaan (which includes modern day Israel, Lebanon and part of Syria and Jordan). The Jews broke this covenant and were conquered in 732BC and again in 586BC. They have never inherited all of the land of Canaan. See Genesis 19 and Exodus 17. Covenant with King David – God promised David that one of his descendants would be the Savior. Jesus is a direct descendant of King David. People who reject God God says that people who choose to reject Him will suffer forever. Not only is their life here on earth empty, but their fate in the afterlife is so bad that God doesn't want anyone to die without accepting Him. God tells us that people who reject Him "...will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur (forever)" Revelation 14:10
God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. He says this "(I AM) patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9b. People who accept God. We have crossed over from eternal torment to eternal life. "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him." 1 Peter 3:18-22. The need for the Law. The 10 Commandments (the Law) were given to people so that they would know God's standard for determining who is righteous. The message is clear. No human-generated definition of righteousness will ever be accurate in God's eyes. In fact the Law shows us that we can never be good enough to enter into heaven on our own power. We need God's forgiveness because we cannot obey the Law all the time. The purpose of the Law is to help us understand how far off the mark we are. If you think you are a "good person" and that you deserve to go heaven, then ask yourself -- have you kept God's Law at all times? Do not worship any other gods. Do not make idols for yourself. Do not use the Name of the Lord in vain. Keep the Sabbath holy. Do not commit adultery. Do not commit murder. Do not lie. Honor your father and mother. Do not covet anything that belongs to someone else. You know that you've broken the Law at least once. And when the Law is broken, there is a penalty. The need for salvation. The penalty for breaking the Law is eternal damnation. This means going to hell. Does this penalty seem too harsh? Does it seem completely unreasonable? Well, consider this- God does not allow anyone to enter into heaven unless they are fully, completely, totally submitted to Him in love and willingness. Breaking the Law (which we have all done) is a sign of rebellion against God. Our rebellion must be dealt with if we are to enter heaven. But, first a word about hell. Hell was created as a place for the Devil and his demons. The word used for devil in the Bible is 'Diabolos'. It is a word describing someone who throws fiery spears through us. The devil is a hater, a destroyer and a liar. Jesus called him the "father of lies" and said "there is no truth in him". Why would someone choose to spend eternity with the Devil rather than with God? The reason comes down to human thinking. People would rather create their own gods, in their own mind, than deal with the fact that they are inherently bad. God says there is no one who is good, no not even one "All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." Romans 3:12. He again says that none of us willingly come into His light. "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." John 3:19. It is only after we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, that we willingly walk in the light. Sometimes people say that "people are basically good". This is not true. People are basically selfish and will rationalize their own behavior while simultaneously condemning the selfish behavior of others. We need salvation. You need salvation. Spending eternity with your enemy the Devil is the worst fate you could have. Why do it to yourself? God's plan for you personally (yes, YOU!) There is phrase that is used by many of today's preachers. They like to say "God has a plan for your life." They get this idea from Jeremiah 29:11. Unfortunately none of these preachers are ever able to tell anyone exactly what "God's plan for their life" actually is. This leaves many Christians in doubt, not sure if they are hearing God's voice in their prayers. They become doubtful because they've been told that "God has a plan for your life", but no one has been able to help them discover the plan. Here is God's plan for every human being. We are designed to be with God and to enjoy Him forever. That is His desire for all of us. His plan for us is that He provided a way for us to come to Him (through Jesus Christ) and to be with Him for eternity. That is the plan. So what about our individual lives? God often calls us to do certain things. He said that He has already prepared good works for us to do " For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10. So while most of us become Christians and try to discover "God's plan for our life", we think incorrectly. We think God's plan for our life means He has predetermined our career, our mate, our living arrangements, etc. The Bible tells us something different. The Bible tells us God's plan is for us to "love mercy and act kindly and walk humbly with our God" Micah 6:8. God's plan for our life is not about our career or who we marry. He leaves those decisions up to us. His plan is for us to do our best to love Him and walk with Him daily – to practice more and more the attributes that we share in common with Him. His plan is for each of us to become fully functioning members of His family. How to join God
Get involved in reading your Bible. Spend time with God in prayer, and spend time with other Christians. Help those around you who need help. Remember, God has prepared good works in advance for you to do. Get busy :o) For more information contact me at pastor@newchurchaustin.com
|
|
|
|
[NewChurch Austin] [About God] [About the Bible] [About Us] [About You] [Our Beliefs] [Events] [Awesome Links] [Politics] [Hebrew and Greek] [Recommended Businesses] [Free Speech] [Tough Questions] [Reading List] [Parables] [Sermons] |
|
|
|
This website is copyright 2002 and 2006 by NewChurchAustin. Articles and papers are copyright by their respective authors. |