WHO IS GOD?

1. God Is Revealed in Creation (Genesis 1:1-2; Psalms 19:1-4; 139:7-10, 14; Isaiah 40:12-14; Romans 1:18-20) 

2. Judge of Right and Wrong (Romans 2:12-16; Ephesians 4:17-24; 1 Peter 1:13-16) 

3. Personally Involved Creator (Acts 17:16-34; Hebrews 11:6) 

Central Truth: Because God is Creator, every person is morally responsible to Him. 

Focus: Analyze Scriptural teachings regarding the nature of God, and proclaim Him as Creator and supreme moral authority. 

Evangelism Emphasis: Because God is Creator, every person is morally responsible to Him. 

Text: “Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). 

INTRODUCTION 

Who is God, what is He doing, and how are we involved? Those are three critical questions that must be answered by anyone who desires to be a faithful Christian disciple. How authentic Christianity responds to those questions is what sets it apart from all other religious and philosophical systems in the world. 

The focus of this lesson is largely on the first question, although the other two are always in view. Who is God? More specifically, what kind of being is God? Is God moral? Is God personal? What is the relationship between God and the created order? What can we actually know about God? And how are we to live in light of these things? 

Thankfully, God has chosen to make Himself known to us. He has revealed Himself and His attributes in a variety of ways. If we are to be faithful Christians, we must avail ourselves of all the means God has made Himself known to us in order to deepen our relationship with Him. This is a lifelong task. 

Despite the amount of time we spend in study and reflection on who God is, we will always find ourselves facing a mystery. But this mystery is not meant to be solved. It is a mystery that should lead us to worship our God of whom it is said, “The heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee” (1 Kings 8:27), yet who chooses to be mindful of us. If your study results in a greater sense of awe about His majesty and goodness, chances are you are on the right track. 

I. GOD IS REVEALED IN CREATION 

A. God Is Above and Beyond His Creation (Genesis 1:1-2) 

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 

“In the beginning God” is the premise for everything that will follow in Scripture. The existence of everything is preceded by the presence of God. Before Creation, God is present. 

The first thing God does is separate light from darkness, calling the light “Day” and the darkness “Night” (Gen. 1:3-5). Thus began linear time. God’s creation lives an existence marked by the passing of hours, days, and years. We have no concept of any other way of being. But God exists in eternity (outside of linear time). 

God did not create because He needed something; He needs nothing outside of Himself. He willingly created out of the overflow of the love experienced among the persons of the Holy Trinity. But even after the events recorded in Genesis 1 and 2, we must still understand that God exists outside and apart from His creation. This is what we mean when we say God is transcendent. 

This is an important point we must lock in to our thinking about God so we can avoid the error of pantheism. Pantheism is a view that reduces God to being part of the created order. But God is not part of or one with His creation. He is wholly “other than” His creation. Furthermore, creation does not “seep” or “leak out” of God in any fashion. On the contrary, God brought creation into being out of nothing (ex nihilo) merely by His powerful word. Therefore, it is unbiblical to refer to any part of the created order as divine. Creation is finite; God is eternal. Without God there is no creation. On the other hand, God without creation is still God. Creation exists in time. But before time began, God is “I Am”; and after time ends, God still is “I Am” (see Ex. 3:14). 

The idea of God’s transcendence means we cannot completely fathom God in His essence. We cannot think His thoughts. We do not have His perspective. His knowledge is beyond our comprehension. Truly, in every way, He is God and we are not. 

B. God Is Near and With His Creation (Psalms 19:1-4; 139:7-10, 14) 

19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun. 

139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 

We have already established a clear distinction between the essence of God and the created order. From this we know God is “other than” His creation in every way. Yet, Scripture also tells us He is actively involved in and with His creation at all times and in all places. It is important that we understand this to protect against the error of deism. Deism views God as One who created the world and then stepped away from it to allow it to function without Him. This has been likened to how a watchmaker might construct a watch, wind it up, then leave it behind to run on its own. This view incorrectly implies God is completely separated from and uninvolved with the world. 

When we look at the heavens (the sky above us), we see God’s handiwork (Ps. 19:1). The NASB translates verse 3 as, “There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard.” In other words, all of creation speaks without words, giving us a sense of the presence and power of the Creator. This “speech without words” is conveyed throughout the earth (v. 4). This is referred to as natural revelation. 

Scripture further reveals creation itself is not what is speaking to the heart of humans; it is the work of God’s Spirit using creation as a means to communicate God’s presence to all who will attend to His voice. The Spirit himself is God, so it is impossible for one to find a place where His presence can be avoided (139:7). He is everywhere at all times (omnipresent). 

Scripture also reveals God as personal. Another way of expressing this is to say God is “relational.” He is not an impersonal force. On the contrary, in the Creation account we see He engaged in relationship with Adam and Eve from the beginning, entrusting to them the care of the Garden of Eden. God continues to be mindful of humankind and works among us by the Holy Spirit. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). 

