“PERHAPS THE GREATEST QUESTION EVER TO BE ASKED BY THE MINDS OF MEN IS – ‘WHO IS GOD? IS THERE REALLY A GREAT AND POWERFUL GOD OVER US ALL? DOES HE SOVEREIGNLY CONTROL ALL THINGS? ARE WE HIS POSSESSION AND PROPERTY BECAUSE HE CREATED US?’”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about these many perplexing questions and more, as we try to answer them on today’s program entitled – “Who is God?”

… As I opened the program with what I believe is the greatest question on the minds of men, I want to talk about it for your learning and interest. Indeed, there is no one who ever lived that has not asked themselves – “WHO IS GOD?” For wrapped up in those three words is the question of whether such a being exists or not?

Although today we have all experienced an explosion of knowledge, it is astounding how many have forgotten that the greatest knowledge they could possess is the knowledge of God. Moreover, many people today would like to escape the reality of God’s existence and authority and, therefore, have tried to convince themselves and others that “science” has exposed His non-existence. Yes, the world of humanity, in every generation, would like to believe that we are accountable only to ourselves, therefore men seek either to reject the idea of God altogether or else relegate His existence to some intangible, impersonal role in the cosmos, of no direct concern to ourselves.

Might I remind you, the philosophy of Communism, which once enslaved half the world, is founded squarely on such thinking we have today in the religion of atheism and evolutionism. Even in the world of so-called Christendom, God is merely recognized in purely a nominal way. However, in our highly secularized society of the 21^st century, God is largely ignored and even banished from our political, scientific and educational realms. Yet the evidence for the existence of an omnipotent God is so clear and certain that the Psalmist writes,

“The fool says in his heart, There is no God!” (Psalm 14:1).

Well on that biblical note, we’ll pause one more time for another moment of music and then I’ll tell you how you can know for sure there is a God who created all things and still rules the universe and all who live in it. Don’t go away I’ll be right back with today’s message – “WHO IS GOD?”

… There is a two fold statement that helps us to begin our quest to discover whether there is a God over us or not. The statement is –

“God is and He may be known.”

These two affirmations form the foundation and inspiration of all true religion. The first is (1) an affirmation of faith, the second (2) of experience. Since the existence of God is not subject to scientific proof, it must be a postulate of faith; and since God transcends all His Creation, He can be known only in His self-revelation, which for all of us today is found in the Judeo-Christian Bible.

Yes, the Christian faith, compared to all other religions of the world is distinctive in that it claims that God can be known as a personal God, but only through His self-revelation in the Scriptures. Thus, the Bible was written down not to prove that God is, but to reveal Him in His Person, His activities, and plan for His creation. For that reason, the biblical revelation of God is, in its nature, progressive, and reaches its fullness in the revelation of Jesus Christ God’s as God’s only Son and Savior of the world. So then, in the light of God’s self-revelation in His Word, the Holy Scriptures, there are several fundamental affirmations that can be made about God that answer our question – “Who is God?” Although the so-called atheist or agnostic denies the existence or presence of God, the reality is He must exist based on the presence of all there is around us. No one but a “fool” will deny the fact of God because:

How can one explain the existence of intricate, complex and yet simple things like a watch, and there be no jeweler who creates and repairs it; An airliner and no airport or pilot to fly it? A light burning and no electricity and plant to produce it? A garden of beautiful fruit and flowers, and no gardener to plant and cultivate it? A Universe of immense order, and no one who created and maintains it. Well the Bible says of those who say, all that we are and have in this world came about by evolutionary random chance with no design or deity behind it, are fools for which God laughs.

Psa 2:4 (NIV)  The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.

 Now since God exists simply by the presence of  the intricate and immense creation of all things around us, we should look to discover what we can about Him. Indeed, such arguments may not prove conclusively that God is, but they do show that in order to argue for the existence of any knowledge, thought, reason, and conscience in man, we must assume that God is. It is said of the beautiful, “It may be shown, but not proved.” So we say of the existence of God.  Thus, instead of doubting everything that can be doubted, as the agnostic does, let us rather doubt nothing until we are compelled to doubt.

Now the very fact that everything that exists moves us from the finite to the infinite, so then the One who created all these things must exist in the realm of the infinite. This infinite Being who made all things must also want to reveal Himself to us, His highest creation. We believe God has done this by giving us the bible, the self-revelation of God. Now what can we learn about Him from His revelatory Word, the Bible? The first thing is…

I. GOD IS AN ETERNAL UNCREATED BEING OF OMNIPOTENT POWER

We cannot have a right conception of God unless we think of Him as all-powerful, as well as all-wise and eternal in Being and nature. A being who cannot do what He wills and perform all His pleasure, simply cannot be God! As God has a will to resolve what He deems good, so He has power to execute that will. So then the Bible begins with such an explanation.

