CHAPTER ONE

THE SELF-REVELATION OF GOD

Introduction

there are two methods of approach to the subject of God: The one is philosophical; the other is Biblical.

The philosophical approach would begin with rational argument and at last (perhaps) end with God.

The Bible, being concerned primarily with practical rather than philosophical matters, begins with God. Since man who is a sinner cannot wait for the settlement of all the intellectual problems of Theism, and since the Bible was written for sinful men, it brings the reader without delay into the presence of God—“In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1).

Actually, the central affirmation of the Scriptures is not “There is a God,” but rather that “God has spoken.” Of course, if God has spoken, He must exist. And his revelation may properly be used as an argument for this existence. But in the Bible the emphasis is always on the revelation, not upon the rational uses to which it may be put.

This does not mean that the Bible presents no proofs for the existence of God, for it does (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:18). But the primary method is direct and practical rather then argumentative. A rose, for example, needs no philosophical arguments to prove its existence. Its beauty and fragrance are immediate channels of revelation, entirely sufficient for those whose minds are unspoiled by agnostic speculation. So also there are channels of revelation concerning God which are immediate. “God has spoken”—concerning himself, his nature, and his work—in ways which are more universally accessible and convincing than in the case of any other fact of human experience.

Of course, the agnostic question can always be raised, about anything and everything—even about the existence of a rose. But we must observe that people go on enjoying roses nevertheless, including the agnostics themselves who may not be allergic to roses. And we further observe that no skeptic ever acts in complete consistency with his doubts. He may indeed doubt the actual existence of bread, but he goes on eating bread nevertheless. As a matter of fact, he must have bread to sustain the intellectual energy he needs to argue against the existence of bread. Thus also the skeptic draws from God the very energy which sustains him as he reasons against the divine existence.

With these things in mind, we shall now consider seven channels of divine revelation set forth in the Scriptures regarding God himself.

God Has Revealed Himself:

I. In The Material and Animal Creation

Job 12:7-9

“But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;

And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.

“Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;

And let the fish of the sea declare to you.

“Who among all these does not know

That the hand of the Lord has done this.”

Psalm 19:1-4

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Day to day pours forth speech,

And night to night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words;

Their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their utterances to the end of the world.

In them He has placed a tent for the sun.

Acts 14:17

He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

Romans 1:18-20

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

These texts assume that there is a God and they assert certain things about his nature: his creative power, his glory, his faithfulness, and his wrath.

These things should be evident to anyone with the powers of observation and intelligence.

Nevertheless, this natural revelation is partial and is obscured by the problem of sin and the curse that resulted therefrom.

Isaiah 45:7

The One forming light and creating darkness,

Causing well-being and creating calamity;

I am the Lord who does all these.

Romans 8:19-22

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope

that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

And the Scriptures are clear that despite this natural revelation, the world, by its own wisdom does not necessarily come to saving faith through this means.

I Corinthians 1:18-21

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

II. In The Nature and Constitution of Man

Isaiah 29:16

You turn things around!

Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,

That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;

Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

Acts 17:28-29

In Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, “For we also are His children.”

Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.

Since man, unlike the rest of the animal creation, is made in the image of God, the very constitution of man and the profound differences between man and the animal creation should reveal something to us, on the basis of this image alone, something of the nature of God. For those people who revel in the intelligence of their dogs, who teach the dolphins and the monkeys to use linguistic symbols, and who observe some animals using “tools”; there remains a vast chasm between the animal world and man. This is not the place for a detailed analysis of the imago dei (the image of God in man) but it is nonetheless cited in Scripture as one of the natural ways that man should know God. And eventually, all men will be held accountable on the basis of this revelation alone.

All natural revelation is at least partially obscured by sin and its effects on the mind of man, and this is no less true of the revelation of God in his image in man.

John 3:19-20

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

Psalm 50:17-22

For you hate discipline,

And you cast My words behind you.

When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,

And you associate with adulterers.

You let your mouth loose in evil

And your tongue frames deceit.

You sit and speak against your brother;

You slander your own mother’s son.

These things you have done and I kept silence;

You thought that I was just like you;

I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

Now consider this, you who forget God,

Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.

Observe that the image of God in man, though perhaps obscured, was not lost on account of his sin. This is confirmed in Genesis 9:6, where capital punishment is grounded in the retained image of God, even in sinful men.

Whoever sheds man’s blood,

By man his blood shall be shed,

For in the image of God

He made man.

The Apostle James related his message about the destructive power of the human tongue to the image of God in men. James 3:9.

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God.

This does not mean that all the attributes and folly of men are to be taken as a representative of God. That we bear the “image of God” does not imply that God is altogether like us. I Samuel 15:29.

Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.

And beside that, man himself has corrupted God’s image as we are taught in Romans 1:21-23.

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools,

and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

And, as we will see later in this study, we do, in fact, have a perfect representation of God in human form—the man Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ was without sin, in nature or in fact, and thus, even in his humanity, Jesus is “the exact representation of the invisible God.”

III. In Primitive and Direct Revelation

God held the antediluvian world responsible for their sin, despite their lack of a direct and/or written revelation. This implies that men were held accountable on the basis of the natural revelation they did have. Genesis 6:13.

Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.

God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.

Furthermore, when God did find a receptive audience, as He did with Noah, He did not hesitate to speak to him and his sons directly. Genesis 9:1, 8.

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,

“Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you;

and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.

And the Lord God communicated directly with Abraham. Genesis 12:1-4.

Now the Lord said to Abram,

“Go forth from your country,

And from your relatives

And from your father’s house,

To the land which I will show you;

And I will make you a great nation,

And I will bless you,

And make your name great;

And so you shall be a blessing;

And I will bless those who bless you,

And the one who curses you I will curse.

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Clearly, God communicated directly with his prophets. Consider this text from Jeremiah 1:4.

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

And before you were born I consecrated you;

I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

And this word of the Lord to Jonah as recorded in Jonah 1:1-2.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,

“Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

Observe that these revelations from God to his selected people were very full and rich—very specific with respect to their content.

This sort of revelation was specifically available to those persons to whom it was given, but it is now accessible to all of us through the written Word of God.

On the other hand, there are also limitations to this sort of revelation. It was partial, applying specifically to the circumstances of ones to whom it was given. And clearly, God does not speak to all persons in this same manner. Hebrews 1:1 teaches us that the God who thus spoke partially to his chosen servants, has now spoken to all of us clearly in the person of Jesus Christ.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

In these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

The question remains as to whether God speaks this directly to his people today when we have the complete written Word of God at our disposal. Many devout persons claim to have such direct communications from God. There is no doubt that God has spoken clearly to all of us through the written Scriptures and through them in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. Whatever may be beyond that should, I think, be taken with caution in light of the Biblical proscriptions against adding anything to the written Word. For example, consider these texts:

Deuteronomy 4:2

You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Deuteronomy 12:32

Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.

Proverbs 30:5-6

Every word of God is tested;

He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

Do not add to His words

Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.

Revelation 22:18

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book.

It would seem, therefore, that we should be very hesitant indeed to claim to have revelations from God that are in addition to the completed Scriptures that are now at our disposal.

IV. In Miraculous and Providential Works

A Miracle is a direct and immediate intervention of God into the physical world to demonstrate publicly his power; Providence.

Miracles

Exodus 5:1-2 (cf. 7:5, 17)

And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

“The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.”

Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood.”

