God With A Capital "G" (Part 4 of 6) By Allan Turner (http://allanturner.com/)
God Is His Attributes
For example, the Bible tells us that God is love (I John 4:8,16). It informs us that God's love is great (Ephesians 2:4), eternal (Jeremiah 31:3; Ephesians 1:4,5), infinite (Ephesians 3:18,19), and dependable (Romans 8:35-39). If the theme of the Bible is man's redemption, then the central word of the Bible is love. In fact, the Bible tells us that the motivation for the scheme of redemption is God's love for His creation. How much did God love His creation? He loved it so much that He was willing to give His only begotten Son so that it could be redeemed (John 3:16; I John 4:9). But, what kind of love would do such a thing? To understand this, we must realize that God's love for mankind is a distinctive kind of love called agape (pronounced ah-gah-pay). And what is agape? Primarily, agape is good will toward others. It is deep, tender, and warm concern for the happiness and well-being of another; it is charity toward those in need.
When the Bible says, "God loves us," it means that He really cares about us and always does what is best for us. God's love is different from other kinds of love in that it seeks to give and not to get; it seeks to satisfy not some need of the lover, but rather the need of the one who is loved. This is what God is, i.e., this is His nature! Strip from God His love and we no longer have the God who has revealed Himself to His creatures. Strip from Him His love and what remains is something similar to the gods of the pagans, which are idols for their own destruction (Hosea 8:4).
Nevertheless, what the Bible does not say about the essence
or nature of God is just as important as what it does say. For
instance, although the Bible teaches that God is His attributes
and characteristics, it does not teach that any particular attribute
of God is God; i.e., the Bible is not saying, and has never said,
that "Love is God." On the contrary, what the Bible
teaches is that "God is love" (I John 4:8,16). Clearly,
then, the Bible instructs us that God is His attributes and characteristics.
Anyone who believes the Bible believes this. Consequently, God
is, has been, and always will be who and what He is at this exact
moment.
God Is Triune
In the one state of being God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Romans 3:30; I Corinthians 8:4), there are three distinctly different personalities: the Father, the Son or Word, and the Holy Spirit. Each one of these personalities shares fully the one essence, nature, or state of being God. Everything involved in being Deity is possessed by each of these personalities. In other words, the Bible teaches there is one, and only one, God; but it just as plainly teaches that the Father is God (John 6:27; Galatians 1:1; Philippians 2:11), the Son is God (John 10:30; 20:28), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3,4). Even so, it must be understood that although the Bible says that God is three persons in one essence (cf. Matthew 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14), it does not teach "Tritheism" (i.e., three Gods). As Roy Lanier, Sr. wrote in his book, The Timeless Trinity: "We do not affirm that one God is three Gods; we affirm that there is but one infinite Spirit Being, but within that one Spirit essence there are three personal distinctions, each of which may be, and is, called God; each capable of loving and being loved by the others; each having a distinct, but not separate, part to play in the creation and salvation of man" (p. 46).
We think it prudent to caution that, when thinking of God, it is possible to use "person" or "personality" in a wrong sense. If we are not precise in our thinking, we might conclude that the three persons or personalities that are God are just like human persons or personalities, except more complex. This would be a serious mistake. Human personalities are totally different from each other, and their relationships are often inharmonious and completely external (i.e., they do not partake of the same essence). On the other hand, the three personalities that are God partake of one essence and are always harmonious. In other words, we must not try to think of divine personality within the limits of human personality, as if God were but a more complex image of the human person. To do so would be idolatry, pure and simple (cf. Romans 1:23). Consequently, one must not press too far the concept of personhood when applied to God. What, then, are we saying when we speak of God in three persons?
God In Three Persons
As we have already pointed out, divine personality is the archetype of human personality; it is not the other way around. If, of course, this is true, then there must be some similarities between divine personality and human personality. In fact, there are! As Paul taught the Athenians, "Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising" (Acts 17:29). In other words, we are not lifeless, impersonal matter, and neither is God. The Bible teaches that God is Spirit, and we, who are His offspring, have a spiritual nature. The Bible teaches that God is personal, and we, who are His offspring, partake of personhood. In his excellent book, What The Bible Says About God The Creator, Jack Cottrell points out four elements that are characteristic of personhood: (1) rational consciousness, (2) self-consciousness, (3) self-determination, and (4) the capacity to have relationships with other persons (p. 237). These characteristics are, in fact, a very intricate part of the portrait God paints of Himself in the Bible, from beginning to end. Based on the Scripture alone, no one would ever doubt God's personhood.
