MARK 10:18 - Only God is completely good in His nature and actions. His goodness includes all the positive moral attributes such as grace, patience, and kindness.
ILLUSTRATION: When the rich young ruler called Jesus "Good Master," Jesus reminded him that only God could be properly referred to as "good" (verse 18). The good that exists in the world around us truly reflects or expresses the goodness of God (GENESIS 1:10). There is no other source of true good." When God revealed His name to Moses, He described Himself as being "abundant in goodness" (EXODUS 34:6).
APPLICATION: - The goodness of God is illustrated daily in our lives by the many good things that add comfort and enjoyment (JAMES 1:17). Christians should be careful not to take these gifts for granted. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:10; Primary Reference, MARK 10:18; EPHESIANS 2:8).
JUSTICE OF GOD !!!!!!!!!!!!
ACTS 17:31 - The justice of God is the active extension of the holiness of God into matters of decision. It implies that God has the authority and ability to establish the standard for all relationships and that He will be consistent in relating to His obedient and disobedient creatures. The justice of God is both legislative and distributive.
ILLUSTRATION: When Abraham attempted to prevent the destruction of Sodom, he appealed to God's justice: he knew the judge of all the earth would do right (GENESIS 18:25).
APPLICATION: So today, everyone can have confidence that God will deal with him justly, but the believe may additionally plead God's mercy. (First Reference, GENESIS 3:14; Primary Reference, ACTS 17:31; MARK 10:18).
TRUTH OF GOD !!!!!!!!!!!!
JOHN 14:6 - The word truth is used in Scripture in two ways: true as contrasted with false; and genuine as contrasted with unreal. Although both apply to God, when we speak of the truth of God, normally His genuineness is contrasted with false gods of other religions. The Scriptures in this sense declare Him "the only true God" (JOHN 17:3). ILLUSTRATION: When Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he challenged them to evaluate the genuineness of the Lord and of Baal (1 KINGS 18:21). The true God answered by fire. APPLICATION: Because the Lord is God, we are obligated to Him in all He demands. (First Reference, DEUTERONOMY 32:4; Primary Reference, JOHN 14:6; ACTS 17:31).
HOLINESS OF GOD !!!!
LEVITICUS 19:2 __The Hebrew word translated "holiness" comes from a root meaning "to separate or cut off." The primary meaning of holiness implies God's positive quality of self-affirming purity; the secondary meaning implies separation, particularly separation from sin. The holiness of God means He is absolutely pure and absolutely separate from (and above) all His creatures, and also separate from sin and evil.
ILLUSTRATION: Because God is holy, all sin is offensive to Him. For this reason He had to break fellowship with His own Son when Jesus became our sin-bearer (MATTHEW 27:46). Only through the identification of Christ with our sin as our sacrifice can we be reconciled to God.
APPLICATION: When the Scriptures mention the holiness of God, they also stress the personal holiness of His people. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:4; Primary Reference, LEVITICUS 19:2; JOHN 14:6).
IMMUTABILITY OF GOD !!!
JAMES 1:17 __Since all changes are either for the better or for the worse, God is unchanging because He is perfect and cannot get better nor become worse. The Scriptures describe God's nature, will, and character as immutable or unchanging. ILLUSTRATION: To be immutable, however, does not mean to be immobile. God also has the qualities of personality and can act, think, create, and make decisions.
APPLICATION: God is unchanging; therefore, Christians can depend on His love and power, because God has not changed since biblical times. (First Reference, PSALM 9:7; Primary Reference, JAMES 1:17; LEVITICUS 19:2).
LOVE OF GOD !!!!!!
JOHN 3:16 _Love is both an attribute of God and a description of His being. He alone is the epitome of divine love and the source of all true love. His love is unconditional and consistently seeks the highest good of the one who is loved.
ILLUSTRATION: God's love was clearly demonstrated at Calvary when Jesus died for all our sins (1 JOHN 3:1).
APPLICATION: Because God first loved us, we ought to love others as well (1 JOHN 4:11).
(First Reference, GENESIS 2:16, 17; Primary Reference, JOHN 3:16; JAMES 1:17).
WISDOM OF GOD !!!!!
PROVERBS 9:1 _The "wisdom of God" is used in three senses in the Scriptures. First, it refers to the higher perspective by which God understands things that man is incapable of understanding (1 CORINTHIANS 1:25). Second, it can refer to the understanding which a Christian should have in life (4:7). Also, wisdom is seen as a type of Christ, who is our wisdom (1 CORINTHIANS 1:30). ILLUSTRATION: When David said Abner died as a fool (2 SAMUEL 3:33), he meant that Abner died because he followed his own intuition, rather than the wisdom of God, which would have saved him. He was killed as he turned aside in the gate of Hebron. Had he entered the city of refuge, as God had instructed, Joab would have been unable to kill him.
APPLICATION: A wise Christian will obey the wisdom of God. (First Reference, GENESIS 2:16, 17; Primary Reference, PROVERBS 9:1; JOHN 3:16).
UNITY OF GOD !!!!!
