IV. Who Is GOD?

            The Limitless Magnificence of GOD is beyond man's ability to comprehend: “0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” Rom.11:33.  But what can be understood of GOD’S character, purposes and government is revealed in the Bible.  There is no other source from which His Word of salvation may be found.  Its very first words describe the leading attribute of GOD: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Gen.1:1.  He is the Author of all that exists.  His sovereign authority oversees every aspect of His Creation.  And to understand the heart of GOD we study the life of Jesus Christ, whose sole purpose, the Bible says has ever been and will ever be to serve life: its preservation, its tranquility, and its happiness (Matt.20:28). 

            From the very beginning “the LORD” who became “the Christ” has watched over His children.  Over 800 verses of Scripture teach that it was “the Son of God” Who created the stars, angels and man.  He spoke all into existence, as the Apostle John said: “In the beginning was the Word [an old Jewish term for the Creator], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made…and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” Jn.1:1-14. 

            At the Father’s command “the Son” carried forward the creation of life.  And when the life of Earth became entangled in the snares of sin and death, Jesus came to the rescue, openly declaring the Father’s love, power and willingness to sacrifice “his only begotten Son” to save His children from the curse of sin: “being made a curse for us” (Gal.3:13).  And it was the shedding of His blood that is the key component of His sacrifice as GOD said, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Lev.17:11.  Therefore, Jesus literally poured out His Divine Life on the Cross to demonstrate just how far He will go to save to honor His Father, as He said: “it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” Matt.18:14. Jesus’ perfect obedience to “Our Father which art in heaven” directs all men to follow His example as He said: “for I do always those things that please him.” Jn.8:29.  Herein lies the key to our spiritual life, joy and peace: to rest in our desire to serve the Father’s will, which will be seen in GOD’S molding of our lives.  And where failure occurs He will lead us over the same ground again and again until victory is achieved and our heart is “sealed” to His own—forever.

            Jesus taught that our heavenly Father sees and hears the continual suffering from all of His creatures, “and not one of them is forgotten before God” (Lu.12:6).  GOD knows intimately every nuance of emotional and physical pain that all life bears.  He alone knows “the end from the beginning” (Isa.46:10).  His Omniscience grants Him that infinite knowledge of life & eternity.  Full well He knows the complete history of His Creation: its peaceful initiation, the disastrous fall of the angel Lucifer into sin, followed by the fall of man at Lucifer’s hands; the Holy Sacrifice and Victory of “his only begotten Son;” and the restoration of man’s perfect destiny of everlasting life with perpetual tranquility, discovery, and joy.

1. Who is GOD?

Isaiah 40:28  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, ______  ______________  _____  ______  _______  _____  ______  ___________, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding.

2. Is there more than one GOD as Genesis 1:26 implies, “Let

     us make man in our Image?”

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning _______ created the heaven and the earth.

         The word for GOD used in this Hebrew text is Elohim, and is in the plural tense, meaning more than two.  In the Hebrew grammer there is the singular: El; the dual: Eloheim; and the plural: Elohim.  The New Testament describes in very precise terms the Three-Person GODHEAD.  Before GOD created the stars, angels and man the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit prepared to meet the threat of sin to save man from sin’s dominion.  We know this because GOD-the-Son knew “before the foundation of the world” He would have to die, “even the death of the cross” (Jn.17:24; Phil.2:8).  In the Father’s love and wisdom He ordained a variety of influences to aid in leading His children to Christ’s salvation.  Each participant: the Holy Spirit, angels, men, and nature’s wonders, all cooperate with each other to achieve GOD’S desire that no man need “perish” at the end of time. 

Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the __________ and of the _______, and of the _______  ___________.

             GOD comprises Three Distinct Beings of Eternal Origin: Each is Equal in character and purpose, but with distinct roles of authority to serve the life that GOD created to share with the Life that is His.  GOD the Father, Who Reigns Supreme among the GODHEAD, is Omniscient [having infinite knowledge of time and space (Matt.24:36)].  GOD the Son is Omnipotent [having unlimited power to carry out the Father’s will (Matt.28:18)].  The Holy Spirit is Omnipresent [having unlimited Presence, being everywhere at once throughout the heavens to carry out the Father’s will (Jn.16:13)]. 

