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That We May Know HimAnd Make Him Known

A Study Guide for Individuals and Small Groups

by

Gary W. McCall

2013

That We May Know Him and Make Him Known 2

TABLE OF CONTENTSWeek One 3July 22-27 Monday The God Search

Tuesday Sharp Eyes, Keen MindsWednesday Can You Trust the Bible?

Thursday Totally DifferentFriday Full of Grace and Truth

Saturday Holding You Back!

Week Two 11Jul 29-Aug 3 Monday El Elyon

Tuesday El OlamWednesday El Shaddai

Thursday YHWHFriday YHWH +

Saturday Pater

Week Three

19

Aug 5-10 Monday God IS!Tuesday God is Spirit

Wednesday God is ONEThursday God is Infinite

Friday God is LifeSaturday God is Light

Week Four 27Aug 12-17 Monday Be holy, as He is.

Tuesday Be just, as He is.Wednesday Be jealous, as He is.

Thursday Be perfect, as He is.Friday Be true, as He is.

Saturday Be love, as He is.

Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;

not one of them does good! –Psalm 14:1 NLT


WEEK ONE

I have to confess that I am making a couple of assumptions about you as we begin … you are not a fool, just ignorant.

I hope that hasn’t turned you off, but consider the truth of this verse.

Since you have decided to do this study, I consider that you are not a fool. You believe that God exists and you really want to know this God. Coming to terms with Him means coming to terms with a basic truth about ourselves … it is our sin that keeps us from God. The fool does not reject God because of intellectual difficulties with the concept of a supreme being. Rather it is because the atheist wants to continue doing all they please, even if what they want to do is ‘sin.’ Each one defines ‘good’ in terms of whether or not something is the right thing to do.

Searching for God means discovering the unvarnished truth about ourselves. Confronting who we are results from considering who God is and what He is like. Encountering and experiencing God and His works demands change as a response. The purpose of searching for God is to change to become like Him. Otherwise this is an exercise in self-condemnation rather than a means of worship.

Lord,I want to know You as You have revealed Yourself to be. Keep me from

relying too much on what others have said about You. Give me first-hand insight and experience with what You have said about Yourself. Guide me to know the truth about who You are and what You have done. I seek this knowledge of You in order to become a person who worships You truly and becomes what You desire for me to be.

Amen


Monday

THE GOD SEARCHWhat do you know about God?

The first lesson about knowing God is that there is an awful lot we don’t know and some things we can know, but never comprehend. Let that sink in for just a minute …

Our ignorance is almost overwhelming. We could sink into despair or we could get started. The best place to begin is to figure out what you know or think you know about God. Then we will begin to compare our ideas with what God has actually revealed about Himself.

As we talk about God, we are going to be using two common terms in a very technical way … attribute and characteristic.

We will reserve the term attribute for those things about God which are essential to His being. For instance, Jesus revealed to the Samaritan woman that God is Spirit (John 4:24). This makes a distinction between who God is compared to statues or artwork depicting Him as someone with a body.

In contrast to those things which define His being, are characteristics which may be true to some degree in others, but find their perfection in Him alone. We are told that God is love (1 John 4:7). Many of God’s creatures, including human beings, exhibit some degree of love towards others. Parents love their offspring, but not to be level of perfection that God does.

Take some time to reflect on what attributes and characteristics you already know to be true of God:

What attributes are essential to God’s being?

What characteristics are true of God as well as others?

[There is a pretty complete list on page 10.]


Tuesday

SHARP EYES, KEEN MINDSWhere do you see God in creation?

To find God, you just have to know where to look and how to look. Our first sourcebook about Him is not the Bible, but the world that He made. The Bible is clear that He is the Creator and we are His creation. What we call Nature is preaching God to every person on this planet.

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Romans 1:20 (NLT)

God’s power is on display in the world around us. We don’t need telescopes or microscopes to be able to understand this idea of infinite power. There is enough evidence in our own backyard and in the night sky to teach us that lesson.

It is also possible to look at the creation and discern that it did not make itself. The Creator must be someone other than the creation itself. There is no force in the universe which could make what we see with the naked eye, much less all that lies in telescope range and beyond.

Why don’t people see this? Who and what we were made to be has been horribly corrupted by sin. We were made in the image of God and it ought to be possible to look at mankind and see the character of his Creator, but it isn’t so easy to do. You might find it easier to discover a four-leaf clover than a person who truly exhibits the characteristics of God.

When mankind became so sinful, God washed all but eight people away and totally changed the world that He had made through the dynamic forces of the Flood (Genesis 6-9). The marvels of creation are still there, but most people miss the Creator.

Today I want you to go looking for God. First in your own backyard. What do you see in your yard that is evidence of God? Look up tonight at the night sky. Do you see the moon and the stars.

What does the amount of energy in the universe indicate about the power of God?

What else do you know about God from what you see, feel, taste, touch, and hear?


