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To know God is to know us/men, To know/us men we should know God.
We all wanted to get known and to know others as well. In such quests, we learn that the most important person to know is our creator, who is the giver of life, not the terminus life that we know of, in which case refers to who are our parents, but the eternal one; without end. Jesus taught that eternal life is not having an ever extension of the period but having a relationship with God: Jesus said in John 17:3 (AMPC) And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.
God revealed Himself in the Bible. (2 Peter 1:21) To know God means knowing what the Bible says, the very reason He gave us the Bible is because he wants us to know Him. (Acts 17:27).
The Being of God:
A. The most Essential condition for God as God / the First Being.
Aseity (self-beingness) - refers to the Monotheistic (there is only one God) belief, that God does not depend on any cause other than himself for his existence, realization, or end, and has his reason for existence.
When God revealed He is “I AM” to Moses through a burning bush, He was saying something unique about Himself, and that is He is self-existent; therefore, He has the power of being in and of Himself, meaning He depends on nothing and no one for His existence. This fact has enormous significance for how we understand the world around us. Where it shows everything was created for us.
Further, his name, “I AM” (Exodus 3:14) also means He has enough resources in himself for everything he is and does. To put it simply, God does not need anyone or anything else. He is completely self-sufficient. God is not dependent on his creation; he is completely independent of it.
B. Possible proof that God exists as the first being.
a) Rational argument/proof:
In perceiving the universe's existence, it cosmologically suggests that it can be assumed that God exists. The fact that the universe exists is proof that God exists. Romans 1:20, the AMPC version tells us, that since the creation of the world, His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification]. The contingent of cosmological argument asks why something exists rather than not. Another argument focuses on the existence of a being who is the cause behind the universe, whom many call God.
A study of Genesis 1:1 alone reveals that God created time, space, and matter on the first day of Creation Week. None of these can have a meaningful existence without the others. God created the space-mass-time universe. Space and matter must exist in time, where time requires space and matter. Time is only meaningful if physical entities exist and events transpire over time. (Ken Ham, Founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis) Therefore, nothing can exist without the creation of time, (Genesis 1:3-5) which only God can create.
Looking at the purposes of nature provides the Teleological argument that an intelligent designer exists.
Here is how it works, it's just like asking why a knife takes its form and features. Investigating the development of its making would be a casual (etiological) explanation, whereas a teleological explanation answers the question of what it is for; which is “to cut”. Whereby the designer made it for that very purpose.
In the same way, looking into the complexity of our world shows the existence of an intelligent designer who is God.
Let's imagine a virtual journey into space. We observe the sun as just one of countless stars in our Milky Way, a small part of the vast universe. The Milky Way Andromeda and about 20 other galaxies are gravitationally bound into a cluster that forms a small neighborhood of a much larger cluster. And this is just a small part of the grand picture. Teleologically, this suggests that the order in which all these celestial objects move without causing disaster in space is evidence of a designer's existence, providing a paradisiacal world on Earth where life is found.
On that basis ontologically speaking God must exist because everything will not have order in itself. A God who does not do this must be lesser than one who does.
According to Anselm of Canterbury, born in Italy during the 11th century, and was an early theologian, philosopher, and founder of philosophical ideas behind scholasticism (academism) during the Middle Ages, his ontological argument in his famous work "Proslogion" stands on the idea that God was a perfect being. Thus, this God must exist since God who exists is greater than one who does not. This can be a confusing concept, but it is important to understand because it formed the basis of his argument. To put it more simply, Anselm puts God as the supreme being in the universe. Because of this, nothing can exist that is greater than Him. This makes up the concept of God across cultures and religions. Whether a person believes in God or not, when they picture God, they think of a being that is the most supreme and perfect in the universe. His most basic argument in "Proslogion" is that God as a being must exist because the very idea of him implies his existence.
And most importantly, the best evidence of God's existence is observed in the human experience of morality. God is the best or only explanation for this moral experience. All people have a sense of what is right and wrong instinctively. Even remote tribes with limited contact with the outside world hold to some sense of morality.
The argument claims that because all people have such essence, it must have come from someone or something outside themselves.
While it can be argued that morality is learned from our parents, we must acknowledge that the first people had to have gained that sense from somewhere or someone outside themselves - i.e., God. (Genesis 1;27)
C.S. Lewis claims that nature cannot provide a basis for morality, especially if one believes nature is a random event - i.e., it comes from the Big Bang (the scientific theory that the universe began with a huge explosion about 13.7 billion years ago).