         But it was man’s “Everlasting Father” (Isa.9:6), Jesus Christ Who became as one with His children—to save His children.  Because He is the Father of Adam (Rev.22:16) He alone had the right to become “the Son of man,” that through His Love and Sacrifice on the altar of man’s salvation, He could ransom His children from the clutches of Satan’s dominion of sin. 

3. What is the leading attribute of GOD?

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning ______  ____________  ______  _______________  ______  ______  ______________.

Isaiah 45:18  For thus saith the LORD that ____________ the heavens; GOD Himself that ____________ the earth and made it; He hath _________________ it, He created it ______  _____  __________, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

4. What is the leading attribute of GOD'S character?

1. John 4:16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. ______  ____  _________; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.  

The Greek word for love is agape.  It is defined as unlimited, unconditional love.  GOD’S love is expressed by serving others through meeting their essential temporal, emotional and spiritual needs.

5. How has GOD demonstrated His love toward man?

Isaiah 45:21  Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside Me; a just God and ____  ______________; there is none beside Me.  

Matthew 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, _______  _________  ______.  

Galatians 4:4,5  But when the fullness of the time was come, ______  ________  _________  ______  ______, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

         From the beginning, man has chosen a collision course with death by his misusing GOD’S gift of a freewill.  From the very moment the decision was made to sin against GOD'S Commandments man stepped outside of GOD’S tranquil, subservient love and into the violent realm of self-serving motivation.  The whole world is now subject to this curse caused by sin with its never-ending assault on justice, mercy and love.  Sin always threatens the wellbeing of life.  And yet, our mutual safety is only through obedience to the Standard Christ obeyed: the Ten Commandments.  This is because they embody GOD’S character of subservient love.  And this love can only be achieved through GOD’S Presence in our hearts, to restrain our sinful nature.  Through “Christ in you” it can then be demonstrated “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Rom.8:4).

All of life’s abuse can only be measured and judged by the Ten Commandments. They distinguish the moral man from the sinful man (Eccl.12:13,14; Rev.22:12).  This is because under the umbrella of GOD'S Eternal Law lies the only true legislation of love, because that same Law that will judge every man also commanded our salvation (Ps.107:20; 119:172; Hos.2:19).  In obedience to His Own Law, GOD took man's condemnation of death upon Himself to restore what was lost through sin.  All that men admire and love about Jesus is due to His love and obedience to the Ten Commandments.  Wrote David, “O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” Ps.119:97.  And through His Divinity, united with humanity, He has loosed the shackles of sin and death “to every one that believeth” (Rom.10:4). 

            But how did Jesus achieve victory over death?  The incarceration of death has but one purpose: to hold sin: to separate from the living everything that threatens life.  This is why the Bible says, “the soul that sinneth it shall die,” for “the wages of sin is death” (Eze.18:4; Rom.6:23).  And the Bible defines sin as “the transgression of the law” (I Jn.3:4).  So, when Jesus Christ was forced into the grave at the hands of lawless men, having never united His will with sin—even by a thought—He could not be held by death!  The grave had no legal right to hold Him!  It had to set Him free!  For death can only hold sin and Christ had none!  And His victory over sin gives Him the legal right to resurrect the entire human race from the grave.  This is why the Apostle Paul said, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” I Cor.15:22.