Exodus 9:13-14

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

“For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.’”

Exodus 10:1-2

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them,

and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”

Numbers 14:11

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?”

Deuteronomy 4:32-35; 7:7-10

“Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived?

“Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

“To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.”

“The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples,

but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

“Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.”

Joshua 4:23-24

“For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed;

that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

John 10:37-38

“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;

but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

Providence

Isaiah 45:1-8

Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed,

Whom I have taken by the right hand,

To subdue nations before him

And to loose the loins of kings;

To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

“I will go before you and make the rough places smooth;

I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.

“I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden wealth of secret places,

So that you may know that it is I,

The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

“For the sake of Jacob My servant,

And Israel My chosen one,

I have also called you by your name;

I have given you a title of honor

Though you have not known Me.

“I am the Lord, and there is no other;

Besides Me there is no God.

I will gird you, though you have not known Me;

That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun

That there is no one besides Me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other,

The One forming light and creating darkness,

Causing well-being and creating calamity;

I am the Lord who does all these.

“Drip down, O heavens, from above,

And let the clouds pour down righteousness;

Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit,

And righteousness spring up with it.

I, the Lord, have created it.

Ezekiel 11:9-10

“And I will bring you out of the midst of the city and deliver you into the hands of strangers and execute judgments against you.

“You will fall by the sword. I will judge you to the border of Israel; so you shall know that I am the Lord.

Both Miracles and Providence

I Corinthians 10:7-11

Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.”

Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.

Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.

Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

These texts indicate that God himself intended his miracles and his providential workings in history to point men to himself so that they would know that He is God. Some of those who saw God’s mighty acts acknowledged the source but others hardened their hearts in unbelief [Exodus 8:19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said]. So such mighty acts were more or less limited to those who first saw them; but they are now available to all of us as we read the accounts in the sacred Scriptures; and they should make God’s existence and power known to all who can discern the meaning of history.

One might legitimately wonder if God continues to perform such evidentiary miracles since the completion of his revelation in Scripture and in the person of Jesus Christ. Well, such miracles were clearly a part of the witness of the early Church. For example, in Acts 4:15-16 we read:

But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another,

saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

And, of course, the Revelation is filled with the mighty acts of God, both providential and miraculous, that will occur at the end of this age.

On the other hand, even the miraculous interventions of God can be misinterpreted, as evidenced in John 12:28

“Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

Even with reference to miracles in the early Church, the miracles were sometimes misunderstood and misinterpreted. Witness, Acts 14:11-13.

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.”

And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

As Christian believers, we must be aware that Satan and his emissaries have significant super-human powers which are used for deception.

Furthermore, legitimate miracles are the prerogative of God and we should therefore beware of men who come, even in the name of Christ, and presume to order God just as they would order their little puppy! The Church of Christ is not immune to the quackery and fraud of those who with lying lips claim to acts on behalf of Almighty God.

V. In the Life and Experiences of God’s People

Objective

Something of God can be learned through observing the lives of Christians.

Matthew 5:13-16

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

II Corinthians 3:2-3

You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;

being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

II Corinthians 4:6-11

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;

persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Colossians 3:8-11

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—

a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

I Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Subjective

The Christian learns of God as he walks with him in obedience and faith. That is, the believer’s own personal experience with God is revelatory to him with reference to the being and character of God.

II Timothy 1:8-14

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,

who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.

For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

John 14:21

“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

This channel of divine revelation, exhibited in the texts above, is very full and rich with respect to its content, especially as it discloses to the believer the character of Jesus Christ as he is changed by the power of the Spirit of God into Christ’s own image.

This channel of revelation is more or less limited to the individual believer, but it is also accessible to those who observe the lives of Christians and do not harden their hearts against what they see.

These channels are also limited by the fact of sin in the lives of believers. The whole of Romans, chapter 7, is pertinent here; but consider specifically this testimony of Paul himself in Romans 7:15-20.

For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.

So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

So it is eminently possible for a Christian to misrepresent Christ, which we do to our shame; and, of course, it is also possible for an unbeliever witnessing the life of a Christian to misinterpret what he sees.

VI. In the Holy Scriptures

Hebrews 1:1-2 (cf. John 16:25)

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father.”

Luke 24:27, 44-46

Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

John 5:39

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.

Romans 1:1-2

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.

II Timothy 3:14-15

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Notice, with respect to the revelation of God in Scripture that the Scriptures are very selective in their contents. The Bible does not answer all of our questions. It does not tell us everything. When I was in college a common Christian expression was: “The Bible is not a textbook on science.” But, as a matter of fact, the Biblical message DOES indeed impinge upon science and when it does so we still believe it to be infallible. The Bible is a history of salvation—a sacred history, or as the Germans put it, a Heilsgeschichte. What the Bible does tell us is everything that is necessary to our salvation (v. II Timothy 3:15 above). We believe the Bible in its entirety to be inspired by God and therefore inerrant in the autographs (the original form in which it was written). As such, it carries with it its own marks of its divine character. Consider, for example, the text of Isaiah 46:9-11.

“Remember the former things long past,

For I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is no one like Me,

Declaring the end from the beginning,

And from ancient times things which have not been done,

Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,

And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;

Calling a bird of prey from the east,

The man of My purpose from a far country.

Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.

I have planned it, surely I will do it.”

This is not the place for a thoroughgoing treatment of the doctrine of the Bible and its inerrancy. Suffice it to say here that the Bible is indeed the inerrant Word of God, God’s own complete revelation of himself to man.

As a channel of divine self-revelation the Bible has, throughout history, been made available to men through God’s own providentially appointed guardians. In this age, this task is largely in the hands of the Church of Christ so far as the preservation, translation, circulation, and exposition of the Word of God, and for the education of a needy world with reference to its message.

The Bible as a revelation of God is not without its own limitations. This involves the inadequacy of human language, problems of translation, the illiteracy of men, and the delay in world evangelism. To focus on just one of these elements, the group for which these notes are being prepared has just finished an extended study of the Book of Revelation in which we were frequently confronted with the situation of a prophet’s trying to express in human language that of which he had no prior experience and his readers have no experience at all. How does one express that which is beyond the ken of human experience? Well, in the case of the Revelation, it is frequently through the use of symbolic language and expressions that are suggestive rather than definitive.

VII. In the Lord Jesus Christ

The final, complete, and perfect revelation of God to man is in the person of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 1:21-23

“She [Mary] will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

Matthew 11:27

“All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

John 1:14, 18

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

John 12:45

[Jesus said] “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.”

John 14:8-9

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Colossians 2:9

For in Him [that is, Jesus Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.

Hebrews 1:1-3

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

These texts are sufficient to show that God’s self-revelation in the person of Jesus Christ is complete (Colossians 2:9-10), perfect (Hebrews 1:2-3), and final (John 14:89).

The revelation of God in Christ is now available to all who hear and receive the Gospel, as we are taught in Romans 10:13-15.

“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

And we assured that one day “every eye will see Him” (Revelation 1:7).

Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.

The only remaining limitation in this final self-revelation of God is that men are finite; God is infinite. It is therefore reasonable to postulate that in Christ’s eternal Kingdom, there will be no end to our learning of the glories of our God and of his creation. It is not far-fetched to think of our role in Christ’s Kingdom as eternal students in God’s own graduate school of theology!

