The Nature of God Tim Haile The Nature

The Nature of God Tim Haile

The Nature of God • Not Enough to Merely “Believe in God” In The Sense of Merely Holding Some Concept of God: Some Concepts of God are False! – People Are Guilty of SIN Who “Believe Not On” Jesus (Jn. 16: 9) – People Will Die In Their SINS Who “Believe Not” The “I Am” (Jn. 8: 24) – Must Believe That God Is, AND That He Rewards Those That Diligently Seek Him (Heb. 11: 6)

The Nature of God • Religion Is As Universal As Man • And Though The Ideas May Vastly Differ, Every Religion Involves Some Idea or Concept of God • God’s Design That Men Seek God: – “…that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward Him and find Him. Though He is actually not far from every one of us” (Acts 17: 27)

The Nature of God • God Designed Creation To Provide Evidence of His Existence, and to Encourage Men to Seek Him: “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shown 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: ” (Rom. 1: 19, 20; cp. Ps. 19: 1)

The Nature of God • Some Concepts of God: 1. ANIMISM: The Belief That Natural Objects, Natural Phenomena, and the Universe Itself Possess Souls 2. IDOLATRY: The Belief That An Object May Be Crafted To Serve As a Habitation For a Spirit – (“God…does not dwell in temples made with hands…We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device” - Acts 17: 24, 29)

The Nature of God • Some Concepts of God: 3. POLYTHEISM: (Consistent With Animism and Idolatry) Belief in, and Worship of Many God’s, Whether Disembodied Spirits or Associated With Some Object 4. HENOTHEISM (MONOLATRY): Worship of One God With Belief in Others 5. PANTHEISM: Belief That God Is (In) The Universe (Ex. Brahmanism – Opposite of Monolatry – manifestations of Brahma are worshipped)

The Nature of God • Some Concepts of God: 6. DEISM: Belief In The Existence of God on The Basis of Reason and Nature Only – Denial of Supernatural Revelation – Belief That God Is, But That He Is Indifferent To The Universe 7. MONOTHEISM: Belief in a Personal God Who Stands in Moral Relations to Man – Belief That God is Sovereign and Authoritative (Biblical Concept)

The Nature of God • God Is More Than One Person: – The Biblical Concept of God is GODHEAD or GODHOOD: • Acts 17: 29 – “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God (theos), we ought not to think that the Godhead (to theion) is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device” – “The Deity” – The God-Class Emphasizes The Quality of Being God: (cp. “childhood” “boyhood” “manhood”)

The Nature of God • God Is More Than One Person: – The Biblical Concept of God is GODHEAD or GODHOOD: • Romans 1: 20 – “For the invisible qualities things of Him (theos of vs. 19) from the creation of the world are clearly seen, even His eternal power and Godhead (theiotes), so that they are without excuse” – Theiotes: Views God Through The Qualities That Make Him God

The Nature of God • God Is More Than One Person: – The Biblical Concept of God is GODHEAD or GODHOOD: • Colossians 2: 9 – “For in Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (theotes) bodily” – Fullness of Theotes = Views God in His Entirety – Theiotes and Theotes Are Correlative Terms

The Nature of God • God Is More Than One Person: Plural Forms Are Used of God: – Genesis 1: 1 – “In the beginning God (Elohim – Pl. of God) created the heavens and the earth” – John 1: 1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God” – John’s Gospel Confirms At Least Two Persons “In the Beginning”

The Nature of God • God Is More Than One Person: Plural Forms Are Used of God: – Genesis 1: 26 – “Then God (Elohim) said, ‘Let Us Make Man in Our Own Image, After Our Likeness…’” – “Elohim” – Plural for “God” – Plural Pronouns Employed – “Let” Earlier Used as a Creation Command (“Let there be light…”) – Now Suggests Council and Common Resolve to Create – Let “Us”…

The Nature of God • God Is More Than One Person: Plural Forms Are Used of God: – Genesis 3: 22 – “And the Lord God (Elohim) said, ‘The man has become as one of us…’” • “Elohim” – Plural for “God” • Plural Pronoun Employed – Genesis 11: 7 – “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language…” • Plural Pronoun, But “Lord” is “Jehovah”

The Nature of God • God Is More Than One Person: Plural Forms Are Used of God: – Isaiah 6: 8 – “And I heard the voice of the Lord (Adonay) saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? ’” • As With Elohim and Jehovah, “Adonay” Governs the Plural Pronoun • Language Reminiscent of the Council Language of Genesis 1: 26 • “Us” Doesn’t Include Isaiah, For He Answered the Lord’s Invitation

The Nature of God • God Is More Than One Person: Plural Forms Are Used of God: – Ecclesiates 12: 1 – “Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth…” – “Creator” is Plural – Job 35: 10 – “But none saith, Where is God my Maker…’” – “Maker” is Plural – God Exists in Multiple Persons

The Nature of God • God Is Three Persons: – Matthew 3: 16 -17 – “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son (Words of a Father), in whom I am well pleased”

The Nature of God • God Is Three Persons: – Matthew 28: 19 – “…Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” – 2 Corinthians 13: 14 – “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” – Ephesians 2: 18 – “For through Him (Christ) we both have access by one Spirit to the Father”

The Nature of God • God Is Three Persons: NOT THREE GODS! • Polytheism Has Its Divine Triads: – Egyptians Had Osiris, Isis and Horus (Analogy of Father, Mother and Son) – Hindu Has Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva • Bible Doctrine Represents God As One in Substance, But Not in Subsistence

The Nature of God • God Is Three United Persons: God is One: – Deuteronomy 6: 4 – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord (Jehovah) our God (Elohim) is one Lord (Jehovah)” • “Elohim” is Plural • “One” is the Numeral “ 1” • Some Ask, “How Can 3 be 1? ” – The Person’s of God Are a United One

The Nature of God • God Is Three United Persons: God is One: – Deuteronomy 4: 35 – “Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the Lord (Jehovah) He is God (Elohim); And there is none else beside Him” • “No Other God” Means No Other Godhead: No Other State of God: No Other God Class

The Nature of God • God Is Three United Persons: God is One: – Isaiah 43: 10 – “Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He: before me was no god formed, neither shall there be after me” • Means No Other Kind of God: No Other Concept of God

The Nature of God • God Is Three United Persons: God is One: – John 10: 30 – “I and my Father are one” – John 17: 20, 21 – “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You…”

The Nature of God • God Has Location: – Ecclesiates 5: 2 – “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. ” (cp. Matt. 6: 9) – 1 Kings 8: 30, 39, 43, 49 – “Hear Thou in Heaven, Thy Dwelling Place…” – Psalm 11: 4 – “The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven”

The Nature of God • God Has Locomotion: – Jesus (God, John 1: 1) “Came Down From Heaven” (John 6: 38) – Jesus Was “Sent” From Heaven to the Earth (John 3: 17; 17: 3) – Jesus Fulfilled His Earthly Mission (Lk. 24: 26) and Returned Heaven to Continue His Work (Heb. 9: 24; 7: 25) – Jesus Presently Resides in Heaven (1 Peter 3: 22)

The Nature of God • God Has Locomotion: – Genesis 18: 1 -2 – The “Lord” Appeared to Abraham in the Form of Three “Men” – Two of Them Went to Sodom and Identified as “Angels” (Gen. 19: 1) – Genesis 19: 24 – “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord in Heaven”