Who is God?
1)
Tonight is the official
beginning point for our BCC program.
2)
Some picked up the first lesson last Wednesday evening
in preparation for tonight.
3)
Some course booklets were also distributed to some
people this morning.
4)
The plan is to make the second lesson available to
members this coming Wednesday evening.
5)
Tonight our centers on God because this is the subject
in the first BCC lesson.
6)
If we have examined the first lesson, we have seen that
the book is out pretty well.
a)
First, the author shows that we can have know that
certain things are true.
b)
We believe in some things because we can see them,
touch them and hear them.
c)
Other things are known to be true by using different
forms of proof.
d)
The author of our study series appeals to Lincoln,
Hitler and Peter the Great.
e)
We never met these met, but we do believe they exist.
f)
We have never physically seen God, but we can prove He
exists.
g)
Just as we have faith that Lincoln and Washington
existed, so we can have faith in God.
7)
Tonight we want to think about who this God is.
8)
Nature points to a designer. A moral standard points to a designer.
9)
We know that matter is not eternal (everything has come
from somewhere).
10) A
supreme deity exists, but who is He?
11) The
Bible spends a lot of time answering this question..
12) When
we look at the Bible we find more than 4,000 references to God.
13) With
this many passages we could study God by just using the Old Testament.
14) The
New Testament certainly gives us a great composite picture of who God is.
15) Tonight’s
material takes verses from just one book:
Matthew’s account of the Lord’s life.
16) Even
if we limit our study of God to just one book, we can have a good understanding
of who God is.
a)
One of the first things to consider involves God’s
power.
b)
How strong is the one credited with creating all
things? The God of the Bible is a
powerful God.
c)
In Mt. 3:9 the Bible says God could create people from
stones (rocks).
d)
This is what Jesus claimed – READ
17) When
we think of God creating man, we usually think about him coming from the dust
of the earth.
18) Jesus
said God could take part of what is on the earth (stones) and create people
from rocks.
19) What
kind of being could take a rock and make a man from it?
20) What
kind of being could take dust (dirt) from the earth and form a human being?
21) With
all our technology we can’t build something as small as a replacement finger or
toe.
22) What
kind of deity can make a man from dust and rock? An all powerful God.
23) This
is the type of God we are called to have faith in; a God whose power is
infinite.
24) Some
may not believe God has this type of power.
25) There
will be unbelievers, but the devil is not one of them.
26) Do
we remember Mt. 4:3? Satan spoke to
Jesus about “turning stones into bread.”
27) The
devil believed the Lord could change one object into another.
28) If
deity has the power to turn a rock into food, it also has the power to turn a
rock into a man.
BECAUSE
OF WHO GOD IS HE IS DESERVING OF OUR WORSHIP.
JESUS SPOKE ABOUT THIS
a)
This verse teaches to “only” worship God.
b)
Faith in the true God is important, but faith alone is
not going to be enough.
c)
Faith should lead us to worship and serve the one true
God.
d)
When giving the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5), Jesus
spoke about serving the all powerful God.
e)
The Lord spoke about being “pure in heart” (Mt. 5:8).
f)
He said those who pursue this quality will one day see
(be with) deity.
g)
We can see pictures in magazines that look so pretty or
read about places that seem so perfect.
h)
Imagine going to the very place where the creator
resides.
a)
We can not only know that God exists, but He wants us
to come to His home.
b)
Going to see God is not for a visit. We are invited to live there.
c)
Rather than be a guest, God says He will treat us as
His children—we will inherit what He has.
d)
This is an offer that is almost too spectacular to put
into words.
2)
The God of the Bible is a holy God; He has a nature
that is perfectly just and true.
3)
If we and others hope to be His people, we must pursue
a holy life (seek to please Him).
4)
The Hebrew writer once said (12:14) that if this is not
the way we live, we will not see Him.
5)
Seeing Him will make every problem we faced in life
melt away.
6)
Mt. 5:34 refers to the “throne” of God.
a)
A lot of times we may think someone is great or
important and it turns out that we are deceived.
b)
Several years ago one of my family members wanted to
work at a certain company.
c)
This family member knew someone who worked at this very
business.
d)
This employee bragged about how important he was and
how much influence he had at thatplace.
e)
If anyone could get someone hired, this man could. All he had to do was “say the word.”
f)
My family member asked for this man’s help to get a
job.
g)
My family member was qualified for the job.
h) My family member was not
only never employed by this company, there was not even a job interview.
i)
The fellow who boasted about how important he was didn’t carry as much
weight as he thought.
7)
God is not like this.
With God, people are not disappointed.
8)
The word “throne” should tell us some things.
9)
When it comes to God we are not dealing with the head
of a company or a world-wide corporation.
10) We
are not interacting with the ruler of the world or even the ruler of the
universe.
11) We
are dealing with the Creator and the Ruler of ALL THINGS.
12) It
is not surprising to find the Bible saying that God has a “throne.”
13) This
imagery is used because it helps us understand that God is as high and as might
as anything can be.
