"Article 2: The One God" Series

Baptist confession of faith Article 2 PART A: One true God

Today I have the unenviable task of expounding our Triune God and as I attempt to do so, in some small way I am fully aware of my own inadequacies in comprehending our infinite God!

So today be assured we are merely paddling around the edges of a huge ocean or even just dipping our toe in.

John Wesley captured that same truth in a different way. “Give me a worm that can understand a man,” he wrote, “and I will give you a man who can understand God.” And in Psalm 145:3, David said of God, “His greatness is unsearchable.”

That doesn’t mean we cannot come to know God, because God has revealed Himself to us in a number of ways, GENERAL REVELATION and in the person and work of Jesus Christ (Jhn.1:1-14) and through the Bible (2Tim 3:16) which is known to us as God’s Word (Gods biography) . And so by studying the Bible and looking at the person and work of Christ we will begin to understand something of our great unsearchable God. (Theology).

Yet there is a cravat, we cannot know God through the scriptures unless we are willing to be changed by them (coming to know God is not just some theoretical exercise) but to actually come to know God, we must begin to know ourselves and be aware of our deep spiritual need before God and be responsive to Gods provision through the work of Christ and by the application of that Work to us by God’s Holy Spirit.

• Its only at (conversion) can we begin to grasp something of God (revelation) , as we begin a relationship with Him. For instance I could write a biography about my wife unpacking her life story and you could read all about her and be informed about her and begin to draw up a mental picture of her in your mind. But the difference between you knowing about her through the book and myself knowing her, is that I’m in a relationship. And that’s the difference between knowing something about God and really coming to know God for yourself.

Today we are oing to share three things about God that He share with no other.

1. OUR GOD IS SELF - EXISTENT.

At the very beginning of the Bible we are told, Gen 1:1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Note: This is profound first verse not that God is Creator, that’s profound enough, but go back another step, In the beginning God. Before anything was there was God. This is a profound statement for our finite minds - but we must understand that God is infinite and far beyond our understanding. From this verse we see that our God is self existent that he is the cause of all that we see around us today.#

The most profoundest questions often come from children? “Who made God?” Of course the answer to that question is no one made God for He is self existent ; if somebody had made God he would cease to be God. Our finite minds works within the remit of cause and effect - but God is outside of this process – He is self existent - Our eternal God is the uncaused cause of all things .

But let’s unpack Gods self existence some more and the best place to start is found in Exodus 3:1-15 Lets read. Here we have God’s own self revelation of Himself to Moses, here we see Moses asking God what is your name? Gods reply (EX 3:13 -14) “I AM WHO I AM..... Say this to the people of Israel, I AM has sent me to you”

This term ‘I AM’ is linked to the ancient name of God ‘Yahweh’ (LORD )Bible scholars agree that this is God’s proper name and that all of the other names are simply a further description of His character and activity. But its more than a name it’s also descriptive in regard to Gods self existence, pointing to the fact that God is in Himself, it shows that He is the one who is entirely self existent, self sufficient and eternal.

NOBODY SHARES

The attributes of Gods self existence is at the very core of God they are attributes which no other person/deities share with Him. We human beings are created in His image and we may share something of Gods attributes/character for instance His wisdom, His love, His compassion, the sense of Justice and of His power albeit limited but none share in his self existence, He exists in Himself. Isaiah 42:8. I am the LORD; that is my name. I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.