Dickson Biblical Research Library, - Roger E. Dickson ...africainternational.org/files/Book 12.pdf · 3 Dickson Biblical Research Library, God The Father - Roger E. Dickson, ©1995,

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Dickson Biblical Research Library, www.africainternational.orgGod The Father - Roger E. Dickson, ©1995, 2018: Africa International Missions, Hutchinson, Kansas U.S.A., Philadelphia, South

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Contents

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Philadelphia, Western Cape, South AfricaCopyright 1995, 2018, Africa International Missions

Scripture quotations from International King James VersionCover theme: POWER (Bueafort West, South Africa - R.E.D.)

God The FatherRoger E. Dickson

CONTENTS

Introduction – 3

1 – The God Beyond Our Dictionary – 6

2 – The “IAM” God – 10

3 – The Foreknowing God – 12

4 – The God Among Us – 17

5 – The One True God – 21

6 – The Fatherhood Of God – 27

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GOD THE FATHER

All religious people believe in a higher power. Either their concept of thishigher power is based on the revelation of God through the Bible, or it isbased on their own imagination. In order for humanity to be religiously united,there must be a consensus of who God is and how He has and continues towork among men. In order to discover this God, we must consult His therevelation of His word. And in order to establish a common definition of God,we must all agree upon a common “dictionary” of words. Through the cre-ation of the material world God has revealed His existence. Through directrevelation to chosen men of history, He has revealed His presence. Throughrevelation of written word, He has revealed His attributes and character.Through Jesus, He revealed that His true nature is love and grace by whichHe seeks to bring believers into His eternal presence. Because we seek tolive forever, we thus begin our search for the one true and living God.

The skeptic Voltaire was at least righton one point when he said of religion andmankind, “If God has created us in hisimage, we have more than returned thecompliment.” And truly, we live in aworld that has created every imaginablegod after the image of man.

We live in a world that has conceiveda variety of “higher powers.” The Mus-lim, or some non-Christian religionist, willoften say that they believe in the sameGod as the Christian. We would differwith this assertion. The Hindu will sim-ply add the Christian God to the catalogueof gods in which he already believes.With this we would also differ. God can-not be the invention of a culture that hasa hidden agenda. God cannot be manu-factured from the minds of those who areset on destroying their fellow man throughviolent atrocities. God cannot be brokeninto theological pieces in order to cater tothe changing whims of adherents who

seek to pacify their own consciences.Our concept of God must in no way bedetermined by our human inclinations anddesires.

The fact is that we have this insa-tiable desire to create gods after our owndesires. This is why Emil Brunner wrote,“For every civilization or every period inhistory it is true today: Show me whatkind of God you have and I will tell youwhat kind of humanity you possess”(Man in Revolt, 1939).

Man has a hard time learning the truththat God must not be molded to fit man;man must be transformed into the spiri-tual image of God. A god that is deter-mined and defined by the culture of thosewho bow down to it, is a god who hasbeen created after the behavior of men.Gods that portray the culture of man aresimply the imagination of those who havemanufactured a higher power after theirown behavior and beliefs.

Introduction

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Since the Christian bases his defini-tion of God on the Bible, we could cor-rectly assume that his understanding ofGod is different from any religion that doesnot use the Bible as the final resource todiscover and define God. For this rea-son, the Christian does not believe in thegod of those created religions that haverejected the Bible as the final authority inmatters of faith.

Men have too often reversed the pro-cess of discovering God. They have cre-ated religious beliefs after their own de-sires, and then, searched for a god whowould conform to their religion. This hu-manistic approach to discovering the onetrue God will never work. This projec-tion of thought will always leave one witha god that is subservient to the mentalcapacity and desires of those who havemanufactured their own religion. Anytrue search for the true God must beginwith God Himself. If there is a God, thencertainly this God would reveal Himself.It is our task, therefore, to find and inves-tigate this revelation from God. We mustset aside our own inclinations about whowe think God should be and simply ac-cept the revelation of who God says Heis. God does not believe in the gods wecreate.

Christians believe in a loving andmerciful God who is just, and thus, dealswith man without respect of persons. Heis a God whose primary means to encour-age man to do right is His character andexpression of love. For this reason, theapostle John wrote, “God is love, andhe who abides in love abides in God,and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). John was

more definitive concerning our under-standing of God when he wrote, “He whodoes not love does not know God, forGod is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Any religionthat is based on anything other thanthe principle of love cannot be true.Neither can such religions give us a cor-rect understanding of God. A loving Goddoes not reveal an unloving faith.

The fact that the nature of God is lovehelps us in our search through the cata-logue of religions in the world today inorder to discover the one true God. Worldreligions and denominations of churchesthat do not focus on that by which Godworks to move man—love—cannot bethe faith that is revealed by God. Reli-gions, therefore, that justify what is un-loving simply cannot be founded on therevelation of a God of love.

We must study through those scrip-tures in the Bible that give literary defini-tions of the character of God. However,unless we are prepared to portray in ourlives the loving nature of God, our intel-lectual knowledge of the Scriptures willonly take us so far in understanding whothis God of love really is. Unloving in-terpreters will never come to aknowledge of the God of love in theBible.

God will allow us to use the Biblealone in our efforts to discover who Heis. In other words, the God of the Biblewill settle for no other supposed writtenrevelation in order to define who He is.One cannot use the Quran or theBhagavad-Gita or any other religious lit-erature in order to discover the true Godof the Bible. Other religious authorities

Introduction

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other than the Bible can only be man’sdefinitions of who he thinks his God is. Ifwe are to discover the God of the Bible,then certainly we must limit ourselves tothe Bible of this God. When it comes todiscovering the God of the Bible, the Biblerestricts our studies to it alone, for throughit God has defined who He is.

In Romans 1:20 Paul wrote, “Forsince the creation of the world His in-visible attributes are clearly seen, be-ing understood by the things that aremade, even His eternal power andGodhead ....” One might refer to God’srevelation of Himself through that whichis created as natural revelation. Throughnatural revelation, God has assumed thatwe have enough sense to understand thatthe environment in which we live did notspontaneously generate. It was created,and thus, it has the marks of a Creatorand Designer who has the power to cre-ate.

However, we must get past the physi-cal environment in which we live in orderto discover the true nature of the God ofnature. If we do not, our understandingof God will limited to the empirical feed-back that we receive from the physicalworld. A host of religions today are thuslimited to rocks and trees, which thingsGod intended to simply ignite our wonderin order to search for His direct revela-tion. But many have tripped over the cre-ated rocks, and thus found it impossibleto discover the Rock of Ages.

Though God has revealed Himselfthrough the created world, we must notterminate our search for God at the cre-ated world in order to discover His exist-ence beyond that which He created. Na-ture is only an empirical launching padfrom which we must be lifted into thespecial revelation of the God who cre-ated the launching pad. Therefore, un-less one arrives at the Bible in his or herinvestigations of who God is, he or shewill never discover the one true God.

Does this mean that because theChristian has the Bible that he understandsall that God is? Not at all. It does mean,however, that he has an advantage overthose who grope after God through themaze of their theologies and traditions.But at the end of the day, the Christianmust confess his inability to fully com-prehend the incomprehensible. In DeVeritude, Thomas Aquinas was right.“The highest knowledge we can have ofGod in this life is to know that He is aboveall we can think concerning Him.”

We must allow ourselves to be chal-lenged concerning who we think God is.We must first break down some miscon-ceptions of God in order to reconstruct abiblical understanding of the nature ofGod. Therefore, as we take this mentaljourney through some theological andphilosophical conceptions of God, we mustbe prepared to allow the Bible to be theonly dictionary of our definition of God.

Introduction

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In his book, Human Destiny,Lecomte du Nouy wrote, “If we couldreally conceive God we could no longerbelieve in Him because our representa-tion, being human, would inspire us withdoubts.”

If we created a God we could com-prehend, then we would certainly createin our minds doubts about His being. Ifwe are to believe in a God, then this Godmust exceed our understanding. It is easyfor an atheist to be such since he has cre-ated a god after his own imagination. Hefirst creates the god, then he denies suchbecause he knows that his god is nogreater than his mind. At least the athe-ist is honest with himself. He says hedoes not believe in a god who is limited tohis own thinking.

The true God is beyond our thinking.He is beyond our full understanding sim-ply because He is God. We are men.What if we attempted to relate to you theexperience of a desert? You have prob-ably never been there. We have. So whatwould we say? How would we verballyinvolve you in our desert experience? Wewould struggle to convey to you throughthe inadequacies of words our personaldesert experience. In using words forwhich you have little “desert definitions,”we would have to resort to metaphors.We must take those words you have de-fined by your own experiences and wrapthem around our personal experience ina desert in order to help you to under-

stand something that is beyond your ex-perience.

The desert is as dry as a summer heatwave. It is hot as drought. Envision thedisappearance of all trees, plants, houses,cars and life from where you are. This isthe desert. It thirsts for the moisture ofthe heavens. It yearns for the color greenor anything that would be the resem-blance of vegetation. The winds cast itssands from dune to dune. Throughouttime, the mighty forces of weather movethe great sand mountains from one loca-tion to another. The desert is a placewhere the sun is not quenched and heatis not shielded.

We could go on. However, we can-not fully explain that which is beyond yourexperience. We could use the greatestof metaphorical expressions and yet failto fully take you with conceptual thoughtto the reality of a full desert experience.There are no words to take you there.

In like manner we struggle to under-stand God, the supernatural, and even aplace to which we all yearn to go—heaven. The inspired writers combedthrough human dictionaries in order to se-lect through the guidance of the HolySpirit the most precise words possible togive us a glimpse of that which was be-yond human definition. The Holy Spirit,however, was handicapped. He too waslimited to the confines of an earthly dic-tionary that contained the earthly defini-tions of our earthly experiences.

1 - The God Beyond Our Dictionary

Chapter 1

THE GOD BEYOND OUR DICTIONARY

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How would God explain to us, by useof humanly defined words, a place that isbeyond the limitations of our dictionary.Herein lies the challenge of Deity. Hereinis the imagination of humanity expandedby the beauty of metaphor in divine rev-elation.

We can somewhat bring to yourimagination the concept of “desert” byresorting only to those experiences youhave stored away in memory by yourpersonal experiences. However, as soonas we use a word or a phrase that goesbeyond your personal experience, we loseyou. You cannot understand. Therefore,we must test your imagination. We musttease your thinking with the richest ofmetaphors in order to open a door ofimagination concerning our desert expe-rience. No matter how hard we try, how-ever, we will fail. We cannot through hu-man communication take you to thatwhich you have never experienced. Yourunderstanding will always be inadequate.It will always be limited to your vocabu-lary that has been defined by your ownpersonal experiences.

