02.A Fellowship With God: The Nature of God

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Fellowship with God
The Nature of God

Key Passage: John 17:3

Contents 1 Summary 2 Guided Reflection 3 Essential Truth Regarding the Nature of God 4 Core Issues 5 Common Errors 6 Connecting Points to 5Cs 7 Connecting Points to 4Ds 8 Essential Truths (Conclusion)

Summary

Eternal life is knowing God; indeed, knowing God as He truly is will produce spiritual transformation of our lives into the image of His life.

Guided Reflection

What does an ant think of a man? What does a cat or a pig think of its owner? What do people think about God? Consider societies with millions of idols. People all over the world imagine God, or gods. Those who believe in many gods still have an idea about the one supreme God. Even atheists have a concept of a mighty God whom they deny.

In fact, God is exactly who He is, and He does whatever He wants to do out of His own nature (Ex. 3:13-15; Ps. 72:18). Many people live empty lives in accordance with their own weak views of God; however, faith in God as He is in truth will profoundly transform the believer.

Since life comes from knowing God (John 17:3), ponder what kind of life comes from not knowing God, or from only knowing about God, or from “knowing” things about God that are wrong. Where have we ourselves been mostly wrong and where might we be only partly right in our thinking about God?

Write a brief definition of God, similar to what you might find in a dictionary. Compare your definition to those of others you are learning with.

Essential Truth Regarding the Nature of God

The nature of God refers to what God is: the existence, nature, and attributes of the one true living God, the self-existent eternal Spirit, infinite and personal, a unity yet triune.

Core Issues

For many Christians, theology is a dead, dry, dreary subject of wearisome academics with no value or meaning for life and reality. However, our study of the Bible is a means to deepen our relationship with God as we apply ourselves to learn about what God is like. Through knowing Him we experience life (John 17:3).

1. Why We Should Study About God

a) The term theology simply means the study of God. The study of God involves prayerful consideration of the being of God, pondering His many means of self-disclosure, primarily through Scripture, but also through nature and other spiritual, relational and experiential means (1 Cor.1:17-2:16; John 20:30-31).

b) Everyone has a view of God. Often this view of God is incorrect, or at best weak. It may even be fragmented and contradictory – we might have one theology on paper and another that we hold to practically. We may be very correct in our paper theology, while we live in a different manner. True disciples will hold to the truth (John 8:31-32).

2. The Possibility of Knowing God

a) If God is (and of course we believe He is), then there is an objective truth about God (2 Pet. 1:16; John 5:33; 17:17; Rom. 1:25; 2 Thess. 2:13). God is who He is, in contrast to the popular notion that one view of God is just as valid as any other. You are who you are, in spite of what people think of you. There is a real you. Likewise, there is a correct understanding of God that represents reality (2 Tim. 2:15).

b) God is so vast as to be unfathomable and unsearchable in His fullness (Ps. 145:3; 1 Tim. 6:13-16). Yet God can be understood and known to the extent of His willingness to reveal Himself within the limited capacity of our finite beings (John 4:24; Deut. 29:29; 1 Cor. 2:14; 1 John 1:1-10).

c) Knowing God is the purpose for which mankind was created in the image of God. Fellowship with man is God’s delight. The problem is not that mankind cannot know God, but mankind refuses to know Him as He is. Scripture presents this willful ignorance as defiant, rebellious, and without excuse (Rom. 1:18-25).

d) Millions of people throughout history and all over the world, from a wide range of cultures, have come to know the true God, experiencing transformed lives as a result (John 1:12; 1 John 5:19-21). Understanding God and knowing Him is not only possible, but is man’s greatest privilege and highest fulfillment (Jer. 9:23-24).

3. The Being of God

a) The Existence of God: God is. That is a given in Scripture. No effort is made to prove the existence of God; it is assumed, just as much as the force of gravity and the existence of the world itself (Gen. 1:1; John 1:1-2, 18; Rev. 1:8; 4:10-11; Col. 1:12-17; Ps. 14:1).

