September 14, 2014
Believe - 1
Well, we are starting week 1 of Believe! I’m really excited about this series because it is going to take us deeper in what we believe, as well as challenging what and how we believe. This series is going to be good for those who have been in the faith for many years, because it will build and hopefully affirm what they believe and even take them a little deeper.
For those who are newer to faith, my hope is that Believe will help explain some aspects of Christianity to you and help you as well to go deeper in faith.
And for those who are on the fence, for those who don’t have faith in Jesus, my hope is that you will learn, and be challenged and Jesus will become real to you by the time we finish.
So, for the first week, my assignment is to tell you all I know about God. Whew! That’s not an easy assignment. It’s so big and so vast and where do you even start. Well, when you’re telling a story the best place to start is in the beginning. So, hunker down, get comfortable . . . and today, I’m going to take you from Genesis to Revelation. Actually, I’m not, but I am starting with Genesis to get us going.
The Bible begins with God and ends with God. There is never a doubt in the Bible regarding the question of God’s existence. It’s just an assumed fact! Think about the very first verse of the Bible, we read, 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) it’s a given that God created the heavens and the earth. There’s no question about it. The writers didn’t think or write, ‘if there is a god, he must be the one who created the world.’
John wrote in John 1, 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
There was not a question or hint of a question regarding God’s existence. I am not here to prove God exists, or as some would say, God was created, or Jesus was created. I’m here to say as John later wrote in Revelation 1 about God, 4 Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come. I love that. So, John is reminding us that God was and is and is to come. In other words, God was present in the past, is present now, and will be present in the future. Not a thought about whether God has ever existed or not. God is alive. Or as the Newsboys sing, and we’ll hear it at a later date too, God’s Not Dead!
The big question we all need to answer is “Who is my God?” What do I believe in? Who do I worship? Remember the people from the world of the Old Testament believed in many different gods, yet, we don’t hear them calling the ACLU complaining about someone worshiping God. There was a general belief in a god, the question was, which god?
Today, we still have many gods, but now we have a greater influence of those who say there is no god, and we must pay more attention to them. Still, the number of people in the USA who believe in God still hovers around 90%. That’s still a huge number, but what we find is that so many people believe in whatever construct of a god they want to believe in.
Some will believe in the god of football.
If there’s a game, that comes first.
If the weather’s nice, that comes first.
If they stayed up too late, sleep comes first.
If they can get away for the weekend, that comes first.
If they can make an excuse for anything, that comes first.
Do you see the pattern? Maybe that describes you. It’s not to step on your toes too hard. A little is good. We fall prey to many different gods. And that’s just to avoid worship. There are the other gods we worship on a daily basis, like power, control, greed, possessions, anger, jealousy, and that list goes on and on.
So, today and over the next weeks, we are looking at what we believe in. And not just a basic course in theology, but then we have to answer the question . . . and it’s the weekly question I have to ask myself as I prepare my messages . . . SO WHAT? So what? What’s the big deal about what I say? What can you take away with you. That’s the SO WHAT! If you can’t answer that, then either you slept, or I failed. That’s pretty black and white, but you need to walk away from here with something concrete.
So, with the time I have left. Who is this God we worship and believe in? If you are reading in the Believe book, you know, in the end, the passages focused on the baptism of Jesus and the memory verse is a verse which really points us to the Trinity. I really believe God led me regarding what I was to talk about this morning. I wrestled with the scripture all week.
So, what I want to do is talk a little about God’s attributes. Because that will help us to connect with God as we consider who He is.
John 3:16 ~ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
1 John 4:8 ~ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:10 ~ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Love is the most basic and really the most powerful attribute of God. Without God’s love for us, we would certainly have no hope at all. Think about the fact that God sent His Son for us. Would you send your child to redeem a world filled with sin and cold stone hearts? I’m not sure I would send my boys for you, and if you were to be really honest, you would not send your children for me.
But God did! And that’s the point! God has this immense, intense, passionate love for you, that He could not imagine not doing this. It would have been inconceivable for God not to send His Son for you. He gave His one and only Son, so that He could take our sin upon Himself and He would take the pain and suffering we deserve, so we would not have to face that suffering.