DEUTERONOMY 6:4 _The fundamental concept of the Shema (the name of this passage, which is the first word in Hebrew: Hear!) is that God is one and not many gods. By definition, there can be only one all-powerful, infinite, limitless God. ILLUSTRATION: To speak of more than one supreme, absolute, perfect, and almighty Being is to say something contradictory. There cannot be two absolutes, for than there would be no absolute.
APPLICATION: By revelation, we know that only Yahweh is that one God. Therefore, nothing in your life should come between you and God. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, DEUTERONOMY 6:4).
IMMENSITY OF GOD !!!!!!
1 KINGS 8:27 _Applied to God, immensity means that God cannot be limited by space and is in fact beyond space. Space is the area where physical reality (matter) and being (energy) exist, and to that degree is limited. Where space ends, God still persists infinitely beyond all limits. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, 1KINGS 8:27; DEUTERONOMY 6:4).
SIMPLICITY OF GOD !!!!
1 JOHN 1:5 _Simplicity means that God is not complex, compounded, or divisible in His nature. Simplicity does not deny the three distinct persons of the Trinity. The three distinct persons all share in the same "essence" of God. Neither does this mean that it is easy to understand all that is to be known of God because (1) _sin has a limiting effect upon human understanding, and (2) _man's understanding is finite, whereas God is infinite. APPLICATION: Jesus taught that one must approach God as a little child to be converted (MATTHEW 18:3). (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1, Primary Reference, 1 JOHN 1:5; 1 KINGS 8:27).
ANTHROMORPHISMS !!!!
GENESIS 4:14__16 _Adam hid from Yahweh in shame and guilt (3:8); now Cain must hide himself. From thy face shall I be hid is a passive verb from ("I must hide myself from your face"), and is part of his curse. Every one is "anyone" finding me"; it looks to the idea of blood revenge for this death and anticipates other murders.
DEFINITION OF GOD !!!!
JOHN 4:24 _John gives three description of God. He is Spirit (JOHN 4:24), love (1 JOHN 4:8), and light (1 JOHN 1:5). God is a spiritual being who is invisible and without a body; He is a divine person who reveals Himself in perfect intellect, emotion, and will; He is the source and personification of all material and spiritual life; He is self-existent; He is eternal in relationship to time; He is unlimited in relationship to the immensity of space; He is immutable in His nature; He is the unity of all existence; and He is consistent in His being__that is, He corresponds in actual fact to His nature and attributes as they are revealed to us. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, JOHN 4:24).
NATURE OF GOD !!!!!
1 JOHN 4:8 _The nature of God is His "essence" or His "substance." God's nature includes all that He is that makes Him uniquely God. Any complete definition of God's nature should include the following seven aspects: Spirit, person, life, self-existence, uncangeableness, infinitude, and unity. (See JOHN 4:24 for a definition of God.) Without these things, God would not be God.
ILLUSTRATION: Because God is so difficult to comprehend, Jesus became a Man revealing the essence of the Father and proclaiming truth concerning God (JOHN 1:14, 18). As we read the gospel accounts of the ministry of Christ, it becomes easier for us to understand what God is like.
APPLICATION: The first commandment of the law requires that we love and worship God as He truly is, implying we should study the nature of God (EXODUS 20:3; MATTHEW 22:37, 38).
(First Reference, GENESIS 1:2; Primary Reference, 1 JOHN 4:8; JOHN 4:24).
ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD ANTHROPOLOGICAL !!!!!
ROMANS 2:15 _The existence of man as a moral and intellectual being is argument for the existence of a moral and intellectual being called God. This is true because man was created in the image and likeness of God (GENESIS 1:26), and even after the Fall he has the law of God written in his heart (verse 15).
ILLUSTRATION: When people follow God, they often follow of God they see in the lives of others. Paul taught the Corinthians to follow him as he followed the Lord (1 CORINTHIANS 11:1).
APPLICATION: So today, Christians ought to be careful to reflect the character of God in their lives and not become a stumbling block to the gospel. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:26; Primary Reference, ROMANS 2:15; 1 JOHN 4:8).
ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD HEBREWS 3:4 _The word ontological comes from the root "being" and is a deductive argument that only indicate the probable existence of God. (See ROMANS 1:20 and PSALM 94:9 for stronger argument.) It reason that the idea of a imperfect human being. Therefore, a perfect and infinite Being who exists must have placed the idea in mankind. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, HEBREWS 3:4; ROMANS 2:15).
TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD !!!!!! PSALM 94:9 _The existence of God is proven by the order and useful arrangement in the universe. The orderly world in which we live clearly demonstrates that a great mind was behind its arrangement. The Scriptures identify God as that great intelligence. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, PSALM 94:9; HEBREWS 3:4).
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD !!!!!!
ROMANS 1:20 _The argument from cause and effect is one logical argument for the existence of God. As everything that exists must have an adequate cause, so an all-powerful and intelligent God is an adequate cause to explain the universe. The Scripture identifies that "cause" as the creative power of God (GENESIS 1:1; ROMANS 1:19__20). (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, ROMANS 1:20; PSALM 94:9)
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