Things To Know About God

Of over the 7 billion plus people on this planet, the percentage of these people who know God is very few.

One theologian once said: “Modern men often search for God in vain.” But why is this? Simply because most people receive their concepts of God from other people rather than from God’s Word, the Bible.

That is why their views of God almost never accurately match the Biblical revelation of what God is like.

Another reason is that many religious teachers have never accessed the real key that opens the knowledge of God.

That key is the gift of God’s Holy Spirit – which is accessible to all those the Creator calls and who are willing to acknowledge who and what we are in relation to Him (Luke 11:13).

Isa. 66:1-2: “Thus says the Lord (or this is God speaking): Heaven is My throne. And the earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build me? And where is the place of My rest?

“For all those things My hand has made; and all those things exist, says the Lord. But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at My word.”

And we must remember the gift of the Holy Spirit is given only to those who obeys Him (Acts 5:32).

This requirement of obedience is simply ignored by far too many theologians. The apostle Paul explains that the only way that limitation in human understanding can be overcome:

“But as it is written: eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the hearts of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. (People that truly love God will be keeping His commandments I John 5:3) But God has revealed them to us (That is Christ’s true followers) through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (I Cor. 2:9-10).

Paul is telling us, that without the Holy Spirit, human beings are helpless in seeking to comprehend the things of God.

Verse 14: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

So, how do we go about discovering the things of God? Becoming better acquainted with the marvel of the creation and our awesome universe itself is one helpful key.

King David wrote” “The heavens tell of the glory of God; the skies display his marvelous craftsmanship” (Ps. 19:1).

Yet the Bible itself is one overriding key to knowing and understanding God. As it states in II timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

In this article, let’s look at some of the major attributes and qualities of God that the Bible teaches us.

  1. God is our Creator


  2. God is the Supreme Creator of everything. But for more than 150 years the theory of evolution has become a big barrier to belief in God as Creator. This atheistic line of thought dominates the thinking of the world’s intelligentsia.

    Modern higher education is based on an irrational belief in a sense of lucky accidents, mindless evolution.

    God the Father accomplished the creation by and through His Son Jesus Christ.

    “For by him (Christ) all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created through Him and for Him” (Col. 1:16).

    Jesus Christ is the Creator, and the book of Hebrews confirms this truth: “God has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” Heb. 1:1-2).

    The creation account in Genesis 1, is confirmed and complemented by the opening verse of John’s Gospel (John 1:1).

  3. God is Supreme Lawgiver


  4. James the brother of Jesus Christ reminds us in James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

    One of the greatest gifts God has given to mankind is His Spiritual Law. James refers to it as “the perfect law of liberty,” and he also calls it “the royal law” (James 2:8).

    One British professor of law wrote: “Law is all-pervasive. It exists in every cell of life. It affects everyone virtually all of the time. It governs everything in life and even what happens to us after death. It governs the air we breathe, the food and drink that we consume, our travel, sexuality, family relationships and our property.”

    Knowing this, why then do so many religionists believe and teach that God’s law is a yoke of bondage? Our entire universe operates under the laws of physics. Halley’s Comet can be counted on to appear in the sky at a specific time.

    Our civilized world suffers enormous harm when the forces of anarchy gain the upper hand. Without law, human civilization could not long endure.

    “For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver” (Isa. 33:22). The apostle James states that “There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy” (James 4:12).

    Jesus Christ summed up the Ten Commandments as the law of love: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome” (I John 5:3).

  5. God is Love


  6. The word love is probably the most misused and misapplied term in the English language.

    In the entertainment world it’s hard to tell the difference between lust and love.

    The New Testament was originally written in Greek, which has the distinct advantage of having different words for different kinds of love.

    Agape is the term that best describes God Himself. It generally expresses altruistic, outgoing concern for others. Notice I John 4:7-8: “Beloved, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

    Galatians 5:22 tells us that love is the first and foremost expression of God’s Holy Spirit. It is the first gift of God that every Christian should seek.

    The apostle Paul tell us how love should function in a spiritually transformed person, (I Cor. 13: 4-8).

    So, what is the ultimate perfect expression of God the Father’s love for human beings trapped in their sins (John 3:16)? He gave His only begotten son!

  7. God is full of justice and mercy


  8. God’s love embraces both justice and mercy, God is a God of justice as well as abundant mercy. It is because of the divine attribute of justice that the penalty for our sins had to be paid. But it is through divine mercy that Jesus Christ died for our sins. (Send for our FREE DVD, “Weightier Matters of the Law”).

    Jesus Christ died a cruel death in our place so that the God of justice could also show us His great mercy – thereby freely forgiving our sin so He could give us everlasting life.

    The Bible takes sin seriously. Sin constitutes rebellion against God, who oppose all forms of evil.

    We have all broken His spiritual law, and true repentance is the first step on our way back to Him. And yet, reconciliation to God the Father could only be made possible by the steepest price imaginable, the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

    The apostle Peter puts it this way: “You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a Lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Peter 1:18-19).