         It needs to be understood that in the legal framework of GOD’S salvation, only the Father of Adam had the right to redeem the children of Adam.  We are His offspring, His children, created in His Image and Likeness.  And because He is the “Everlasting Father,” and now, “the last Adam,” our inherited condemnation that none of us gave our consent to receive has been removed and replaced with the new inheritance: the sinless history of Christ!  His history is now our history!  His resurrection is our resurrection!  And His eternal life is now our eternal life!  This is the Gospel!  And we are called to simply believe this truth, “as the truth is in Jesus” (Eph.4:2).  This is what GOD has accomplished for every man, woman and child who has ever lived!  It also explains why the Great Judgment must take place where every man will stand before GOD in the end of time to give an account of their deeds done in life, whether of benevolent love for others or of self-indulgence to the sacrifice of others.  In the end, it is love that GOD measures in the heart of a man.  GOD offers to all this threefold freedom through Jesus Christ: from sin’s condemnation (of death); its power (our self-destructive nature); and its very presence (the continual temptations of devils to commit sin).  

6. How can we be sure that Jesus Christ is our Creator?

John 1:1-3,14  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and ______  _________  ______  _______.  The same was in the beginning with God.  ______  ___________ were _________  _____  ______; and without Him was not anything made that was made...[v.14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Colossians 1:16,17  For _____  ______ were _____  ___________  ____________, that are _____  ____________, and that are _____  __________, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created _____  ______, and ______  ______: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.

7. Did “the Son of God” live among us before His

     incarnation as “the Son of man?”

Daniel 3:24,25,28  Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, 0 king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like ______  ______  ____  ______?

            The prophet Daniel told the king of Israel’s history and religion, and the coming of the “Messiah,” “the Son of God” through whose sacrifice all men would have the right to receive everlasting life through faith in GOD’S salvation.

8. What part in earth's history did Jesus have before He

     became a man?

Exodus 25:1,8  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying...(v.8) And let them make Me a sanctuary; ________  ____  _______  _________  _________  ________.

Exodus 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, ____  ______ hath sent me unto you.  

John 8:58  Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, ____  ______.  

         From the beginning, man's fellowship with GOD has been through Jesus Christ.  It was the Son of GOD who spoke face to face with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; to Noah of the world's hatred of justice, mercy & Love; and to Moses, commanding him to deliver the Hebrews from slavery.  “And he gave unto Moses…upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” Ex.31:18.  It was He who stood before Joshua as “Captain of the host of the LORD.” Josh.5:13-15.  It was He who spoke with the prophets.  And it was He who sat on “the mercy seat” in the temple of GOD (Ex.28:1).  Jesus Christ has always been Man’s Direct Source of Life and Deliverance.  And the rules of engagement between Christ and Satan show the distinctions between Christ’s jurisdiction to bless and protect His children vs. that of the devil’s jurisdiction whose authority is the cause of all suffering and death.

Exodus 23:20  Behold, I [the Father] send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and provoke him not; for he will not ___________  _______  ______________________: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak [through Him]; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

            There are many instances where the Son of God is called “the angel of the LORD” in the Old Testament (Gen.16:7-14; Jud.13:3-23; II Ki.1:3; I Chron.21:18).  The Father and the Son have always worked in tandem to accomplish salvation for Their children.

9. Was Jesus Christ given authority to pardon the

     sins of men?

Matthew 9:6,7  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to ___________  ______, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house. And he arose, and departed to his house.

         Jesus Christ has ever been equal with His Father as He said: “I and my Father are one.” Jn.10:30. (See also Phil.2:6.)  So, when “the Son of God” came to this world, “And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (Jn.1:14), a bridge spanning heaven and earth was created.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, whose family lineage extends back to King David, passed on to Jesus her family’s temperament, physical features, vulnerability to illness, and the inheritance of Adam’s fallen nature.  But Jesus, also being born of the Father through the power of the Holy Ghost retained also His Divine Nature.  As in marriage, Christ united His Father’s Nature with our fallen human nature; and thus, “they shall be one flesh” (Gen.2:24).

10. What is Jesus Christ's heavenly name?

Daniel 12:1,2  And at that time shall ______________ stand up, ______  __________  ____________ which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt.

         “The great prince which standeth for the children of thy people” can only refer to the Son of the ONE who rules over all.

The New Testament concurs with the passage of Daniel.

