O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down, and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold O Lord, thou dost know it all.
Psalm 139:1-4 NASB
God is the all knowing, all seeing God. There is nothing that we can do that He is not aware of. Even our very inner thoughts He discerns. He hears our speech, and knows what we will say before we speak.
As the eternal God who has always existed, His knowledge has always existed as well. Nothing is new to God, nothing takes Him by surprise. As the ever present God who fills all things, nothing is hidden from His sight.
God is very awesome indeed! He has known all before the foundations of the world were laid. This same God who sent Jesus to die for our sins, knew that we would fall before He even created us.
Once again, we find these things hard to grasp as we view God in all of His majesty and greatness. This should encourage a healthy fear of of the Lord within us, which is the beginning of wisdom, leading us to the knowledge of Him.
To earnestly contend for the faith, that was once for all entrusted to the saints, to promote the full gospel of Jesus Christ, who gave Himself to deliver us from this wicked generation.
Showing posts with label the knowledge of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the knowledge of God. Show all posts
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Sunday, December 14, 2014
The Self Existance of God.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Revelation 22:13 NASB
The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God..." As we saw previously, God is eternal. He has always been, and will always be.
In the above text, Jesus states that He is the beginning of all things, the first and the last. This repeats the word of the Lord given through the Prophet Isaiah,
"Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.'"
And again He states,
"Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none."
Isaiah 44:6,8 NASB
There is no other God, or any other being who pre existed God in order to create Him! God existed before all, and created all. This leads us to the conclusion that God exists in and of Himself.
The creator of the universe was not created or caused by any other thing. He was not caused by chance, He did not evolve, He has always been, the self existing God.
This should create in us an awe of God. Like the Psalmist, we should break out in praise,
The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord, a God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all those who are around Him? O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?
Psalm 89:5-8 NASB
God is indeed awesome as His word declares. We must ever be careful to fear Him, to avoid bringing Him down to our finite understanding, and thus creating a small god to our liking.
Revelation 22:13 NASB
The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God..." As we saw previously, God is eternal. He has always been, and will always be.
In the above text, Jesus states that He is the beginning of all things, the first and the last. This repeats the word of the Lord given through the Prophet Isaiah,
"Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.'"
And again He states,
"Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none."
Isaiah 44:6,8 NASB
There is no other God, or any other being who pre existed God in order to create Him! God existed before all, and created all. This leads us to the conclusion that God exists in and of Himself.
The creator of the universe was not created or caused by any other thing. He was not caused by chance, He did not evolve, He has always been, the self existing God.
This should create in us an awe of God. Like the Psalmist, we should break out in praise,
The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord, a God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all those who are around Him? O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?
Psalm 89:5-8 NASB
God is indeed awesome as His word declares. We must ever be careful to fear Him, to avoid bringing Him down to our finite understanding, and thus creating a small god to our liking.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
The Eternity of God.
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were born, or you gave birth to the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Psalm 90:1-2 NASB
It is of the utmost importance that we know God. Correct theology, and doctrine has its place of importance in understanding God. However there is a danger in seeking to define God. In desiring to know and understand God, we tend to shrink Him down to a manageable level; something that our finite minds can grasp. We want a God we can completely understand, without having to stretch our minds, or leave some things to faith.
In doing this we place God within a box so to speak. We create a small god, someone who is limited much like we are. We bring Him down a little closer to our level, someone a lot like ourselves, of course with some divine attributes.
The idea of eternity is one of those concepts that our minds, at least my mind, cannot grasp completely. In some sense, I can understand that time will march on for eternity, never ending, going on for ever and ever. I think that many, if not most of us can grasp the fact that our souls will exist throughout eternity, and God as well, exists forever, with no end.
The tough one for me is the fact that God has existed from eternity, He has no beginning, as well as no end. That is impossible for the mind to fully comprehend. However hard to understand, it is still fact. As the above text states, God has existed from everlasting, and will continue on with no end (Psalm 90:2, 93:2).
This is one of God's divine attributes. This is what makes Him God. He has always been and will always be. Nobody created God, there was no cosmic bang, or any other thing that was responsible for God to come into existence. He has always been.
Sometimes it is good for us to have our view of God stretched. It is good for us to be unable to apprehend some of the truths about the very person of God. It keeps us in awe of Him, in awe of His character and majesty. It tends to produce a holy fear of Him in our hearts. It keeps us from creating a smaller god, one that we can be comfortable with.
The biblical account of creation presupposes the existence of God, when it tells us "In the beginning God created" (Genesis 1:1). God already existed to create the world. We see the same thing in Proverbs, where we are told that God possessed wisdom at the beginning, at creation. In fact God has always possessed wisdom, from everlasting it has been established (Proverbs 8:22-31).
When Moses was confronted by God in the burning bush, he wanted to be able to tell the Israelites who sent him. God said. "I AM WHO I AM, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent you" (Exodus 3:14). God revealed Himself to Moses as the eternal God. In the same way, Jesus declared Himself eternal, thus making Himself equal with God (John 8:58).
Centuries before the birth of Christ, the prophet Micah foretold the birth of One, "whose goings forth are from eternity" (Micah 5:2). Jesus Christ has existed from eternity. All things were created by Him, through Him and for Him (Col 1:16). He is eternal, as is the Holy Spirit who was also in existence at creation (Gen 1:2).