A famous space traveler, after an hour in orbit around the earth, reported that he did not find God. Likewise, an astronomer said that he swept the heavens with his telescope and did not see God. Their absurd conclusion was that God must not exist. A child might look in a toy box and someone might sweep the kitchen with a broom and find no God. Failure to find God in a search of the material world is no proof that there is no God. God is not a material being (John 4:24). He cannot be found by any natural or physical means (Job 11:7-9; Rom. 11:33).

b) Definitions of God: The Bible describes God as the one Supreme Being, Creator and Sustainer of all things, the self-sufficient Spirit, infinite and personal, who revealed Himself through Jesus Christ as the Redeemer, so that man might enjoy fellowship with Him forever. Definitions, while inadequate to explain God, serve to identify and distinguish. They cannot mention every attribute, but attempt to include those aspects of the nature of God that distinguish Him from all else [4-d].

c) The Nature of God (referring to who God is – His being and essence – in contrast to His particular attributes): The Living God is Spirit and Infinite, yet Personal; Self-existent and One, yet Triune.

i) God is Living

Scripture speaks of the Living God to emphasize that He truly is, that He is real and dynamic – not a mere imagination, nor an inanimate force that people wrongly revere. In contrast, the gods of the people are vain, dead, non-living, and therefore, not real (1 Thess. 1:9). The Living God really exists and is worthy of our worship (Josh. 3:10). He is also living in the sense that He is active and purposeful. He engages and interacts with His creation (Acts 14:11-18).

ii) God is Spirit

He is invisible Spirit (John 4:24), not just “a spirit.” Rather, the essence of the being of God is Spirit – not natural or material in essence. To better understand what is meant by Spirit, it is helpful to see what is not Spirit. God is not material. He is not matter, nor a refined form of matter. He is not confined to a body, though He is able to assume bodily form as He wills. As Spirit, He is indestructible, uncompounded, and indivisible. He cannot be refined; He is not a mixture or combination, but one essence – pure Spirit.

iii) God is Infinite

He is infinite, everlasting, and limitless, without beginning or end, without top or bottom (Is. 40:28; Ps. 90:1-2; 139:7-12; Eph. 3:18-20). This is more than saying He is very big and very old. Rather, He is limitless in essence and being. Though He is beyond time and space, He is able to relate to things within the bounds of time and space. In all of His nature and attributes He is boundless and perfect.

iv) God is Personal

God is personal and not impersonal. He is more than mere energy or a force.

That God is personal does not mean that He is a human being, but that He is personal in nature and capable of relationships with other personal beings. Throughout the Bible, God is described using personal terms (father, shepherd, judge, redeemer, a speaker, and a listener). He is shown to possess emotions which are characteristic of personhood (Heb. 4:15-5:2; Zeph. 3:17). As a personal being, God cares (Ex. 3:9). He can be pleased or displeased. Personal pronouns are used of God and He is shown inviting and entering into relationships with human beings (Ps. 81:13).

v) God is Self-Existent

He exists apart from dependence on anything else or anyone else. The question is often asked, “Who created God?” The answer is simply that God has always been. This eternal self-existence is what makes God God. He is the uncreated Creator, the uncaused Cause of all things (John 1:1-3; 5:26). He did not create the world because of need or incompleteness. Though He needs nothing, He is able to create things outside of Himself.

vi) God is One

The Bible throughout presents God as one in nature, a single indivisible divine essence (Deut 6:4-5; Mark 12:29-30; Eph. 2:18; 4:5; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; John 10:30). He is a complete and perfect unity of being. There is no God besides Him (Deut. 4:35; 2 Sam. 7:22; Is. 45:5-6).

vii) God is Triune

The Scriptures reveal that God is one divine Spirit eternally manifested as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Is. 48:16; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14). The profound mystery of the triune nature of God is intricately woven throughout the Scripture and requires a more extensive treatment elsewhere.

The nature of God is intrinsic to God alone. Yet these indispensible qualities that identify God as God are attributed equally to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For example, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each seen with “omni-attributes” (John 14:23; Matt. 18:20; Ps. 139:7).

God is one in essence or substance, but three in personality. This does not mean there are three Gods existing as one, but that there are three (and only three) co-equal and co-eternal manifestations who are interdependent, and eternally one in divine essence.

Common Errors

1. Mere academic scholarship is often put forward in place of living theology. Frequently, the God of this theology is stagnant and distant, uninvolved in the day-to-day lives of believers. The minutiae and finer points are categorized and indexed in vague, obscure terminology that often has no bearing on practical day-to-day living.

2. Disdain for theology is often the reaction of Christians when they see only a tiresome academic approach. As a result, they hold shallow views of the being of God that do not reflect a thorough knowledge of Scripture. In contrast to the distant God of dry scholasticism, this informal approach leads, for example, to thinking of God in human terms, leaving Him as an emotional grandfather-type, who can be manipulated into doing things for us.

3. Gnosticism is one of the earliest errors facing Christianity and continues today in the private personal beliefs about God of those who disdain sound theology. Gnosticism emphasizes secret or private information about God that is extensive and elaborate, and unknowable except to initiates in mysterious rites and rituals. John constantly answered the error in his writings. In his first epistle he uses forms of “to know” dozens of times to make it clear that God is knowable through the plain revelation of His word. John declares that young new believers are on an equal footing with seasoned long-time saints when they know and obey God’s word (1 John 2:12-14).