Our failure to adequately communi-cate, and your lack of a desert experi-ence, however, does not distract from theexistence of the desert. Our failure onlysignifies that there are no words with yourdefinitions that will fully explain our per-sonal experience. You must understandthis, lest you doubt our experiences andthe existence of the desert that we havepersonally experienced.

You also must play along. You mustnot “literalize” our metaphors. You mustuse your imagination and allow us to el-

evate your thoughts beyond your personalexperiences. In this way, we are usingyour dictionary in order to take you on amental trip beyond your environment, be-yond your presence to a far away land.

God would do the same with us. Hecomes to man with a concept of heaventhat is so far beyond our experiences thatwe awe and gasp at its possibility; wegrasp after its reality; we yearn for itspresence. However, because it is so farbeyond our understanding, some wouldeven doubt its existence. Their inability,or unwillingness to conceive of that whichis beyond this world leads them to beskeptical. They doubt because they aretoo earthly confined. They are in thebondage of their own vocabulary. Theyrefuse to dream beyond that which is ofthis material world.

God’s being, existence and charac-ter must be beyond that which He origi-nated. The Creator must be greater thanthat which is created. But our dictionarycontains definitions of the creation. Howcan we escape the confines of our earthlydefined words in order to grasp that whichis beyond earth’s dictionary?

The Holy Spirit comes to us with abook of human words, the Bible. Wemust first understand that He did not bringa heavenly dictionary. Paul learned thiswhen he was caught up to Paradise andheard “inexpressible words,” words thatwere not lawful to be uttered (2 Co 12:1-4). They were not lawful to be spokensimply because we do not have the heav-enly dictionary that has definitions of arealm that is beyond this world of our onlyexperience. If he had by chance been


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given just a few heavenly words to utteron our behalf, we would in no way havebeen able to understand them. Even ifhe had brought from Paradise a dictio-nary, we still would not have understoodsimply because the definitions of thewords of the dictionary would have beenbeyond our earthly experiences.

It was the Spirit’s task through rev-elation to challenge our imagination, totake us beyond our personal experiences,beyond the words of our world in orderto understand that which is beyond hu-man experience. So God comes to us inthe Bible with metaphors. His inspiredBook is loaded with metaphors as “theface of God,” “streets of gold,” and “fireand brimstone.” What is God communi-cating? Should we understand thesemetaphors after the literal, earthly originsfrom which they were taken? Should wemake earthly a revelation of that whichis beyond this earth? Or, should we un-derstand that the metaphors point us tosomething greater than the metaphors,something that is greater than earthlydefinitions?

In our frustration to understand God,our first inclination is to create a God af-ter our own image. We see God as our-selves. We want to create Him after ourphysical existence. We conclude, there-fore, that God has a real arm. He has aliteral face, eyes, ears and vocal cords.In our childish hermeneutics we havebrought God down to where we can nowunderstand Him. He has now gone fromGod to god. We have created a god wecan understand. We have created a godto whom we can relate in a literal way.

This is the spirit of idolatry. Our nextstage of digression is to form this god in apiece of wood or carve him in a rock.You laugh. But this is how man has un-ceasingly behaved throughout the annalsof history.

We might affirm that we are too edu-cated to carve the image or engrave thestone. But our conception and percep-tion of the god we worship possibly justi-fies the acts of our rebellious life.Whether carved or conceived, man’sgods always seem to submit to the vilecravings of man himself. Somehow, godalways ends up being a “force” out theresomewhere with which one can deal andaround which one can conceal wicked-ness.

What good is a god that can be de-fined by an earthly dictionary? Whowants a god that cannot act beyond theverbs of a compound sentence? If ourgod cannot work beyond the confines ofour grammar, then any god we linguisti-cally construct will do. Let us simply con-ceive and construct one that will allow usto eat, drink and be merry. But at theend of the day, who wants a god who issimply created after our fears and sub-ject to our own lusts?

There is something in us that says weknow better than being idolaters. We can-not explain it. It is just there. It is innate;it is a yearning to be beyond ourselves.It is a longing of a hope that says this isnot all there is. This yearning, this long-ing has compelled us to search the uni-verse in order to discover this God whois bigger than words, bigger than our un-derstanding of things of this world. This


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God is bigger than our dictionary of words.He is even bigger than the Bible that con-tains the Spirit’s assortment of humanwords to take us metaphorically beyondhumanly defined concepts. We thereforeunderstand that the Spirit seeks to chal-lenge our imagination with the majesty ofmetaphor in order for us to see the maj-esty of our Maker.

Moses struggled to take a divine IDcard back to Egypt from Mount Sinai.There was no way that God could fullyexplain to Moses or Israel who He was.The Eternal Spirit simply told Moses totell Israel that “I AM” sent you. We aresure that this “name” confused Moses asit does us. But what better statementcould possibly explain the mystery of ourGod.

Israel had spent four hundred yearsin the seat of idolatrous polytheism inEgypt. The Egyptians were riddled withthe created gods of old through whom theysought blessings from above in every as-pect of life. There was the god of theriver, the god of the sun, the god of theharvest. When it came to creating gods,no society had a better god factory thanEgypt.

So Moses stood before an Israelitesociety that had been infected with thevirus of polytheism and simply stated, “IAM, sent me.” We cannot help but thinkthat the ignorant of Egypt scoffed. How-ever, those who had seen the futility ofcreating a god after one’s own desires,knew that there was something rightabout what Moses’ proclaimed. Theyknew that God had to be beyond carvedstones and created images.

Man’s gods are always handicapped.They can never function beyond the abil-ity of their creator’s mentality. They arecrippled by a mindset that desires a deitywho submits to the inadequacies of hu-manity. For this reason, idolatrous godsare always dysfunctional. The righteousof Israel knew this. If there were cre-ated gods of hate, then it was simply rea-sonable that any true god would not in-spire hate for one’s fellow human being.Imagined gods will always promote hu-man self-destruction, but the one true andliving God will always inspire love for thatwhich God created. We are atheists inreference to any god who would moti-vate us to hate our fellow human being.

The Israelites, therefore, followedMoses out of captivity and into a desertexperience because he proclaimed a Godwho was beyond the dysfunctional godsof Egypt. However, the venom of cre-ated gods had not left them. When Mosesdelayed on the mountain before the“Great I Am,” the people clamored thatAaron “make them gods that will go be-fore us.” Only when the true God openedthe earth in order to consume the imag-ined gods of Israel, did they fully under-stand that there is only one God. This isnot a hand-sculptured god. He is a Godbeyond gold, beyond man’s base desires.He is not simply, but majestically “I AM.”

When the apostle Paul walked intoAthens and down the streets lined withidols, he came upon an altar that read,“To the unknown God” (At 17:23). Thisone inscription explains centuries of ig-norance of the one true and living God.Greece was an intellectual center of man-


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kind. Here lived Plato, Socrates and ahost of other thinkers of history who knewthat there was something beyond thematerial world. They also lived in themidst of idol gods that had been createdafter the imagination of men. Neverthe-less, the philosophers of ancient Greeceknew that if these imagined gods wereno greater than their imagination, thenthey were gods who were tainted withhumanity. These gods could be trickedby clever men. Every idol was con-structed to appease the Greek gods.However, the philosophers knew thatthere had to be a God out there who was

beyond the cleverness of men, a God whocould not be conceived by the imagina-tion of the wisest man. Therefore, just incase this God was there, they built an al-tar to Him in order to appease Him. Thiswas the God about whom Paul said, “...for in Him we live and move and haveour being ...” (At 17:28). This is theGod the Spirit seeks to communicate tous through revelation. This is the Godabout whom we read in the Bible. Andthis is the God that every man misses ifhe does not come to the word of God inorder to discover His marvelous great-ness.

2 - The “I AM” God

Come along with us on a short jour-ney to an imaginary land that might helpus discover God. Walk with us along anarrow path into a quiet jungle that me-anders beside a remote and forgotten Af-rican village. Our ethnocentrism makesus reason to be superior to the residentvillagers who are clad in clothes that mightnot be suitable for urban dwellers. Surelywe would be greater than they; we wouldbe somewhat in the eyes of a god whomwe have created after our own image.But to our surprise, this journey will takeus to a realization that we are not as muchas we think we are. We are all clothed inspiritual rags wherein we thirst for thegrace of a God who is far greater thanour comprehension. Our journey will bringus to the realization that we are possiblenot living the gospel as we should.

As we speed by the village in a mod-

ern-day car, our fellow man becomes apassing blur in our peripheral vision. Westill retain our egocentric personality,proudly passing ourselves off as thosearound whom the universe must surelyevolve. We are important; people to benoted, recognized, considered by a godwhom we conceive to be culturally iden-tified with us alone.

We now pass over our fellow man inan airplane at five thousand feet. We rec-ognize houses and cars. However, whatwas once the passing blur of a fellow manoutside a car window has now disap-peared from view. We are alone. Whatseemed so significant on earth has nowdwindled to nonrecognition from a dis-tance by our finite eyes. We can no longersee the human bodies on earth. It is toosmall, too insignificant in a world that isfar bigger than we are as individuals.

Chapter 2

THE “I AM” GOD

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We are now at forty thousand feet ina jet that whizzes over the circle of theearth. We see no houses, no cars, butespecially, no human beings. Earth nowbecomes increasingly small as it whispersbelow in gradual movement. Even thesmall planet on which we reside nowstarts to become small, insignificant in agalaxy of other worlds.

We now become intensely aware ofsomething. We begin to struggle, to lookthrough the mind of a God who must beinfinitely greater than anything that wecould invent on earth. The man who feltso great in the African village now con-templates his own insignificance from theviewpoint of a God who can whiz by gal-axies beyond light speed. It is a hum-bling experience. It is humbling to real-ize that our world is so small. And if ourworld is so small, then we are smaller.We are insignificant existences of space.Who do we think we are?

Aboard a space ship blasting to theouter fringes of the universe, we begin toponder. We look back over our shoul-ders and see a faint glimmer of a smallblue marble clothed in silk white clouds.Would the God we now conceive con-sider such a finite speck as us from thevastness of space? Would we be so ar-rogant to believe that He would evenidentify our existence?

Who is this God, that by a few wordsof revelation from Him, He has excitedour imagination? Can He be so great thatHe can consider something so finite asourselves? So small? So useless and in-significant? Human reason and rational-ity frustrate us. But faith excites our think-

ing to believe that such a great God canconsider such a small particle of exist-ence. Our faith drives our minds to di-mensions beyond our empirical limitationsto conceive a God beyond our imagina-tion.

We so reason that certainly His cre-ation is not larger or more mighty thanHis existence? He is the Creator andcreation can never surpass the greatnessof the Creator. The universe is so gigan-tic, so awesome, so beyond the reach ofour largest telescopes. Who is this Godwho can be so immense and yet so indi-vidual? Would we dare locate Him some-where among the galaxies of His cre-ation? We dare not.

