God Answers to Himself
(topical)
1. I want to wish all our dads a happy Father’s Day. Some people think Father’s Day should spot light more than just dads.
The only child said: Hey Dad, I think I deserve to get half of your Father’s Day gifts.
Dad: Oh, what makes you think that? I’m the dad.
Kid: Well yeah, but without me you wouldn’t be a father! [parentingnest.com]
Fathers are unique. The first Person of the Trinity goes by the title, “Father.” Man – meaning human beings of both genders, are created in the image of God, but mankind is fallen in sin. To be in God’s image means to be like Him, but in limited ways. Since mankind is fallen, sin is added to the image of God in man. So people try to remake God in their image: they rob Him of His infinity and try to control God and contain Him in images or with incorrect theology, or they make Him sinful.
So it is important to us, as those who wish to be faithful followers of the One True God, to, every so often, realign our understanding of God, to the degree we can understand Him. We do this but observing what He has revealed to us in His Word.
Today we will begin a series titled, "Who Is God and What Is He Like?."
God wants us to focus on what He has revealed in His Word, not to overly speculate about what He has not revealed. Deuteronomy 29:29 reads, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
2. We live in a day of relativism. Suppose your pharmacist was a relativist. The doctor gave you a prescription for antibiotics, but he said to himself, "All medicines are the same. They all intend to heal. Here's some strong blood thinner, arsenic; I'll put that in the bottle instead of antibiotics." Soon the patient dies from hemorrhaging. Such a pharmacist would not only lose his license, but end up in jail.
3.. God is MORE important that the pharmacist's prescriptions, and His desire is that people come to know Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. The abundant life comes through knowing God through Jesus Christ.
MAIN IDEA: God can do whatever He pleases; His only limiting factor is His own character.
I. God Does As He PLEASES (Psalm 115:1-3).
A. God does what brings Him GLORY.
Psalm 115:1-3, Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”
B. God is FREE to do just as He pleases (Psalms 135:5-6).
For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
C. God controls the course of HISTORY.
• After God humbled Nebuchadnezzar with animal-like insanity for seven years as a predicted judgement for his arrogance, he recognized God for Who He is (Daniel 4:34-35).
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
D. God is limited in what He does by His holy CHARACTER (Hebrews 6:18).
“...it is impossible for God to lie…”
E. Attempts to CONTROL God – by Christians or others – are soomed to flop.
II. Because God Knows All and Has All POWER, He Cannot Fail (Jeremiah 21:45).
• He doesn’t need a superior to keep Him in line.
Omniscience: omni (all) + science (knowledge) = God knows all things (has all knowledge).
Omnipotence: omni (all) + potence (power) = God is all powerful.
Omnipresence: omni (all) + presence = God is present in all places (everywhere).
A. God’s Word cannot FAIL.
Jeremiah 21:45, “ Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.”
Romans 9:6, “But it is not as though the word of God has failed.”
Is. 55:11, “...so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
(1) When our kids were young, I would purposely make blunders while playing games so they could have a chance to win…now I am doing that with the grandchildren...
(2) Does a typical 6 year old have a chance to beat a typical adult in checkers?
(3) Some people think that the competition between God and Satan in this life resembles the 2000 presidential elections, determined by a hair of a difference…but it is no competition, really...
(4) Easy to misunderstand because God allows Satan and the world so much leeway and freedom….God only exerts His influence when it serves His overall purpose…
B. God KNOWS all (Psalm 147:5).
• Psalm 147:5 (NASB), Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.
ESV has “beyond measure”
God even knows what would have happened if….
When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here." Then David said, "O Lord God of Israel...Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? ...And the Lord said, "He will come down." Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the Lord said, "They will deliver you." So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition (1 Samuel 23:9-13).(1 Samuel 23:9-13, passim).
C. God has all POWER (Job 42:2).
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
D. Events in the life of Jonah HIGHLIGHT these truths.
1. Jonah thought God was confined to Israel, not Tarshish (not omnipresent).
2. Jonah thought he could fool God, that God did not know his thoughts (omniscience)
2. Jonah though God could not force him to go to Nineveh (omnipotence)
4. God knew beforehand what would happen; He prepared the fish/whale.
E. The secret MOTIVES we try to bury deep within us are crystal-clear to God (Hebrews 4:12-13).
• Our hearts are deceitful, and we sometimes even try to hide our true thoughts from ourselves. We go through great lengths to defend ourselves to our own consciouses, and to look good to others.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
III. God Is Complete In Himself: He Does Not NEED Us (Acts 17:24-25).
A. God does not NEED His creation, but He loves His creatures, especially mankind (Acts 17:24-25).
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
(1) Why did God create us? Kids at camp: "He needed someone to love"
(2) I just said, "That's not exactly the answer I am looking for"
2. I Chron. 29:14, "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
B. God does not need our WORSHIP, but He DELIGHTS when we worship and serve Him whole-heartedly.
Psalm 50: 7-15, "Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."
Psalm 147:11, “... the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”
Psalm 149:4, “For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.”
C. We can never REPAY God for His goodness to us, but we can RESPOND to it.
Romans 11:34-35, "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"
• Have you ever met folks who think they are doing God a favor? Whenever we do something for God, we are merely responding to His goodness, doing our duty to Him, not a favor.
• Snowy weather, people's vehicles sliding off the interstate; one good fellow went around pull cars out with his truck. One fellow did not bother to say, "thank you," so he hauled him back into the median strip. When we serve God, we are simply giving our appropriate, "thank you."
CONCLUSION
1. God is not desperate. But God loves to include those who align themselves with Him to accomplish His purposes. This brings Him glory and makes us the objects of His great love.
2.Salvation: not just escape from hell – but it includes that. Salvations is not just knowing our sins are forgiven or that heaven is our home – yet it includes that. Salvations is the establishment of a relationship to God Almighty, the fringe benefits of which are salvation and eternal bliss.
3. As we explore the Nature of God, we are going to find that He loves you and takes pleasure in blessing you. But these blessings are only realized in their full degree to those are properly related to Him through faith in Jesus and His atoning work on the cross. Do you have this relationship with God? Have You accepted Jesus Christ as Your personal Savior, the sacrifice for Your sins?