Wednesday

CAN YOU TRUST THE BIBLE?How reliable is the Bible as a guide to knowing God?

Some people have given up on the Bible as a means of knowing God. Either it is just too hard to understand or people have told them that the Bible is unreliable. How reliable is it?

The Bible is a collection of works that was written by men over a period of about 1,400 years in two major languages: Hebrew and Greek. These were not just any men, they were men authorized to speak God’s message. Some were prophets and others were chosen apostles. What we have preserved are the things that they spoke and wrote down.

Men have made copies of the works in the Bible through the years … thousands and thousands of handwritten copies. Sometimes they made errors in their copying and sometimes they added things they thought would make the Scripture clearer or more useful. People who work at figuring out what was the original and what was the error or the addition are called textual critics.

The problem is not what has been changed through the years by these men. Our real problem is that more than enough has been preserved to call our whole life into question!

Others have translated the works in the Bible into other languages. These people are called translators. There are hundreds of different translations, some of them from ancient times. About 2,400 years ago, a scribe named Ezra began this work. He read the Hebrew out loud, then he and his men would translate it into the common language that people spoke then … Aramaic.

About a hundred years later some scribes were asked to translate the Law of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy, into Greek. It was so well received that this work continued with the works of the Prophets, the Writings, and even some other works. Those that were in the Hebrew Scriptures were recognized as authoritative and were used by many of the leaders in the early church.

After the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, His apostles began to teach what He taught them. Before they died, they or those closely associated with them began to write what they had been taught in Greek. Later these individual works were collected and arranged into the New Testament.

What the prophets and apostles wrote was inspired by God. He wanted them to write so that you could get to know Him. If we would get to know


Him as He is, we must go beyond nature and read what He said about Himself in the Bible.

Thursday

TOTALLY DIFFERENTHow is God not at all like you?

One difficulty we encounter in knowing God is that in many ways He is not at all like us. We have already mentioned one way … God is Spirit, that is, without a physical body (John 4:24). This means that He is simple … without parts. He ever exists as Spirit without any change in His being.

We have an immaterial part, some call this the soul, heart, spirit, or life force and a material part, our physical body. We are not simple, but compound beings tied to a material world. Our bodies are declining to the point where they will not sustain life. A body without life decays to corruption. This never happens to God.

Another difference between us and God is that He exists eternally of Himself. The child’s question, “Who made God?” reflects the understanding that everyone and everything has a beginning. For the child, that means their mother and father and their own birthday.

Comparing God to ourselves runs into a brick wall … or an uncrossable chasm. How can God not have a beginning? That makes Him totally unlike us or anything we know.

Moses pondered this truth about God in Psalm 90:2,

Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world,

from beginning to end, you are God. Psalm 90:2 (NLT)

His conclusion was that since we die and God does not, it means that we

are dependent upon Him. He is not dependent upon us. If we would be successful in life, He must work on our behalf. God will succeed in His plans with or without us. He is not dependent upon us (Psalm 50:12).

In what ways do you wish that you were more like God? How do you find yourself dependent upon God to act so that you can

be successful in what you need to do?


Friday

FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTHWhat makes Jesus the best guide to knowing God?

We have seen that people are given an introduction to God with every encounter with nature. He has spoken to people through prophets and apostles who wrote the various works of the Bible. But we have also considered that God is so radically different from ourselves as to be somewhat incomprehensible. We really are dependent upon Him, not only for life, but also for our understanding of who He is.

There is an old saying, “Like Father, Like Son.” If you want to know God, you must know the Son, Jesus. He is the fullest

revelation of the character or attributes of God. We need to take Him at His word and base our understanding of the Father from the Son.

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

John 1:18 (NLT)

There is another great truth related to the Son that will help guide us in our search for knowledge about God. The preacher who wrote a letter to the Hebrew Christians said that Jesus is the filter for looking at everything else which has been revealed.

Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.

Hebrews 1:1–3 (NLT)

We need to first of all give as great weight to what Jesus said about God as to what God said through the prophets about Himself. Through Christ we should evaluate everything that others have said about God.

What do you know (or can find out) about God from the words of Jesus?


Saturday

HOLDING YOU BACK!What is your greatest hindrance to knowing God?

Some would describe it as fear. We are indeed to fear God, but that is not what is holding us back from spending time with the Almighty. I have found myself afraid at times to pray and read the Scriptures because of what I might encounter there about God … and about myself. Looking into the mirror of God’s revelation is not pleasant for those whom sin has marred greatly.

Others hold back because of the enormity of the task. Theologians and philosophers refer to this as the immensity of God. Trying to understand all the descriptions of what God is like is huge! One writer lists twenty-five separate attributes, another thirty, and when combined the total is closer to forty-two concepts.

Still others hold back in their study of God because of resentment over past hurts. Maybe it is the idea of an Almighty One who could have stopped some of the bad things that happened to you. Have your experiences made you question whether God is really good?