Is there more of God revealed in Jesus Christ than is written in the Bible? Absolutely! The Apostle John wrote concerning his own Gospel account:

Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:30-31).

And we also have this hyperbole from John in his Gospel 21:25.

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

Likewise Paul wrote in I Corinthians 13:12:

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

Peter, too, reminded us that the best is yet to come. I Peter 1:13.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

We will know more of God when we see the face of Jesus Christ, but we will never know more of Him than is revealed in Christ. The last chapter of the Bible promises:

There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;

they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads (Revelation 22:4).

a summary conclusion to chapter one

In this chapter we considered the Biblical evidence for seven channels of God’s self-revelation to man.

For every one of these we listed at least some limitation. Even the revelation in Christ is restricted by our own finitude compared with the infinity of God. And all of God’s revelation to us is limited by our own sin and its effects, not only on our own minds and bodies, but on the created universe as well that was judged because of Adam’s sin.

The most excellent revelation is in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus himself, the personal Word of God is the exact representation of God in human form—the ultimate expression of the image of God in man.

In Jesus’ own words He identified himself as the God of Israel of Old Testament history.

Matthew 23:37

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”

Paul identified Jesus as the God of the Old Testament in I Corinthians 10:4

For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea;

and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

and all ate the same spiritual food;

and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

Jesus himself was the divine agent in the creation of the universe.

Hebrews 1:1-2

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

It is Jesus Christ himself whose life is being reproduced in the lives of his saints.

Colossians 1:27-28

God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

Christians are exhorted to let the Word of Christ dwell within them.

Colossians 3:16

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And it Christ himself who perfectly embodies God.

Colossians 2:9

For in Him [Jesus Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.

Having said that, it is the Holy Scriptures of Old and New Testaments that include God’s revelation in all other forms. It is in the Scripture that we learn of Christ. It is in the Scriptures that we have the divine interpretation of all other forms of God’s self-revelation. Thus, the Bible is vastly superior to the general revelation that is given in nature and the constitution of man because it is only through the Bible that we have the proper interpretation of these things. And it is only in the Bible that we have an accurate picture of Jesus Christ.

This is the rationale for the copious references to the Bible itself that we have employed in these notes. The written Word of God is our only infallible access to the revelation in Jesus Christ and the only proper interpretation of God’s revelation in any other form.

As a final note, observe that all of the channels of divine revelation that we have considered in this chapter constitute proofs, for those who will accept them and believe, of the existence and character of God.

Appendix to Chapter I

The chart below has been helpful to me in remembering the various aspects of God’s Self-Revelation.

Revised and Edited from John Calvin by David R. Dilling

CHAPTER TWO

THE PERSONALITY OF GOD

Introduction

Personality is one of the most important facts in the world. Few facts are better attested. But in spite of its certainty and effects, no fact is more elusive as to its definition.

As a tentative working definition consider: “Personality” is a name given to the nucleus of a definite group of functions or characteristics. We will work with eight such characteristics: (1) Life, (2) Intelligence, (3) Purpose, (4) Activity, (5) Freedom, (6) Self-consciousness, (7) Emotion, and (8) Spirituality (intangibility).

Some of these characteristics are common to God, man, and the sub-human creation; but the combination of this set in a common center forms our definition of “personality” that is common to God and man, without which personality does not exist. We will thus proceed with the following definition of “personality.” Personality is Living, Intelligent, Purposive, Active, Free, Self-conscious, and Emotional, Spirit. Observe that in this definition the predicate is “Spirit”; the other attributes are adjectival to “Spirit.”

The God revealed in the Bible displays all of these marks of personality:

I. The God of the Bible is Living

Deuteronomy 5:26

For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

I Timothy 4:10

For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

In the Bible, life is potential energy or activity. When the Bible speaks of “The Living God,” it means that He is able to do things—things which the non-living cannot do.

Deuteronomy 5:26

For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

Joshua 3:10-17

Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.

“Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.

“Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.

“It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap.”

So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,

and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest),

the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho.

And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

Jeremiah 10:10-13

But the Lord is the true God;

He is the living God and the everlasting King.

At His wrath the earth quakes,

And the nations cannot endure His indignation.

Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

It is He who made the earth by His power,

Who established the world by His wisdom;

And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.

When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;

He makes lightning for the rain,

And brings out the wind from His storehouses.

Daniel 6:26-27

“I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel;

For He is the living God and enduring forever,

And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed,

And His dominion will be forever.

“He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders

In heaven and on earth,

Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”

I Timothy 4:10

For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

Hebrews 10:30-31

For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The value of this truth is that the existence of The Living God is the antidote for all idolatry and pantheism. God is in no way like non-living, inanimate idols; neither is He simply an impersonal force that pervades the universe. The fact of The Living God is the only ultimate satisfaction for the human heart.

Psalm 84:2

My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord;

My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

II. The God of the Bible is Intelligent

I Samuel 2:3

Boast no more so very proudly,

Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth;

For the Lord is a God of knowledge,

And with Him actions are weighed.

Isaiah 11:2

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on [Messiah],

The spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The spirit of counsel and strength,

The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 3:19-20

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth,

By understanding He established the heavens.

By His knowledge the deeps were broken up

And the skies drip with dew.

Isaiah 29:16

You turn things around!

Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,

That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;

Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Romans 11:33 (Cf. Job 28:12, 20-28)

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

“But where can wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

“Where then does wisdom come from?

And where is the place of understanding?

“Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living

And concealed from the birds of the sky.

“Abaddon and Death say,

‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

“God understands its way,

And He knows its place.

“For He looks to the ends of the earth

And sees everything under the heavens.

“When He imparted weight to the wind

And meted out the waters by measure,

When He set a limit for the rain

And a course for the thunderbolt,

Then He saw it and declared it;

He established it and also searched it out.

“And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;

And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”

The terms in the texts above that speak to God’s intelligence indicate intelligence of the highest kind. By his knowledge God perceives things as they really are and his understanding gives insight into the meaning of the facts perceived. Compare this with what is said of the knowledge of the sons of Issachar (I Chronicles 12:32):

Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command.

God’s wisdom entails his ability to place facts in proper relation to other facts and to use them for good ends (Proverbs 4:7)

The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;

And with all your acquiring, get understanding.

In summary, all of God’s intelligence is related to the ethical good.

James 3:17

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

The practical value of the truth of God’s intelligence is that it serves as a warning to evil-doers and a consolation to the godly.

I Samuel 2:3

Boast no more so very proudly,

Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth;

For the Lord is a God of knowledge,

And with Him actions are weighed.

Job 23:10

But He knows the way I take;

When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

III. The God of the Bible is Purposive

By this we mean that God is able to react to a future goal that actually exists only in his mind and to bring it to pass just as if the goal were already a reality. To some degree man shares this quality with God except that God infallibly brings all of his goals to fruition. It is not clear that sub-human animals every really do this. Despite all the amazing animal studies regarding their behavior it still appears that they are acting in response to immediate impulses or (God given) instincts.

Ephesians 3:8-11

To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,

and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;

so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Isaiah 14:26

“This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations.

“For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”

Unlike man, and especially unlike the sub-human animal kingdom, God’s purposes for what we call the future are as certain as what we call the past because his decrees are immutable and infallible. For God, past, present, and future are all before him as an eternal present. For God, there are no contingencies.

