GOD IS

This year at Jackson/Smith County Youth camp we studied “Eternal Truths for Troubled Times. Those lessons consisted of God Is…Jesus Is… The Bible Is… The Church Is… and finally Righteousness Is. I want to do a series of lessons on these subjects beginning this morning.

God Is… What does that mean? What do you know about God? God is greater than our wildest imagination. He is infinite, we are finite. Our knowledge is limited to the temporary physical world. His knowledge transcends both time and space.

Thousands of “gods” fashioned by human hands testify to man’s inability to know the one truly living God w/o divine assistance. Bro. Chinni kept talking about the “one true living God.” The Lord has revealed himself in multiple ways (Heb. 1:1,2). “In the beginning” the Lord spoke directly to man. As time passed, He revealed Himself through dreams, vision, and prophets. In these last days, He speaks through His Son who had the will of God committed to the printed page by direct inspiration of the H/S.

Although God can’t be experienced through our five senses, there is abundant evidence to convince the unbiased mind that God does exist. It is your responsibility to seek out and find God (Acts 17:26ff). The Hebrew writer stated that we must “believe that He is…” (Heb. 11:6)

I) What God said about himself.

A) We read in book of Exodus (Exodus. 3:13). What is His name???

1) God told Moses (Exodus. 3:14, 15)

2) When God told Moses, he was telling him more than just a simple name like David or Solomon.

3) God was telling Moses (and us) something very important about self.

4) God was saying, “I am here, I have always been here, I will be here forever.”

5) God is eternal.

B) YHVH…(in Hebrew language) means “to be”

1) That is the name God told to Moses

2) Most pronounce it Jehovah or Yaweh, but we really do not know how they pronounced it in those days.

3) The Hebrew people quit using the word a long time ago.

4) Those four letters, YHVH are translated “I AM “in English.

5) To know that God is eternal gives us confidence that He is always there for us whenever we need Him and He is not going away.

6) He will take care of us through everything that happens in our lives—and after we die we can live with Him eternally.

II) The Attributes of God.

A) God has all knowledge (He is Omniscient).

1) Omniscient means (omni “all” and scientia “knowledge.” Thus, all knowing.

2) He can look into the heart (I Sam.16:7) and knows the thoughts of every mind (I Kgs 8:39).

3) He knows the intricate details of each body (Psa. 103:14) and the “ways” of every life is always open before Him (Psa. 119:168).

4) In addition to knowing what is, the Lord knows what is yet to come! He knows past, present and future. (Isaiah 46:9,10)

B) God has all power (He is omnipotent).

1) The God of many is too small. Unable to understand how God can do what He does, they assume He cannot!

2) God has the power to create (Gen. 1) and the power to destroy (II Peter 3)

3) God can do anything that harmonizes with His nature because He possesses the knowledge and power to do so.

C) God is ever present (omnipresent)(everywhere).

1) Psalm 139:7-8

2) We have to accept this by faith because we cannot understand or grasp this divine quality.

3) What a joy to know our Father is wherever we are (Heb. 13:5,6)

D) God is love (I John 4:8, 16)

E) God is perfect (Matt. 5:48)

F) God is holy (Psalm 99:9)

G) God is faithful (I Thess. 5:24).

H) God is impartial (Acts 10:34).

I) God is righteous (I John3:7).

J) God cares about each of us (I Peter 5:7).

K) The list could go on and on…

III) Some Things God did.

A) The story of Job helps us to understand the power and knowledge of God.

1) Job is probably the oldest book in the Bible. He lived during the time of the patriarchs.

2) Job lost all his riches and wealth; he lost his children and his health because Satan had taken them.

3) Job’s friend came to comfort him, but they thought he had sinned very badly for all this to have happened to him. They thought God was punishing Job.

4) Job had pleaded with God to be able to present his case to Him and have God explain Himself to Job.

5) Finally, in Job 38, God speaks to Job.

(a) 38:1-5

(b) 38:`16-18

(d) Over and over God asked Job questions, which Job could not answer through the remainder of this chapter through chapter 41.

6) God was reminding Job that He created the world and al the wonders and majesty of it

7) God is all-powerful, all knowing, and all present.

8) God has a purpose for everything He does and everything he created.

9) No matter how small or insignificant you may feel, God has a purpose for your life.

10) God does not make mistakes; therefore you are important to God.

IV) Look at how others described God.

A) David said God knows me. (Psalm 139:1-4)

B) Jesus stated…Matthew 10:29,30

C) Solomon said, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” (Prov. 15:3).

D) God knows all His creation and is always aware of where everyone is and what each one is doing.

1) God knows every person by name.

2) He knows you and He loves you and he has a plan for your life.

3) That ought to make us stop and consider how we are living our lives each day as we go about.

4) We should walk each step in faith, trying to please our Heavenly Father.

E) Jesus said…

1) John 14:7-11.

2) If we want to understand more about God, then we can study Jesus’ life.

F) I John 3:1,2

G) God knows us, He understands us, He watches over us, He loves us, He is willing to forgive us.

Con: God Is…. There is so much more that could be said about this subject. God’s judgment will be determined by His nature; i.e. His justice, fairness, holiness, etc. For those who have lived during the Christian era, Judgment shall be based on the words of Christ (John 12:48). Because God is good, people will be given an opportunity to stand before their Judge. Will you be ready for that time to come?

[Based on Material written for Jackson/Smith County Youth Camp by John Mabery]