The God Who Is

“The God Who Is”

(Heb 13:8 NIV) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

(Heb 11:6 NIV) "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

I. There is much confusion today about the God who is…

A. In every sector of our society and culture you will find people have a warped view of the God who is.

B. Have you ever noticed the confusion in the arts

1. If you study art history, people have tried to depict the God who is, and you will find Him portrayed in paintings and sculptures…

2. In Renaissance paintings He is often portrayed as frail and effeminate…

3. In some paintings He bears a golden halo around his somber, solemn head holding globe and scepter

4. go to the Dali museum and you will see Him as freakish and abstract

5. Why?… because people are confused about the God who is

C. There is confusion in the media about the God who is…

1. Television, movies, newspapers, all speak volumes of how confused our society and culture is about the God who is.

2. Some in the media think God is dead

3. Some portray God as distant, uncaring and uninvolved in human affairs

4. Most of the time He is mocked as an impudent, irrelevant myth, created as an aphrodisiac for the weak and simple minded

5. Believers in the God of the bible are often portrayed in the press, TV and the movies as people who are out of touch with reality…

6. They are called religious fanatics

7. The religious right, fundamentalists who are out of sync with the times…

8. Why, because the media is confused about the God who is.

D. You can easily see there is a great deal of confusion about the God who is in our education system…

1. The educators in our public school system came to believe and accept a theory which says all that has been created came about by cosmic chance.

2. Many believe the universe was created by a catastrophic “big bang” that sent the elements into motion from which stars and solar systems have come about…

3. But you will soon notice that those who put forward this theory have no explanation about where the stuff came from to make the big bang.

4. Then when you follow the theory of cosmic chance creating all there is you come to the evolutionary theory, which again is rooted in a roll of the dice

5. By cosmic chance the right amount of sun, hit the right substance, in the right primordial ooze pool on this planet producing the very first living cell.

6. This cell, over a period of eons has reproduced itself enough times, along with several million necessary mutations, to create bones, flesh, organs, fins and scales… and we have the first fish

7. This fish, curious about the world outside it’s pond, mutated over several generations and got the ability to walk out of that pond, sprout wings and fly.

8. At some point it got tired of flapping it’s wings, mutated… and arms, legs and a tail came forth and now it began to swing from trees

9. Finally over a period of several million years, that monkey climbed out of a tree, picked up a pen, went to some university, got a PhD, and wrote a book called the theory of evolution!

10. I once was a tadp9ole, beginning to begin, next I was a frog with my tail tucked in, then I was a monkey swinging from a tree, now I’m a doctor with a PhD. & he’s teaching your kids in the university.

11. Believing in evolution is like believing that an explosion in a junk yard created a Cadillac

12. Because people are confused about the God who is

E. Don’t think this confusion is only found in our secular society… some believers are confused about the God who is

F. Many get confused when crisis blows into their lives

1. Because they can’t theologize some situation that has happened to them therefore they loose sight of or don’t really know the God who is…

2. Jesus said…

(John 16:33 NIV) ""… In this world you will have trouble…"

3. Some have prayed that their spouse would break off their adulterous relationship and return to the family, only to be served divorce papers

4. Some have been confronted with the tragedy of sickness, death, financial crisis, rebellious children, and found no answer from heaven

5. Some have served faithfully in a church and seen their Pastor fall into sin, and their faith has gotten shipwrecked because of the sin of their leaders