The psalmist said the Spirit of God is present “if I go up to heaven” or “if I go down to the grave” (139:8 NLT). No matter where we find ourselves, the Spirit is always ready to lead us and protect us (v. 10). God is worthy of worship because of His marvelous works (v. 14). God’s activity in and with His creation is called His immanence—He is “sustaining and preserving creation generally and more particularly, energizing the wills and souls of the believers” (Van A. Harven). 

Flawless Management 

God manages perfectly, day and night, year in and year out, the movements of the stars, the wheeling of the planets, the staggering coordination of events that goes on at the molecular level in order to hold things together. There is no doubt that He can manage the timing of my days and weeks.—Elisabeth Elliott 

C. God Is Judge of His Creation (Isaiah 40:12-14; Romans 1:18-20) 

Isaiah 40:13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. 

A proper understanding of God’s transcendence and immanence help us to understand how and why God is the only rightful judge of His creation. He did not need the counsel of others as He shaped creation according to His perfect will and plan (Isa. 40:12-13). In the same way, He needs no one to guide Him to a greater knowledge of what is just and true (v. 14).   

Everything God created, He declared to be “very good” (Gen. 1:31). This means all things were in right relationship with God and with all other things. God gave Adam and Eve free will to choose how to conduct their own lives, but He desired for them to rely on Him to guide them into all truth. Thus, they were instructed to avoid eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The temptation of the serpent toward Eve was to eat of that tree so they would “be like God, knowing good and evil” (3:5 NKJV). In effect, by eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were making a declaration of their independence from God’s righteousness. Instead, they would determine for themselves what they should and should not do. 

By their choice to sin, Adam and Eve “suppress[ed] the truth in unrighteousness,” using the language of Romans 1:18 (NASB). The choice to live our lives based on our own understanding of truth and righteousness is at the heart of what we mean by the term “sin nature.” Sin is a choice to reject God’s loving presence in our lives, which cuts us off from the source of life and truth. Not only is this saying we do not need God to tell us how to live, we are calling into question His inherent goodness and justice. In doing so, our affections are distorted, and our life becomes self-centered rather than God-centered. The results are disastrous and not in keeping with God’s original intent in creation. 

In verses 19 and 20, we are told God has not kept to Himself the knowledge of what is right and true. He has actively revealed it to all humankind from the dawn of Creation. Before a single word was written on a page, God was at work revealing Himself to us. He holds us responsible for the light of revelation we have received from Him. 

• Why are all people “without excuse” (Rom. 1:20)? 

2. JUDGE OF RIGHT AND WRONG 

A. All Humanity Must Face God as Judge (Romans 2:12-16) 

12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. 

16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. 

Biblically speaking, there are only two groups of people in the world—Jews and Gentiles. Jews were given the Law to guide them in what it meant to be God’s special people. Gentiles did not have the benefit of the revelation provided by the Law, but they were the recipients of the revelation God provided to all humankind in creation. 

In this passage in Romans, Paul groups Jews and Gentiles together concerning the issue of God’s judgment. No one is excepted. Gentiles have sinned “without the Law” (v. 12 NASB) and, as a result, would perish apart from the Law, reaping in themselves the consequences of their choices, which have been made known to them by God’s natural revelation. The Jews have sinned “under the Law” (NASB) and are condemned by the consequences inherent in the Law. 

• Compare the message of Romans 2:16 with 1 Corinthians 4:5. 

B. The Holy Judge Offers Holiness (Ephesians 4:17-24; 1 Peter 1:13-16) 

Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 

1 Peter 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 

The answer to the “sin problem” outlined in Romans 1 and 2 is found only in the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is important to stress that when we speak of salvation in Christ we are not just referring to the forgiveness of sin. Salvation is an end to an old way of life and the beginning of a new one. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17 NASB). Therefore, this salvation must of necessity have a moral impact on the life of the believer. 

Humans are moral creatures. This means we are capable of making decisions based on a sense of right and wrong as opposed to being limited to acting instinctively. But that moral nature was corrupted in the Fall, resulting in people leading vain, dark, ignorant, blind, dirty lives (Eph. 4:17-19). Thus, we must be renewed. And, part of the renewing of the Spirit in the life of the Christian is moral renewal. We must “lay aside the old self” and “be renewed in the spirit of [our] mind” (vv. 22-23 NASB). We are saved by grace through faith, but by faith we must also “put on the new man, which . . . is created in righteousness and true holiness” (v. 24). 

It must be stated here that the term holiness does not refer to a moral code. If we reduce holiness to a moral code, the first question we must ask is, “Whose moral code will we reference?” Even claiming to reference “God’s moral code” creates difficulties because of the multitude of interpretations readers of Scripture have concerning such things. 