Maybe you have lived in fear of the wrath of God upon the sins that you find yourself powerless to overcome. You have been the way you are for so long that you have come to identify yourself as a particular type of sinner. As a result, you are not interested in knowing a God who doesn’t accept you as you are!

What is really holding you back from knowing your Creator?

If you started reading and thinking about God and found out that He is the most beautiful, loving, good person you could ever hope to meet, would that make a few weeks study worthwhile?


What are the attributes or characteristics of God? Here is a list of some of the ones given in theology books.

Beauty Blessedness Joy God of Covenants Creator Eternality Freedom Independence Aseity Self-sufficiency Goodness Omnibenevolence Kindness Gentleness Glory Majesty Grace Holiness Ineffability Infinity Invisibility Immanent Immensity Immortality Immutability Jealousy Life Light Longsuffering Love Mercy Omnipresence Omniscience Omnipotent Peace Order Perfection Righteous Just Self-existence Actuality Necessity

Independence Simplicity Spirit Sovereignty Transcendent Trinity Truth Faithful Authentic Unity Will Wisdom Wrath


We will be studying some of these together in the weeks ahead. Just pondering these is a cause for worship. You might want to jot a short definition by them.

Our next week will focus on what God calls Himself, i.e., some of His names.


WEEK TWO

One of the great truths of Scripture is that God knows us by name and in every other way in great detail (John 10:3; Matthew 10:30). We may also know Him by name, even if we cannot know all there is to know about Him.

We commonly refer to Him in English as God. This is the typical translation for the Hebrew elohim or the Greek theos. Sometimes these words are used to describe false deities (gods) as well as the one true God. The first revelation of the deity in the Bible is as God.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - Genesis 1:1 (NIV)

We are going to study three uses of this term this week as we see that God (Elohim) is the most high God, the everlasting God, and almighty God.

Another name we use for God is Lord. This translates two Hebrew words Jehovah or Yahweh (YHWH) and Adonai, and one Greek word, Kyrios.

God revealed Himself to Moses as “I AM” which is an English translation of the four Hebrew letters, YHWH. This name was regarded as sacred by the Jews, so instead of pronouncing it, they would read instead Adonai, which also means ‘Lord.’ In many translations, these two are distinguished by using small caps ‘LORD’ for YHWH and regular size ‘Lord’ when the word Adonai actually occurs.

On Thursday, we will study the revelation of this sacred name, YHWH, and then on Friday consider the words combined with this name to tell us that the Lord is Provider, Healer, Our Banner, Peace, Shepherd, Righteous, and the Lord of the Angelic Hosts.

Finally, we will see that Jesus introduced us to another word for the Lord God, Father. In terms of relationship, this is the highest name one can use because you have to be a child of God to rightly use it.


Monday

El ElyonAre you a priest of the Most High?

In this world, everyone has someone or something that occupies the place of God in their life. For many people on this planet, it is an actual idol to which people pray, light candles or offer incense, and even actual sacrifices and gifts in the hope of gaining favor.

For others it is a material thing which comes to be the source of their confidence as well as the object of their life. Coveting things, whether possessing them or not, is a form of idolatry (Colossians 3:5).

In ancient times, one way of expressing the name of God and distinguishing Him from the idols that others worshipped was to call Him, God Most High. The Hebrew word for God is shortened from Elohim to El, and the Hebrew word Elyon, which refers to that which is ‘higher or upper’ is added. The term Most High used by itself alone refers to God.

Our God is the Most High God. Abraham encountered a priest of the Most High God by the name of Melchi-zedek (Genesis 14). But there is much in the Scripture about the Most High. Look these verses up and jot down what you discover about God:o Genesis 14:19, 22 - ____________________________________________________o Psalm 9:2 - ____________________________________________________________o Psalm 18:13 - _________________________________________________________o Psalm 21:7 - ___________________________________________________________o Psalm 46:4 with 87:5 - _________________________________________________o Psalm 47:2 with 97:9 - _________________________________________________o Psalm 73:11 - __________________________________________________________o Psalm 78:35 with Numbers 24:16 - _____________________________________o Psalm 83:18 - __________________________________________________________o Psalm 91:1,9 - _________________________________________________________o Lamentations 3:38 - ___________________________________________________o Psalm 7:17 - ___________________________________________________________

What song would you like to sing to God Most High?


Tuesday

El OlamHow important is it that we call on God Everlasting?

This description of God combines the shortened form of God, El, and the Hebrew word, Olam. “Though [it] is used more than three hundred times to indicate indefinite continuance into the very distant future, the meaning of the word is not confined to the future. There are at least twenty instances where it clearly refers to the past. Such usages generally point to something that seems long ago, but rarely if ever refer to a limitless past.1.