4. Agnosticism says there may or may not be a God. The agnostic says, “I do not know if there is a God.” A similar view is skepticism, which says, “I doubt that there is a specific knowable God.” These views attempt to be tolerant and rational in denying the God who is. Most who claim to be agnostics or skeptics live as if there is no God, though they hope that if there is a God their good works will outweigh their bad. Certainly, they do not worship and obey God and are found in the same position as those who blatantly deny God.

5. Atheism excludes God altogether. The atheist says, “I KNOW there is no God.” The Psalmist has declared, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Ps. 14:1). Scripture does not attempt to prove the existence of God. However there are many sound and compelling arguments that point to the existence of God:

a) First Cause. Somehow there must be a cause for all we see and know. The brain is nearly short-circuited at the thought that everything that is has simply always been. There must be a cause. Evolution and the big bang theory do not solve the problem of first cause, for if there was a “big bang” what caused it? Interestingly, in recent years many have put forward that the world as we know it was designed by aliens! Neither does this suggestion solve the issue, since we must then answer the question of who “caused” the aliens. The Biblical revelation is clear: It is God who created all things out of nothing by His spoken word.

The idea of first cause is that all things originated in a Being who is not a thing, but who is the uncaused Cause of all things – God.

b) Design points to a Designer. Signs that God has been at work are all over His universe. Evolution, the impersonal process of time and chance, could never account for the amazing complexity and beauty of the created world. This can only be the work of a personal Creator. We see, as it were, His fingerprints and footprints everywhere. Though we cannot see the wind, we can see its effects. Jesus used the illustration of the wind to speak of the work of the invisible Spirit (John 3:8). The creation itself points to the existence of God (Ps. 19:1; Rom. 1).

c) Jesus as the revelation of God. Scripture declares that while no man has seen God at any time, God has been revealed by His Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:18). The life of Christ proclaims the reality of a just God who is loving and merciful to His creation.

d) Personal experience. Our own changed lives also testify that God exists (1 John 4:12-16).

6. More errors about the nature of God:

a) Pantheism: Everything is God, or a part of the essence of God. God and the Creation are one and the same. No, God is distinct from His creation.

b) God is just old and big. No, God is eternal and infinite.

c) God is one of many beings in the spiritual world; God is a spirit. No, God is pure indivisible Spirit in essence.

d) God is an impersonal force. No, God is personal and relates to humans personally.

e) God is distant and disinterested in the Creation. The view that God is uninvolved in His universe is also known as Deism. No, God created the universe and maintains it for the purpose of direct fellowship with humanity.

f) Polytheism: God is plural. This is the idea that there are many gods, even if there is one supreme God. But the definition of the being of God in Scripture insists that God is one, and there is no other besides Him.

g) Dualism: This error asserts that there are two irreducible forces in the universe – good and evil, also called yin and yang. The idea is that good and evil are co-eternal, almost as if God is both good and evil. It is as if Satan is part of the being of God. Dualism is one of the early errors of the Gnostics confronted by Christianity in the time of the Apostles. The notion is also found in ancient oriental philosophies, as well as in modern New Age revivals of eastern religions. The idea of the good side and the dark side of the “Force” is a prominent theme of modern Science-fiction and a seriously held view of God in popular culture.

Scripture however makes it clear that God is only good, yet He created beings capable of choosing against the goodness of God. God allows beings He created to make choices against Him, against good. The origin of evil is a subject that warrants additional detailed study.

Connecting Points to 5Cs

Connecting Points to 4Ds

4-D exercise: Ask several people to provide a brief definition of God. Perhaps conduct a survey. Then attempt to catalog the common elements of the various definitions. This will help you to understand what needs to be communicated to others about the true God.

4-D exercise: It is very difficult for blind people to relate to the world. Sometimes a friend or family member will try to help the blind person to negotiate the world. Put on a blindfold and have a trusted friend lead you on a walk. People who know God are like that one who helps a blind person. We can see and we try to help those who cannot see. How can you help people to know God? How can you show them by your life? What is suggested by the key passage of this section (John 17:3)?

Essential Truths (Conclusion)

1. God is and God is who He says He is. We are privileged to be given revelation to understand who God is.

2. The infinite God created finite humans so they could choose to enjoy fellowship with Him. Theology helps us properly grasp who this God is who desires fellowship with us.

3. Living theology has as its purpose the true knowledge of God that leads to a full experience of the provisions, privileges, and transformation that is the Christian life.