Notice, for example, that Paul addresses the carnal believers at Corinth as already “sanctified.” Indeed, in Greek, he uses a perfect participle for this description. I Corinthians 1:2

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

The Apostle John writes similarly in I John 3:2

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

IV. The God of the Bible is Active

Psalm 92:4-5

For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done,

I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

How great are Your works, O Lord!

Your thoughts are very deep.

Deuteronomy 11:7

Your own eyes [i.e., Israel’s] have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.

Daniel 6:27

“He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders

In heaven and on earth,

Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”

John 5:17

But He [Jesus] answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

Philippians 2:13

For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Activity is a mark and function of life. God is not only living; he is active. In the Bible God is especially seen to be active in connection with the world in which we live and also in connection with our salvation.

V. The God of the Bible is Free

Job 23:13

But He is unique and who can turn Him?

And what His soul desires, that He does.

Daniel 4:35

“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,

But He does according to His will in the host of heaven

And among the inhabitants of earth;

And no one can ward off His hand

Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

I Corinthians 12:18

But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.

Ephesians 1:11

We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.

God is free in that his actions are determined solely by his own nature and pleasure and not by anything outside of himself. God alone is free in this sense. Human beings are “free” in the sense that their actions are intellectually caused rather than by mechanical means, but this does mean that any human action is apart from the determinate counsel (the decrees) of God. If I choose to have oatmeal for breakfast, this choice may be the result of an intellectual deliberation but it is never free from the decrees of God. You can be sure that if you decided to have oatmeal for breakfast, regardless of the intellectual process you went through before eating the oatmeal, the choice was wholly determined by God and was the result of his eternal decree. You may violate the “will of God” by disobeying his precepts; but you can never violate the “will of God” in the sense of his decrees. For these reasons, in all the universe, only God himself is fully free and only He exhibits the marks of perfect personality.

This view of God is opposed to the popular doctrine of fatalism. When I was a teenager in the 1950’s, a popular song expressed the fatalistic view: Que Sera, Sera.[1] Even then I disliked the song despite it’s rather enchanting melody because I knew that the universe is not controlled by blind fate, but rather by the loving actions of an all-powerful God.

The freedom of God is, of course, also the very opposite of the pantheistic view that the universe and god are one and the same.

The Christian view of God’s freedom is a source of both consolation and hope.

Psalm 115:2-3

Why should the nations say,

“Where, now, is their God?”

But our God is in the heavens.

Psalm 115:9-13

O Israel, trust in the Lord;

He is their help and their shield.

O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;

He is their help and their shield.

You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;

He is their help and their shield.

The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us;

He will bless the house of Israel;

He will bless the house of Aaron.

He will bless those who fear the Lord,

The small together with the great.

VI. The God of the Bible is Self-Conscious

The American Heritage Dictionary defines self-conscious as “Aware of oneself as an individual or of one’s own being, actions, or thoughts.” This implies an ability to look at oneself objectively—as from an outside observation point. Man is able to do this to a limited extent; it is not clear that any sub-human animal has this ability. But this ability is supremely exhibited in the personality of God. The God of the Bible is self-conscious.

Exodus 3:14

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

The God of the Bible is completely self-conscious in contrast to man’s limited self-consciousness.

Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

And see if there be any hurtful way in me,

And lead me in the everlasting way.

Psalm 19:12

Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

The God of the Bible is perfectly self-conscious

I Corinthians 2:10-11

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

I John 1:5

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. [This text asserts that there is no truth that is hidden from God.]

John 6:6

This He [i.e., Jesus] was saying to test him [i.e., Philip], for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.

The self-consciousness of God also distinguishes him from the pantheistic view and assures us that as we deal with the Living God, we are not dealing with a “dumb force” of “nature.”

VII. The God of the Bible is Emotional

Deuteronomy 5:9

You shall not worship them or serve them [i.e., idols]; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me.

Judges 10:13-16

“Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you.

“Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.”

The sons of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day.”

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.

Psalm 5:5

The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;

You hate all who do iniquity.

Psalm 103:13

Just as a father has compassion on his children,

So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

Psalm 145:8

The Lord is gracious and merciful;

Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

Isaiah 62:1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,

Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness,

And her salvation like a torch that is burning.

The nations will see your righteousness,

And all kings your glory;

And you will be called by a new name

Which the mouth of the Lord will designate.

You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

And a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,”

Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”;

But you will be called, “My delight is in her,”

And your land, “Married”;

For the Lord delights in you,

And to Him your land will be married.

For as a young man marries a virgin,

So your sons will marry you;

And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

So your God will rejoice over you.

Isaiah 63:9

In all their affliction He was afflicted,

And the angel of His presence saved them;

In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them,

And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.

Jeremiah 31:3

The Lord appeared to him [i.e., Israel] from afar, saying,

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.

Romans 1:18-19

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

These descriptions of God are not mere anthropomorphisms (attributing human characteristics to God). When we use human language to talk about God, or when God uses human language to reveal himself to us, the language should not be understood as equivocal (that is, with wholly different meanings when applied to God and man); nor is the language univocal (that is, with exactly the same meanings when applied to God and man). The theologians have rightly argued that when human language is used of God the language is analogical (that is, there is an analogy, however imperfect, between God and man. If our “God talk” were equivocal we would know nothing at all about God; if our “God talk” were univocal we would be making God in our image and reducing God to man. Man’s creation “in the image” of God is what makes communication with God possible and it also make possible our use of meaningful language to talk about God.

The materialistic or naturalistic view of man and the world has no room for either God or the humanity of man. God is rejected and the personality of man, including his emotions, are reduced to the chemical reactions of the brain. Humanity = physiology. The Biblical view of man’s creation in the image of God makes meaningful discussion of God possible, makes human communication with God possible, and glorifies man in contrast to the materialist’s denigration of man.

VIII. The God of the Bible is Spirit

In the Old Testament, this truth is not asserted but assumed in such texts as Zechariah 4:6

Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.

And, of course, in Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

In John 4:24 the matter is asserted directly.

“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

And in Hebrews 12:8-9

But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

In the New Testament, what is meant by “spirit” (whether of God or man) can be seen in what is ascribed to “spirit.” For example:

Matthew 10:19-20

“But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.

“For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

Mark 2:8

Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?

Luke 1:47

And Mary said:

“My soul exalts the Lord,

And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

John 4:24

“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Acts 19:21

Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

Romans 8:26-27

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 15:30-32

Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints;

so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company.

Philippians 2:1

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,

make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

James 2:26

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

These texts assign the highest functions of personality to “spirit.” The source of personality, therefore, is not the brain but the spirit. We thus understand the “spirit,” whether of God or man, to be the invisible source of personality. Spirit is not equated with personality but is the basis out of which the functions of personality arise. This is why this chapter began with the definition:

Personality is Living, Intelligent, Purposive, Active, Free, Self-conscious, and Emotional, Spirit.

Spirit is the predicate to personality; the qualities of personality are adjectival (attributes) to “Spirit.”

The God is the very essence of personality:

“God is spirit.”

And a final note on the incorporeality of “spirit.”

The text of Luke 24:36-43 is particularly instructive on this issue.

While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.”

But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit.

And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.

While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”

They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish;

and He took it and ate it before them.

In this text Jesus himself clearly distinguished “spirit” from his physical body. The person of Christ embodied the spirit of God, just as our person is an embodiment of our spirit. What we call physical death, as we noted earlier in this study involves the separation of our body from our spirit.