The theologian Louis Berkhof points out that God’s everlastingness or eternity speaks of his infinity in relation to time. Olam, as ascribed to God, should not be thought of as duration prolonged indefinitely backward and forward. Rather, the word speaks to God’s transcending all temporal limits; in addition, olam refers to the quality of God which differs essentially from time. The Scriptures speak of El Olam in contexts where the believer’s assurance of well-being, security, and hope are presented as prized possessions.2

We first encounter it in Abraham’s worship of God. What can you discover about the circumstances of his life at this time (Genesis 21:22-34)?

How would the worship of God Everlasting comfort his heart at this particular time?

This same term occurs in a similar context in Isaiah 40:27-31. What comfort would contemplating God give Israel during this time?

There is another occurrence of the idea with different terms in Deuteronomy 33:27. How does this give comfort to Israel?

Paul makes use of the name in Romans 16:25-27 using the Greek word that means essentially the same thing. What point is he making?

1 Allan A. Macrae, “1631 עלם,” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 672.

2 Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, 883.


Wednesday

El ShaddaiWill you ponder anew what the Almighty can do?

God revealed Himself as the Almighty God to the Patriarchs: to Abram (Genesis 17), to Isaac (Gen. 28:3), and to Jacob when he renamed him, Israel (Gen. 35:11).

El is the shortened form for God. Shaddai was translated in ancient times by the Jews into Greek as the pantocrator (The Almighty). That this is one of the key concepts about God in ancient times is seen not only in its revelation to the Patriarchs, but also to Job (a contemporary of Abraham) and even to Balaam. The vast majority of occurrences of Shaddai are in Job (31 times).

In theology, this means that there is nothing that God needs to do to accomplish His purpose that is beyond His ability. Sometimes this is encapsulated in sayings or songs like, “God can do anything, but fail.”

What does The Almighty want to do? Discover this by reading the context in these selected passages where this name appears:o Genesis 17:1-2

o Genesis 49:25

o Numbers 24:16-17

o Job 5:17

o Psalm 91:1

o Isaiah 13:6

o Joel 1:15

What emotion does this idea of God as The Almighty produce in you? Why?

Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. - Psalm 115:3 (NIV)


Thursday

YHWHGetting to know THE Name of God

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself fully known to them.

- Exodus 6:3 (NIV)

The three different Hebrew scripts to the left (from the top, Paleo-Hebrew, Aramaic, Modern Square Hebrew) are all ways to write the four-letter name of God, YHWH. Scholars disagree on how to say God’s name because early Jewish scribes refused to pronounce it.

Most commonly in Bibles it is written with small caps (LORD) to distinguish it from the other Hebrew word for Lord (adonai). In English it is commonly pronounced Jehovah or Yahweh, but there is some evidence that the Jews simply referred to it as THE NAME.

God revealed Himself by this name to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3). Moses was concerned that the Israelites would not believe that he had met with God. They might challenge him with, “What is his name?” God then reveals to him this name which is translated “I AM” in Greek and English (Exodus 3:14).

Why is this such an important revelation? It is so important because it reveals a key attribute of God … He IS!

God is not someone that our ancestors made up out of their own imagination and shaped into an idol to communicate what they thought a god might be like. God IS.

Why was it important that the Israelites being mistreated by the Egyptians know that God IS?

What does it mean to you that God is not “made up” or “long ago” in the circumstances you face?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Tetragrammaton_scripts.svg


Friday

YHWH+Compound names hint at characteristics of God.

Just as El Elyon, El Olam, and El Shaddai help us understand certain characteristics about God, so does the combination of THE NAME (YHWH) with other words to form a distinctive name. There are ten of these combination names.

That there is but one God is declared in Deuteronomy 6:4, but also every time THE NAME is combined with the generic word for God Elohim. This first occurs in Genesis 2:4, but goes on in 1,155 verses. When Lord (Adonai) and LORD (YHWH) are combined it adds about 300 more verses which confirm that these are one and the same God!

Read the context in which the following names occur to discern what they tell us about this God who IS:

o Genesis 22:14 (YHWH-Jireh)

o Exodus 15:26 (YHWH-Rapha)

o Exodus 17:15 (YHWH-Nissi)

o Exodus 31:13 (YHWH-Maccaddeshcem

o Judges 6:24 (YHWH-Shalom)

o Psalm 23:1 (YHWH-Raah)

o Psalm 24:10 (YHWH-Sabaoth)

o Jeremiah 23:6 (YHWH-Tsidkenu)

o Ezekiel 48:35 (YHWH-Shammah)

Which of these names of God speak to you most right now in your situation?


Saturday

PATERThe BEST thing to call God

Jesus taught us to pray to God as Father,

“This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

- Matthew 6:9–13 (NIV)

In doing this, our Lord was not breaking new ground, merely correcting a misconception that people had about God. He is not merely God Most High, The Almighty, but those who are His children can call Him, Father.o Deuteronomy 32:6

o Psalm 103:13

o Isaiah 63:16

God’s people, Israel, were in a Father-Son relationship with their Creator (Hosea 11:1). The descendants of David who would sit upon the throne of God’s kingdom were in this special relationship with God (Psalm 2:7).