John 5:25  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when ______  ________  ________  ________  ______  __________  _____  ______  _______  _____  _______: and they that hear shall live.

I Thessalonians 4:16  For the LORD Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with ______  ___________  _____  ______  __________________, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

Jude 9  Yet __________  _____  _____________ when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The LORD rebuke thee.  

         In uniting these verses we learn that the voice of Jesus Christ raises the dead to life, and that His voice is the same voice as “the Archangel” that raises the dead to life.  Therefore, Jesus Christ and the Archangel are One and the Same.  According to Scripture there is only one Archangel.  Michael translates, “Who is like GOD?”  Archangel translates, Chief or Commander of angels.  The term is singular.  Therefore, there cannot be more than one Chief of angels.  The church has falsely concluded that “Michael the Archangel” is one of a class of archangels (see I Th.4:16 in the NKJV Bible).  But this denies the Scripture’s singular meaning of His title.  More importantly, the church has taken away the Father’s intended lesson that “Messiah the Prince” and “Michael your prince” is none other than “the Son of God” (Dan.9:25; 10:21).

11. How does GOD draw the hearts of men into a close

       relationship with Himself?

Zechariah 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by ______  ____________ saith the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 48:17  Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD ______  ______  __________  ____________  _______ to profit, _________  ___________  _______ by the way that thou shouldest go.

             It is by the Holy Spirit's Presence and influence in our world that all demonstrations of care and decency exist today as it is written, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Ja.1:17.

12. What does the Bible teach concerning the characteristics

       of the Holy Spirit?

Acts 8:29  Then the Spirit ___________ unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.  [He speaks.]

John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name [Christ], He shall ___________  ______  _____  ___________, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.  [He teaches.]

John 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for _____  ________________  _______  ______, and shall be in you.  [He resides in the soul of the faithful Christian.]

Galatians 5:18  But if ye be ______  _____  ______  ____________, ye are not under the law [or under the condemnation of sin through repentance].  [The Spirit leads the believer in right paths.]

Acts 1:8  But ye shall receive ____________, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.  [He receives Christ’s Omnipotence.]

I Corinthians 2:10b  ...for the Spirit _____________  _____  __________, yea, the deep things of God.  [He receives the Father’s Omniscience.]

Psalms 139:7  Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from _____  _______________?  [He is Omnipresent.]

John 16:13  Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself, but _________________  _____  ________  ________, ________  ________  _____  ___________: and He will shew you things to come.  [He is subservient to the Father.]

John 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: ____  _______  _________  _____  _______.  [He brings the Presence of Christ into the soul of the believer.]

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and ____  _____  _______ unto him, and make _____  _______ with him.  [He brings the Presence of the Father into the soul of the believer.]

John 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another ____________, that he may _______  ______  _____ forever. [He brings comfort to the soul of the believer.]

Revelation 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.  [He draws from the heart the invitation for Jesus to come and dwell therein.]

            There is one criterion that is very important for us to understand. The Holy Spirit never draws attention to Himself. Nowhere in the Scriptures did Moses, the prophets, Jesus, or His Apostles speak directly to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost leads the penitent believer to the Father and to the Son. The Bible ascribes that They and They alone reside on the Throne of Heaven, while the Holy Spirit shares nothing in Their Glory other than leading men to repentance and the baptism of His Presence, and thereby share the Throne of Heaven with the Father and the Son.

            But there is another spirit that has taken hold in the churches. Although many stand innocent in their ignorance of safe-Bible-guidelines on this precious doctrine of the Triune GOD, a door has been opened where Satan has been allowed to enter and to lead entire churches to follow another spirit: a deceiving and Biblically antagonistic spirit.  We will study this in greater detail, but the summation is this: this other spirit leads men to sin and to remain therein while standing under the delusion that GOD is leading them.  This is where GOD’S Word gives a most profound warning for all to heed: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hos.4:6.

            To be literate in the Bible’s guidelines for salvation will be the determining factor for those who stand victorious through the closing scenes of Earth’s present history and see Jesus “coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matt.24:30.