Herein lies at least part of the proscription against worshipping even the true God through any visible means (including, but not limited to, pictures such as the work of Warner Sallman).

The commandment states:

You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth (Exodus 20:4)

And this clearly includes any representation of the true God.

The invisible God clearly intended for us to have ONE picture of himself and that is the person of Jesus Christ, of whom we now have a VERBAL picture in the Holy Scriptures—not a photograph or painting.

Colossians 1:13-20

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,

and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Jesus Christ alone is the physical embodiment—the icon—of the spirit God.

Can we know that “spirit” exists if it is invisible? Well, absolutely! We believe in the existence of many things that are invisible to us because we see their effects. In fact, Jesus himself said to Nicodemus:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

“Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

It is also true that on various occasions, Old Testament saints are said to have seen God. If God is spirit, and these visions occurred before the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ, how can this be?

For example:

Exodus 23:9-11

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.

And Isaiah 6:1-5

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.

Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

And one called out to another and said,

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,

The whole earth is full of His glory.”

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.

Then I said,

“Woe is me, for I am ruined!

Because I am a man of unclean lips,

And I live among a people of unclean lips;

For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Such “theophanies,” including many references in the Old Testament to “The Angel of Yahweh,” are properly understood as preincarnate appearances of Jesus Christ. E. W. Hengstenberg has written a large four-volume work on this subject,[2] so it is not our intention to deal with it here in any depth.

The Old Testament also contains many references to bodily parts of the invisible God—his hands, his feet, his arms, etc.

For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His (II Chronicles 16:9).

Such references may indeed be considered as anthropomorphisms, but see our notations above on the use of analogical language in connection with our descriptions of God.

What is perfectly clear in all of the Scriptures is that God has revealed himself to man in the incarnation of Jesus Christ—a revelation of God in human form, and the perfect revelation of God to man. In this regard it would be better to regard the creation of man in God’s image as a creation in the preincarnate form of Jesus Christ, rather than to think of Jesus Christ as a mere creation in the image of man. It was the man, Christ Jesus, who existed from eternity in the mind of God. And God has always been able to make himself visible to man in this image.

What is crucial here is that God has chosen to revel himself in bodily form—not as an abstract form or concept.

a summary conclusion to chapter TWO

God is personal. That is, God is a living, intelligent, purposive, active, free, self-conscious, and emotional, spirit.

As such, the personality of God is a consoling revelation for Christians.

Contrast this with Bertrand Russell’s description of view that his atheism presents:

That man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins—all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Brief and powerless is Man’s life; on him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark. Blind to good and evil, reckless of destruction, omnipotent matter rolls on its relentless way; for Man, condemned today to lose his dearest, tomorrow himself to pass through the gate of darkness, it remains only to cherish, ere yet the blow falls, the lofty thoughts that ennoble his little day.[3]

CHAPTER THREE

THE UNITY OF GOD

Introduction

As we will observe at the end of this study under the topic of the trinity, the basis for the New Testament doctrine of the trinity is grounded in Old Testament teachings. However, in his gracious providence, God has unfolded his self-revelation gradually, in what the theologians call the “progress of revelation.” Before the doctrine of the trinity could be given to his people safely, God chose to reveal himself first as ONE. The world into which the written revelation of the Scriptures first came was already steeped in various forms of false religion and idolatry. The idea of a multiplicity of gods was nearly universal, and from the earliest days of the history of Israel such polytheism also infected God’s own chosen people. For this reason, no doubt, the first lesson they were taught about the true God was that he is ONE. It took them centuries, if not millennia, to learn this truth; but finally, after the captivity in Babylon, Israel remembered the lesson.

Therefore, we too, begin with the unity of God before we attempt to assay the notion of God’s tri-unity. So consider now the Biblical material with reference to God’s unity.

I. The Bible Teaches that God is One

Deuteronomy 4:32-39

“Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?

“Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived?

“To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.

“Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.

“Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power,

driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.

“Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

This is the great teaching: The “Shema.” This is the word that Israel finally learned to place on their bodies and on their houses and to recite from birth till death, even as they do to this day. The Hebrew text is:

dj*a# hw*hy= Wnh@l)a$ hw*hy+ la@r*c+y! um^v+

“Shema Yisrael Athonai Elohanu Athonai Ehath”

Which says literally: “Hear, Israel! Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.”

But which is recited: “Hear O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One.”

Job 23:13

But He is unique [literally, “one”] and who can turn Him?

And what His soul desires, that He does.

Isaiah 44:6-8

“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.

‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it;

Yes, let him recount it to Me in order,

From the time that I established the ancient nation.

And let them declare to them the things that are coming

And the events that are going to take place.

‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid;

Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?

And you are My witnesses.

Is there any God besides Me,

Or is there any other Rock?

I know of none.’”

Isaiah 45:5-6

“I am the Lord, and there is no other;

Besides Me there is no God.

I will gird you, though you have not known Me;

That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun

That there is no one besides Me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other.”

Mark 12:28-30

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”

Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;

and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’”

John 5:43-44

“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”

John 10:30

[Jesus said] “I and the Father are one.”

Romans 3:28-30

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

I Corinthians 8:4-6

Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one.

For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

James 2:19

You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

Jude 4

For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

II. The Meaning and Content of the Doctrine of God’s Unity

Positively, Yahweh is ONE. This defines the nature of God as we have seen in Deuteronomy 6:4.

Yahweh is the ONLY God. This excludes all other gods.

John 5:44

How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?

Negatively, this does not exclude the possibility of the existence of other beings which are called gods.

Psalm 97:7

Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images,

Who boast themselves of idols;

Worship Him, all you gods.

I Corinthians 8:4-6

Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one.

For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

John 10:30

[Jesus said] “I and the Father are one.”

III. Supporting Evidence for God’s Unity

The Doctrine of the Unity of God is Supported by His Unique Miraculous Works:

Deuteronomy 4:32-39

“Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived?

“To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.

“Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.

“Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power,

driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.

“Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.”

In this connection, compare the Satanic wonders in Exodus 8:6-7 with the works of God in Exodus 8:16-19.

So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

The magicians did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats through all the land of Egypt.’ ”

They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats through all the land of Egypt.

The magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not; so there were gnats on man and beast.

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The Doctrine of the Unity of God is Supported by His Predictive Prophecies:

Deuteronomy 18:22

“When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

Isaiah 44:6-8

“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.

‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it;

Yes, let him recount it to Me in order,

From the time that I established the ancient nation.

And let them declare to them the things that are coming

And the events that are going to take place.

‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid;

Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?

And you are My witnesses.

Is there any God besides Me,

Or is there any other Rock?

I know of none.’”

Isaiah 45:4-6

Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed,

Whom I have taken by the right hand,

To subdue nations before him

And to loose the loins of kings;

To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

“I will go before you and make the rough places smooth;

I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.

“I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden wealth of secret places,

So that you may know that it is I,

The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

“For the sake of Jacob My servant,

And Israel My chosen one,

I have also called you by your name;

I have given you a title of honor

Though you have not known Me.

“I am the Lord, and there is no other;

Besides Me there is no God.

I will gird you, though you have not known Me;

That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun

That there is no one besides Me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other,

The One forming light and creating darkness,

Causing well-being and creating calamity;

I am the Lord who does all these.