If we say He is “here” or “there,”then we are wanting to locate Him in aposition among the galaxies. We humanlystruggle to place Him somewhere in or-der to identify His presence. If we placeHim here, we want to mentally dislocateHim from there. If He is the God who isthere, then can He be here also? Ourhuman postulations frustrate us as westruggle to conceive of a God who canbe here and there at the same time.

Our only recourse is to revelation, toa simple explanation on a small mountainin Sinai whereupon this God proclaimed,“I Am, that I Am.” This humanly pre-cise, yet inadequate statement leaves uswondering. Therefore, we must againwalk by faith. We will never fully under-stand this GREAT I AM.

As our space ship returns to earth,the enlarging blue marble becomes moresignificant. Amidst the background of abillion planets and stars and suns, this God

2 - The “I AM” God

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who is greater than all has chosen to visitthis one planet alone. Could He be soconsiderate, so specific in His work as tocount men one by one in a universe soinnumerable with heavenly bodies? Thisis the God who is so great that He canconsider that which is so small.

Our aerial flight brings us home. Wealight from our car. We meander againdown a trail, through that village of thoseover whom we once so foolishly exaltedourselves. If the God of the universewould be so individual with us, what rightdo we vainly assume to place ourselvesabove the most humble of His creation?Would we dare stand before Him and crythat we are somewhat? Would we pleadfor special consideration? Would we thenbe so arrogant as to pass ourselves offfor special judgment?

The God who is so great, but canconsider that which is so small, certainlymust be the one God worth believing. Ifnot, then we are hopelessly lost in a gal-axy that is so immense that we are re-duced to dust specks of existence.

The God who is so complex, but can

be so individual, must certainly be of suchpresence that He is infinitely beyond ourunderstanding. Nevertheless, we trust Heis great, and yet, so individually consider-ate, for in Him we would live and moveand have our very being. He is the Godwho can count the hairs on our heads justas He can count the galaxies of space.

The only God who is worth having isthe one we cannot fully comprehend. Ifwe wonder why He can consider just onehuman speck in a universe composed ofgalaxies, then we prove that He is a Godgreater than our minds. It is this God inwhom we must walk by faith. It is thisGod we must wholly trust. It is this Godbefore whom we dare not show the slight-est pretense above our fellow man. Be-cause He is the great “I Am,” we arelowly individuals in all His creation. Be-cause of who He is, we are individualsHe has chosen to love and save and con-sider for eternal dwelling with Himself.Oh, how majestic and wonderful our Godis. He is far beyond our greatest imagi-nation. Our defining words fail in Hispresence.

God is foreknowing. He knows whatis going to happen in the future. He fore-knows the happening of all events beforethey happen. But does God individuallypredestine events to happen because Heknows that they will happen? At least,we suppose that He does not becausewe would have no free will if He did.Since He foreknows the happening of

events in the future, however, does notmean that He predestines what will hap-pen. His foreknowledge does not pre-clude predestination.

Our human thinking struggles with thereality of the foreknowledge of God.How can there be any theological or philo-sophical harmony between the conceptsof free-moral agency and God’s fore-

3 - The Foreknowing God

Chapter 3

THE FOREKNOWING GOD

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knowledge? It is difficult from a humanperspective to consider something as thisfrom the viewpoint of God. What kind ofGod is this that can foreknow without in-dividually predestining? How can Heforeknow without predestining, and thus,violate our free will?

We must go back a few years in or-der to understand God’s foreknowledgeof the years to come. God was a billionearth years ago in eternity with fore-knowledge of our obedience to a gospelthat had not yet become a historical eventat the time He foreknew we would obey.Foreknowledge would assume that Heknew everyone who would obey the gos-pel. He saw the cross of Jesus becauseit was in His eternal plan to bring into eter-nity through the cross those whom Hewould create after His own image. Inthe midst of eternity, He planned that Hewould interrupt existence with the cre-ation of the world. Time would becomea part of eternity by the creation of thatwhich would produce history. In otherwords, time did not exist until this worldwas created.

In creation, God whispered into ex-istence the best of all possible environ-ments that would be the dwelling placefor free-moral agents. This set the stagefor the gospel of Jesus’ incarnationaldeath on the cross for our sins and Hisresurrection for our hope. The occasionwas then presented to us for a responseto the gospel of Jesus’ death and resur-rection.

So here we are, only specks in eter-nity and the universe, confined to a his-tory-making world that is destined to re-

turn to that out of which it was created—nothing. God knew that by the time ourindividual specks of existence streakedacross the history of this world, the crossand empty tomb would have alreadyblinked into history with eternal conse-quences. Though a brief earthly happen-ing in an eternal plan, the impact of thecross on the obedient believer would haveeternal consequences. We have obeyed.God knew we would. But did He pre-destine that we should respond to thecross through obedience to the gospel?And if He supposedly predestined us toobey the gospel, then are we truly free-moral agents? Or, are we simply cosmicrobots created by a playful deity who isengaged in some diabolical chess gamewith His created puppets? It is difficultfrom our human perspective to understandhow God can know that one will obeythe gospel, and yet, not predestine thatindividual to obey.

Jesus was crucified before the cre-ation of the world (Rv 13:8). God hadorchestrated His own plan of redemptionbefore the existence of history and timeand us. He planned before the existenceof the world that we would be destinedas members of the body of Christ foreternal existence with Him. His actionwas foreknown and predestined becauseHe foreplanned the happening of the crossand the existence of the body of Christ.It all happened according to plan.

But how could God in His omni-science foreknow our response to theplan without predestining our response?We presume He knew that we wouldobey the gospel. After all, does not om-


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niscience mean all-knowing? But nowpostulations confound us. The purposeof the plan was to lift us from the con-fines of a temporary historical event toan eternal cohabitation with Deity. Theonly real purpose for our brief earthlyexistence was to mold us into that whichis suitable for cohabitation with God ineternity.

If we believe that our obedience tothe gospel was foreknown, then we won-der why God made all the plans for oursalvation? Why all the pain and suffer-ing in an environment that seems to al-ways go wrong? Now we are thinkingas humans. We have identified ourselvesas the finite beings we are because wedo not always understand the workingsof God.

Nevertheless, we wonder why Godwould create an environment that wouldinvolve pain on our part when all Hewanted in the first place was eternal co-habitants in heaven. Could He not sim-ply have created us the way we shouldbe, and then go on with eternal heavenwithout all the pain and suffering of thisworld? This is a question every Chris-tian must answer. In answering it, wecan better understand the purpose for ourexistence in this world. We can betterunderstand the purpose for evil and suf-fering in our existence here on earth.

God knew that the obedient weredestined to eternal cohabitation with Him.Since this was known even before thecreation of our environment (the world),then does this not connect the prefix “pre”to our individual destiny, and thus, we areindividually predestined. If this is true,

then our free-moral agency is canceled.If we are predestined, then where is ourchoice? If God determined before thecreation of the world that we would obeythe gospel, then certainly we would haveno choice in making a decision concern-ing the cross of Jesus. Somehow, it isdifficult for a mind that is confined to timeto understand the consistency betweenconcepts as foreknowledge, predestina-tion and free-moral agency.

So we wonder for a moment. ForGod to be truly omniscient, then oureternality in heaven, that is based on ourobedience to the gospel event, was in Hisknowledge before any word of creationwas spoken. But how could He knowsuch without destroying our freedom tochoose? After all, there will be anotherreality for those who have not fallen atthe foot of the cross—hell. Could theone who refused to respond lift up his headin the destruction of hell and accuse Godof being unjust, unfair, fiendish? Afterall, if God foreknew our eternal glory, Healso foreknew the destruction of the oneswho would not respond to the cross.Therefore, does God’s foreknowledge ofthe condemned preclude that He destinedthem to be lost?

God’s justice is affirmed by our free-moral agency. Because we can makechoices, God can stand just in the con-demnation of the disobedient to hell. Hecan remain a just God because it was onthe basis of choice that the condemnedchose not to obey. But how can God fore-know the destiny of every individual with-out having predestined the destiny of ei-ther the saved or the lost? If He fore-


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knows destinies, then what is the use ofmaking any effort to obey? Can free-dom of choice have any part in the eter-nal omniscience of a Being who is notconfined to time and history?

We must reason together for a mo-ment. In order for God to be a just God,we must be truly free-moral agents wholive in an environment wherein choicescan be made. This presupposes that anenvironment must be created that is theperfect dwelling place for choice mak-ing. Free-moral agency also presupposesthat we have the mental capacity andability to choose. There can be no pre-programming. There can be no fixing ofthe tapes or virus in the program. Wemust be totally responsible for our behav-ior and accountable for our reactions todivine law. True free-moral agency inan environment that allows choicesto be made reaffirms the justice ofGod in the condemnation of the dis-obedient.

If our interaction with one another orGod during our brief period of testing intime is negative, none of us can lift upour head in destruction and accuse Godfor our condemnation. Because of ourfree-moral agency, we are responsible forour own destiny. But does this not con-tradict the predestination of God? Whydoes the responsibility shift from God tous in this humanly supposed contradic-tion between the existence of God’s fore-knowledge and our own free-moralchoice? Or, is there a contradiction?

Here is the solution to this supposedcontradiction. Before the foundation ofthe world, God planned, and thus fore-

knew, the community of believers Hewould deliver from mortality into immor-tality. His plan was that His people bethose who respond to the predestinedcross. This community of believerswould be/are predestined to eternal co-habitation with God in eternity. However,individuals must make a free-moraldecision to become a part of the pre-destined group, the church. Since thegroup (the church) was predestined be-fore the creation of the world to be ac-cepted into eternal dwelling, then thosewho free-morally chose to become a partof the group are thus destined to heaven.However, one must make a free-moraldecision to become a part of the groupbefore he can be destined with the group.But does this mean that one is predes-tined to become a part of the church?Where does free-moral agency fit intothis predestination? Where is choice?Can we really make free-moral choicesto become a part of the church if Godforeknows that we will obey the gospel?

The answer is not as complicated asone might first have supposed. We aregiven a choice concerning the cross. Wehave the freedom to choose concerningour new birth into the community of thepredestined. If our response to the gos-pel is positive, then we become a mem-ber of a predestined body that has beenpurchased by the sacrificial blood of theincarnate Son of God. Our positive choiceto His gift of redemption places us in thecompany of all those who are headed forheaven. We are thus predestined as apart of the body because the body is pre-destined. We are not predestined to be-


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come a part of the body, though God fore-knew that we would become a part ofthe body through our free-moral choice.

But you still question how God cando this. Did He not know that our re-sponses to the gospel would be positive?Did His foreknowledge of our obedience,therefore, not preclude predestination ofobedience? Have we not simply movedpredestination back from final judgmentto initial obedience? If one is predestinedto heaven as a part of the church, thenwhy cannot one be individually predes-tined to become a part of the predestinedchurch?