Why didn’t the people of Israel pray to God as Father (Jeremiah 3:19)?

What is the great privilege of every child of God (Romans 8:15)?

His Father was one of Jesus’ favorite subjects as you can see from these verses (Matthew 5:16, 45, 48: 6:1-15, 18, 26, 32; 7:11, 21; 10:20, 29, 32-33; 11:25-27; 12:50; 13:43; 15:13; 16:17, 27; 18:10, 14, 19, 35; 20:23; 23:9; 24:36; 25:34; 26:39, 42, 53; 28:19).

When you pray, try starting out your prayer, “Father.” It will help remind you of your relationship as a child of God. Are you sure that you are a child of God?


A Word About God as Lord

We mentioned in our study that the name of God is YHWH and that it is often translated with capital letter, LORD. The other Hebrew word which means Lord is Adonai. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible used Kyrios for both these words in the Greek. It even translates Elohim fifty-two times.

It seems that “Lord” is the most common name used for God. It occurs in 7,524 verses, but not always referring to God!

Κύριος refers to a “master, owner, or lord,” a person who has control or mastery over someone or something, with the power to dispose.3

This word is used of people who have authority over things and even other people. For instance, the owner of a house, vineyard, or field was referred to as “lord.” If he owned slaves or had underage children, for them he was their ‘lord.’ This even applied to political figures who were due respect because of the position of authority they held.

Is this what we mean when we call God, “Lord”? Do we recognize that we belong to Him, that He is our Owner and has the right to use us (to dispose) as He sees fit?

3 Horst Robert Balz and Gerhard Schneider, Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament, 329.


WEEK THREE

There are some statements in the Bible designed to tell us what “God is.” By examining these statements we are exploring the essence of His being. There is something about these six that puts the Lord God in a totally different league from human beings. In other words, He is, but we are not.

This week we will think about six of these statements:1. God IS (Exodus 6:3; Hebrews 11:6)2. God is Spirit (John 4:24)3. God is ONE … unity (Deuteronomy 6:4)4. God is Infinite (1 Kings 8:27)5. God is Life … self-existent (John 17:3)6. God is Light (1 John 1:5)

Because God is so different from us in these qualities, we must humbly approach this study recognizing that while we can contemplate these truths, we are very limited in our understanding of them.

Father,I have life because of You. I believe that life is wrapped up in you. Show

me your essence with all its wonders. You have given me Your Word and Your Spirit to guide me into the knowledge of You. Let me see You as You truly are that I may live life now as a child of God.

Amen (Let It Be So)


Monday

God IS!Be still, and know that I am God.

The first “is” statement about God is that “God IS!” If we are going to know God, then we must get across the first threshold of the mind … We must believe that God is and can be known.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

Do you remember a time when God became more than a word to you?For Moses, like many people, God was an abstract concept. He knew that

his ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel had had encounters with God, but not him. All that changed on a rocky mountain in front of a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6). For Job, centuries before, it came after personal tragedy in which he lost his great wealth and all his children in one day (Job 42:5). For Isaiah, it was at the beginning of his ministry (Isaiah 6:1-4).

Interestingly they all had the same response to God showing up … Moses covered his face (Ex. 3:6), Job repented in dust and ashes (Job 42:6), and Isaiah had a feeling of impending doom (Is. 6:5).

Getting to know the God who really is … is … well, humbling. We should not think that getting to know Him will make us wealthy in the worldly way. It is not impossible to be rich and right with God, but it is much harder (Matthew 19:23).

The reward that Hebrews speaks of is not material, it is spiritual. When we believe that God is, the reward we seek above all else is the knowledge of Him whom to know is life everlasting.

Someone commented to Chet Atkins after a great guitar solo, “I would give my life to be able to play like that.” He replied, “Well, that is what it cost me!”

What would you give to be rewarded with the knowledge of God?

What would you consider too high a price to pay?


Tuesday

God is SpiritJesus came to reveal the Father to us.

We believe that God is and so we seek Him. One of the most amazing truths about God is that He is seeking people to worship Him, but not just any kind of people.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24 (ESV)

What kind of worshippers is God seeking?

Because we are spirits inhabiting a physical body, we like to recreate God in our image. Idolatry has been one expression of that attitude (Exodus 20:4). People relate well to divinity that has some body attached to it … whether that body is made of wood, stone, or metal.

The Samaritans were not idolaters, but they had fallen prey to error in regards to God as well. What was their error (Exodus 4:20)?

Jesus corrected her misunderstanding by pointing out that it was not enough to worship the Father in spirit … truth was also important. People, then and now, want a God who fits their history and culture. But God is real and has to be accepted as He is.

What does it mean that God is Spirit?

He has not revealed Himself to be material. From time to time he took upon Himself a physical form (Genesis 18:1-2, 22), but this is not the essence of His being. We should not allow ourselves to think of God as being a part of the physical universe. He is real, but His substance is spiritual, not material.