NOTE: This prophecy was written BEFORE the advent of Cyrus, whom the Lord God named in advance. The unbelieving critics of the Bible have no other recourse here than to deny that Isaiah wrote this prophecy and to date the writing of the Book of Isaiah AFTER the advent of Cyrus and after the death of Isaiah. By contrast, Jesus believed and taught that Isaiah wrote the entire Book of the Prophecy of Isaiah. The unbelievers, to their shame, who choose to reject the One True God who can predict the future, simply post-date his predictive prophesies despite all evidence to the contrary. As Jesus himself said on another occasion, even if one to were rise from the dead to testify to the unbelievers, they still would not believe. Belief in the God of the Bible is a gift from the God of the Bible and there is no evidence in the entire universe that will persuade the minds of those who oppose God that God is God.

Isaiah 46:9-10

“Remember the former things long past,

For I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is no one like Me,

Declaring the end from the beginning,

And from ancient times things which have not been done,

Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,

And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’”

The Evidence for the Unity of God is Compounded

Compare Matthew 11:2-5 with Isaiah 35:5-6 and Isaiah 61:1-3

Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples

and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:

the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them (Matthew 11:2-5).

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened

And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped (Isaiah 35:5-6).

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

Because the Lord has anointed me

To bring good news to the afflicted;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to captives

And freedom to prisoners;

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn,

To grant those who mourn in Zion,

Giving them a garland instead of ashes,

The oil of gladness instead of mourning,

The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified (Isaiah 61:1-3).

IV. The Great Practical Duty Based on the Truth of God’s Unity

Note the connection in Deuteronomy 6:4-5

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Read this as:

“The Lord is one. THEREFORE you shall love the Lord…”

One God demands our wholehearted devotion and our single allegiance.

V. Some Important Implications of the Truth of God’s Unity

Theologically:

Romans 3:29-30

Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

This text indicates that because God if ONE, there is only one faith—one way of salvation. There is only ONE way to become the children of God, and that is through belief in his Son, the only remedy for sin and its effects. As the same Apostle wrote to the Ephesians:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

not as a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Scientifically:

The fact of God’s unity entails the further proposition that his creation is ONE. Throughout the history of Western philosophy and science, men have supposed that we live in a “universe” rather than a “diversiversy.” But this has never been proven on human terms. Finally, Albert Einstein proposed a “unified field theory” that would reconcile all of our knowledge of electromagnetic and gravitational data into one comprehensive mathematical formula. Einstein did not achieve this, but his successors continue to pursue this ideal and are coming closer to such a unified solution day by day.

Even on the basis of current “scientific knowledge” it is reasonable to believe that the universe in which we live is ONE and that it has One creator and sustainer. The facts of science compel the unbiased observer to conclude that there is a unity in the created universe. Those who believe in the God of the Bible believe that they know why.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE GREATNESS OF GOD

Introduction

In this chapter we will consider nine attributes of God that have to do with his greatness. God is (1) Self-existent, (2) Eternal, (3) Unchangeable, (4) Omnipresent, (5) Omniscient, (6) Omnipotent, (7) Perfect, (8) Infinite, and (9) Incomprehensible.

I. The God of the Bible is Self-Existent

Exodus 3:14

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Psalm 36:9

For with You is the fountain of life;

In Your light we see light.

Jeremiah 2:13

“For My people have committed two evils:

They have forsaken Me,

The fountain of living waters,

To hew for themselves cisterns,

Broken cisterns

That can hold no water.”

John 5:26

“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.”

Acts 17:24-25

“The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;

nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.”

The source of God’s existence is wholly within himself, depending on nothing external to himself. He is the source and “fountain” of all other life.

For the Christian this means that God is completely able to keep his promises of eternal life because He is life. The Spiritual life in us is not dependent on a stream that can be shut off. John 5:24-29:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;

and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.

“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,

and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

II. The God of the Bible is Eternal

Genesis 21:33

Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.

Deuteronomy 33:27

The eternal God is a dwelling place,

And underneath are the everlasting arms.

Psalm 90:1-2

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Before the mountains were born

Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

Psalm 102:12

But You, O Lord, abide forever,

And Your name to all generations.

Isaiah 57:15

For thus says the high and exalted One

Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,

“I dwell on a high and holy place,

And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit

In order to revive the spirit of the lowly

And to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Habakkuk 1:12

Are You not from everlasting,

O Lord, my God, my Holy One?

Romans 1:20

I Timothy 1:17

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 1:1-3

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.

Revelation 1:8

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 4:10

The twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne.

In summary, God’s existence cannot be measured by time (Psalm 90:1-2); God is above time (Isaiah 57:15); and God is the Author and Ruler of time (Hebrews 1:2; I Timothy 1:17; and Isaiah 9:6):

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;

And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

For us, this means that God’s eternity provides assurance of unfailing help. Deuteronomy 33:27:

The eternal God is a dwelling place,

And underneath are the everlasting arms.

And in the Eternal God, we find a place of absolute security. Psalm 90:1-2:

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Before the mountains were born

Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

In another place, commenting on the Revelation, we wrote:

Regarding the Apostle’s assertion: “I became in a state of spirit on the Lord’s Day”: He actually uses an expression similar to this four times through the book (1:10; 4:2; 17:3; and 21:10). The remarkable thing about this experience is that while in this “spiritual state” the Apostle was enabled to transcend time and space while he received a “God’s eye view” of things—past, present, and future. A major premise in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant is that the human mind brings to the knowing process a grid of “forms” and “categories” that filter all experience. Thus, for Kant, we know only the phenomenal world—the world as it appears to the knowing mind that has pre-filtered the data of experience according to its own perceptual apparatus. This includes space and time. Thus, for Kant, the “real world,” the “noumenal” world as he calls it, is forever unknown to us; we can know only the phenomena of our experience. The experiences of the OT prophets and of John as recorded in this book give credence to the notion that the “real world” inhabited by God and heavenly beings is outside of our ordinary experiences of time and space. Throughout this Revelation John is shown things—he sees things—that are disconnected from his and our ordinary perception of things as regulated by our experience of time and space. To put it simply, he saw and heard things in great detail that from our perspective have not yet happened. We should not be put off by this. If a philosopher such as Kant can propound a complete and extra-ordinarily influential epistemology (as he did in The Critique of Pure Reason) it should not surprise us that, in conveying his Revelation to John, Almighty God is able to show the Apostle things that we regard as future. Clearly, God does not operate with the same limitations of time and space that we live with. It should not detract from our clear understanding of this book of Revelation that the God whom we describe in our theologies as “omniscient,” “omnipotent,” and “omni-present” can have all things that we know as time- and space-limited immediately before Him in an eternal present. Indeed, He instructed his ancient people Israel to recognize and accept as a prophet from God the one who is able to predict the future accurately (Deuteronomy 13:1-5, and especially Deuteronomy 18:22). He also rested his case against all idols on their failure to predict the future and his own ability to do so.[4]

III. The God of the Bible is Unchangeable (Immutable)

Exodus 3:14

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Numbers 23:19

“God is not a man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent;

Has He said, and will He not do it?

Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

Psalm 33:11

The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

Ezekiel 24:14

“I, the Lord, have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not pity and I will not be sorry; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you,” declares the Lord God.’”

Malachi 3:6

“For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”

James 1:17

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

These texts teach us that there is no change in God’s nature, character, mind, or will. He never becomes greater or less, better or worse. He never learns, grows, develops, improves, evolves, or gets older.

