Books I used for this were: Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem What Christianity is All About and Artful Dodger by Alan Scholes Evidence That Demands a Verdict and Answers to Tough Questions-Josh McDowell

Our God And Who He Is

Objectives: Recognize the misunderstanding of the Trinity call “Modalism” Classify God’s various attributes as “personal” or “infinite” Explain how God’s attributes make Him unique and worthy of worship.

Who is the God we worship We cannot prove that God exists, but: Belief in God is the rule, not the exception-Romans 1:18-21, Psalms 14:1, 53:1, 10:3-4 People from every land and culture have had a belief in some form of higher power or deity.

There are rational arguments for His existence, these classical “theistic proofs: include the Cosmological, Teleological, and Ontological arguments; the Moral arguments, and the Argument from Experience. Cosmological-cause and effect Teleological-order and design Ontological-from idea to reality Moral-begins with man’s sense of right and wrong Only God can overcome our sin and enable us to be persuaded of His existence 2 Cor 4:4, 1 Cor 1:21, 1 Cor 2:5 We are dependent upon God to remove the blindness and irrationality caused by sin and to enable us to evaluate the evidence rightly, believe what Scripture says, and come to saving faith in Christ. (Grudem-Systematic Theology)

Believing the Evidence in Scripture and Nature Acts 14:17 Psalm 19:1-2 This wide variety of testimonies to God’s existence from various parts of the created world suggests to us that in one sense everything that exists gives evidence to God’s existence. Thus, for those who are correctly evaluating the evidence, everything in Scripture and everything in nature proves clearly that God exists and that he is the powerful and wise Creator that Scripture describes Him to be. Therefore, when we believe that God exists, we are basing our belief not on some blind hope apart form any evidence, but on an overwhelming amount of reliable evidence from God’s words and God’s works. It is a characteristic of true faith that it’s confidence is based on reliable evidence. (Grudem)

God in Three Persons God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God.- Conviction level The word Trinity is not in the Bible. The term was coined sometime in the 1 st century. Genesis 1:26, 3:22, 11:7- “Let Us…” Isaiah 6:3 and 6:8- “Holy,Holy,Holy” Psalm 45:6-7-another OT example of the Trinity Matthew 3:16-17-Clear distinction between the persons John 1:1-3 and 10:30 and Luke 22:42- “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” Acts 5:3-4-Holy Spirit is identified as divine. Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1 Peter 1:2, and Jude

Avoiding common errors Demoting the Holy Spirit to a mere influence. Demoting Jesus to inferior or unequal status with the father. John 5:17-18 and John 10:30-33 and Colossians 2:9 Believing that there is one God in three forms or modes or roles. This is called Modalism. Example-3 phases of water or say someone is a father, son, husband. This is not true to the way god is presented in the New Testament. There are three distinct persons, and the being of each person is equal to the whole being of God.

God is Infinite and Personal We categorize God’s nature into attributes to help us understand God’s uniqueness. The gods of pagan mythology were personal but far from infinite in knowledge or power. The god of Greek philosophy and the god of eastern mysticism are infinite but ultimately impersonal. Only the God of the Bible is both awesomely infinite and intimately personal. Only He is worthy of our allegiance and worship.

Some of His infinite attributes: Self existence Omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability, and eternality. Genesis 17:1, Exodus 6:3, 2 Corinthians 6:18, Revelation 1:8, James 1:7, Malachi 3:6 God’s Character never changes but that His actions, and even His feelings, change in response to the action of His creatures. His personal attributes: Wisdom-He always exercises good judgment Mercy-He kindly chooses to be more than fair-Eph 2:4 Goodness-He is free from all evil Loving- 1 John 4:8 and John 3:16 Righteous-God always does what is right-Psalm 145:17

Conclusion and Application Only the God of the Bible is both infinite and personal 1. Personal: Do you want to follow a great leader? Moses, Gandhi, Bush, Obama, or anyone else—these are personal, but limited. 2. Infinite: Perhaps you are attracted to an ideal. Marxism, environmentalism, or democracy are abstractions and infinite, but impersonal. Only The God of the Bible is infinite in majesty, knowledge and power and personal in beauty, mercy, and love. In the life of a Christian the inner awareness of God becomes stronger and more distinct. We begin to know God as our loving Father in heaven, the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God (Rom 8:15-16), and we come to know Jesus Christ living within our hearts (Eph 3:7, Phil 3:8). The intensity of this awareness for a Christian is such that though we have not seen Jesus Christ, we indeed love Him (1 Pet 1:8). Grudem-Systematic Theology p142