14) God
is someone we want to know and the only source that can guarantee He will never
disappoint us.
15) This
God welcomes us to seek Him and we are to do that wholeheartedly.
a)
We cannot have a little interest in Him and His
inheritance if we want Him to save us.
b)
Sometimes people have some love for God but a lot of
love for the things of this world.
c)
The God of the Bible is aware of this desire and has
said it will not work.
d)
Mt. 6:24 is very plain in this regard; Jesus said we
cannot serve God and mammon.
e)
This verse makes a lot of sense when we stop to think
about it.
f)
If God is the being the Bible describes Him as, how can
money be compared to Him?
g)
How can we truly value gold when God is the one who
made the gold?
h) How could all the diamonds
in the world matter when God’s hand is responsible for every single one of
them?
i)
For a moment think about things from God’s perspective.
j)
If we created things, and people worshipped our
creation instead of us, how would we feel?
k)
When we consider who God is we see why it is necessary
to only worship and serve Him.
16) As
we teach people about God we want them to know He is a good God.
17) Some
have the idea that God is someone who really does not care about man.
18) God
created things and then just walked away from it all. He wound up the clock and left.
19) Others
may perceive God to be like a cold and distant father; He is only a little
interested in man.
20) Jesus
tells us that God is very interested in man.
21) Mt.
6:28-30 tells us that God cares for things on this world as simple as grass and
flowers.
a)
We are probably not completely through with bad weather
for this year.
b)
If we look around us, we can see some things that show
signs of spring.
c)
Some flowers have already started come up this year.
d)
God cares enough about our world that He has made it a
pretty place.
e)
Those who use e-mail sometimes see a variety of
pictures from around the world.
f)
Some of the sights we see are breathtaking; we see
things that cause us to sit back and say “WOW.”
g)
God made a world that is filled with natural beauty
that we can enjoy.
h)
The
beauty God has built into the planet—even after thousands of years have
passed—tells us something.
i)
The splendor reminds us that God not only loves man, He
loves man very, very much.
22) Nature
is one of the ways we learn about God.
23) We
want people to come to know the God who created all things.
24) We
want them to know his power and His love.
25) We
also want people to know that He has a will and this will can be violated.
26) In
Mt. 15:3 we learn about the possibility of “transgressing” God’s commandments.
27) The
all powerful God has some laws that can be violated and this a matter of great
concern.
a)
In life there are some things we can do that are not
really right, but authorities don’t really mind.
b)
Other offenses are more serious.
c)
There is yet another category of violations that can
get us into big, big trouble.
d)
I recently read that the IRS in an average year has a
lien on more than one million homes.
e)
People can do things that result in harsh consequences.
f)
When we violate the laws of God, there is a penalty
that is eternal.
g)
Sin creates a bill that must be paid.
h)
We can pay on it forever and ever or we can use the
substitute payment God makes available to us.
i)
Wise people accept God’s substitute payment (Jesus) and
live as a child of God.
j)
We seek to know what God’s ways and rules are and
follow them.
28) When
we do this we find that God’s rules are good rules.
29) Sometimes
people have the idea that God has a bunch of rules and they take all the fun
out of life.
30) This
is not true – God’s rules offer the very best way of life for people.
31) Mt.
15:4 is where we find that God said “honor they mother and father.”
a)
This past week I saw another statistic and it was
pretty sad.
b)
On average our nation has about “19 tragedies a year.”
c)
This figure was not referring to earthquakes, floods,
and tornados.
d)
This statistic involves things like mass shootings – we
are close to 2 mass killings a month on average.
e)
Sometimes a child attacks his mother or father or both
parents.
f)
If children are not killing their parents, deranged
parents turn on their children.
g)
The God of heaven says parents are to love their
children and children are to love their parents.
h)
Is the best way to live God’s way or the tragedies that
occur on a fairly regular basis?
i)
This is just one of several examples that could be
given to show that God’s way really is best.
32) We
can know that God exists and that His way is the best way.
33) God’s
way is the best way when it comes to marriage.
34) One
man and woman for life unless the relationship is destroyed due to sexual sin
(MT. 19:9).
35) The
world often wants to modify this rule – it says a man might like more than one
wife.
36) A
woman might like more than one husband.
37) Instead
of a male and female, the world says two men or two women.
38) God’s
way is the best way and the right way.
39) This
is true in other areas as well.
40) God
says wealth often creates problems for people.
41) Mt.
19:24 says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
the rich to be saved.
42) This
is a figurative illustration; it is designed to say that wealth has often
destroyed people.
43) Our
world has verified this truth.
44) People
have won the lottery and later found that instant wealth ruined their life.
45) Others
have built fortunes through hard work and then been consumed by their wealth.
46) God
wants us to know that He does exist and He wants the very best life for us.
47) It
is our job to try to communicate this message to the world.
48) We
are asking for help to find prospects for our BCC to do this very thing.
49) Whatever
response we get from the unsaved, we want to be sure our own house is in order.
50) Do
we believe that God exists? If so, are
we obeying so we can spend eternity with Him?