The critic may have a point in thismatter. However, his point is from a hu-man perspective. After all—we speakas men—if God foreknew our obedienceto the gospel, then was not our obediencepredestined? And if predestined, then wehave exercised no free-moral choice.God will still be responsible for our de-mise in eternal destruction if such be ourdestiny. He will be responsible becauseHe created us while knowing that wewould be destined for eternal destruction.

What we continue to wonder andpostulate is if there is any consistencybetween foreknowledge and free willwithout God having individually predes-tined us to either heaven or hell. Canforeknowledge and free will exist with-out logical contradiction? Can God fore-know our obedience or disobedience with-out having predestined either? If He thusforeknows our individual obedience, thenis there room for free will?

Admittedly, these contemplationsconfuse those who are limited to time and

history. And we all are so limited. If weunderstood all, then we would be God.Therefore, on this subject we must allowGod to be God. Must we understand allthat He is or all that He understands inorder to affirm that His existence is not alogical contradiction? Certainly not. Ifwe presumed we should know everythingabout God before we believe in God, thenwe are seeking to elevate ourselves tobe as God. What we are actually doingis bringing God down to god, and again,creating a god after our own imaginations,or better, our own finite ability to under-stand. We are wanting a god we cancomprehend, one we can figure out, andthus, compute His workings. You canhave such a god. As for us, however, wewill take the One we have difficulty try-ing to calculate with a finite mentality. Wewill take this God because we understandthat we will never be able to figure outthe one true God who is higher than ourgreatest thoughts.

Therefore, we will settle for our ownunderstandings of what the Infinite hasrevealed to us through His word of rev-elation. He planned before the creationof the world that His community, thechurch, would dwell with Him in eternity.Thus, the church is predestined to eter-nal glory. All those who individuallychoose to become a part of this predes-tined group are thus predestined to eter-nal glory as a member of the body. Inthis way God can foreknow our destiny.His justice will stand in relationship tothose He has foreknown will obey thegospel because they made individualchoices to become a part of the predes-


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tined church.Think of it from God’s perspective in

eternity before the creation of this envi-ronment. God foreknew our choice be-fore we existed in order to choose. Fromour human perspective this may sound likepreprogramming. But remember, we arenot God. He can foreknow without pre-programming. Simply because we do notunderstand this, does not mean that it isnot true from God’s perspective.

Some have simply ignored the issueby saying that God chose not to foreknow.It is believed by some that in order tospare us of our frustrations concerningthis humanly determined logical contra-diction, God simply said to us that Henever knew in the first place. If the con-demned in eternity so accuse Him, Hecan respond by saying to them, “I neverknew.”

But this seems to be a convenient the-ology of gymnastics to escape from ourfrustrations to understand the omni-science of God. So we ask the question,Would not God have to foreknow first thatwhich He would decide not to know? Ifso, then we are back to where we started.

Simply because we cannot sort

through our finite thinking and under-standing of God’s foreknowledge with-out presupposing individual predestination,we must not frustrate ourselves, and thusaccuse God of “willful ignorance.” Af-ter all, if He has chosen to willingly notknow our destiny, then He is not omni-scient. So why would God choose not toknow simply because we cannot under-stand His knowledge? Are we again try-ing to create a god we can understand,one that chooses ignorance in order toaccommodate our inability to comprehendthat which pertains to Deity?

So we have not figured it all out. Thefact that we are writing on the subjectwith a host of others who have writtenon the same subject is evidence that thereare no final answers, and no declarativestatements of revelation to bring answersto all the questions. But this is again proofthat we are on the right road. We be-lieve in a God whose ways are beyondour finding out. We believe in a Godwhose ways continually challenge us towonder and postulate; One that makesus continually realize that we are still hu-man.

We are trapped here on earth in aphysical environment of struggle. Weseek to comprehend that which is beyondour senses. When our faith has ques-tions or inquires, we strive for concreteanswers from an empirical world that weperceive through our senses. The limita-

tions of our inquiry give us little hope be-yond our world. A young Christian in aclassroom once asked, “How can I knowthat there is a God out there or here?”How would we answer that question, forthe answer involves something, or Some-one who is beyond our empirical world?

4 - The God Among Us

Chapter 4

THE GOD AMONG US

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We seek to know, to touch, to be con-firmed in our faith. We often feel thatthe believer has been relegated to a worldof guesses, to a faith that is based on abook called the Bible which is interpretedwith human intuition. Has God left us toourselves in a physical world of cosmicchance? Has He laid the foundation fordoubt by hiding behind some distantplanet? Our questions often push us onto a faith that seeks to walk by sight.

“Walk by faith” seems to call for toomuch. Some have at one time or anotherprayed for the appearance of an angel, amiracle, or just a small flicker of a candleflame in the privacy of their own room.If God would just indicate His presenceby the minutest revelation, be believe thatour faith would be confirmed; we couldjoyfully go on our way—by sight.

Entire religious systems are built uponsuch yearnings that are fulfilled by hu-manly claimed experiences. To some, anangel has supposedly appeared, the Spirithas spoken, the flame flickered. Thereis an assortment of religious people who“believe” because they claim to have puttheir hand into the spear-wounded sideof Jesus and touched the nail-piercedhands. But are these “Thomas disciples”more blessed because they have suppos-edly seen and touched? We think not.

The existence of experiential re-ligiosity only manifests the desires ofthose who seek to walk by sight andnot by faith.

There are those religious groups to-day who have claimed to have experi-enced some wonder as the blind beinghealed, the dead raised, or some cancer

cured. We do not doubt that God worksbehind the scenes of our empirical co-coon to accomplish great things. How-ever, we do question those who affirmedthat the empirically perceived miracles ofJesus and the apostles occur today. Godseeks to lead us today by faith, not bysight.

We do not want God to steal awayour blessedness by an empirically per-ceived miracle. We seek to walk by thestrength of faith. Could it be that faith isstronger than sight? We think so. Afterall, for three years Thomas experiencedthe feeding of the multitudes, the walkingon water, the raising of the dead, and ahost of other empirical confirmations ofJesus as the Son of God. And yet, he stillwanted to touch a nail-pierced hand be-fore he would believe in the resurrection.If sight is so powerful, then why did Is-rael seek to swim back across a seathrough which they had walked on dryland to escape the Egyptians? Why didthey, at the foot of Mount Sinai, build idolson which they could lay their hands?

So we want to empirically know the“comings” and “goings” of the Spirit. Wewant to know His “doings.” Our ques-tions betray our humanity. They mani-fest our frustrations with the limitationsthat confine us to a material world. Canwe ask for the Spirit of God to behaveafter the definitions of our words? Wemust confess that our questions are con-fined to the words of our dictionary.Therefore, for God to answer the ques-tions, He must answer with the same hu-manly defined words. There is a prob-lem in this. If we understand His answer,


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then we are understanding only becausewe understand our own words that Hehas used. We thus place His explanationof His work within the confines of ourown vocabulary. We have thus impris-oned God to a verbal cell into which wecan comprehend how He works. Wehave limited Him to that which is experi-ential to man himself. Is this the Godabout which the Bible speaks?

If God could adequately answer ourquestions about His work, then He wouldnot work beyond the realm of our under-standing. But who wants to believe in agod who is limited to the confines of hu-man understanding? Is the Spirit of Godlimited to our deductions, to our ability tocomprehend what He is doing? Since theSpirit is God, we must affirm that He isnot limited. His work is beyond our dis-covery by sight. We must understand byfaith that He is doing what He has saidHe will do.

We ask about His “comings” and “go-ings.” To ask such is to assume that Hispresence can be located. As earthly be-ings, we “come” and “go.” God is. It isnot that the Spirit is either here or there.He is. We argue over the “presence” ofthe Spirit. Such argument only revealsour understandings as childish in compari-son to God’s omnipresence. We do notbelieve in a God of location. We believein a God who is everywhere at all times.He is neither here nor there. When wesay that He is here, my friend on the otherside of the world can also say the samething at the exact same moment. “God ishere” in China and America at the sametime. Does this sound like a God who

can be located somewhere? Certainlynot! Any “definition” of God that wewould draw from the Scriptures must notconfine Him to a specific location.

The Spirit reveals through inspiredwords that He is in us; God is in us; Jesusis in us. We thus debate about the liter-ality of the metaphor and miss the pointof the Spirit’s revelation. We are in ahouse; water is in a glass; fish are in thesea. Would we apply the literality of into that which is beyond the physicalworld? Can anything of the physicalworld possibly contain that which is notof this world? Only through incarnationwas God the Son able to locate. Do wenot seek to locate the Spirit of God be-cause we yearn for an empirical pres-ence of God? The fact is that the Spiritis in us, but He is also “in” other placesthan us. His presence is not limited tothe location of human bodies. His pres-ence in the world is not limited to being inChristians. The presence of the Spirit ismuch greater than the church in theworld.

Allow us to digress to humanity.Would the Spirit work less in my life ifHe “dwelt” on the planet Pluto instead ofliterally in us on earth? If we confine theSpirit’s work to His “presence,” then wehave located Him to where He works.If we presume that His presence is onlyin the life of the believers, then we mightassume that His work is confined to thepresence of the believers and His worklimited to the believers. But how can weconfine Deity in this way? We cannot.His being “in” or “with” us makes littledifference when it comes to His work.


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We believe in an omnipresent Deitythat can whisper a work in our life fromten galaxies away. Our God is that bigand powerful. His Spirit is not limited,not confined. Neither is He distant. Onlythrough our earthly dictionary would wemake Him “near” or “distant.” But wemust continually remind ourselves not toconfine Deity to the definitions of our dic-tionary.

We find the debate over the “loca-tion” of the Spirit a manifestation of ourinability to transcend the literality ofearthly defined words. Did the Spirit ac-tually seek to locate Himself by use ofthe word “in”? Do we believe in a Spiritwhose work is confined by a so-calledlocation of His presence? Can He notwork beyond the sphere of “personal in-dwelling,” beyond the confines of thecommunity of God? Or, is the debate sim-ply over our efforts to literalize and local-ize the God we have created after ourown understanding, and thus confined toour own locations. After all, if we cancompletely calculate the workings of thisGod, then certainly He cannot work be-yond our thinking, or beyond our presence.

We believe in a Spirit who is biggerthan the body of believers. We believe ina Spirit whose work is not confined tothe realm of the personal presence of thebelievers. After all, the Spirit was work-ing before there were any Christians. Isnot the Spirit omnipresent? Could He notbe opening doors for evangelism in areasapart from the physical presence of thesaints?

So we ask too many questions andgive so few answers. But is it wrong to

believe in a God about whom more ques-tions can be asked than answered? Ifwe had all the answers about the“comings” and “goings” of God—if in-deed God “comes” and “goes”—then Hewould no longer be God, but a god. Hewould no longer be the Spirit, but a spirit.And then, what’s the use? One god isjust as good as another; one spirit is asgood as the next. If we could figure outthe Spirit, then He is not worth figuringout. If we could answer all the ques-tions, then the questions are not worthasking in the first place. Every conceptof the spirit world would only be an exer-cise of our humanly generated imagina-tion. At the end of the day, we would bereligious according to the accusations ofthe atheist. We would be religious andhave beliefs that are simply excitedthoughts that are of human origin.

