2) God
The revelation of God is the chief message in the story of the Bible. He is mentioned in the very first verse, and in fact the Bible provides an on-going commentary about different things concerning God. There are very clear references that concern, among other things; His Power, His Character, His Purpose, His Will, His Wisdom and His Love.
When we consider God, we must ensure that we do not try and interpret or measure God by those limitations that are natural to us. This has ever been the mistake of humanity. Religious art and the various forms of idolatry, both ancient and modern, show this natural predisposition. If God is to be understood, it can only be by God revealing himself. In the Bible we have such a revelation, which is one reason why it is so important to understand what it says.
The Bible is emphatic. There is only one God. There is no other. This one God has revealed His name as Yahweh, His familiar title as Father. He has no beginning or ending. He knows no limitations. He has a purpose which He has revealed. He has invited all people to share in this purpose, but on the condition of understanding believing and voluntarily aligning themselves with Him. This is called faith. It is an expression of God’s grace or favour to accept any person on the basis of their faith, irrespective of race, education, gender or social status. That is, anyone who hears and responds voluntarily to His invitation. This response involves adopting His world view, and accepting His plainly declared way of salvation. This is offered freely by God, who is motivated by his most visible characteristic, His Love. For this reason, God gave his most valuable gift to humanity, as the following reference shows –
John.3:16-17. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
God has Revealed Himself in all His Power
In the opening chapters of the book of Genesis we are introduced to God as the creator. This is the very first thing revealed and it is designed to make an impression on us – In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. Next, the record of the first chapter goes on to explain the details of God’s work, and speaks of God giving life to all creatures (Gen.1:20, 30; 2:7). This is a life that is self-perpetuating, and would allow all creatures to both multiply and continue by natural processes through their seed (Gen.1:11, 12, 22, 28). In this sense then, God is declared to be both the giver of life from non-life as well as the sustainer of life, as every breath that every creature takes has its origins from God. Not only did God originally give life, he also sustains all by His spirit. Paul says as much in the NT, when speaking to the men of Athens.
Acts.17:25. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
Job.34:14-15. If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.
Moreover, as God has done all these things, he is to be perceived as infinitely larger and more powerful than all the natural or material things that are made or exist. We are not speaking in physical terms relating to size, but in terms that relate to power and wisdom. If God made all the things we see, then He should be, must be, perceived this way.
Psalm.8:3-4. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him? And the son of man that You visit him?
Psalm.19:1. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Isaiah.40:25-26. “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might, And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.
Isaiah.40:22. It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
These references, among many others, clearly tell us that God is far greater than any person, force or power that we can imagine with our senses. The heavens themselves are likened to a tent, which perhaps means that God can step outside of them. This fits very well with what we are told in the first chapter of Genesis. That is, that the heaven and the earth that we know are simply created entities that contain the works of God. They are not eternal or limitless.
God is not bound by these nor by any material limitations. Once we grasp this, we understand the absolute folly of man’s tendency of trying to explain or show God as bound by the laws of nature, as He created all these laws. The LORD alone is God, and there is no other. There is none other like Him.
Isaiah.44:6. Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his (i.e. Israel’s) Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.
Isaiah.42:8. I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
Paul speaks of man’s rejection of God, and how man has continually changed the things that God has revealed. Man’s natural default has been to imagine God to be like himself, or as one of the lesser creatures. The next reference, although quite long in itself, is worth considering carefully. Paul says that we are without excuse. God’s handiwork or signature is seen everywhere in this creation, but men have continually ignored God. They have not sought Him out, to know His way or His purpose. In fact they have gone further in that they have continually changed who God is, so that He is often depicted as resembling a creature of this creation. For this reason, God has often given such foolish men up to the consequences of their choices.
Rom.1:20-24. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonour their bodies among themselves …
Rom.1:25. Men have repeatedly ‘… exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.’
This, of course, expresses the clear sentiment of God, as enunciated in the second of the Ten Commandments, given directly by God to Israel on Mount Sinai.
Exod.20:4. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
God was quite particular in this matter. Man has a very limited perspective and a natural inclination to interpret all things within the bounds of his own experiences. This has always been the way with human religion. It is the reason so many places of worship are full of pictures, idols and other forms of imagery that appeal to the senses. These ideas are quite contrary to what God has revealed, as they give a totally wrong impression of God.
Deut.4:12,15-19. And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire, You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form, you only heard a voice. … Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
These words could not be any more emphatic. When considering this warning and what many religions have done, especially those who call themselves Christian, is it any wonder that many people cannot understand God, or His will and purpose? By ignoring these express commands of God mankind has made it plain for all to see that they are far astray from His counsel.