The doctrine of God’s immutability provides tremendous practical benefits to the believer. There is no greater psychological need in man than that of security. In Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, for example, number one is the need for safety and security.[5] The Bible ties the satisfaction of this need to the immutability of God.

Psalm 33:11-12

The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.

Malachi 3:6

“For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”

James 1:17

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

For an explanation of the Old Testament texts that speak of God’s “repentance,” see the Appendix to this chapter.

IV. The God of the Bible is Omnipresent

I Kings 8:27 (Cf. vs. 30)

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!”

“Listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and forgive.”

Psalm 139:7-10

Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

Even there Your hand will lead me,

And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

Isaiah 57:15

For thus says the high and exalted One

Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,

“I dwell on a high and holy place,

And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit

In order to revive the spirit of the lowly

And to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Jeremiah 23:23-24

“Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord,

“And not a God far off?

“Can a man hide himself in hiding places

So I do not see him?” declares the Lord.

“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.

Acts 17:27-28

“He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,

that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’”

These texts teach us that God is in the universe—everywhere present as the same time. The universe is also in God. But the universe is not equivalent to God as in pantheism. God is BOTH immanent in and transcendent above the universe of his creation.

Jesus taught us to pray: “Our Father, who art in heaven.” To be sure, God is in heaven; but the very fact that we can so pray also indicates that God is here with us. As we sometimes sing: “You ask me how I know He lives; He lives within my heart!”

This doctrine of God’s omnipresence is both a warning:

Amos 9:1-4

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said,

“Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake,

And break them on the heads of them all!

Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword;

They will not have a fugitive who will flee,

Or a refugee who will escape.

“Though they dig into Sheol,

From there will My hand take them;

And though they ascend to heaven,

From there will I bring them down.

“Though they hide on the summit of Carmel,

I will search them out and take them from there;

And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea,

From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them.

“And though they go into captivity before their enemies,

From there I will command the sword that it slay them,

And I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.”

Jonah 1:1-3

The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,

“Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

And also a consolation:

John 14:23

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

V. The God of the Bible is Omniscient

God’s Knowledge is All-Inclusive: It Includes All Things, Past, Present, and Future.

I John 3:20

God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

This includes:

The Material World

Job 28:24

For He looks to the ends of the earth

And sees everything under the heavens.

Psalm 147:4

He counts the number of the stars;

He gives names to all of them.

NOTE: As I considered this stupendous statement, it occurred to me that the Psalmist was probably thinking in terms of hundreds or perhaps even thousands of stars. So I went to the first item in Google under this heading and read just one item:

Is it possible to count the stars?

Well, yes and no. If a very patient person went out night after night, she could count up all the stars she could see. But if she then looked through a telescope and tried to count again, she would find many more stars, because the telescope would help her see faint stars that she couldn’t see with her naked eye. If she got an even bigger telescope, she would see even more stars!

It is possible for astronomers to guess how many stars there are, though. First, we can use physics to make a good guess about how many stars there are in our galaxy (about 100 billion). Then we can make a guess about how many galaxies there are in the visible universe (also about 100 billion). Then we just multiply these numbers together to estimate the number of stars in the visible universe – ten thousand billion billion stars!

The Animal World

Matthew 10:29-31

“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

“So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

Editors Note:

At this point in his lectures, Prof. McClain quoted the last stanza of William Cullen Bryant’s “To A Waterfowl.”

Recently, while visiting my daughter Mary in Charlotte, NC, I sat on a swing in the woods and watched a very large bird soaring overhead. For nearly half an hour I watched while the bird soared, hardly ever moving a wing, just catching various wind drafts. And as I watched I remembered that my dear 7^th and 8^th grade English teacher made me memorize Bryant’s poem. It is worth repeating in full!

WHITHER, midst falling dew,

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,

Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue

Thy solitary way?

Vainly the fowler’s eye

Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,

As, darkly seen against the crimson sky,

Thy figure floats along.

Seek’st thou the plashy brink

Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,

Or where the rocking billows rise and sink

On the chafed ocean-side?

There is a Power whose care

Teaches thy way along that pathless coast—

The desert and illimitable air—

Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fanned,

At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere,

Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,

Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end;

Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,

And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend,

Soon, o’er thy sheltered nest.

Thou’rt gone, the abyss of heaven

Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart

Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,

And shall not soon depart.

He who, from zone to zone,

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,

In the long way that I must tread alone,

Will lead my steps aright.

The Spirit World of the Dead

Job 26:6

Naked is Sheol before Him,

And Abaddon has no covering.

The World of Mankind

Psalm 33:13-15

The Lord looks from heaven;

He sees all the sons of men;

From His dwelling place He looks out

On all the inhabitants of the earth.

Acts 1:24

And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen.”

The Minute Details of My Own Personal Life

Psalm 139:1-4

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

You understand my thought from afar.

You scrutinize my path and my lying down,

And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

Psalm 139:15

My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.

Proverbs 5:21

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord,

And He watches all his paths.

Jeremiah 1:5

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

And before you were born I consecrated you;

I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Matthew 10:30

The very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Past and Future Events

Isaiah 46:9-11

“Remember the former things long past,

For I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is no one like Me,

Declaring the end from the beginning,

And from ancient times things which have not been done,

Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,

And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;

Calling a bird of prey from the east,

The man of My purpose from a far country.

Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.

I have planned it, surely I will do it.”

All Possible Events Under All Possible Combinations of Circumstances

Matthew 11:21

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

God’s Knowledge is Eternal, Perfect, and Complete

I John 1:5

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Acts 15:18

Says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.

Job 37:16

Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds,

The wonders of one perfect in knowledge?

Hebrews 4:13

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

God’s Knowledge Involves Moral Purpose

Proverbs 15:3

The eyes of the Lord are in every place,

Watching the evil and the good.

In summary, God’s knowledge is all-inclusive, eternal, perfect, complete, and is turned toward moral ends.

The practical value of the truth of God’s omniscience is twofold: To God’s people, it is a consolation:

Genesis 16:13

Then she [Hagar] called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees.”

Psalm 56:8

You have taken account of my wanderings;

Put my tears in Your bottle.

Are they not in Your book?

Matthew 6:8

Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

But to the wicked, God’s omniscience is a warning:

Psalm 94:3-9

How long shall the wicked, O Lord,

How long shall the wicked exult?

They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly;

All who do wickedness vaunt themselves.

They crush Your people, O Lord,

And afflict Your heritage.

They slay the widow and the stranger

And murder the orphans.

They have said, “The Lord does not see,

Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.”

Pay heed, you senseless among the people;

And when will you understand, stupid ones?

He who planted the ear, does He not hear?

He who formed the eye, does He not see?

VI. The God of the Bible is Omnipotent

Genesis 17:1

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am God Almighty;

Walk before Me, and be blameless.”

Genesis 18:14

“Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Job 42:1-2

Then Job answered the Lord and said,

“I know that You can do all things,

And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”

Isaiah 40:28

Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become weary or tired.

His understanding is inscrutable.

Jeremiah 32:17

Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.

Matthew 19:25-26

When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Revelation 19:6

Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”

That God is Omnipotent means that He do all things that are consistent with His nature and character.

II Timothy 2:13

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

Titus 1:2

Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,

in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago.

James 1:13

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

God is never exhausted by the exercise of his power.

Isaiah 40:28

Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become weary or tired.

His understanding is inscrutable.