As John said in 1 John 4:10, God loves us and sent Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. Now that’s a big theological word. We could spend a few hours on that word alone, but to cut that time a little. Understand this — propitiation means Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for us. He had to pay the penalty we deserve. By being the propitiation for us, Jesus satisfied God’s wrath towards us, the sinners, and because of His action, not ours, we can now stand before God’s throne.
It goes deeper, but understand Jesus paid the price for our sinfulness which we should have paid. You see as part of God’s love, God sent Jesus into the world, to satisfy / pay for our sinfulness, because as John said in 3:17, 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Again, God’s plan was to redeem us, to save us, not to destroy us. That’s part of God’s love.
And it is shown in God’s grace and mercy, His kindness His compassion. In Exodus 34:6-7, as Moses was on Mount Sinai cutting new tablets after breaking the first set of the 10 commandments, God passed by Moses and proclaimed ~
6 “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.
Do you hear that from God. Even in the midst of God being furious with His people, He still can say, I love this people. I will extend my grace and mercy to them. I will be slow to anger. I will have consistent, unswerving, unshakeable love for my people, I will be faithful to them. My unswerving love will last for longer than they can imagine. I will forgive their sinfulness, their iniquity, their transgressions. I won’t leave anything untouched.
And remember, God’s ~
grace means - we receive what we don’t deserve
mercy means - we don’t receive what we deserve.
WOW! That’s powerful love. More powerful than many of us can imagine. God loves you with a love which is so powerful, that there is nothing we can do to match it. As much as we may love someone else, that still can never compare to God’s love for you and I.
Lots of people want proof of God’s existence. They need to see it to believe it. Kind of like the disciple Thomas, whom is affectionately called “doubting Thomas.” H needed to see that Jesus really was alive after He died. In that same way, there are many who need the same. When asked they may say,
God allowed a loved one to die.
Their child died.
Their child has a lifelong or terminal illness.
They prayed and God didn’t heal their loved one.
They believed God’s plan, and it was a bust.
They trusted a Christian or pastor and were cheated.
They did what was right, and came out the biggest loser.
We wonder, we question, if God is good, then why do bad things happen?
And I’m going to give you the most honest raw answer I can give. I don’t know! It may sound totally shallow, but I don’t know God’s plan and purpose for your life. I don’t know why He allows anything bad to happen, other than the fact there is sin in the world and death and illness and all the bad things are the result of sin. Our sin and the sin of the world. That may not make you feel better. But in the midst of all this despair.
And it’s all around us. Just read the paper, turn on the news. It’s everywhere. It’s bad. But God is good, and God is good all of the time. Even when the bad happens. God has promised us he won’t fail us or forsake us. You see, God wants us to love Him, not because of the good He can do for us, but He wants us to love and worship Him because we need Him, because we recognize that life without God equals a life of less than. God repeated that message. Why does God repeat it? Because we forget in times of trouble. When we’re afraid, nervous, anxious. God wants us to know He’s with us. Listen to these promises from God ~
Deuteronomy 31:6 - 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 - 8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Joshua 1:5-9 - 5 Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
6 Be strong and courageous . . . 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you.
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Hebrews 13:5 - 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
I have not even touched on God’s omnipotence (His power); God’s omnipresence (He’s all present, everywhere at the same time) or God’s omniscience (He’s all knowing), God’s immutability (He is never changing). We have not touched on so many attributes of God. Yet, we’ve touched on ones which should go with us wherever we go.
That Joshua 1:9 is one of my favorite verses. It reminds me wherever I go, whatever I do, God is with me. It reminds me to be strong and filled with courage, not to be dismayed or frightened or discouraged. WHY? Because God said, “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” So wherever I go, God is with me. So . . . no need to be discouraged. No need to be afraid. No need to freak out. Instead, be filled with courage and strength, because it is God’s courage, God’s power, God’s strength that will move through whatever storm comes my way.
And I know God will be with me because very simply He told me so. Because I trust and believe His Word is just that His Word.
So, friends . . . so what? So, this week, wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever situation you find yourself in . . . good or bad . . . know that God will be with you. He won’t abandon you, He won’t bail out on you. He will be with you and will help you make it through whatever you are going through.
He promises that. The writer of Hebrews told us, God is the same “yesterday, today and tomorrow.” God does not change. His love is constant, His grace and mercy and love; His power and strength does not end. It always is, and it always will be.
Take that into the world. Believe! Believe God loves you and has a plan for you! Be filled with His courage and power as you move into the world!