The revelation of God is the chief message in the story of the Bible. He is mentioned in the very first verse, and in fact the Bible provides an on-going commentary about different things concerning God. There are very clear references that concern, among other things; His Power, His Character, His Purpose, His Will, His Wisdom and His Love.
When we consider God, we must ensure that we do not try and interpret or measure God by those limitations that are natural to us. This has ever been the mistake of humanity. Religious art and the various forms of idolatry, both ancient and modern, show this natural predisposition. If God is to be understood, it can only be by God revealing himself. In the Bible we have such a revelation, which is one reason why it is so important to understand what it says.
The Bible is emphatic. There is only one God. There is no other. This one God has revealed His name as Yahweh, His familiar title as Father. He has no beginning or ending. He knows no limitations. He has a purpose which He has revealed. He has invited all people to share in this purpose, but on the condition of understanding believing and voluntarily aligning themselves with Him. This is called faith. It is an expression of God’s grace or favour to accept any person on the basis of their faith, irrespective of race, education, gender or social status. That is, anyone who hears and responds voluntarily to His invitation. This response involves adopting His world view, and accepting His plainly declared way of salvation. This is offered freely by God, who is motivated by his most visible characteristic, His Love. For this reason, God gave his most valuable gift to humanity, as the following reference shows –
John.3:16-17. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
God has Revealed Himself in all His Power
In the opening chapters of the book of Genesis we are introduced to God as the creator. This is the very first thing revealed and it is designed to make an impression on us – In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. Next, the record of the first chapter goes on to explain the details of God’s work, and speaks of God giving life to all creatures (Gen.1:20, 30; 2:7). This is a life that is self-perpetuating, and would allow all creatures to both multiply and continue by natural processes through their seed (Gen.1:11, 12, 22, 28). In this sense then, God is declared to be both the giver of life from non-life as well as the sustainer of life, as every breath that every creature takes has its origins from God. Not only did God originally give life, he also sustains all by His spirit. Paul says as much in the NT, when speaking to the men of Athens.
Acts.17:25. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
Job.34:14-15. If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.
Moreover, as God has done all these things, he is to be perceived as infinitely larger and more powerful than all the natural or material things that are made or exist. We are not speaking in physical terms relating to size, but in terms that relate to power and wisdom. If God made all the things we see, then He should be, must be, perceived this way.
Psalm.8:3-4. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him? And the son of man that You visit him?
Psalm.19:1. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Isaiah.40:25-26. “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might, And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.
Isaiah.40:22. It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
These references, among many others, clearly tell us that God is far greater than any person, force or power that we can imagine with our senses. The heavens themselves are likened to a tent, which perhaps means that God can step outside of them. This fits very well with what we are told in the first chapter of Genesis. That is, that the heaven and the earth that we know are simply created entities that contain the works of God. They are not eternal or limitless.
God is not bound by these nor by any material limitations. Once we grasp this, we understand the absolute folly of man’s tendency of trying to explain or show God as bound by the laws of nature, as He created all these laws. The LORD alone is God, and there is no other. There is none other like Him.
Isaiah.44:6. Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his (i.e. Israel’s) Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.
Isaiah.42:8. I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
Paul speaks of man’s rejection of God, and how man has continually changed the things that God has revealed. Man’s natural default has been to imagine God to be like himself, or as one of the lesser creatures. The next reference, although quite long in itself, is worth considering carefully. Paul says that we are without excuse. God’s handiwork or signature is seen everywhere in this creation, but men have continually ignored God. They have not sought Him out, to know His way or His purpose. In fact they have gone further in that they have continually changed who God is, so that He is often depicted as resembling a creature of this creation. For this reason, God has often given such foolish men up to the consequences of their choices.
Rom.1:20-24. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonour their bodies among themselves …
Rom.1:25. Men have repeatedly ‘… exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.’
This, of course, expresses the clear sentiment of God, as enunciated in the second of the Ten Commandments, given directly by God to Israel on Mount Sinai.
Exod.20:4. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
God was quite particular in this matter. Man has a very limited perspective and a natural inclination to interpret all things within the bounds of his own experiences. This has always been the way with human religion. It is the reason so many places of worship are full of pictures, idols and other forms of imagery that appeal to the senses. These ideas are quite contrary to what God has revealed, as they give a totally wrong impression of God.
Deut.4:12,15-19. And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire, You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form, you only heard a voice. … Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
These words could not be any more emphatic. When considering this warning and what many religions have done, especially those who call themselves Christian, is it any wonder that many people cannot understand God, or His will and purpose? By ignoring these express commands of God mankind has made it plain for all to see that they are far astray from His counsel.
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