Some of the manifestations of God’s Omnipotence can be seen:

In Creation

Jeremiah 10:12

“The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

In Nature

Jeremiah 10:13

When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;

He makes lightning for the rain,

And brings out the wind from His storehouses.

In History

Daniel 4:17

“This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers

And the decision is a command of the holy ones,

In order that the living may know

That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind,

And bestows it on whom He wishes

And sets over it the lowliest of men.”

In Heaven

Daniel 4:35

All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,

But He does according to His will in the host of heaven

And among the inhabitants of earth;

And no one can ward off His hand

Or say to Him, “What have You done?”

In Redemption

Ephesians 1:18-23

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will 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 surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might

which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,

which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

The Practical Values of the Doctrine of God’s Omnipotence Can Be Seen In:

Genesis 17:1

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am God Almighty;

Walk before Me, and be blameless.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become weary or tired.

His understanding is inscrutable.

He gives strength to the weary,

And to him who lacks might He increases power.

Though youths grow weary and tired,

And vigorous young men stumble badly,

Yet those who wait for the Lord

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

Jeremiah 32:17, 27

Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”

Matthew 19:25-26

When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Revelation 11:17; 19:6

“We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.”

Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”

VII. The God of the Bible is Perfect

Deuteronomy 32:3, 4

“For I proclaim the name of the Lord;

Ascribe greatness to our God!

“The Rock! His work is perfect,

For all His ways are just;

A God of faithfulness and without injustice,

Righteous and upright is He.”

Job 37:16

“Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds,

The wonders of one perfect in knowledge?”

Psalm 18:30

As for God, His way is blameless;

The word of the Lord is tried;

He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 19:7

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

Matthew 5:48

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

James 1:17

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

A Definition of God’s Perfection:

To say that God is perfect means that He is complete, lacking in nothing. God is all that God ought to be—He falls short in nothing.

The respective Hebrew and Greek terms confirm this.

The Hebrew word <ym!T* (Tamim) is derived from the verb <m^T* (Tamam) “to be complete, finished.” The adjective means “complete, sound, whole, entire,” etc., but also in a moral sense “sound, wholesome, unimpaired, innocent, and having moral integrity.”

Similarly in the Greek New Testament there are several words related to the verb teleiovw (teleioo) “to complete, bring to an end, finish, accomplish, fulfill, bring to completion, make perfect, etc.).” The adjective in Greek, tevlio" (telios) then means “having attained the end or purpose, complete, perfect, full-grown, mature, fully developed, etc.”

So both of these words carry with them the idea of “fully developed,” or “brought to an anticipated end,” and both carry with them a moral element—that is, perfect in the sense of moral excellence.

Thus, when we say that God is perfect, this means that God is complete, lacking nothing, and that He is the epitome of moral excellence.

Therefore, when we read of men who are so described, as for example, Noah, of whom we read: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9),” we understand that Noah was mature and morally upright. Similarly, when we read of Job: “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil (Job 1:1)”; and also when we read of the King of Tyre (undoubtedly a reference to Satan) “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,’” we are reading of beings who were fully mature, complete with reference to their respective destinies, and also morally upright.

When Jesus told his disciples to be perfect: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48),” the command should be interpreted as a command to be mature, fully developed, and morally excellent. We are never “perfect” in the same sense that God is perfect, but we are nonetheless commanded to be fully mature, complete with reference to our goal or destiny, and morally upright.

The practical value of this truth of God’s perfection is that all we need in God is found in Him. Colossians 2:10

In Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.

This attribute of God qualifies all the others.

Job 37:16

Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds,

The wonders of one perfect in knowledge?

VIII. The God of the Bible is Infinite

The English word “infinite” occurs only once in the Bible.

Psalm 147:5

Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;

His understanding is infinite.

The English “infinite” is from the Latin “infinitus” which is literally, “without limit.”

The Hebrew expression that is used in Psalm 147:5 is Rp*s=m! /ya@ (ain mispar) “without number.” “Infinite” is therefore a good translation of this expression.

To say that God is infinite is thus to say that God is wholly without limits except those that are self-imposed. This is another attribute that tends to qualify all the others.

Psalm 40:5

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,

And Your thoughts toward us;

There is none to compare with You.

If I would declare and speak of them,

They would be too numerous to count.

Psalm 71:15

My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness

And of Your salvation all day long;

For I do not know the sum of them.

Psalm 89:2

For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever;

In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”

Psalm 103:12

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 147:5

Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;

His understanding is infinite.

NOTE: The infinity of God is limited by his own nature and character; it is limited by his interactions with finite men—particularly by their unbelief; and, of course, his infinity is limited by logical constraints—that is, God cannot contradict himself or his own nature and he cannot violate the laws of logic. It is totally irrelevant, therefore, to ask if God can make a stone so heavy that he can’t lift it. Likewise, in his self-revelation to man, God has accommodated himself to the limits of man. But God’s accommodation to man in his self-revelation should not be taken to mean that what God does reveal of himself is not absolutely true. The ultimate example of God’s self-revelation is in the person of Jesus Christ. In the incarnation the infinite God took on the nature of finite man in order that we might know the infinite God. And thereby hangs the great mystery of the incarnation which we express in our creeds by saying that the person of Jesus was “wholly God and wholly man.” As God, Jesus is infinite; as man, he had taken on himself the form of finite man. This is not a contradiction but it nonetheless exceeds our best efforts to understand it fully.

As we have noted in connection with other of the divine attributes, God’s infinity is also both a consolation to God’s people and a warning to unbelievers.

John 1:50

Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

John 3:36

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Further Note: When finite man sins against the infinite God the resulting fault is infinite. Therefore, there is nothing that man could ever do, even in a purgatory or hell, that could possibly atone for his sin. For this reason, our salvation from sin demanded the incarnation. Only in the incarnate God, Jesus Christ, are both finite man and the infinite God represented. Only a man can make atonement for sin; but only the infinite G

About

A Guide for Small Group

PREFACE

A SHORT SURVEY

Soli Deo Gloria

David R. Dilling

THE SELF-REVELATION OF GOD

I. In The Material and Animal Creation

II. In The Nature and Constitution of Man

III. In Primitive and Direct Revelation

Both Miracles and Providence

V. In the Life and Experiences of God’s People

VII. In the Lord Jesus Christ

a summary conclusion to chapter one

Appendix to Chapter I

THE PERSONALITY OF GOD

Introduction

I. The God of the Bible is Living

III. The God of the Bible is Purposive

IV. The God of the Bible is Active

V. The God of the Bible is Free

VI. The God of the Bible is Self-Conscious

VII. The God of the Bible is Emotional

VIII. The God of the Bible is Spirit

a summary conclusion to chapter TWO

THE UNITY OF GOD

Introduction

I. The Bible Teaches that God is One

II. The Meaning and Content of the Doctrine of God’s Unity

III. Supporting Evidence for God’s Unity

IV. The Great Practical Duty Based on the Truth of God’s Unity

THE GREATNESS OF GOD

Introduction

I. The God of the Bible is Self-Existent

II. The God of the Bible is Eternal

III. The God of the Bible is Unchangeable (Immutable)

V. The God of the Bible is Omniscient

The Material World

Is it possible to count the stars?

The Animal World

The World of Mankind

The Minute Details of My Own Personal Life

VI. The God of the Bible is Omnipotent

In Creation

VIII. The God of the Bible is Infinite