The closest material thing we have to God is air. Jesus used this analogy to describe the Holy Spirit (John 3:8). We can’t see the wind, but we see the effect it has on trees so we know it is there. God is spirit (and therefore invisible), but we see His effects.


Wednesday

God is ONEHe has no parts.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV)

This verse lays the foundation for the faith … the LORD is totally unique. Upon this basis all the monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are based. The observant Jew recites this verse, The Shema, twice daily. There is no other being who is God.

The verse begins with the verb hear (shema) from which this verse gets its nickname, The Shema. To hear God means to obey Him. Those who hear without obeying cannot truly be said to listen.

Which of God’s teachings do you have the hardest time obeying?

At the time Moses taught this truth to the second generation after the Exodus, monotheism was a revolutionary thought. The Egyptians worshipped multiple gods who were believed to rule over certain aspects of their life, but not every aspect. The same was true of the Canaanite tribes who each served many gods.

Their idols were seen as being in conflict with one another, but not so the God of Israel. He is totally consistent within Himself being one. He has a single purpose for history that He is working out with those who are in covenant relationship with Him … as Israel was.

The Bible presents this one God as a tri-unity. This is hinted at in the Hebrew scriptures where the plural Elohim (God) is used. Also there are passages such as Psalm 110:1 which indicate a conversation within the Trinity. The New Testament is built upon this doctrine which is seen in the baptism of Jesus (Mt. 3:16-17), as well as the introductions to all of Paul’s letters.

Ryrie quotes Warfield’s definition of the Trinity: “… there is one only and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three eternal and co-equal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence.”


Thursday

God is InfiniteHe is without beginning, end, or limits.

By infinity we mean, not that the divine nature has no known limits or bounds, but that it has no limits or bounds.

– Augustus Strong, Systematic Theology, 254

To define infinite we must use a negative, no end, no limits, not bound. Dr. Ryrie in A Survey of Bible Doctrine states,

Since there is nothing in our human natures which corresponds to infinity (only the opposite, finitude), it is difficult, if not impossible, for us to comprehend the term. Indeed, most dictionaries resort to defining it by negatives—without termination or without finitude. Eternity is usually defined as infinity related to time.Does the Bible teach that God has no limits? Examine the following verses

to see if they confirm this concept of God:Genesis 21:33 – 1 Kings 8:27 – Psalm 139:7-12 – Psalm 145:3 – Psalm 147:5 – Isaiah 40:28 – Jeremiah 32:15-17 – A god with limits would not be perfect for such a being would have

imperfect knowledge, power, location, and the characteristics of being. God has revealed Himself as the Eternal, the Limitless.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

- Romans 11:33–36 (NIV)


Friday

God is LifeDo you want to really live?

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

John 17:3 (NIV)

“Who made God?” For many the answer that He has always existed just doesn’t seem satisfying. The Bible presents God as life (Jeremiah 10:10; John 5:26). Theologians sometimes describe this as the aseity or self-existence of God. J.I. Packer, Concise Theology explains,

… God does not have it in him to go out of existence, just as we do not have it in us to live forever. We necessarily age and die, because it is our present nature to do that; God necessarily continues forever unchanged, because it is his eternal nature to do that. This is one of many contrasts between creature and Creator.This is one of the key ideas in God’s self-revelation, “I AM that I AM”

(Exodus 3:14). Self-existence means life within Himself. We serve the living God, not idols (Acts 14:15).

Sometimes we don’t realize that God is not dependent upon us (Acts 17:25). Unlike the statues that men worship and serve, the one true God does not need us to give or serve Him. Instead we need to understand that He is the One who gifts us with everything we have including our temporal life. Our worship is not to ‘take care of’ God, but simply a response to the God who has done everything for us. He did not create things and people because he was lonely and needed anything.

Jesus makes it clear that the content of eternal life is knowing God (John 17:3). God’s ways are the way of life (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). This is true not only now, but also in our hope of the resurrection (John 5:21).

What has your study of God taught you about how to live life?


Saturday

God is LightDo you walk better in the light or in the darkness?

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

1 John 1:5 (NIV)

What is the most important light you have in your house? This question was posed by a writer decades ago who made a good argument that it was the “night light” that kept you from breaking your neck when you got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom! We don’t walk well in the darkness. We stumble and fall pretty well. It is easy to get tripped up, but walking is very difficult in the dark.

In the Bible, walk is an analogy to living life. We don’t live in the darkness, we stumble along existence if we stay in darkness. Life only becomes possible when we are in the light … and as long as we stay in the light.

God is light, pure light! It is an attribute of His essence. Consider what these verses in John’s writing tell us about the light of God.

John 1:1-4 –

John 1:9 –

God is the true light who is the Source of life for all of us. Without Light, life is impossible for us. Isn’t it strange that we try sometimes to live in darkness? Darkness is the opposite of light & life. How does John identify darkness?

