Knowing God Part 3
What We Believe, and Why We Believe It! • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Understanding God’s Essence/Substance
Understanding God’s Essence/Substance
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
These are two seemingly contradictory verses.
Jesus who is God in the flesh, declares that God is a Spirit. We would say it this way: God’s essence is incorporeal - He exists without a body, but in Luke, Jesus says “Behold my hands and my feet…for a spirit hath not flesh and bones...”
This is not a contradiction as God the Father has no body…that is why Jesus had to come in the flesh, so that He could die for us. Jesus is still God!
Not only is his essence incorporeal, but it is also invisible and in corruptible:
17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
God’s existence is not visible to mortal eyes and he is not subject to decay.
Gods essence is also incomparable
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:
22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
Any attempt to make an image of God is associated with idolatry.
God’s essence is incomprehensible
Listen to this verse: John 1:18
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
This verse raises some supposed contradicitons, consider the following verses which indicate that men HAVE seen God:
10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
BUT what about these verses that say no one can or has seen God?
46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Solution to this supposed contradiction:
God manifested Himself in Theophanies Isaiah 6:1 “1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.”
Genesis 18:1–3 “1 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:”
God also manifested Himself in the incarnation of Christ John 1:1–3 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
However, no mortal has EVER seen the pure essence or substance of God.
God’s Personality
God’s Personality
Seen in two ways:
Self-Consciousness - One is more than simply mentally aware, but is aware of self
An animal is conscious but God is self-conscious
Exodus 3:14 “14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
Isaiah 45:5 “5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, There is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:” L
Self-Determination - one can determine rationally for himself
Animals act out of instinct
God (and man who is made in God’s image) can determine for themselves
Job 23:13 “13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.”
Romans 9:11 “11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)”
Hebrews 6:17 “17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:”
God’s Individuality
God’s Individuality
He is:
Self-existent - we exist because of others, God exists of Himself
He has no beginning (no parents) and no ending (death)
Exodus 3:14 “14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
He transcends space - While He acts within space (earth) He is above space (He cannot be contained)
Jeremiah 23:23 “23 Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?”
Isaiah 66:1 “1 Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: Where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?”
2 Chronicles 2:6 “6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?”
He is eternal - While God may act in a period of time, He Himself is outside of time and not bound by it!
Genesis 18:14 “14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Isaiah 44:6 “6 Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, And his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; And beside me there is no God.”
Revelation 1:8 “8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
What Do All These BIG Words Mean?
What Do All These BIG Words Mean?
God doesn’t have a body, so he can’t be examined
God can’t be seen, but He’s still there
God cant’ be comprehended, but we can learn about him
God doesn’t need us to exist, but we sure need Him!
God can’t be contained in space, which means He is with us wherever we go!
God is eternal, so there’s no danger in him expiring!