The Spirit said that God is able towork exceedingly, abundantly beyondwhat we can think or imagine. If this istrue, then we can ask all the questionswe want. But we expect fewer answers.We would be cautious with those whohave all the answers. They believe onlyin a god that cannot work beyond theiranswers. They believe in a god they canfigure out.

The fact that we cannot answer allthe questions is evidence that we are onthe right road. Every other road leads toa walk by sight, to a god created afterthe imaginations of those who do not wanta mysterious God who can work beyondour thinking. To be satisfied with only afew answers about a God who works ex-ceedingly above what our minds can


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imagine, is to discover the strength offaith. Therefore, we will continue to seekfor answers. However, we will not frus-trate ourselves when we venture intothose areas that are beyond our imagina-

tion. We will content ourselves with thefew answers given, and believe that theothers are yet to be revealed in anotherexistence beyond this world.

5 - The One True God

There is only one God. The brother-hood of humanity can exist only in thefact that there is one God who createdall of us. The division of the religions ofthe world is only evidence that men havecreated gods after their own agendas.They have created an assortment of godsto conform to their own religious desiresor cultural experiences. It is belief in thesemany gods that manifests the division thatexists among the religions of the world,and subsequently, divisions in humanity.However, the search for, and belief in theone God of the Bible, will always pro-mote unity among men, not division.

The problem that has developed sincethe beginning of time is what Paul statedin Romans 1. Men give up the trueknowledge of God: “Professing to bewise, they became fools, and changedthe glory of the incorruptible God intoan image made like corruptible man”(Rm 1:22,23). Because men gave up aknowledge of God, they “exchanged thetruth of God for a lie, and worshipedand served the creature rather than theCreator ...” (Rm 1:25). What Paul ex-plains here has happened throughout his-tory. Mankind is thus left with a legacyof world religionists who have in turn cre-ated an assortment of imaginations con-

cerning who God really is.The diversity of the religions of the

world has led to a diversity of gods. Menfirst create religious behavior that con-forms to their own carnal desires. Theythen create gods who would agree withtheir behavior. However, we must re-verse this process of thinking and behav-ior. We must assume that there is onlyone God. We must affirm that our livesmust conform to the wishes of this God.This is the God who existed long beforemen started manufacturing religions andgods according to their own desires andtraditions. This is the one God the Biblereveals.

A Bible school teacher once asked aclass, “Why is there but one God?” Astudent replied, “Because God fills everyplace, and there’s no room for anotherone.” Because He fills every place, it isin Him that we live and move and haveour existence. There is no room for an-other god.

Though God is one, however, Hemanifests Himself to man in three worksin reference to creation and the eternalsalvation of man. Some would say thatHe manifests Himself to man in threepersonalities. The word “personalities”would be correct as long as we assume

Chapter 5

THE ONE TRUE GOD

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that there is no difference in the person-alities. However, we commonly use theterm “personality” to refer to the differ-ent characteristics people have whichmake them different from one another.But in reference to God, there is only onepersonality. God as one personality re-veals Himself through three ministries ormanifestations. God works as onethrough the manifestation of the Father,Son and Holy Spirit in order to carry outHis ministry to mold man into a being onewho is suitable for eternal dwelling. Whenwe use the word “personality” in refer-ence to God, therefore, we must not de-fine God to be different in the way weare different in our individual personali-ties.

In the very first verse of the Bible,the “united plurality” of God is mani-fested. “In the beginning God [Elohim]created the heavens and earth” (Gn1:1). The word Elohim in Hebrew is plu-ral. This plurality is brought out in pro-noun form in Genesis 1:26. “Then Godsaid, ‘Let Us make man ....’” In thepronoun “Us” all that God is was mani-fested to participate in creation.

The fact that God is one, yet plural, isone of those concepts that will never befully understood by our finite minds of thisworld. Biblical interpreters have used anumber of illustrations in their efforts toconvey the unity of the Father, Son andHoly Spirit who manifest the one true andliving God. Some have stated that theoneness and plurality of God is as an egg.The egg is one, but the one egg is com-posed of a shell, a yolk and the egg white.It is one egg, but three. The problem with

the illustration is that each of the parts ofthe egg is different. Their differenceseparates them from one another. Suchis not the case with God. Some say Godis as H20 (water). H20 can be liquid,steam or ice. This illustration is surelyinadequate for H20 cannot be liquid, steamand ice at the same time. But God can.God is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit atall times. God does not become the Fa-ther, then the Son, and then the Holy Spirit.He is simultaneously the Father, Son andHoly Spirit.

Regardless of the catalogue of illus-trations that we might use to explain theexistence and being of God, there is nometaphorical illustration of this world thatwill put us in touch with the reality of theoneness of the person of God. Does thisdisturb us? Absolutely not! If our illus-trations bring us to a full understandingof that which is not of our world, thenthat which is illustrated has been broughtdown to the level of this world. If wecreate a god after our own understand-ings, then certainly this god is not worthbelieving. John Wesley said, “Bring mea worm that can comprehend a man, andthen I will show you a man that can com-prehend the triune God.”

So how can we understand the plu-rality of the one God? We cannot. Thisis one of those biblical truths that must beaccepted by faith as simply a “matter offact” as it is stated in the Scriptures. Andsince it must be accepted as such, then itmust be accepted as a matter of faith.One can take it or leave it. It is ourchoice. However, if we accept the Bibleas the revelation of God, then we must


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accept the fact that God is one, but mani-fests Himself as three. We must acceptthis fact simply because the Bible tells usso.

A. There is one God:

The fact that there is one God is acentral teaching of the Bible. This is notan optional belief. It is fundamental toour beliefs as Christians. Though we donot understand all Bible statements con-cerning the one true God, we must ac-cept the Bible when it states that God isone. Moses proclaimed to Israel, “HereO Israel: the Lord our God, the Lordis one” (Dt 6:4). “There is none otherbesides Him” (Dt 4:35). Isaiah recordedthe words of God, “Before Me there wasno God formed, nor will there be afterMe” (Is 43:10,11). “Is there a God be-sides Me? Indeed there is no otherRock” (Is 44:8). “I, the Lord, am thefirst; and with the last I am He” (Is 41:4;see 46:9-11). “I am the Lord, and thereis no other; there is no God besidesMe” (Is 45:5). The accusation that theBible teaches that there are three Godsis simply not true. The Bible clearlyteaches that there is only one God. Theproblems comes when we try in humanwords to explain the Father, Son and HolySpirit to be one God.

The Bible teaches that God has mani-fested Himself as the Father, Son andHoly Spirit. The Father, Son and HolySpirit are three in ministry, but one in es-sence, nature, character and goal. Theyare thus one. No three people can beone as this, and thus, it is beyond our ex-

perience to form a definition of the unityof God as one. This gives some theolo-gians of the religious world some diffi-culty. Nevertheless, if we accept theBible as the revelation of God, then wemust accept as “matter of fact” this rev-elation of God as to who He is. It is alsotrue that we must accept the fact thatwe cannot fully understand God, regard-less of what the Bible teaches concern-ing who God is. There can never be acomplete revelation of the nature, essenceand existence of God by using humanwords.

The reason God revealed His one-ness through Isaiah was because Israelhad carried out in their theology the verything God commanded them not to do.When God gave the ten commandmentlaw on Mount Sinai, He stated, “I amthe Lord your God .... You will have noother gods before Me” (Ex 20:2,3). Inthis commandment, God was identifyingthe inclination of man to create gods af-ter his own image. At least, God knewthat man would seek to create gods theycould understand.

Israel accepted the created gods(imaginations) of the surrounding nations,and thus, followed after her own fleshlydesires to give service to those imagina-tions. Isaiah stood as God’s prophet inthe midst of such imaginations. It washis work to turn Israel again unto the onetrue God. In other words, it was his workto turn Israel from following after her ownimaginations of producing religious inven-tions (gods) that condoned her worldly be-havior.

The point is that there are no other


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gods. However, when one forms in hismind a concept of a higher power that iscontrary to the God revealed in the Bible,then he has created another god. How-ever, this god exists only in the mind ofthe one who created it. It is for this rea-son that we must allow the Bible to de-fine who God is. Though the Bible can-not fully explain the totality of God in thewords of man, we must allow the Biblealone to define the nature and characterof God. If we do not do this, we willcreate a god after our own image whoconforms to our own desires.

This does not mean that we mustunderstand all that God is before we candeny a false god. The imagination of anygod who would contradict what weclearly understand God to be accordingto the definitions of the Bible, is a falsegod.

Israel’s case with created gods is adefinition of idolatry. But the apostateIsraelites were not alone in the god cre-ation business. Their history only explainswhat is the common inclination of man todo in reference to creating religions andgods. Man first desires to fulfill the lustsof the flesh, pride of life, and lusts of theeyes. He first idolizes himself, and then,passes his idol off as a god to be wor-shiped.

The problem is that man has a reli-gious conscience. When men combinethe uncontrollable fulfillment of their lustswith their religious desires, a religion andgod is born that will condone their immoralbehavior. This explains the practice offornication that was so common amongthe religions of the ancients. If one wanted

to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, he simplycreated a god that said it was fine to doso.

Idol gods are the result of menwho are wanting to do their own will,but at the same time, feel conscien-tiously good about their behavior bycreating a god that agrees with theirdesires. History is filled with those godsthat have been manufactured after thevile desires of those who either soughtfleshly satisfaction or national superiorityover other nations.

B. The plurality of God was mani-fested as the three of God:

Though God is one, He expresses ormanifests Himself to man in three minis-tries or works according to the Father,Son and Holy Spirit. Since God is omni-present, it should not surprise us to seethe manifestation of Himself in threeways. The following points affirm theomnipresence of God. However, keep inmind that such omnipresence does notteach that there are three Gods. Whenwe see the manifestation of God in threeministries, we understand that it is the onetrue God who is accomplishing in thisworld that for which we were created.

1. Three manifestations of God atJesus’ baptism: The three of God weremanifested at the baptism of Jesus inMatthew 3:16,17. While the Son was inan incarnate state on earth, He was bap-tized by John on the occasion that is re-corded in Matthew 3. At the same time,the Father, who was in heaven, pro-


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claimed, “This is My beloved Son, inwhom I am well pleased.” Immediatelyafter the baptism, the Spirit of God meta-phorically descended on Jesus as a dove.Thus, there was the Father in heaven, theSon on earth, and the Holy Spirit descend-ing. The one God manifested Himself inthree different “locations” and in threedifferent ways.