The suggestion that we gain our moral code from some external or higher being requires a belief in a God.
b) Biblical argument/proof:
The Bible is the best-seller of all time. It has been translated into more languages than any other book. And no matter how people look down on it, the Bible remains the perennial book of all. Why, well, for one thing, it's God-inspired writings:
“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
The question as to the veracity of such a claim, on whether it was true or not, has been proven by the very lives of those who shared it. For in their task of conveying it to others, they paid it with their lives. Many religious books and leaders make similar claims, but none compare to the Christian faithful. Surveying the overabundance of religions, most made claims and statements contradicting each other, yet all claimed some divine origin, and said all other religions were false. Is there some evidence that the Bible has to validate its claim? Or does one only have to choose to believe scripture based on a change of heart from his upbringing? Check it out here: The Bible’s Argument for God’s Existence.
C. The Trinity
a) What is Trinity?
The term “Trinity” is not found in Scripture but is based on the teachings of the Bible. Understand that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, that the Holy Spirit is God, and that the Bible teaches that only one God exists. It is hard to understand the relationship of the different Persons of the Trinity to one another. Still, though incomprehensible to the human mind, this does not mean the Trinity is untrue.
Comprehend that this does not suggest three Gods but only describes the triune God—three coexistent, co-eternal Persons who are God.
Here are the biblical passages that affirm the existence of the triune God. Read Matthew 3:16-17 which describes the event of Jesus’ baptism. In the narrative, God the Holy Spirit descends on God the Son who is Jesus, while God the Father proclaims His pleasure in Jesus, the Son. Other passages in the bible that mention the three distinct Persons in the Trinity are as follows: Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14.
b) Subordinationism
Subordinationism is a doctrine in theology: where the second and third persons of the Trinity are subordinate (as in order or essence) to the first person and the Holy Spirit is subordinate to the Son.
The triune God consists of three persons in one, similar to how man consists of a body, soul, and spirit in creation (Genesis 2:7 Cf. Job 33:4). The Father represents the soul, the Son represents the body, the Holy Spirit represents God’s spirit. The apostle John in John 15:10, tells us an appeal from the Son and the voluntary subordination of the Son to his Father. It's important to note that obeying the commandments is not a subjective condition imposed on human love, but rather a natural outcome of love itself. This is factual in the relationship of the Son to the Father, as in our relationship to Him. Because the Son loved the Father, He obeyed His commandments and through this love for Him, He remained in the Father’s love. The obedience described here is the consequence of love. This is obvious from the harmonizing clause: Even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. The Son consistently followed his directive, pleasing the Father even unto death, offering himself for sins as charged.
In the case of the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures teach us that although the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, He is somewhat lower than the Father and the Son. In John 14:26, we are taught that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and in the name of the Son. Jesus states, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." In John 15:26 we are told that Jesus sends the Spirit from the Father. The exact words are, "But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of Me. In other places in scripture, we are told Jesus Christ was sent by the Father (John 6:29; 8:29 & 42), we are also taught the Holy Spirit is sent by Jesus Christ.
c) Who should we pray to in worship?
The Bible tells us that prayer may be directed to one or all three because all three are one. We pray to the Lord Jesus as if we pray to the Father because they are one, hence prayer to one of the Trinity is prayer to all. Facing death through martyrdom, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Stephen saw Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, thereby sharing the glory of the Father in hearing and answering prayer. In Stephen’s prayer, he alludes to the words he caught, whereby the Son commended His Spirit to the Father (Luke 23:46); the disciple, in turn, commended his spirit to the Son. Using the word “God,” as in “calling upon God,” note that the words are a supplement to complete the sense.
We were also told to pray in the name of Christ. Paul encouraged the Ephesian believers to always give “thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). It will be recalled that Jesus assured His disciples that whatever they asked in His name—meaning in accordance to His (Father) will—would be answered (John 15:16; 16:23).
We are to pray also in the Spirit and His power. The Spirit helps us to pray when we do not know what to pray for (Romans 8:26; Jude 20). Feasibly, to understand the Trinity's role in prayer is to pray to the Father, through (or in the name of) the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. All three are participants in the believer’s prayer.
The Works of God:
A. Divine Decree.
Divine decree is the total sum of God’s plan, where the omniscience of God is the key to understanding the decree.
General Decrees - God’s eternal purpose, in which by foreordination everything happens. This includes the existence of all men and the actions they make, as well as, the causative good actions, and the evil actions He allowed.
