Who is God?
“Knowing God is the most important thing in life. God created people fundamentally for relationship with himself.”
“Our primary purpose is to glorify and delight in God through a deep personal knowledge of Him. Meaningful relationship with God is dependent on correct knowledge of Him.” – ESV Study Bible
· The goal of this series is not only to know more about God but to know God more. These 4 weeks will give us a much greater understanding of God but will also leave us with much more to seek in Him. We will see that God is both incomprehensible and knowable.
o Incomprehensible
§ Psalm 145:3 – 3Greatis theLordand most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
§ Isaiah 55:8-9 – 8“For my thoughtsare not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares theLord.
9“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
o Knowable
§ John 17:3 – 3Now this is eternal life: that they know you,the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
§ Philippians 3:7-11 – 7But whatever were gains to me I now consider lossfor the sake of Christ.8What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowingChrist Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,but that which is through faith in[a]Christ—the righteousnessthat comes from God on the basis of faith.10I want to knowChrist—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,becoming like him in his death,11and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrectionfrom the dead.
§ John 1:18 – 18No one has ever seen God,but the one and only Son, who is himself God andis in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
§ Ephesians 1:17 – 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,may give you the Spiritof wisdomand revelation, so that you may know him better.
Know God
Matthew 22:35-40 – 35One of them, an expert in the law,tested him with this question:36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37Jesus replied:“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment.39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Loving and Knowing
Without knowing who God is how do we love Him. When He says that we are to “love” Him, what does He mean by “love?”
· (Example: Brianna and I young in marriage)
God is….
· I am (LORD = Yahweh)
o Exodus 3:13-15 – 13Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’Then what shall I tell them?”
14God said to Moses, “I am who I am.This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I amhas sent me to you.’”
15God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘TheLord,[d]the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my nameforever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
· The Provider (The Lord Will Provide = Jehovah Jireh)
o Genesis 22:13-14 – 13Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ramcaught by its horns.He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.14So Abraham calledthat place TheLordWill Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of theLordit will be provided.”
§ In Jesus
· 2 Corinthians 1:20 – 20For no matter how many promisesGod has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen”is spoken by us to the glory of God.
· Our Healer (The Lord Who Heals = Jehovah Rapha)
o Exodus 15:25-26 – 25Then Moses cried outto theLord, and theLordshowed him a piece of wood. He threwit into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
There theLordissued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test.26He said, “If you listen carefully to theLordyour God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees,I will not bring on you any of the diseasesI brought on the Egyptians, for I am theLord, who healsyou.”
§ In Jesus
· 1 Peter 2:24 – 24“He himself bore our sins”in his body on the cross,so that we might die to sinsand live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
· Our Banner (The Lord My Banner = Jehovah Nissi)
o Exodus 17:15-16 – 15Moses built an altarand calledit TheLordis my Banner.16He said, “Because hands were lifted up againstthe throne of theLord,theLordwill be at war against the Amalekitesfrom generation to generation.”
§ In Jesus
· Philippians 2:9-11 – 9Therefore God exalted himto the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
· Jealous (Qanna)
o Exodus 34:14 – 14Do not worship any other god,for theLord, whose nameis Jealous, is a jealous God.
§ In Jesus
· John 3:18 – 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned,but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
· The One Who Makes Us Holy (The Lord Who Makes Holy = Jehovah Mekoddishkem)
o Leviticus 20:7-8 – 7“‘Consecrate yourselvesand be holy,because I am theLordyour God.8Keep my decreesand follow them. I am theLord, who makes you holy.
§ In Jesus
· Hebrews 10:10 – 10And by that will, we have been made holythrough the sacrifice of the bodyof Jesus Christ once for all.
· Our Peace (The Lord Is Peace = Jehovah Shalom)
o Judges 6:22:24 – 22When Gideon realizedthat it was the angel of theLord, he exclaimed, “Alas, SovereignLord! I have seen the angel of theLordface to face!”
23But theLordsaid to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid.You are not going to die.”
24So Gideon built an altar to theLordthere and calledit TheLordIs Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrahof the Abiezrites.
§ In Jesus
· Romans 5:1-2 – Therefore, since we have been justifiedthrough faith,wehave peacewith God through our Lord Jesus Christ,2through whom we have gained accessby faith into this grace in which we now stand.And weboast in the hopeof the glory of God.
· Our Righteousness (The Lord Our Righteousness = Jehovah Tsidkenu)
o Jeremiah 23:5-6 – 5“The days are coming,” declares theLord,
“when I will raise up for David[a]a righteous Branch,
a Kingwho will reignwisely
and do what is just and rightin the land.
6In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the nameby which he will be called:
TheLordOur Righteous Savior.
§ In Jesus
· 2 Corinthians 5:21 – 21God made him who had no sinto be sinfor us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
· Over Everything (The Lord of Hosts/Powers/Armies = Jehovah Sabaoth)
o 1 Samuel 17:45 – 45David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,but I come against you in the nameof theLordAlmighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
§ In Jesus
· Ephesians 1:18-23 –18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightenedin order that you may know the hope to which he has calledyou, the richesof his glorious inheritancein his holy people,19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That poweris the same as the mighty strength20he exerted when he raised Christ from the deadand seated him at his right handin the heavenly realms,21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,and every namethat is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.22And God placed all things under his feetand appointed him to be headover everything for the church,23which is his body,the fullness of himwho fills everything in every way.
· Our Shepherd (The Lord My Shepherd = Jehovah Raah)
o Psalm 23:1-6 – 1TheLordis my shepherd,I lack nothing.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3he refreshes my soul.
He guides mealong the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5You prepare a tablebefore me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cupoverflows.
6Surely your goodness and lovewill follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of theLord
forever.
§ In Jesus
· John 10:11 – 11“I amthe good shepherd.The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
· John 10:27-30 - 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.28I give them eternal life,and they shall never perish;no one will snatch them out of my hand.29My Father, who has given them to me,is greater than all;no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.30I and the Father are one.”