2. Three manifestations of Godunto which a disciple is baptized: Be-fore His ascension, Jesus commissionedHis disciples to preach the gospel to allnations. When disciples were made as aresult of their preaching, they were to bebaptized “in the name of the Father andof the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt28:19). Here again, the three of God isindicated in the sense that when one isbaptized, he comes into a relationship withall that God is, and does in the life of manin reference to salvation.

3. Three manifestations of God re-vealed through Paul: In 1 Corinthians11:3 Paul wrote, “But I want you to knowthat the head of every man is Christ,the head of woman is man, and thehead of Christ is God.” Paul stated thatthe head of man is Christ, but the head ofChrist is God. Revealed in this context isa distinction between the Father and Son.We know that in the context Paul is dis-cussing a problem of insubordination onthe part of some Corinthian sisters in theirrelationship with their husbands. Pauluses as an illustration of the submissiveheadship relationship that exists betweenGod, the Father and God, the Son. Hestated that the head of Christ is the total-ity of God.

It is difficult to understand the divinerelationship mentioned by Paul throughhuman minds. Nevertheless, there issomething revealed in 1 Corinthians 11:3concerning the submission of the Son thatillustrates submission to headship. It wasGod who gave all authority to the Son (Mt28:18). It was God who delivered allthings into the hands of the Son (Jn 13:3;17:2). However, this might not be diffi-cult to understand if we understand thatGod, the Father, Son and Holy Spiritwork as a unit of authority in refer-ence to the work of any one manifes-tation of God. In other words, God (theFather, Son and Holy Spirit) is the headof any one manifestation of God. Eachmanifestation in His work for the salva-tion of man is in submission to the whole.Thus God (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit)is the head of Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 13:14 Paul againmade a distinction between the threemanifestations of work of the one God.“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,and the love of God, and the commun-ion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”In this one passage a definition of thethree is clearly stated by Paul. It wasthe grace, love and communion of God(the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) that wasto be with the Corinthians.

In 1 Corinthians 8:6 Paul also wrote,“... but to us there is one God, the Fa-ther, from whom are all things and wein Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ,through whom are all things and wethrough Him ....” It is essential forChristians to believe, therefore, thatthough the Scriptures speak of the Fa-


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ther, Son and Holy Spirit, there is only oneGod.

4. Three manifestations of God re-vealed at the death of Stephen: In Acts7:55-59 we again see the three manifes-tations of God who made Himself knownto man. Luke recorded in Acts 7 that onearth Stephen was filled with the HolySpirit (At 7:55). At the moment of hisdeath, he saw Jesus at the right hand ofGod (At 7:56). What he saw is not ex-plained. What is explained is that therewas in some way a manifestation to himfrom heaven of the existence of the Fa-ther and Son in heaven.

5. Three manifestations of God inHis work in the ministry of Jesus:When Jesus grew up as a boy, He foundfavor in the eyes of God in heaven (seeMt 1:18-23; Lk 1:30-35; 2:52). He wasdoing His Father’s business at the age oftwelve (Lk 2:49). He was at the begin-ning of His ministry, “filled with theHoly Spirit” (Lk 4:1), and thus, wentforth in the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk4:14). All three of the one God wereworking together through the incarnateJesus on earth in order to carry out theplan of redemption for the saving men.

Throughout the earthly and heavenlyministry of Jesus, the three manifestationsof God are clearly seen. Jesus said thatone could speak against Him, the Son ofMan, but if he spoke against the HolySpirit, there would be no forgiveness (Mt12:31,32). During the resurrection ofLazarus, Jesus on earth lifted up His eyesand said, “Father ...” (Jn 11:41). Whileon earth, Jesus spoke of the Counselor,the Holy Spirit, whom He would send from

the Father (Jn 14:26; 16:13,14). He spokeof ascending to the Father (Jn 20:17). Atthe right hand of the Father, He wouldfunction as a mediator between God andman (1 Tm 2:5). It is a clear biblicalteaching that God is three in manifesta-tion of work. However, God is one inexistence and one in purpose and goal ofwork.

It should not disturb us to be unableto understand the plurality of the one God.The triune God has revealed Himself inmany different ways throughout the his-tory of man. He has the prerogative todo this. The fact that the Father, Son andHoly Spirit have revealed themselves asthree in order to bring about the plan ofredemption for man does not say thatthere are three Gods. It is our own in-ability to comprehend fully the nature ofGod that makes it difficult for us to un-derstand that which is beyond our think-ing, and certainly beyond the words ofour human vocabulary. We must be care-ful not to make God less than He is inorder that we might understand who Heis.

We must be content to understandthat we will never in this life fully under-stand the One who is exceedingly aboveour thoughts. This should not disturb us.If it does, then certainly we are seekingto create a God that we can fully com-prehend. But the one true and living Godis beyond the full comprehension of man.The fact that He is beyond our full com-prehension is evidence that He is the onlytrue and living God. All other gods areonly the product of the imagination of those


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who seek to be comfortable with a godthey can name and understand. Idol gods

are always understood by those who cre-ate them.

6 - The Fatherhood Of God

Chapter 6

THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD

Understanding the nature and char-acter of the Father is to understand thenature and character of God, the Father,Son and Holy Spirit as the Godhead.Since the Father, Son and Holy Spirit areone, then we must assume that they areone in every realm of definition we mightconceive in our minds. If we define thenature and character of any one mani-festation of God, then we have definedthe nature and character of the whole.Though the work and manifestation ofGod may be different, we cannot use theword “different” when understanding thenature and character of the Father, Sonand Holy Spirit in any manner that wouldseparate them from one another. Theirdifferent works do not divide them fromone another as God.

We must guard ourselves against de-fining any one manifestation of God in anymanner that leaves the impression thatthere is a variation between God the Fa-ther, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.If such an impression is left, then cer-tainly we have failed to understand a bib-lical definition of God. We cannot inter-pret the revelation of God in any mannerthat would divide God into three Gods.

Our exegesis of biblical texts will giveus a literary comprehension of God.Statements are made in Scripture andconcepts of God are conveyed. But there

is an inadequacy about a “book knowl-edge” of God that leaves us groping formore. The words of the Book are ourwords, and our words are inadequatewhen we seek to fully understand God.God knows this. He knew this during the“times of ignorance” before the manifes-tation of the Son (See At 17:30,31). Forthis reason, He sent forth the Son in or-der to give a visual definition of the na-ture and character of God. Therefore,we must always seek to define Godthrough Jesus, for Jesus revealed the na-ture of God. John wrote, “No one hasseen God at any time. The only begot-ten Son, who is in the bosom of the Fa-ther, He has declared Him” (Jn 1:18).Jesus affirmed, “He who has seen Mehas seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). Jesus“is the image of the invisible God ...”(Cl 1:15). And if anyone would know God,then he must investigate Him through theSon. Any world religion, therefore, thatdoes not consider Jesus to be the Son ofGod, can never discover the one true andliving God. Any religion that does not ex-alt Jesus above a prophet, cannot cometo an understanding of who God is. Jesusmust be the central figure in our defini-tion of God.

Our investigation concerning who theFather is of the Godhead begins with theOld Testament patriarchs and prophets,

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through whom God revealed Himself.Our study would thus be of those behav-ioral characteristics of how God dealt withIsrael and worked through the Israelitesthroughout their history. When we cometo the New Testament, our task is mademore simple. We understand God theFather through the living illustration ofJesus. When we see the behavior ofJesus, we see the behavior of the Father.When we see the character of Jesus, wesee the character of the Father.

A. The nature and character of Godthe Father:

To say that God is deity, or divine, issimply to say that He is not physical. Godis spirit (Jn 4:24). God in the form of spirithas no physical attachment to this world,or physical identity. He can exist apartfrom the physical. He is not part spiritand part physical. Spirit is not physicalor of this world. Spirit is not flesh andblood, but is beyond the confines of thisworld. The nature of God, therefore,must first be understood in the light ofHim as spirit. We thus seek to under-stand the nature and character of God asspirit.

God as spirit works as our spiritualFather. The word “father,” as it is usedby the Holy Spirit in revelation to refer toGod, emphasizes relationship. The word“father” emphasizes a relationship of Godbetween man and God, as well as, therelationship that existed between God theFather and God the Son while the Sonwas in a state of incarnation on earth. Inreference to our relationship with God as

our Father, there are certain attributes ofGod that we must understand in order toappreciate what the Father seeks to dofor as His sons.

1. God the Father is self-existent:All that has been created depends uponGod for existence. In fact, all that is nowin existence depends on the power of theword of God for continuation in existence(Hb 1:3). This world would not stay to-gether if God did not keep it together. Ifthe world depends on the power of Godto exist, then God must be able to existapart from the existence of the physicalworld.

God’s existence does not depend onthe existence of the created world. Godwould still exist even if the world did notexist. Such was the case before the cre-ation of the world, and such will be thecase after this world passes away. God isindigenous of all that is physical. Thismeans that as spirit His existence does notdepend on the existence of any materialthing. Athanasius stated, “God is self-ex-istent, enclosing all things and enclosed bynone; within all according to His goodnessand power, yet without all in His propernature” (De Decretis, A.D. 296-373).

The self-existent nature of God tosustain the physical world also applies tolife. God is the source of all life. Hedoes not exist because life exists. Lifeexists because He is the great giver oflife. Therefore, life that originates fromthe Father exists separate from the lifethat exists on the earth. Jesus said, “Foras the Father has life in Himself, soHe has granted the Son to have life in


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Himself” (Jn 5:26). While on earth, itwas the Father who sustained the life ofthe Son, for it was the Father who gavelife to the Son.

Those who would have life must findsuch in the original source of life. TheFather is the source of all life, and thus,the only source from which man can gaineternal life is from the Father. The me-dium through which all men must pass inorder to receive life is the Son. Jesussaid, “I am the way, the truth, and thelife. No one comes to the Father ex-cept through Me” (Jn 14:6). No onereaches the source of eternal life exceptthrough Jesus. Jesus thus said, “I amthe light of the world. He who followsMe will not walk in darkness, but havethe light of life” (Jn 8:12). Jesus giveslife to those who come to Him. “For asthe Father raises the dead and giveslife to them, even so the Son gives lifeto whom He wills” (Jn 5:21).

2. God the Father is the primalsource of all. All that exists originatedfrom God through the Son. Paul wrote,“Yet for us there is only one God, theFather, of whom are all things, and wefor Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ,through whom are all things, andthrough whom we live” (1 Co 8:6). Paulwants us to understand in this passagethat there is only one manifestation of Godas the Father and one manifestation asthe Son. There are not several fathersas God and several sons as sons of Godthrough whom all things were created.God is the origin of all, though all cameinto existence through the creative workof the Son. “For by Him [Jesus] all

things were created that are in heavenand that are on earth, visible and in-visible .... All things were createdthrough Him and for Him” (Cl 1:16).