Unlike predestination, as in destiny or fate, foreordination allows individual intervention (the freedom to choose whether to fulfill one's calling). Whereby God's omniscient foreknowledge, constitutes a divine decree that includes free will. Thus, man's responsibility is subject to free choice, to fulfill his preordination. This is no different from the example of Jesus Christ, who in his own volition, (Matthew 26:39 & 42) did not seek his own will but chose to complete the atonement he was foreordained to do by the Father, as in John 5:30. Jesus’ atonement, however, was not by the power of his will, though he wanted to do it, but by his cosmic will, love, and devoutness. This shows the difference between “I have to do it,” by willpower, and “I want to do it” by love and affection, which make it easier, not harder. As in, we normally are successful in doing things we love, rather than doing it as work.
So cosmic will is not like a decision. It is just there, as in the planets orbiting around the sun driven by a natural force, like the power of love by which we are moved in abidance to His will, as in, Matthew 22:36-40
Special Decree – is defined as God's eternal purpose to unite things in Christ, Some attribute this to a concept of predestination which is the belief that God has predestinated, as in prearranged or fixed, programmed if you will, who will receive salvation and who will not. Thereby indicating that God has total overbearing control of man, even over mundane things. Now, correlating that to salvation, we’ll find the teaching of Salvific predestination, the doctrine of predestination which upholds that from before the creation of the universe, God 'chose,' who would be saved and who would not. However, this kind of predestination theory does not seem logical of God, as this view eliminates humanity's free will, which he gave to man from creation; in the first place. What good is it then, in granting it and denying it to some the ability to choose salvation; thereby going against His total plan in John 1:29; and 1 John 2:2, to save everyone?
The apostle Paul discusses the theme of foreordination, in Ephesians 1:5, relating it to love and adoption. Because of His love, God chose us to be His children beforehand, Seeing, by foreknowledge, who would come to believe or not, Jesus came for Paul's followers who heard the gospel message and believed. As they did, through God's foreknowledge, they were chosen to become members of God's family. Though they were not Jews, they were adopted as sons through Jesus. Paul speaks of salvation elsewhere as adoption (Romans 8:15, 23; 9:4; Galatians 4:5).
Paul also teaches why God chose believers to be His children. It was "according to the purpose of his will." In an act of love and as part of His divine plan, God designed a way for all men, even those not part of the Jewish people, to come into the family of God by way of the gospel of Christ. These Gentile believers would especially appreciate this letter from Paul, a devout Jewish Pharisee who converted into a Gentile Christian missionary. This "Hebrew of the Hebrews" (Philippians 3:4–7) considered his Gentile followers as equal brothers and sisters in the family of God.
Believers are blessed to know they were chosen to be saved, before creation. Now salvation was paid at a great cost: the death of Jesus Christ. Therefore, based on that, be assured that God will do what He has promised: eternity with Him in heaven to the faithful.
Author of Sin - As we have already learned, God is omniscient; on that basis, he makes his election before the beginning of time through foreknowledge. Initially, God gave us free will, including free faith, having the right to choose whom we want to believe. Adam and Eve manifested this in Genesis 3, where they decided to believe in Satan instead of God. Adam lived a sinless life for some time from creation, practically suggesting the same life span as the Lord Jesus had here on earth; Jesus was 33 and 1/2 years old when He died, hence He is referred to as the last Adam. The first Adam (from paradise) lived 930 years. He enjoyed no wear and tear in the flesh since he had no death at that point, except after the fall whereby he began to age physically; where, on that basis, he spent 896 and 1/2 years of his life in sin (1 Corinthians 15:45-46).
It is written, that Christ died for the forgiveness of all sins, as in, 1 John 2:2, which says, He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. On that basis, the only way he could’ve justly/fairly called and elected the saved before time is through foreknowledge. Whereby He knew who would have faith in him and who would not by (free) choice. Thus, men are responsible for their choices, either to perish or live, as in, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Blog: The Main Difference Between Calvinism and non-Calvinism with RC Spraul
Note, that in the beginning, God created man in His image, whereas after the fall, he no longer possesses that nature but that of the fallen first Adam (Genesis 5::1-3). Wherefore, all men sinned; hence death reigned in the world (Romans 5:12-14).
B. Creation:
The purpose of God
The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God created man for His glory. Therefore, the purpose of man is to glorify God.
