THE STUDY OF GOD Discipleship Ministry

START WHERE SCRIPTURE STARTS In the beginning God…(Gen 1:1) True that the rest of the statement says, that God created the Heavens and the earth. But the emphasis is God In what our minds can comprehend as the beginning of time and creation, there already existed an almighty being who was already active, and already all-powerful.

The incomprehensible God. The Bible says it is impossible to fully know God Isaiah 40:18 asks, who can you liken unto God, to what can you compare him to? Job 11:7 also asks, Can you find the limits of the almighty? Ocean in a single Glass of water.

Incomprehensible yet knowable The Difference: His limitlessness cant be understood we were designed by the same God with the capacity to know him, experience him, and even interact with him. The Lords challenges, you will find me if you seek me with all your heart. Romans 1:19-20 says that God has made his invisible qualities known so that men are with no excuse.

E. PLURIBUS UNUM (OUT OF THE MANY, ONE) It safe to say that the original idea of unity among diversity came from God himself. God is described as being the all-inclusive sum of all His attributes in perfect balance. God is who he is because of what he has. (his attributes/ qualities) Take one away and the balance goes away– when the balance is gone he stops being God. Bruce Almighty example

GODS ATTRIBUTES Scholars and Theologians Agree that the subject of Gods Attributes have two main divisions: Incommunicable (God as an absolute being) Communicable (God as a personal Spirit) In an effort to be thorough and not necessarily because none of you know lets cover them.

Incommunicable Attributes (God as an absolute being) Immanence of God : God continues to be God even if no one believes. His existence is not dependent on our belief in him. Freddy Cougar Example Self-Existence of God: He is his own cause for existence.-John 5:26 He is uncaused (everything else is caused) Mans cause of being is outside himself.

Incommunicable Attributes (God as an absolute being) Immutability of God: Simply describes his perfection. Psalms 102:27 Devoid of Change (no needed since change means to get better or worse) Improvement & deterioration is equally impossible. S

Incommunicable Attributes (God as an absolute being) Infinity of God: Has no limitations (not regarding his power but about space) Not confined by time/ space/ body. Time: (Eternity of God) Not a being with a lot of time but outside of time altogether. In an eternal now- (I am).-Exodus3:14 /102:27

IMMENSITY OF GOD CONTINUED… Space: ( Immensity of God). He Fills every space. 1 Kings 8:27 Omnipresence is rooted in the immensity of God. Doesnt mean God is/ in everything Omnipresence v.s Immensity Ocean and the Fish-tank example. Body: How many hands Does God have?

COMMUNICABLE ATTRIBUTES (GOD AS A PERSONAL SPIRIT)- John4:24 Simply Gods: Spiritual Attributes Intellectual Attributes- Rom 11:3 Moral Attributes Love, Justice, Grace, Mercy, Long Suffering Absolute authority (Sovereignty) Exodus 18:11 Will /Plan/ Power of God Bruce Almighty example: Gods power doesnt make God who he is without these attributes. Omnipotence with no Morality. Omnipresence with no Spirit. Omniscience with no Wisdom.

God IS ONE. (Deut 6:4) 1. There is only one true God. 2. The uniqueness of God Compared to other gods. 3. All-inclusive sum of all His attributes in perfect balance. Made in the Image of God. All our emotions and morality are found in God at the most perfectly balance state. –Exodus 34:6-7

GOD CANNOT DO… God has a Nature. He cannot contradict his nature. Cannot Lie (Hebrews 6:18) Cannot forget Cannot Change Is that proof of weakness?- No, its proof of truth. Truth behaves the same way. Law of contradiction.

The Genius of the Trinity God himself is a relationship. (Let us Genesis 3:26) Not only is he a perfect balance of all the attributes we know as humans, but he is a perfect balance of 3 persons. Question: If he was not a Trinity/Relationship, then who was he loving before he created any living thing? * You end up with a limited God who cannot experience love on his own, so he must create something to love. * But our God is not like that. He is self sufficient/ all-inclusive. He is ONE.

TRINITY Matthew 3: In separate Persons Jesus was in the water being baptized Holy Spirit was descending on him. Father was speaking.

TRINITY (continued) The three persons are constantly working in harmony. The same God, with 3 distinct: Personality Scope of working. The Trinitarian Harmony (Prof. L Berkof Explains it this way: ) 1. The Father is the initial cause. 2. The Son is the Mediating cause (done through him) 3. The Spirit Completes the Work.

The Trinitarian Harmony Example 1: CREATION. Father Spoke things in creation. (Gen 1:3) The Son was the word he spoke with. In beginning was the word.. (John 1:1) Everything that was made, was made through Christ (Colossians 1:16) Spirit Sustains/ Leads/ Inspires His creation. S

The Trinitarian Harmony (cont..) Example 2: The work of Redemption The Father Desires all men to be saved. (2Peter 3:9) The Son was sent to be the ultimate sacrifice, so that all men may be saved. (John 3:16) The Spirit: 1. Prepared a body for Jesus, through the impregnation of the virgin Mary. 2. Convicts People to come to Christ (since nothing in mens sinful heart will attract him to God)

OUR GOD IS ONE…(Deut 6:4) There must be an emphasis that God is One. Tripod stops being a tripod when you take out one leg. Take out two legs. It takes all three legs to make a tripod. WARNING: Wrong Doctrine. Jesus is not A god – he is God Just the Father is God. Just the Spirit is God.

WIIFM (whats in it for me)- Individual responses. It reminds me that God is Good. (The truest definition of the word.) Not only Good but Powerful. Goodness without Power is useless. It reminds me that keeps his promise because he doesnt change. Because he his everywhere and unconfined by space, he can be with me always. He can hear me It reminds me that God has a Purpose: Which means he has a plan He is in control