December 29, 2003
Title: What We Believe...About God
Text: Genesis 1:1
Introduction
1. Here at the beginning of a new year...I thought it would be helpful to us to
A. review our doctrine...
B. talk about what we believe...
i. What we believe about God...
ii. What we believe about Jesus...
iii. What we believe about the Bible...
iv. and so on.
2. Some people think doctrine can be dry and boring...
A. and I think that they are right...
B. doctrine can be dry and boring...
C. full of big words...
D. how theologians can seem to argue endlessly about whether we should be:
i. Pre-trib
ii. Mid-Trib
iii. or Post Trib
iv. Or, Can God create a rock so big, that He can’t lift it?
v. Or, How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
vi. and so on.
3. But, on the other hand, doctrine can be exciting...
A. doctrine is not just some dry, dusty, out-moded book, that no one in their right mind would ever read...
B. doctrine is basically a set of beliefs.
C. And I can assure you...people will get excited about their beliefs...
D. in fact, sometimes people will be willing to die for what they believe in.
4. I don’t think someone would be willing to die for something that is boring, musty, and meaningless.
5. A. W. Tozer said, "We have gotten accustomed to the blurred puffs of gray fog that pass for doctrine in churches and expect nothing better. From some ... sources are now coming vague statements consisting of a milky ..mixture of Scripture, science, and human sentiment that is true to none of its ingredients because each one works to cancel the others out. Little by little Christians these days are being brainwashed. One evidence is that increasing numbers of them are becoming ashamed to be found unequivocally on the side of truth. They say they believe, but their beliefs have been so diluted as to be impossible of clear definition."
6. As Christians, we need to KNOW what we believe....
A. we need to know WHY we believe it...
B. And we need to be willing to stand up for what we believe
i. in way that is loving and kind;
ii. yet firm and persistent.
7. I have to be honest with you....
A. some Christians get on my nerves...
B. they are quick to spout off
C. and argue their firmly held convictions...
D. by beating their opponents over the head with the Bible....
E. and quoting this Scripture and that Scripture...
F. Not because that Scripture has great meaning for them...
G. but because they can self-righteously use the Bible to prove a point...
H. much like a College Debate team quoting Plato.
8. In this study of doctrine, we are going to go for the middle ground...
A. On the one hand...we are not going to be spineless...unwilling to fervently and definitely express what we believe.
B. And on the other hand....we are not going to be so fundamental and dogmatic that we will condemn people to hell if they don’t believe exactly like we do on every nuance of doctrine.
C. We are going to study what we believe...
D. and based on what Scripture says...
E. and in the process, we are not going to forget the rest of Scripture that talks about
i. loving our neighbor...
ii. and treating others as better that ourselves.
9. We will use our doctrine,
A. our beliefs,
B. and our Bible...
C. Not as tools to use to win arguments...
D. but as tools to use to win people.
10. Read Genesis 1:1
11. We will be basically following the Article of Faith found in our (Church of the Nazarene) Manual.
A. If you would like a copy of the articles of faith, to follow along
B. be sure to pick up a copy after the service.
12. Article 1 says, "We believe in one eternally existent, infinite God, Sovereign of the universe; that He only is God, creative and administrative, holy in nature, attributes, and purpose; that He, as God, is Triune in essential being, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."—Nazarene Manual 2001-2005
Body
Tonight, I’m going to speak to you on the subject of "What we believe....about God"
A Young Boy was looking at the moon, and he asked his mom, "Mom, is God in the moon?" The Mother explained that God is everywhere. The boy said, "Is he in my tummy?" "Well, sort of," mom responded. Then her son said, "God wants a cookie."
1. We believe God is eternal.
A. Scripture says, "In the beginning....God".
i. God was there...
ii. in the beginning.
B. Not only was God there in the beginning...
i. but He will be there in the end...
C. But wait a minute....
i. there is no end.
ii. But God will be there at the final judgment when what Scripture talks about as the separation of the sheep and the goats will occur.
a. The saved will make their eternal home in heaven...
b. while the unsaved will spend eternity in hell.
iii. (But more about that when we get to Article 16)
2. We believe God is the creator.
A. A Gallup Poll in 1993 of Americans
i. 47% hold to the strict creationist view, that God created man pretty much in his present form
ii. Most other Americans believe in some combination of evolution and creationism,
iii. and only nine percent of Americans believe in strict evolution.