What Paul says in this statement isthat in His state of existence before theincarnation, Jesus was the creator of allthings. God the Father, Son and HolySpirit, spoke the command for creation,but it was the work of God the Son to dothe work of creating.

3. God the Father is personal.Herein is a unique teaching of the Biblein reference to God as a higher power.This teaching is especially true in refer-ence to what is revealed in the New Tes-tament. God is personal in the sense thatHe has personally revealed Himself inorder to relate to His creation. ThroughHis revelation, He has thus laid the foun-dation upon which men can approachHim. Through the revelation of Jesus,He is identified with a personality bywhich we can identify Him.

This concept of God is different fromthe concepts of gods that are created af-ter the imagination of men. The gods ofmen are usually pictured as impersonal,cold, harsh and intolerant. But the Godof the Bible is portrayed as a loving fa-ther who seeks for His children to drawnigh unto Him.

God is thus personal in the sense thatHe is rational, compassionate and loving.Since the Father has personality, He hasrevealed through the Son a personalitywith which we can identify and withwhich we can relate. When John saidthat God is love, he revealed by inspira-tion a personality characteristic of God


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with which we can identify (1 Jn 4:8).However, our capacity to love does notregulate or limit the love of God. Thelimits of our love do not define the limitsof God’s love. Neither are man’s limitsof love God’s limits of love. The love,mercy, patience, etc. of man do not placemaximums on God’s ability to do such.After our patience runs out, God contin-ues to have patience. After we stop lov-ing, God continues to love. As a personalGod, He has simply created us in a spiri-tual manner by which we can relate toHis character by loving, having mercy, andhaving patience. He did not create uswith a nature as His in order to manifestthe limits of His nature. He simply cre-ated us after His image in order to giveus the character tools by which to under-stand His personality. John stated, “Hewho does not love does not know God...” (1 Jn 4:8). Therefore, the one whodoes not love cannot understand the per-sonality of God.

4. God the Father is the father ofall. Since God the Father is personal,He can relate in a personal way throughthe most personal relationships. He is thusa “Father” to those who have been cre-ated after His image. The word “father”is reserved for God the Father becauseof His relationship with humanity (See Mt5:45; 6:4-9; 7:11; 10:20).

a. He is the Father of cre-ation. God is our Father in the sensethat He created us. “Have we not allone Father? Has not one God createdus” (Ml 2:10). As the Father, we werethe clay that was made by the potter’s

hand (Is 64:8). Our Creator was the“Father of spirits” in that He createdthe spirit that dwells within us (Nm 16:22;Hb 12:9). We are thus God’s offspring,as Paul affirms, because all men haveoriginated from the Father (At 17:28).

b. He is the Father of re-demption. The Christian has a relation-ship with God because God has extendedgrace and mercy toward those who havechosen to submit to His gospel of gracein order to establish a covenant relation-ship with Him. Christians have thus beenredeemed out of the bondage of sin inorder to come into a covenant with God(Ep 1:7). In a redemptive sense, the Fa-ther deals with us as His sons in that wehave been brought into a covenant rela-tionship with Him (Hb 13:20). We are“sons of God through faith in ChristJesus” (Gl 3:26). And because we aresons, “God has sent forth the Spirit ofHis Son into your hearts, crying out,‘Abba, Father!’” (Gl 4:6; Rm 8:15). Wehave received the adoption, and thus, weare brought into a covenant relationshipwith God through His Son Jesus Christ(Rm 8:15: Gl 4:5). And if we are sons,then we are now joint heirs with Jesus(Rm 8:17; Gl 4:7).

The fatherhood of God the Father islimited to those who believe and obey thegospel, and thus, are in a covenant rela-tionship with Him. God can have no fa-therhood relationship with those whorefuse to submit to their Father. If onerefuses to humble himself under themighty hand of God, he cannot enjoy anyfatherhood relationship with the Father(See 1 Pt 5:5-7).


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Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would bethe “everlasting Father” (Is 9:6). Thismay be a difficult statement to understandin reference to our understanding that Godthe Father is our Father. But we mustunderstand that Jesus is our “everlastingFather” in relation to His redemption ofus through His blood. The fatherhood ofJesus is emphasized in no greater waythan in the relationship between God andman in reference to salvation in Christ.The Jews, as well as the Gentiles, in-vented a legalistic system of justificationbefore God in order to depend on them-selves for salvation. In other words, sal-vation was based on the individual’s abil-ity to perform law and do good works inorder to justify oneself before God. Theproblem with this system of supposed jus-tification was that no one can keep lawperfectly, nor do enough good works inorder to atone for sin or earn the rewardof heaven. This is true simply becauseall have sinned, and we cannot atone forour sins (Rm 3:9,10,23). One is thus inbondage to his own sin if he seeks Godafter a legalistic system of justification.He is a slave to himself and a system ofreligion he has made to be a yoke of bond-age. He thus needs a father to deliverhim from his own bondage.

In Christ one is set free because ofhis adoption by the Father into sonship(Gl 5:1). In Christ, therefore, the son hasthe same nature as the Father, but theone who is a slave to his own self-im-posed religion does not. In Christ, theson has a Father, but the slave has a mas-ter. In Christ, the son obeys out of love,but the slave out of fear. In Christ, the

son is the heir of all things the Father hasto offer, but the slave has no inheritance.Therefore, in Christ the son has a futurewith a Father, but the slave has only ap-prehension concerning his own salvation.

5. God the Father is eternal: Eter-nal means to exist without end. We wouldexpect this of God, though it is inconceiv-able by moral beings. He exists withoutbeginning or ending. We would expectthat His existence would not be deter-mined by that which is passing away.“The eternal God is your refuge, andunderneath are the everlasting arms...” (Dt 33:27). The word “everlasting”(olam) could in this context be understoodafter the meaning of the Greek wordaionios that is used in the Septuagint totranslate the Hebrew word olam. By useof aionios, the writer wanted to empha-size the certainty of God’s protecting armsby which He delivers. In other words,God is here for us at all times. We candepend on Him because He is faithful.His faithfulness is in His eternality. Inthis sense, therefore, God’s arms of se-curity are always there for us becauseHe exists without end.

We can depend on God because Heis without end. He “inhabits eternity”(Is 57:15). He is without beginning andending. “Unendingness” is a concept thatcertainly is beyond the feeble speculationsof our minds that are confined to clocksand calendars. But in order for God tobe God, then certainly we must believethat His deity would presuppose eternality.

The very nature of God must be basedon the fact that He is without beginningor ending. What good is a terminal god?


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God’s eternality, therefore, is not some-thing to be argued from the Scriptures tobe true. God does not have to prove thatHe is eternal. The fact that He is God isaxiomatic of the fact. The eternality ofGod is inherent within the concept of God.For this reason, the Bible does not set fortha doctrinal presentation of God’s eternity.Eternality is simply accepted in Scriptureas an axiomatic truth, that is, a truth thatdoes not need to be proved. If one be-lieves in God, then he must believe thatthis God is eternal.

Because God is eternal, His word iseternal. On the basis of the eternality ofGod, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth willpass away but My words will by nomeans pass away” (Mt 24:35). There-fore, “the word of the Lord enduresforever” because God endures forever(1 Pt 1:25).

6. God the Father raised Jesusfrom the dead. It was the choice ofJesus to lay down His life. Jesus said,

Therefore My Father loves Me, becauseI lay down My life that I may take itagain. No one takes it from Me, but Ilay it down of Myself. I have power tolay it down, and I have power to take itagain. This command I have receivedfrom My Father (Jn 10:18).

Throughout His ministry, Jesus con-trolled His environment in order to takeHimself to the cross. He would not al-low a murderous mob to take His life.He did not allow Himself to be secretlykilled by jealous religious leaders. He laidHis life down and took it up again. The

source of Jesus’ power to be resurrectedwas with the Father. For this reason, theresurrection of Jesus is attributed to theFather. It was the Father who raisedJesus from the dead, for He had givencommandment to the Son to raise Him-self from the dead (Jn 10:17,18). TheFather raised Jesus “from the dead andseated Him at His right hand in theheavenly places” (Ep 1:20). It was thework of the Father in reference to thecross to resurrect the Son. We wouldconclude, therefore, that both the Fatherand Son worked together in the resurrec-tion of the body of Jesus from the dead.

7. God the Father is unchanging.God is solid and unchanging as a rock (Dt32:4). David wrote, “The Lord is myrock and my fortress and my deliverer;My God, my strength, in him I will trust;My shield and the horn of my salva-tion, my stronghold” (Ps 18:2).

The Father and the Son are immu-table. They are the same today as theywere yesterday and will be tomorrow (SeeHb 13:8). The counsel of the Lord thusstands forever and the plans of His heartthroughout all generations (Ps 33:11). Hisword “is settled in heaven.” His “faith-fulness endures to all generations” (Ps119:89,90). Malachi wrote the words ofGod, “For I am the Lord, I do notchange ...” (Ml 3:6). God is thus immu-table, that is, unchangeable (Hb 6:17,18).With God, therefore, “there is no varia-tion or shadow of turning” (Js 1:17).

Changeability is inherent in the mindsand behavior of those whose choices areaffected by the environment in which theylive. Circumstances around us move us


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to vacillate from one action to another.We thus “make up our minds” in relationto the environmental circumstances thatoccur.

God dwells in an unchanging environ-ment, and thus, is not affected in His willby changing circumstances in our envi-ronment. He dwells in eternity that doesnot change. It is thus not in the nature ofGod to change His mind because ofchanging circumstances in our environ-ment. The unchanging nature of Hisheavenly environment assumes that Heis unchanging.

Man cannot know the future. Whenwe step into future events by the passingof every moment of time, circumstanceswe encounter will affect our decisions.We thus change our minds and actions asnew encounters affect us. We makechanges in our desires because of new in-formation we have learned by experience.

God knows the future. He does notencounter anything new that would af-fect a change in His desire and will.Therefore, there is nothing new thatwould cause Him to change from His pre-determined plans. In this sense, the om-niscience of God is the foundation uponwhich the unchanging nature of God isbased. There will never be any new in-formation that will necessitate God chang-ing from the direction of His eternal plans.Since His eternal plans were based on Hisknowledge of the future, any change ofHis eternal plans would label Him a frivo-lous God, a God that vacillates in order toplay games with man. But such is not thenature of the Father. He is always therefor us as He has always been there.

8. God the Father is all-knowing.God is omniscient. He knows all that isof nature because He created all nature(Gn 15:5; Is 40:26; Cl 1:16). David pro-claimed, “He counts the number of thestars; He calls them by name. Great isour Lord, and mighty in power; His un-derstanding is infinite” (Ps 147:4,6). Heknows all the work of man (Ps 119:168).He knows the innermost thoughts andmotives of man. David wrote, “Youknow my sitting down and my risingup; You understand my thought afaroff. You comprehend my path and mylying down, and are acquainted withall my ways” (Ps 139:2,3). God knowsour past, present and future (Is 41:21-23;45:1-4; 46:11). Isaiah wrote of God’sclaim concerning prophecy of the future:“Behold, the former things have cometo pass, and new things I declare; be-fore they spring forth I tell you ofthem” (Is 42:9). God has based His eter-nal plans on His eternal knowledge.Therefore, we can trust in His work be-cause He is working as a result of Hisknowledge of all things.

