Essence Of God #3 Series

To have even a surface understand of God’s redemption, we must understand the person of God. The ONLY place we can access the information needed to gain such an understanding is in the Word of God.

Isaiah 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

It matters not how long you think and contemplate about who God is and what God had done, if those actions are from your own wisdom apart from the Bible, you won’t even be close. It matters not how sincere your intentions or how factually accurate your presumptions, IF they are anything other than the facts from the Word of God, you will be far off base in your conclusions. We can learn a great deal about God by observing His creation in connection with, but not apart from the Word of God.

Mankind has a great capacity for intricate contemplation and magnificent conclusions from such thoughts. There are very few physical problems that are unsolvable by mankind, if given enough data and time. However, mankind cannot control or improve the moral condition of the human race.

If mankind can fantasize it, somehow, somewhere, sometime mankind will probably make it a reality -- if there is enough money in it. Yet, with all that collective mental power, including the best of computers, mankind is helpless to rationalize who God is and what God does.

As a matter of fact, it is Spiritually dangerous to even attempt to understand God and His actions by human reasoning, apart from the simple truths of the Word of God. Many cults, and some of the worst have been spawned because someone tried to grasp the person of God apart from the truths of the Word of God.

For those who participated in the series on the Cults, I’m sure you can think of several cults that started because some person bypassed the information of the Word of God or added to the facts presented in the Word, and by human contemplation "built" themselves a god that fit within the boundaries of their finite understanding. Even the best intentioned Believer stands in the same danger when contemplating the person of God apart from the Word of God.

We can look at the physical creation of material substance or animal life and through that observation, we can learn a great deal about God. Even so, as stated before, the knowledge derived from creation must be tempered by the truth of God’s Word. This fact is clearly seen in…

Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the gloryof God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.

The information about God, obtained from creation, transcends all human boundaries and vocabularies.

Psalms 19:4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race. 6 Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

We can learn a great deal about God’s glory and greatness by observing creation. This fact is emphasized again in…

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead (deity), so that they are without excuse,

In both Romans 1 and Psalms 19 , we see that the major aspects of the knowledge about God, gleaned from creation are:

1. God’s Power

2. God’s deity

The information gained about God from creation should evoke within our hearts an attitude of awe about God, thankfulness to God and a glorification of God. Instead of allowing the things of creation to produce a reverence for God, mankind often uses the facts of creation to either:

1. Prove who God is

2. Prove there is no God

Using only the facts of the natural creation to prove there is a God or to prove there is not a God, will often lead to one of two conclusion or some degree of these:

1. Cultism