But how do you give glory to God? He made us, so we ought to worship Him, Psalm 100:2–3, “We are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” To glorify God therefore is to acknowledge who God is, thereby establishing His kingdom for the praise and worship of Him in glory.
Three elements of the kingdom:
The annual celebration of Christmas gives us a sense of his kingdom because it shows how it is, as it is yet to come. In his first coming, Christ came into the world as an infant to become the servant of all who were lost without hope; in his second coming, he will come as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in full dominion. He first came shrouded as a child; in coming again, he will come unveiled, where everyone will see him for who he is. In His first coming, his arrival was manifested with a star; in his return, the heavens would roll up like a scroll, and the stars would fall out of the sky. When he first came, Wisemen brought him gifts; in his second coming, he would bring peace and prosperity as His gift to the world. The first time he came, there was no room for him; the next time he comes, the whole world, won’t be able to contain his glory. In His first coming, few welcomed his arrival; but, at his second coming, every eye will see his glory, and every mouth will praise and glorify Him as King.
All of the above has been revealed to us by the word of God through the Bible. If we have to say a single purpose of the Bible then it would be to reveal God to us. There would be many things we would never know about Him had it not been for the bible. The Bible is God’s self-revelation of humanity, our sins, and God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.
In looking at Matthew 19:23-24, interpreters, are divided in understanding the phrase, Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. Looking at a Bible concordance, the word "kingdom of God" appeared 68 times in some New Testament books. However, the "kingdom of heaven" appeared exclusively 32 times, in the Gospel of Matthew. Some believe Matthew used the phrase in connection to the Jewish notion of his Gospel, which pertains to the heavenly one. Further, some interpreters have concluded that the other New Testament authors use the word, kingdom of God, to refer to the church on earth to be established after Christ’s death; still, others believe that the word pertains to the Millennial Kingdom. However, a closer study of the use of the phrase reveals its real implication.
Comparing in parallel the accounts of the same parable by the apostles Luke and Mark, you will note that both used the words “kingdom of God,” while the apostle Matthew used the “kingdom of heaven.” To see what I am talking about, be patient enough to compare the following verses: Matthew 11:11-12 with Luke 7:28; Matthew 13:11 with Mark 4:11 and Luke 8:10; Matthew 13:24 with Mark 4:26; Matthew 13:31 with Mark 4:30 and Luke 13:18; Matthew 13:33 with Luke 13:20; Matthew 18:3 with Mark 10:14 and Luke 18:16; and Matthew 22:2 with Luke 13:29. Matthew used the “kingdom of heaven” while Mark and or Luke used the “kingdom of God;” whereby, it is easy to see that by exchanging the words, they are referring to the same thing.
In a broad sense, as Paul Enns, author of the Moody Handbook of Theology, would put it, the kingdom of God is the rule of an eternal, sovereign God over all the Universe. Numerous passages of Scripture confirm that God is undeniably the Ruler of all creation: “The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19). Even King Nebuchadnezzar is convinced of this in saying, “His kingdom is an eternal kingdom” (Daniel 4:3). Since every authority that exists has been established by God (Romans 13:1), so, from the same point of view, the kingdom of God embodies the Universe and everything there is.
Order
As per Wikipedia, in late antiquity, words translatable as "spirituality" began in the 5th century and only entered common use toward the end of the Middle Ages. In a Biblical context, the term means being an animated kingdom by God, meaning the reality of a realm controlled by a Divine Spirit.
Based on How God explained it in Job 38:3-7, metaphorically speaking, verse 7 would put the spiritual world already existing before the creation. Therefore as in Genesis 1:17, God was in spirit form when He created the firmament of the heaven to give light to the earth, whereby the sun, moon, and stars are accounted for.
Hence, in Genesis 1:1, in the beginning, whereby God was already animated, would mean there never was a time when God did not exist. Activity is an essential part of His being (John 5:17), so, there never was a time when the world existed before Genesis 1. And in calling it into existence in the manner it was written. We may well believe that God acted by the working of a universal law, of which He is the author himself. Hence, in verse 2, the earth was shapeless and empty, without form and order. Whereby only in verse 3 that it was created from nothing.
However, disharmony came due to the fall as of Genesis 2:17. It will be recalled that in the narrative, thorns, and thistles appeared, whereas it wasn’t there before, not before the fall, as in Genesis 3:18-20. Therefore, when death reigned over humans due to the fall, it also affected animals. Some turned from being vegetarians as described in Genesis 1:29-30 to becoming carnivores, hunting and being hunted.
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