9. God the Father is all-powerful.All-powerful means that God is omnipo-tent. He can do all that can be done. Hecan do all that is logical. It is not thatGod can do the impossible. He cannotmake round squares or straight lines thatare bent. He can do what is logicallypossible.

The Lord said to Abraham and Sa-rah, “Is anything too hard for the Lord”(Gn 18:14). The answer is “No!” Jobsaid of God, “I know that You can doeverything” (Jb 42:2; see Is 26:4).


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Therefore, “with God all things arepossible” (Mt 19:26; see Lk 1:37; At26:8). All that can logically be done Godcan do through His power.

Pharaoh of Egypt discovered that theLord was able to deliver His peoplethrough great power (Ex 12:30-32). Af-ter Daniel was thrown into the Lion’s den,King Darius asked, “Daniel, has yourGod, whom you serve continually, beenable to deliver you from the lions?” (Dn6:20). The answer is “Yes!” God is “ableto do exceedingly abundantly aboveall that we ask or think” (Ep 3:20; seePs 33:4-9; 107:23-32; Jb 1:10,12; 2:6: 42:2;Is 40:12-17; Dn 4:30-37; Mt 19:26). Heis “the Lord God Omnipotent” whoreigns (Rv 19:6).

The fact that God is all-powerfulmeans that He is the only one who is all-powerful. There can never be two all-powerful beings. Satan could not also beomnipotent in view of the fact that Godalone is omnipotent. The omnipotenceof God, therefore, assumes that there isone God and that He alone has control ofthe supernatural world that is beyond thisphysical world. Satan can do nothing thatis not allowed by God.

10. God the Father is everywherepresent. When discussing the omnipres-ence of God, we are also limited in ourunderstanding as in our discussions con-cerning the nature of God. God is be-yond our full comprehension. We simplyaccept the biblical statements concern-ing the omnipresence of God, and thus,do not frustrate ourselves by our lack ofunderstanding.

When the temple of the Old Testa-

ment was completed, Solomon stated, “Ihave surely built You an exalted house,and a place for You to dwell forever”(1 Kg 8:13). However, we must under-stand that Solomon did not believe for amoment that he had constructed a build-ing in which to confine an omnipresentGod. In the same speech before Israel,he stated, “But will God dwell on earth?Behold, heaven and the heaven ofheavens cannot contain You. Howmuch less this temple which I havebuilt?” (1 Kg 8:27; see 2 Ch 2:6).

God does not dwell in temples madeby the hands of those He created.Stephen made this point to the Jews whohad deceived themselves into believingthat God’s presence was in the temple.

However, the Most High does not dwellin temples made with hands, as theprophet says: ‘Heaven is My throne, andearth is My footstool. What house willyou build for Me?’ says the Lord, ‘Orwhat is the place of My rest?’” (At7:48,49; see Is 66:1,2; Ps 102:23; At 17:24).

It is in Him that “we live and moveand have our being” (At 17:28; see Ps139:3-10; Jr 23:23). How can we sup-pose that we can build a building in whichGod would live and move and have Hisbeing? That which is created cannot builda dwelling place for the Creator. Templesof men that are built to confine the pres-ence of God are simply temples that con-fine the gods of those who believe thatsuch gods can be confined to a specificlocation.

Paul said that it is in Him that we live,


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move and have our being (At 17:28).Since it is in God that we dwell, then howis it that we think that we can constructsomething of this earth in which we ex-pect God to dwell? Can we suppose thatwe could construct a “sanctuary” for thedwelling of God? Is it possible that ourconcept of God is so small that we canhouse Him in a house?

The preceding is the problem with thethinking of worshipers who feel that they“come into the presence of the Lord”when they enter the “sanctuary” of someman-made structure that was built forworship of God. How can one go out ofthe presence of a God in whom we live,move and have our being? The verythought assumes that one can leave thepresence of God in a building and go outinto a world where he has escaped fromGod’s presence. This thinking is the spiritof idolatry. The next step is to carvesome stone or piece of wood in order toconfine God even to a location within anidol in a building, or possibly, carry Himaround on one’s neck dangling from agolden chain.

Countless religions of the world arefilled with the fetish borne gods of thosewho have confined supernatural powerto sticks and stones. The African witchdoctor will confine his supernatural powerto a fetish he can carry around with him.The religionist who scoffs at such will con-fine the supernatural power of His god toa building. What’s the difference?

The Bible speaks of a God who iseverywhere. David realized this whenhe wrote, “Where can I go from Your

Spirit? Or where can I flee from Yourpresence? If I ascend into heaven, Youare there; if I make my bed in hell, be-hold, You are there” (Ps 139:7,8). Onecannot flee from the presence of God forHe says, “‘Am I a God near at hand,’says the Lord, ‘Can anyone hide him-self in secret places, so I will not seehim?’ says the Lord ‘Do I not fillheaven and earth?’ says the Lord” (Jr23:23,24). How can one escape a Godwho fills heaven and earth? How canone confine such a God to temples andcathedrals?

When one considers the presence ofGod, he must be careful in using terms as“here” or “there.” Though the Bible usesthe phrase “in heaven” in reference toGod, we should be careful in how wewould understand what is meant. Wordsas “here” and “there” convey human lo-cation. But if God is omnipresent, thenHe is neither “here” nor “there.” He isnot “up” or “down.” He is here and thereat the same time. He is up and down atthe same time. He is in heaven, but it isin Him that we live, move and have ourbeing, though we are not in heaven. Goddoes not place Himself in a particular lo-cation wherein He is at the same timeabsent from another location. We mustkeep in mind that the Holy Spirit usedhuman words to explain that which isbeyond our understanding. We must keepin mind that God is not confined or lim-ited to the definitions of our words. He isnot a God who can be located in one placeor another.


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B. The work of the Father:

No part of God is idle at any one timein the history of man. The Christian isnot a deist. He is not one who believesthat God originally wound up the universeas a clock, and then, wandered off to adistant part of the universe, and subse-quently, left man and earth on their own.God intervenes in His creation. In fact,God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in-tervene in the affairs of man in order tobring about the eternal plan of God to bringthe obedient into an eternal dwelling.

Man and the physical world were cre-ated for an eternal purpose of God. Godthus works in order to accomplish Hiseternal purpose to bring the obedient intoan eternal dwelling with Him in a newheavens and earth. In the following ways,therefore, God is actively working in theaffairs of man to bring about the purposefor which He created all things:

1. The Father is over all in order to main-tain all (Ep 4:6).

2. The Father sent the Son into theworld in order to redeem the obedi-ent (Jn 4:23,36; 8:17,18).

3. The Father’s will was done by the Sonin order that the Son accomplish theplan of redemption (Jn 4:34).

4. The Father glorified the Son for thesake of the obedient (Jn 16:14; 17:5).

5. The Father loves the Son (Jn 3:35;15:9; 17:24).

6. The Father works on behalf of theSon who works on behalf of the obe-dient (Jn 5:17).

7. The Father dwells in His people (Jn14:10; 2 Co 6:16).

8. The Father gives what is good to Hispeople (Js 1:17).

9. The Father works all things togetherfor good for His people (Rm 8:28).

10. The Father works to make a way ofescape for those who love Him (1 Co10:13).

11. The Father will raise the dead to eter-nal glory (Jn 5:21; Rm 8:18).

Since the purpose for which theworld was created was to bring free-moral individuals into an eternal relation-ship with God, then all that God does inthis world is to accomplish this purpose.The Christian must know, therefore, thatGod is working in His creation on behalfof the Christian. Paul concluded,

If God is for us, who can be against us?He who did not spare His own Son, butdelivered Him up for us all, how will Henot with Him also freely give us allthings? (Rm 8:31,32).

God is working for the Christian. He willnot allow anything to interrupt His plansand purpose. Paul continued to write,

For I am persuaded that neither deathnor life, nor angels nor principalitiesnor powers, nor things present northings to come, nor height nor depth,nor any other created thing, will be ableto separate us from the love of God whichis in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rm 8:38,39).

C. The relationship and work of theFather and Son:


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Though God is three in manifestationand designation of work, God the Father,Son and Holy Spirit work as one. Theimpossibility of any three people on earthto be perfectly united as one should notconfuse us in our understanding of theunity and oneness of God in His workamong men. The inability of two or moremen to be one as God should never beused to define the limit by which God canbe one. In the relationship between theFather and Son, perfect unity and workshould not be interpreted through theminds of men who cannot so work in theunity by which the Father and Son work.The following are examples where theFather and Son work in unison in refer-ence to the common goal of God to bringthe obedient into eternal dwelling:

1. The Father and the Son work as one(Jn 10:30; 17:11,21-24).

2. The Father sent the Son into the world(Jn 5:23,36; 8:17,18).

3. The Father sent the Son to do His will(Jn 4:35; 6:38; Hb 5:8).

4. The Father was greater than the Sonwhen the Son was on earth (Jn 14:28).

5. The Father gave the Son disciples (Jn6:39; 10:29).

6. The Father bore witness to the Son (Jn5:31-37).

7. The Father glorified the Son (Jn 8:54).8. The Father was God to whom the Son

ascended (Dn 7:13,14; Jn 20:17).9. The Father and Son sent the Holy Spirit

(Jn 16:13,14).

God has manifested Himself to manas the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Hehas done such in order to transition theobedient into a habitation of eternal glory.The fact that God is three in work andmanifestation does not make Christianspolytheists. The Bible does not teach thatthere are three Gods. The accusationthat Christians believe in three Gods isonly evidence against those who makethe accusations that they have created agod after their own imagination. Theyhave thus concluded that since we can-not understand the oneness of God theFather, Son and Holy Spirit, then such aGod does not exist. The denial of theGod of the Bible is based on the fact thatthe accusers cannot conceive of a Godwho can be one, and yet, three in mani-festation. But the accusers are arguingfrom the standpoint that since man can-not conceive or understand a God who isone but three in manifestation and work,then this God simply cannot exist.

The Christian simply takes the Biblefor what it says in reference to the na-ture and being of God. He asks no ques-tions beyond the answers of the Bible.He is not confused or brought into doubtconcerning the Bible’s declaration of theGod of three who ministers on behalf ofman in order to bring the obedient into aneternal dwelling with Him.


Documents

Dickson Biblical Research Library, - Roger E. Dickson ...africainternational.org/files/Book 12.pdf · 3 Dickson Biblical Research Library, God The Father - Roger E. Dickson, ©1995,