We also see the eternity of God in the worship that is ascribed to Him.
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.
Revelation 4:8b
The angelic beings have worshiped God from their beginning.They worship the one who has always been, who now is, and who will always be. The first worshipper, has worshipped the God who has already existed before him. In Revelation 4:8, every living thing in heaven and earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, worship the eternal God.
God is indeed the high and exalted One, holy, and eternal (Isaiah 57:15). This scripture paints an awesome picture of God. He is far above us. He cannot be brought down to a manageable level, to a place where we can be more comfortable with our views of Him. Yet He will dwell with those who are of a broken and contrite heart.
Paul speaks of God in a similar fashion.
Who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
1 Timothy 6:16 NASB
Paul is encouraging Timothy to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the return of Christ. Likewise we are to fight the good fight of faith until Christ returns for those of us who remain faithful to Him (1 Tim 6:12-16).
It is true that God is lofty. As God He transcends everything that we can imagine, yet He considers those who with broken hearts, will surrender their lives to Him and His service.
The idea of an eternal God should cause us to fear and reverence Him, for it is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, 2:5, 9:10). Who are we as created beings to think that we can define God as we please? Get into the word of God with passion and purpose, determining to know God. Make it your all consuming pursuit, and He will lead you to the true knowledge of Himself (Proverbs 2:1-5).
Before the mountains were born, or you gave birth to the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Psalm 90:1-2 NASB
It is of the utmost importance that we know God. Correct theology, and doctrine has its place of importance in understanding God. However there is a danger in seeking to define God. In desiring to know and understand God, we tend to shrink Him down to a manageable level; something that our finite minds can grasp. We want a God we can completely understand, without having to stretch our minds, or leave some things to faith.
In doing this we place God within a box so to speak. We create a small god, someone who is limited much like we are. We bring Him down a little closer to our level, someone a lot like ourselves, of course with some divine attributes.
The idea of eternity is one of those concepts that our minds, at least my mind, cannot grasp completely. In some sense, I can understand that time will march on for eternity, never ending, going on for ever and ever. I think that many, if not most of us can grasp the fact that our souls will exist throughout eternity, and God as well, exists forever, with no end.
The tough one for me is the fact that God has existed from eternity, He has no beginning, as well as no end. That is impossible for the mind to fully comprehend. However hard to understand, it is still fact. As the above text states, God has existed from everlasting, and will continue on with no end (Psalm 90:2, 93:2).
This is one of God's divine attributes. This is what makes Him God. He has always been and will always be. Nobody created God, there was no cosmic bang, or any other thing that was responsible for God to come into existence. He has always been.
Sometimes it is good for us to have our view of God stretched. It is good for us to be unable to apprehend some of the truths about the very person of God. It keeps us in awe of Him, in awe of His character and majesty. It tends to produce a holy fear of Him in our hearts. It keeps us from creating a smaller god, one that we can be comfortable with.
The biblical account of creation presupposes the existence of God, when it tells us "In the beginning God created" (Genesis 1:1). God already existed to create the world. We see the same thing in Proverbs, where we are told that God possessed wisdom at the beginning, at creation. In fact God has always possessed wisdom, from everlasting it has been established (Proverbs 8:22-31).
When Moses was confronted by God in the burning bush, he wanted to be able to tell the Israelites who sent him. God said. "I AM WHO I AM, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent you" (Exodus 3:14). God revealed Himself to Moses as the eternal God. In the same way, Jesus declared Himself eternal, thus making Himself equal with God (John 8:58).
Centuries before the birth of Christ, the prophet Micah foretold the birth of One, "whose goings forth are from eternity" (Micah 5:2). Jesus Christ has existed from eternity. All things were created by Him, through Him and for Him (Col 1:16). He is eternal, as is the Holy Spirit who was also in existence at creation (Gen 1:2).
We also see the eternity of God in the worship that is ascribed to Him.
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.
Revelation 4:8b
The angelic beings have worshiped God from their beginning.They worship the one who has always been, who now is, and who will always be. The first worshipper, has worshipped the God who has already existed before him. In Revelation 4:8, every living thing in heaven and earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, worship the eternal God.
God is indeed the high and exalted One, holy, and eternal (Isaiah 57:15). This scripture paints an awesome picture of God. He is far above us. He cannot be brought down to a manageable level, to a place where we can be more comfortable with our views of Him. Yet He will dwell with those who are of a broken and contrite heart.
Paul speaks of God in a similar fashion.
Who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
1 Timothy 6:16 NASB
Paul is encouraging Timothy to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the return of Christ. Likewise we are to fight the good fight of faith until Christ returns for those of us who remain faithful to Him (1 Tim 6:12-16).
It is true that God is lofty. As God He transcends everything that we can imagine, yet He considers those who with broken hearts, will surrender their lives to Him and His service.
The idea of an eternal God should cause us to fear and reverence Him, for it is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, 2:5, 9:10). Who are we as created beings to think that we can define God as we please? Get into the word of God with passion and purpose, determining to know God. Make it your all consuming pursuit, and He will lead you to the true knowledge of Himself (Proverbs 2:1-5).
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