Furthermore, if the self-existent, eternal, infinite, and immutable Spirit has three personalities, and this is what the Bible teaches, then the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit partake of personhood. As such, each enjoys rational consciousness, self-consciousness, self-determination, and relationships with other persons. This means that the Father is conscious of Himself as an individual person apart from the Son and the Holy Spirit and vice versa. It means that the Father, of His own free will, decided to send His Son into this world for the redemption of mankind. It means that the Son, of His own free will, responded positively to His Father's decision when He came to this earth and experienced death for fallen humanity. Finally, it means that the Holy Spirit, of His own volition, came to this earth to do the bidding of the Father and the Son. And although it must be understood that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were and are all involved in man's redemption, nevertheless, each person in the Godhead had work to do that was unique only to Him (cf. I Peter 1:1,2). When one reads the Bible, these truths are clear. (By clear, we do not mean that we think it is easy for finite creatures to understand how this threeness is rooted in the divine essence. On the contrary, by clear, we simply mean that the doctrine of the triune nature of God is explicitly taught in the Bible.)
What Can I Do To Make Our Bible Classes Better? By John
Clark
Since we are what we think, say and do, let us determine that
we will think seriously and optimistically about our Bible classes
this year. As you talk to yourself say, "I'm going to make
the best effort I have ever made to make a positive, constructive
contribution to strengthen and improve our Bible classes."
Having made such a commitment, we must get down to the nitty-gritty
of taking the steps - doing the things conscientiously that we
must do to reach that goal. Look at several practical steps to
be taken:
1. I will make attendance on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening
mandatory, a must (this is settled, decided, not to be debated)
not optional (deciding from week to week if I feel like it and
I want to work it in).
2. I am determined to be on time for services. I will break the
habit of being late by planning ahead, starting sooner, making
it a challenge to show the importance of this by being on time.
If others in the family are helping create the problem, I will
seek to solve it by discussing it with them.
3. I will show my involvement and the seriousness of my commitment
to excellence in our Bible classes by working on all assignments
and making daily Bible reading as much a part of my day as eating,
sleeping and working. I will come to class prepared to enter into
the discussions with enthusiasm and something to contribute to
the class because I have taken the time to study. If I am teaching
a class I will seek to be the right example to others as I reveal
by my attitudes and actions how important study of the word of
God is in our daily lives. I will earnestly strive to be a "workman
that needeth not to be ashamed" (2 Tim. 2:15).
4. I will see our Bible classes as a means to an end. I want to
truly understand the Bible better because I want to be and do
what Christ wants me to be and do. I will constantly remind myself
that ignorance of the Scripture is ignorance of Christ and His
will for my life. As I prepare for the class, I want to see it
as the means whereby I grow and grow up to a greater sense of
responsibility coupled with real joy in our Lord.
5. I will use my influence to be a true and positive encouragement
to teachers, the classes, and the arrangements which the elders
have made to be certain that the word of God is faithfully taught.
Where I find discouragement I will seek to encourage; where I
find complaints, I will show appreciation; where the seeds of
doubt and discouragement are sown, I will plant faith, hope and
love; where some have surrendered to apathy and indifference,
I will seek to make a real difference by striving for excellence.
I will seek to be like Paul when he wrote, "straining toward
what is ahead, I press toward the goal to win the prize for which
God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14).
(Selected from The Beacon.)
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Our weekly services are held at 1318 Griffin Road, Leesburg, Florida
34748.
Phone: (352) 365-9946 for times of services.
Web site: http://www.careydillinger.com/cocbs/cocbshp.htm
MONTHLY BIBLE READING: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
BIBLE INSIGHT is published
for the members of, and visitors to, the Church of Christ at Beverly
Shores, Leesburg, Florida, USA.
Carey Dillinger is the editor. He can be reached at the church
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