1 John 1:6, 8 –1 Timothy 6:15-16 –

The Bible declares that God is light; however, by this it does not mean that God is physical light, since God is pure spirit light (John 4:24). God made physical light (Genesis 1:3; Isaiah 45:7), so He must be beyond it in the same way in which He made matter (Genesis 1:1) but is Himself not material. (Geisler, Systematic Theology, 2:224).

We know that God is light and that light is the life of men, but are we walking in the light as He is in the light?


Other Voices Leading Us to Worship

The goal of all our seeking and all our worship and all our endeavour should not be to have a particular experience; it should not be to petition certain blessings; it should be to know God Himself—the Giver not the gift, the source and the fount of every blessing, not the blessing itself.

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones

God is … greater than we can grasp. Theology states this by describing him as incomprehensible—not in the sense that logic is somehow different for him from what it is for us, so that we cannot follow the workings of his mind at all, but in the sense that we can never understand him fully, just because he is infinite and we are finite. Scripture pictures God as dwelling not only in thick and impenetrable darkness but also in unapproachable light (Ps. 97:2; 1 Tim. 6:16), and both images express the same thought: our Creator is above us, and it is beyond our power to take his measure in any way.

This is sometimes expressed by speaking of the mystery of God, using that word not in the biblical sense of a secret that God has now revealed (Dan. 2:29–30; Eph. 3:2–6) but in the more recently developed sense of a reality that we lack the capacity to understand properly, no matter how much is said about it. God tells us in the Bible that creation, providential government, the Trinity, the Incarnation, the regenerating work of the Spirit, union with Christ in his death and resurrection, and the inspiration of Scripture—to go no further—are facts, and we take his word for it that they are; but we believe that they are without knowing how they can be. As creatures, we are unable fully to comprehend either the being or the actions of the Creator.

- J.I. Packer


WEEK FOUR

Slapped in the FaceI want to warn you about this week’s study … it is a slap in the face! How

could it be less?Last week, we looked at ways we could not possibly be like God. He is in

His being totally unlike us in so many ways. We could never be as He is no matter how we aspired to do so. Either you are an eternal, self-existing being or you are a created being. Nothing will change that.

This week, however, we study those characteristics of God that He expects us to have and develop. Sometimes these are called communicable because unlike being purely spirit, which we can never be, God can “infect” us with these.

As believers, we are to be holy, just, zealous, perfect, true, and loving just as these things are true of God.

Father, We come to ask You a great favor … make us like Yourself in every way

possible. Help us to see that what is impossible for us is possible with You. Your qualities are so much higher than anything we have yet been able to attain in all of our history, but we believe that You can change our hearts to beat with the things that move Your heart. It is the power of Your Spirit living in us that gives us hope and lights our way to walk alongside of You.

Amen.


Monday

HolyAre you separated to God?

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written:

“Be holy, because I am holy.”1 Peter 1:15–16 (NIV)

What does it mean to be holy? To understand this, we must recognize that God teaches this in the Law. Things were in one of three states: unclean, clean, or holy. That which is clean can be dedicated to holy service. Once it is given to God, it is always for God … it is sacred. How does Numbers 16:38 show us this idea?

When something has become holy it is no longer to be used for common (or profane) purposes. What does this tell us about our call to be holy?

The way to holiness is to see God’s holiness. Notice how seeing the Holy One effected these people:

Exodus 3:5-6 –

Isaiah 6:1-5 –

What is the holiness of God? He does what is right. He is the Holy One of Israel (Psalm 22:3), the Holy God (Isaiah 5:16), whom Jesus calls Holy Father (John 17:11).

Habakkuk 1:12-13 -

Isaiah 5:16-

How are we to be holy? There are several things which are mentioned in 1 Peter 1 that will help us. First, we should set our mind on what Jesus is bringing with Him at His coming (1:13). Second, we should not do the evil that we used to do (1:14). Third, we should live in reverent fear (1:17).

What would have to change in your life to make God’s holiness a reality?


Tuesday

JustAre you doing right? God is!

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:25–26 (NIV)

We use two English word families to translate the word used here for this quality of God: just with justice, justification, justified, and right with righteous and righteousness. It also conveys in certain contexts the idea of acquittal and guilt because essentially it is a legal term.

What do you think it means to be just?

In our laws, our standard of justice is written in our laws which are admittedly imperfect because we are imperfect. God’s standard is based on that which is perfectly righteous because He is perfectly righteous.

When God does something that seems ‘unjust’ it really stands out because it is so out of character. Look at these examples:

Genesis 18:25 – Psalm 35:17 – Habakkuk 1:13 –

The same accusation that the prophet made comes out of the apparent delay in God’s actions. For millennia, God was being accused of unrighteousness because He did not punish the sins of man as He had declared (Genesis 2:16-17; Ezekiel 18:20).

On the cross, God answered the question of delayed justice demonstrating that He is just. In doing this, He also made it right for Him to justify us when we merely believe.