Instead, we should think of holiness in terms of “Christlikeness.” Holiness is not a result of our efforts to suppress sinful behaviors. Instead, holiness comes as we behold the Lord through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. As we do this, we are being transformed into the image of Christ “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). Peter says to “fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13 NASB). Because of this grace, we are called as obedient children to no longer conform ourselves to our former way of living, which was governed by the lusts of the carnal nature (v. 14). By relying on His sanctifying grace, we can respond faithfully to the command of God to “be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:13-16). 

Holiness Defined 

By holiness, I mean not fasting . . . or bodily austerity, or any other external means of improvement, but the inward temper, to which all these are subservient, a renewal of the soul in the image of God—a complex habit of lowliness, meekness, purity, faith, hope, and the love of God and man.—John Wesley 

3. PERSONALLY INVOLVED CREATOR 

A. God Is Near and Found by Those Who Seek Him (Acts 17:16-34) 

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 

The religions of the world exist as pathways seeking to access the divine. Some believe the pathway to salvation is found in transcending the body through meditation, suppressing physical desires, and becoming one with the universe. Others believe the path of salvation is marked by good works. All such pathways will ultimately lead to despair, because they fail to adequately deal with the problem of our fallen, sinful nature. In such approaches, the onus is placed on people achieving salvation in their own strength, while divinity is somewhere “out there” waiting on them. 

The God of the Bible is different in that His desire is to dwell with us. He has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ. All of creation is charged with the presence of the Holy Spirit. As Paul preached to the philosophers at the Areopagus in Athens, truly in Him “we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Athens was a “city full of idols” (v. 16 NASB) where philosophers debated religious concepts (v. 21). Paul declared “Jesus, and the resurrection” (v. 18), which was new to them (v. 19). Paul said God is the Creator of all things (v. 24) and cannot be helped by human hands (v. 25). He is sovereign over the affairs of humankind (v. 26) and will be found by those who seek Him (v. 27). 

Let us refer back to the terms discussed earlier in the lesson—transcendence and immanence. Our God is transcendent—He is holy, He is “other than” His creation. But our God is also immanent—He is with us. One of the Biblical names for God is Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23). 

The crux of the matter is this—God is not hiding from us. He is making Himself known at all times and in all places. However, we cannot come to Him on our terms. Instead, as Paul told the people of Athens in Acts 17, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent” (v. 30 NASB) and put their faith in the resurrected Jesus (v. 31). “Some began to sneer” at Paul’s message, others wanted to hear more, while “some men joined him and believed” (vv. 32, 34 (NASB). 

Faith Requires an Object 

The term faith is thrown around a lot in and out of Christian circles. When a person is faced with a difficult situation, they are often exhorted to “have faith.” But this begs the question, “faith in what?” Faith requires an object. It implies trust and loyalty to a person or an idea. If we aren’t careful to specify the object of our faith, we end up with the unhelpful resolution of just having “faith in faith.” For this reason, it is important to become more familiar with God—the object of our Christian faith. 

B. Faith Gives Us Access to God (Hebrews 11:6) 

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

Now we come to the point of contact between our need and God’s provision. Faith is the means by which we access the rich treasures of God’s grace. It is not merely a mental assent whereby we “sign off” on some doctrinal statement, or merely say we “believe” in Jesus. Faith is much more than that. 

Hebrews 11:6 says we first must believe God really exists. There are three special ways to do this. We come to God through His Word, through worship, and through prayer. 

Next, we must believe He keeps His promises; that “he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Diligence in our seeking God is like Enoch walking with God continually (v. 5). As Corrie ten Boon said, it is not a matter of having “great faith in God, but of having faith in a great God.” 

Believing God pleases Him. Hebrews 10:39 tells us God has no pleasure in the person who shrinks back from Him in fear and unbelief. But He does have pleasure in the person who simply believes Him. In fact, He welcomes us to approach His throne with boldness, “that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16). 

• What does it mean to “diligently seek” God? 

OUR PRESENT GOD 

It is not accurate to say God is hiding from us or is simply watching us from a distance, uninvolved in the world He created. The Scriptures we have studied in this lesson have revealed to us a God who desires to be known by us. From the beginning, God has acted to reveal Himself in creation. He then gave Moses a greater revelation in the Law. God also spoke to His people through His prophets. But His most specific and direct self-revelation has come to us in the form of the Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity—Jesus Christ. The Scripture says of Jesus, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9 NKJV). If we are to truly know God, we must look to the Son. 

Daily Devotions  

M.  God’s Sign to Israel (Exodus 31:12-17) 

T.  The Unfathomable Power of God (Isaiah 40:25-31) 

W.  God’s Everlasting Love (Jeremiah 31:3-9) 

T.  The Lord, Our Righteous Judge (2 Timothy 4:6-8) 

F.  Christ Took Our Judgment (Hebrews 9:24-28) 

S.  God Created Everything (Revelation 4:6-11) 

 
Adopted from the Evangelical Sunday School Lesson Commentary 2020-2021.