B. In spite of these telling statistics...
i. scientists and atheists continue to try to push evolution down the throats of unsuspecting children.
C. Scientists will try to tell you about
i. the Big Bang
ii. and evolution
D. But the more the scientists find out about our world...
i. the more they seem to confirm the Genesis story.
E. The idea that through a spontaneous explosion and thousands and thousands of years of evolution that a person could develop, is just incredible.
F. And on an average day,
i. you eat over 3 pounds of food,
ii. you sweat 1 1/2 pints,
iii. you drink 3 pounds of liquid.
iv. You turn in your sleep 25-30 times,
v. you move 750 major muscles,
vi. you breathe 23,040 times,
vii. you speak 25,000-30,000 words.
viii. Your heart beats 103,689 times,
ix. you exercise 7,000,000 brain cells,
x. and your blood travels 168,000,000 miles.
G. Personally, I don’t find it hard to believe that God created us.
i. because in my mind...no other explanation even comes close to making any sense.
H. Scripture says, "In the begining, God created"
3. We believe God is holy.
A. God Himself said, "Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy"
B. Lev 19:2 (NIV)
C. The God we believe in is not something we made up in our minds...
i. He is the God that has always existed...
ii. He created the world...
iii. and He is completely pure and holy.
D. God doesn’t have a moment of weakness...
i. He doesn’t backslide...
ii. He doesn’t sin....
iii. He doesn’t try to deceive...
iv. He doesn’t have an ulterior motive...
E. Isaiah 5:16 says, "But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness."
i. I take great comfort in knowing that we know God is holy by His righteousness.
ii. In other words...whatever God does, it will be the right thing.
F. When it comes to those difficult questions.
i. will someone who commits suicide be able to go to heaven?
ii. Why did my child have to die?
iii. Why did 9/11 have to happen?
G. I cannot tell you who will make it to heaven...
i. and who won’t.
H. Tonight, if it was my job to put all the people who should go to heaven on one side of the church....
i. and all the people who should go to hell on the other side...
ii. and it was MY job to decide...
iii. I couldn’t do it.
iv. Scripture says "God is the righteous Judge"
v. Not "Pastor Larry is the righteous judge"
I. I take great comfort knowing that God is holy...
J. and whatever God does...it will be right and just and correct.
4. We believe God is one
A. Deuteronomy 6:4 says, "The LORD our God, the LORD is one"
B. A common feeling today is that there are many gods.
i. It doesn’t really matter...
ii. whether you worship
iii. Allah
iv. Buddah
v. Mohammed
vi. Jesus
vii. or some other deity
C. As long as you believe in that god...
i. and as long as you are trying to be a good person...
ii. that is good enough.
D. But there is one God...
E. One creator...
F. One Lord
G. Jesus Himself said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father, but through Me"
H. We also believe in the Trinity...
i. God is one
ii. revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
iii. You can’t separate the Trinity.
iv. To worship Jesus, is to worship God.
v. To worship the Holy Spirit, is to worship God.
vi. We will talk more about the Trinity in another message.
Conclusion
1. Arthur Guiterman wrote an interesting poem in 1936.
A. First dentistry was painless;
Then bicycles were chainless
And carriages were horseless
And many laws, enforceless.
Next, cookery was fireless,
Telegraphy was wireless,
Cigars were nicotineless
And coffee, caffeinless.
Soon oranges were seedless,
The putting green was weedless,
The college boy hatless,
The proper diet, fatless,
Now motor roads are dustless,
The latest steel is rustless,
Our tennis courts are sodless,
Our new religions, godless.
2. People today live their lives as if there is no God.
A. Or they believe it doesn’t matter what you believe...
B. as long as you are just trying to be a good person.
3. But we believe in God.
A. We believe that He is eternal
B. He created and sustains all things.
C. God is holy and just.
D. And God is the one true God.