Wednesday

Jealous or Zealous?Do you have a zeal for God?

“You shall not make for yourself an image …. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, …

- God, Exodus 20:4–5 (NIV)

Isn’t it a bad thing to be jealous? It depends upon the cause. If your spouse was having an affair wouldn’t you have a right to be jealous? In fact, we would consider it abnormal if you weren’t!

In the Bible, jealousy is one of the things God says characterizes Him (Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; 5:9; 6:15; 29:20; Joshua 24:19). Zeal for the Lord is also commended (Numbers 25:13; 2 Kings 10:16). It is one of the things predicted of the Lord Jesus (Psalm 69:9; John 2:17).

But jealousy without cause is a bad thing (Numbers 5:11-31; Romans 10:2). What are the things for which we should be zealous?

John 2:13-17 –

Romans 12:11 –

2 Corinthians 9:2 –

2 Corinthians 11:2 –

Galatians 4:18 –

It is a terrible thing to nothing or no one that you care for enough to be jealous or to have the zeal to make things right. Most importantly, we should have a holy zeal that God might be presented clearly to this world as He really is and not in any way that is false or gives people the wrong idea about Him.


Thursday

PerfectAre you pressing on?

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 (NIV)

What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a question we usually ask of children in their elementary years. There is a recognition that they are growing up and will one day be mature. As children of God, we are also in the process of growing up.

The word translated perfect, teleios, has the idea of reaching a desired end. When we are fully mature, perfect, what will we be like?

We should be like our heavenly Father. That is the point of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:48. We are to aspire to reach the end to which we are appointed in life, namely, to be like God in our dealings with others, rather than to accept lesser standards (Matthew 5:43, 47).

What is involved in being like God in our dealings with others? Consider the impact of Jesus’ teaching on your understanding of this challenge:

Matthew 5:24 –

Matthew 5:28 –

Matthew 5:32 –

Matthew 5:37 –

Matthew 5:41 –

Matthew 5:44 –

Do you aspire to God’s standard of perfection or have you settled for the world’s standards?


Friday

TrueAre We Reliable as God Is?

God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Numbers 23:19 (NIV)

It was the Roman governor, Pilate, who made the boneheaded play of all time when he asked Jesus a question and didn’t wait around for the answer, “What is truth?” In fact, he had already rejected the answer (John 18:37-38).

Many today have given up all hope of finding the answer to that question. As children of God, we are in the world to serve as living beacons to the God who is true! He does not lie!

What do these verses contribute to helping us develop in the truth:John 1:14 –

John 3:33 –

Proverbs 14:5 –

John 16:13 –

Proverbs 30:5-6 –

John 17:17 –

Galatians 2:14 –

Romans 1:18, 25 –

Ephesians 4:15 –

Philippians 4:8 –


Saturday

LoveHow Do We Love as God Loves?

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

1 John 4:16 (NIV)

The love and goodness of God are twin concepts. Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones observes,

… In the Scriptures these two words are more or less interchangeable … the goodness of God is that perfection of God which prompts Him to deal bounteously and in a kindly way with all His creatures. ‘Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God,” says Paul (Rom. 11:22). ‘The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Ps. 145:9)….

God’s love is that attribute in God by which He is eternally moved to communicate Himself to others. The Scriptures make it quite clear that the love of God is something that communicates itself; God is eternal, and God is eternal love.

Jesus taught the fullest expression of the love of God in The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Notice how this works out in practical life:

Matthew 5:16 with John 5:19 – Matthew 5:43-44 – Luke 10:27 with Romans 13:8-10 –

John 15:9-12 –

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 –

2 Corinthians 8:7-8 –

The ultimate expression of love is when Christ gave Himself to die in our place on the Cross. No sacrifice that God could ask of us will surpass that love, but we may be called upon to give equally.


We have thought this week about six qualities that are certainly true of God and which He has commanded to be true in us. This is both frightening, because we are to be held accountable to His standards not our own (Romans 2:5-11), and also exciting because God has willed this (Romans 8:29).

Ask yourself this question, “What is the next step for me to take to become more like God in each of these six character traits?” Your answer will be personal because each of us is at different point in our journey with the Lord and we each face different, if similar, challenges in applying what God has put in us through His Spirit to our life’s situations.

To be holy as God is holy, I need this week to prayerfully ________________ __________________________ as I am instructed to do in ___________________.

To be just as God is just, I need this week to come up to His standard of righteousness by __________________________ as I am instructed to do in ___________________.

To be zealous for God’s holiness, I need this week to witness to God’s quality of _____________ by speaking of this quality as I study _______________ where this is clearly explained.

To be perfect in my treatment of others, I need this week to imitate God by ____________________for _____________ as it teaches in __________________.

To be true as God is true, I need to be faithful this week to ______________ _________________________ just as the Bible says in __________________.

To love as God loves, I need to act in goodness toward __________________ by doing ______________ for them as it teaches in __________________.

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