“The Nature of God”
August 11, 2019
1 Peter 1:3-9; 13-16
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
I want to attempt to take on a subject that is way over my head –the nature of God. Many people better educated and smarter than I, have written volumes about this subject, but I feel compelled to say a few words about it. There are so many people today professing to know God that clearly don’t have an understanding of who He is or whom He has revealed Himself to be. They formulate theologies that contradicts His clear revelation to us. I feel I have an obligation to pass on to you the truth as God has revealed it to me. I can’t do anything about false teachers and preachers but I can try to ensure you know the truth.
Everyone has access to the internet these days and many put themselves out there as spiritual teachers and guides and are simply not qualified to do so. They are not mature enough, educated enough or spiritual enough. Some live in open rebellion to God. Some haven’t even read the Bible through. Some gather their facts from some pretty sketchy sources. Someone said,
“If you want to call yourself a Christian, you’ll need to embrace the definitions offered by Christianity. If you don’t you may still be a theist, but you won’t be a Christian theist.”
It is so important to have the correct facts. I’m convinced so many teachering in Christendom have the wrong concept of God and is passing it on as fact.
The Bible says,
“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” James 3:1
I fought tooth and nail with God about my call to preach and even backslid for a time over it. I didn’t enter the ministry lightly. When I finally did surrender to the call of God, I entered college knowing I didn’t know anything about God or His ways or pastoring and so sought hungrily for knowledge. I still know so little about God, but He has led me and taught me a few things. By His grace, He has enabled me to pastor for almost 42 years now and I hope to end my service to Him strong and true.
As we begin our look at God I think the place to start is His holiness. God is holy. God is always holy. In everything He does He is holy. We must not forget that. Holiness is the major quality of His being. The angels in heaven, day and night, sing,
“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”
Revelation 4:8
Again, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
When we are confronted with God, the one overwhelming sensation is His holiness and our unworthiness. He is so pure and good and holy – and we are not. The angels don’t sing, “Love, love, God is love!” He IS love, you know. But before love - is His holiness. We have to understand that, before we can understand and experience His love. Before we can love God we must fear Him; before we can love God we must respect Him. Dr. James Dobson says,
There is a narrow difference between acceptable, healthy respect and destructive fear. A child should have a general apprehension about the consequences of defying his or her parent. But he or she should not lie awake at night worrying about parental harshness or threats of punishment. As long as she does not choose to challenge me, openly and willfully, she lives in total safety. She need not duck and flinch when I suddenly scratch my eyebrow. She should have no fear that I will ridicule her or treat her unkindly. She can enjoy complete security and safety—until she defies me. Then she'll have to face the consequences.
This concept of fear, which is better labeled "awe" or "respect," is modeled after God's relationship with man. "Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom," we are taught. He is a God of justice, and at the same time, a God of infinite love and mercy. These attributes are complementary and should be represented in our homes.”
In our relationship with God it is important to begin with His Holiness. That is one thing that never changes about Him. His actions may change from love to hate, joy to anger, peace to conflict, merciful to no mercy. In each of those actions, attitudes or attributes He is holy. Let’s look at some of the ways He has acted in the past.
Love: 1 John 4:16,19-19: “God is love”
Hate: Proverbs 6:16 “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”
Hebrews 1:8-9 “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness…”
Psalm 5:5-6: “The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord, detest.”
Merciful: Deuteronomy 4:31 “For the Lord your God is a merciful God”
No Mercy: Deuteronomy 7:2 “and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.”
Jealous: Exodus 34:14 “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
2 Corinthians 11:2 “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy.”
When you are trying to understand God and how He does these seemingly conflicting things it is helpful to picture God acting out of holiness and then using the attribute necessary to the situation. Some people have rejected the bible because they think it contradicts itself. It doesn’t. They need a better understanding of God. Picture God looking through holiness and then through love or hate or whatever the situation dictates.
GOD ¬¬? ACTION
God is always holy – and because He is He make act in some seemingly unloving ways. In Numbers 15 we read about God having a man killed for collecting firewood on Sunday. That seems extreme to us. That seems unkind and unloving and excessively harsh. You need to know in understanding the situation that God had just revealed His will to the people and said,
“‘But if just one person sins unintentionally, that person must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven.
“‘But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or foreigner, blasphemes the Lord and must be cut off from the people of Israel. Because they have despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, they must surely be cut off; their guilt remains on them.’” Numbers 15:27-31
So God explains His will about sin. He clearly says if someone sins defiantly he blasphemes the Lord. Then this guy goes right out and defies Him. He knows God’s law about keeping the Sabbath holy and says, “Forget You, God. I’m going to do what I want – when I want!” He defies God; disrespects God; dishonors God. God in His holiness had to exercise judgment over His love. We see God at other times striking people with leprosy, opening the ground up and swallowing whole families up, fire falling from heaven and consuming people, poisonous snakes killing people and much more.
Today there are so many people who think God is nothing but love. They think they can sin – and get away with it. They claim we all sin – every day – and that sin is just the lot of the human race. It is the same thing the Gnostics said in John’s day. It is nothing new. Since the days of the Garden of Eden Satan has been trying to convince people that they can sin and not die. He said to Eve,
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Geneses 3:4-5
Do you see that Satan is calling God a liar? And when Adam and Eve willingly and knowingly chose to listen to Satan and do his will instead of God’s they defied God; disrespected Him and dishonored Him. And when we willingly and knowingly break God’s law - we do the same. We call Him a liar and disbelieve Him when we reject His ways. When we sin we live in disbelief and defiance.
Above all, we must understand that God is a holy God. Yes, He loves us. He values us and treasures us – but to have a loving relationship with Him we must respect Him and fear Him. Only then can we know Him as He is. He says,
“I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.”
Leviticus 11:44
“You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart … to be my own.” Leviticus 20:26
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
How can we be perfect as God? The answer: Heart holiness. How can we be holy as God is holy? Holiness of heart. It is true that our righteousness comes from God – and our holiness comes from His grace subsequent to an act of our will. It is a surrendering of ourselves totally and completely to God. As we commit ourselves to doing His perfect will – He will give us the grace and power to do it.
Do you see that it is not so much the act that we do but the attitude behind the
act. If we do what we do with pure intentions and pure desires – the actions are purified by the holy intent.
Don’t live the kind of relationship with God where you try to do and say just enough to get you to heaven. Live your life seeking the Kingdom of God First; loving God first; desiring His will first.
God is a holy God desiring a Holy people. Will you be one of them?