    Isaiah 9:7 tells us that when Christ returns to reign on the earth, “He will bring order to the whole world and establish it with judgement and justice, and with righteousness.”

  9. God is eternal


  10. Jesus Christ prayed shortly before His suffering and His death: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17:5).

    In Paul’s letter to Titus he wrote of “hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie, promised before time began (Titus 1:2).

    Remember, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

    Christ stated in Revelation 1:18, “I am Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Who is and who was and who is to come.” These two words Alpha and Omega is a Greek expression denoting “the eternal creative existence of God.”

    Jesus Christ and God the Father are divine Spirit Beings, no one created them. They were present before the beginning of the creation, before time began, they are eternal.

  11. God is a family


  12. In Ephesians 3:14-15 the apostle Paul said: “I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.”

    God is not a closed trinity, but an expanding family. Notice what the Oxford Companion to the Bible says about the trinity: “Because the trinity is such an important part of” later” Christian doctrine, it is striking that the term does not appear in the New Testament – likewise, the developed concept of three co-equal partners in the Godhead found in later creedal formulation cannot be clearly detected within the confines of the New Testament cannon.” In other words, it is not in the Bible.

    The word “later” is a vital key in understanding why general Christians belief became burdened with the trinity doctrine.

    It was until long after the Bible was written that theologians originally came up with the doctrine and others added to and elaborated on it down through the centuries.

    The God family is headed by the Father and presently consists of God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ.

    The plan of this God family and their desire is fully focused on “bringing many sons and daughters to glory” – this has been the plan from the beginning.

    Paul tells us in the Book of Colossians “that Jesus Christ is the first born from the dead, (Col. 1:18).  The Book of Romans tell us that Jesus Christ “was the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29).

    From this verse we can see that many more are going to join the family of divine Spirit Beings like the Father and Christ at the first resurrection. At the resurrection, Jesus Christ will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body (Phil. 3:21).

    Then it can be said in its fullest sense: “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My son and daughters, says the Lord Almighty (II Cor. 6:18).

  13. God is the great Healer


  14. In spite of all wondrous achievements and advancements in medical science, mankind is still plagued by diabetes, cancer, heart disease, AIDS, and a host of harmful addictions and unending chronic ailments.

    Jesus Christ never spoke against the physicians of His day. In fact, on one occasion He said this: “Those who are well have not need of a physician. But those who are sick” (Matt. 9:12).

    How many Christians realize that the Bible describes God as our healer (Ex. 15:26).

    Even during Christ’s day, the Bible states that Christ “could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief” (Mark 6:5-6).

    One noted British theologian said this: “To deny even the possibility of miracles, whether from theologian prejudice or scientific secularism, borders on the absurd. Since we believe that God is the sovereign Creator of the universe, he is certainly able to intrude into his own world. We have no liberty either to lock him up into one of our near little boxes or to dictate to him what he is permitted to do.”

  15. God is the ultimate planner


  16. All human beings are important to God. The first man and woman were the crown of His physical creation. He made them in His own image and we are their offspring.

    Jesus Christ said: “If I am lifted up from the earth (referring to His crucifixion), will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).

    The first step in God’s master plan for mankind was the sacrifice of His Son so our sins could be forgiven. This is what apostle Paul told the Christians of Ephesus: “He made known to us his secret purpose, in accordance with the plan which he determined beforehand in Christ, to be put into effect when the time was ripe: namely that the universe, everything in heaven and earth, might be brought into a unity with Christ” (Eph. 1:9-10).

    God will complete His great purpose in the step-by-step plan revealed in the pages of the Bible – that being His Holy Days. (Enroll today in our Mini-series “God’s Master Plan of Salvation.”)

  17. God reveals the future


  18. No human seer or prophet could have accurately predicted the remarkable rise and fall of nations, leaders and people foretold in the Bible

    God counsels us all to “remember the former things of old (things He has already accomplished), for I am God, and there is no other, I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done” (Isa. 46:9-10).

    God not only foretells a wondrous future - a world of prosperity, peace and plenty, but also a time of horrifying catastrophes that man will first bring on himself.

    If God does not exist, truly our fate would be tragically sealed and all human life doomed. He is our living, intervening God. He is quite aware of this present world trends.

    Humanity is caught in a destructive trap of rebellion against our Creator and we are completely unable to deliver ourselves out of it. That is why God the Father will send His Son back to earth to save us from ourselves.

  19. God cares for you


  20. Caring and compassion is one divine attribute that people sometimes overlook in considering our Creator. King David wrote: “But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious. longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth. You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me” (Ps. 86:15-16).

    The Gospels tells us that when Jesus Christ saw the great multitude: “He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick.” James tells us “that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

    There is one passage in the book of Ephesians that sums up what God wants His people to know and understand about Him:

    “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (Eph. 1:17-19).

    You and I should seek understanding of our Creator, receive what He reveals and experience the power of Him working in our life. There are many things about God we should know.
 
The Church of God, New World Ministries P.O. Box 5536 Sevierville, TN 37864