Who is GOD? 10.29.

14
-Go through What is the Gospel? Chapter 2 list various incorrect assumptions about who
God is
Its crucial that we have a right understanding of GOD, who He is, and who we are in relation to
Him before we can properly understand the gospel. If we misunderstand GOD, then we dont
know the gospel to begin with, and we cant call ourselves Christians (or Christ followers), since
Christ is GOD.
-Assumption: That Scripture is inerrant, breathed by God (Scripture)
So, how should we view God?
-Atheists: dont believe in God altogether
-Christians:
-Just doing His own thing
-Doesnt interact with humans much distant, up in the clouds somewhere
-Only loving, doesnt care about sin
-Ex. 4:7 Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. (NIV) But who
will by no means clear the guilty (ESV)
-God as the divine therapist, only here to help
-Much more than that:
-God is our MAKER: Psalm 139:13-16 (For you formed my
inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I
praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful
are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not
hidden from you,when I was being made in secret,intricately
woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed
substance;in your book were written, every one of them, the days
that were formed for me,when as yet there was none of them.
ESV)
-God is the CREATOR and SUSTAINER of all things
-Genesis 9:6: For God made man in His own image. 1 Cor.
11:7: man is the image and glory of God. > it is clear that
God holds a special place in His heart for men; we are
distinguished from the rest of His creation, from the plants and the
animals
-He gets angered easily
-Hes old
-We think of Him in human terms; visible, with a body, with a beard,
etc.
-Everlasting, lives forever,
-We think of Him in human terms: He can be wrong, He can break His
promises towards us, He can get angry without a good reason to, He can be
impatient, He can be selfish, we can fool Him
-He doesnt really care about our needs or hear us when we pray; even when
He does answer our prayer, He gives begrudgingly or only if it benefits Him

-He wants our best

-GOD is jealous for HIS glory, not ours
-We are built up and profited so ultimately, the final purpose, is
this: that ALL the glory will be directed to GOD. This means all
that we do, we do for GOD. Whether we work, or go to school, or serve
people in the community: we take none of the credit. This seems a bit
radical, doesnt it? Well, Christ didnt die on the cross to let us live an easy
life. Christs call is the most radical out of all the religions we see today:
He calls us to come and DIE. What he means is to die to ourselves. This
means dying to all of our desires to bring glory to ourselves, so that we
may actually be able to bring glory to GOD. If we continue worshipping
ourselves, well never be able to worship GOD. We all live to worship
something for most of us, its our reputation. Christ crucified Himself
(describe crucifixion here) so we could be dead to SIN, namely so we
could be dead to trespassing against the very GOD of the Bible when we
continue to crown ourselves as GOD over our own lives. As Christians,
what influences the choices we make? Is it our own desires, wants, or
needs? Or is it us being rooted in doing what we know God desires from
us? from whom we deserve punishment. So: Christ died for our sins. If we
are dead to sin, then what are we alive to? We are alive to NOT sinning,
namely following Christ. We are now alive only BECAUSE of Him.
Simply because Christ died for sin, does not mean that we are allows to
continue sinning. In fact, by doing that, we are RECRUCIFYING Christ.
(Romans) Even the very thing we believe that saves us: Christ dying for
sin, that is the GOSPEL; Christ ultimately died so that GOD would be
given glory. He puts us in right standing with GOD to bring GOD glory,
not to bring us glory!! We do not become Christians because we want to
benefit ourselves; this is not Christianity. This is idolatry; at the end of the
day, we are still worshipping ourselves.
Definition of glory in Merriam Webster dictionary: something
that brings praise or fame to someone or something -> we do not often
see God as receiving fame, but Scripture tells us that when the world ends,
every nation will BOW before God and acknowledge that He is the only
true and living GOD. This is different from all the other gods that
people claim to worship, who are not alive.
God is to be FEARED: Matthew 5:28-29: And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
-so, why dont we fear God? we have lost sensitivity to this
-Turn to Genesis 3
Jeremiah 29:11
Hebrews 13:8
Sparrows
Great high priest

God is to be OBEYED:
1 Peter 3
God calls HIS people to Himself: He is a jealous God who wants to restore people to right
relationship with Him, how they SHOULD be
-What about other gods?
-Scripture:
character of God verses