Gen 1:1 (NIV)  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Psa 145:3 (NIV)  “Great is the LORD… his greatness no one can fathom.”

Deu 33:27 (NIV) “ The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…”

Isa 40:28 (NIV)  “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”

Dan 4:35 (NIV)  “All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’”

Job 37:23 (NIV)  “The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power…”

All throughout Scripture we read that God is an almighty eternal Being who can do anything He wills! So then with that understanding we discover a second marvelous thing about God. That is,

II. THE ETERNAL CREATOR GOD IS ONE BEING, BUT EXISTS AS THREE DISTINCT PERSONS (Rom 1:7; Heb. 1:8; Acts 5:3-4)

The fact that He exists as One eternal Being, but also as three distinct Persons known as: (1) God the Father, (2) God the Son and (3) God the Holy Spirit, is the clear revelation of Scripture. This is called the doctrine of the Trinity, found only in the faith of Christianity. Of course this word, “trinity, does not exist in the bible but the reality of it clearly does.

The doctrine of the Trinity—that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are each equally and eternally the one true God—is admittedly difficult to comprehend. Yet, it is the very foundation of Christian truth for both the Old and New Testaments teach the Unity and the Tri-unity of the Godhead. The idea that there is only one God, who created all things, is repeatedly emphasized in such Scriptures: 

Deu 6:4 (NIV)  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Isa 45:18 (NIV)  For this is what the LORD says-- he who created the heavens, he is God… he says: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isa 48:16 (NIV)  "Come near me and listen to this: "From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there." And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, with his Spirit.

Now this last passage (Isa. 48:16) is difficult at first reading but is actually very clear. It is an O.T. reference to the tri-unity of God. For in it is revealed - God the Son, as the pre-incarnate Christ, who is here associated with God the Father, and God the Spirit, giving us an Old Testament embryonic glimpse of the Triune nature of God. Why even the New Testament tells us,

Mat 28:19 (NIV)  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

2 Cor 13:14 (NIV)  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

This triune nature of God is of course the final revelation of His Word to all mankind. It is culminated in the coming to the earth of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Indeed, Jesus, as the only-begotten Son of God, actually claimed to be God, and equal with the Father, is clear from numerous Scriptures too. For example:

Heb 1:8 (NIV)  But about the Son, the[Father God] says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.

Rev 1:8 (NIV)  "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

 Some cults falsely teach that God the Holy Spirit is an impersonal divine influence of some kind, but the Bible teaches that He God the Spirit is a real being and person, just as are the Father and the Son. Jesus said:

John 16:13 (NIV)  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

The teaching of the Bible concerning the Trinity can be summarized as – “God is a Tri-unity, with each Person of the Godhead equally, fully and eternally God. Each is necessary, and each is distinct, and yet all are one.” Admittedly this is difficult to understand, but we do not deny something because we cannot understand it. God is an infinite uncreated Being. His existence as such is also the same.

 Well finally, men have always known that they should be able to have communion with their Creator and to experience His presence “within.” This deep intuition given by the Holy Spirit though, has been corrupted into various forms of false religion such as: mysticism, fanaticism, spiritism and demonism. Thus, the truth of God’s tri-unity is ingrained in man’s very nature, but he has often distorted it and substituted a false god in its place. Lastly, although there is much more this half hour program cannot explore, we discover that,

III.  GOD IS A HOLY, JUST, BUT MERCIFUL AND LOVING BEING WHO WANTS TO SAVE US FROM OUR SINS.

This of course is the main message of God’s revelation to man. We first discover that God exists as a holy and just God. But then, what is holy? Well “holiness” in the Bible means separation from all that is common or unclean. In respect to God, holiness means not only that He is separate from all that is unclean and evil, but also that He is positively pure and thus distinct from all others. Holiness is therefore the absence of wrong and evil and the presence of positive right. In God, His holiness is a purity of being and nature as well as of will and act.

Lev 11:44 (NIV)  “I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean...”

Psa 99:5 (NIV)  Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.

Isa 40:25 (NIV)  "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

Psa 111:7 (NIV)  The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.

As a result of this holiness and justice of God, nothing can exist in His presence that is not pure, holy and right. Now this presents a problem for mankind, once created holy in God’s image, but due to sin and the evil of rebellion our first parents stepped away from God and became unclean, unholy and unrighteous. Because of this, God decreed that all mankind has sinned and is subject to separation from His presence for all eternity. Yes, because God is holy, He is also righteous and just and therefore must punish all sin. This began in Heaven when God cast out the sinning angels, some were incarcerated in a prison of Hell call the Abyss, and others allowed for a time to exist in the corporeal universe. However, the Bible reveals God is love and doesn’t want to punish and separate His highest creation, mankind, from His eternal presence and glorious life.
 

This my friend, is the story of God’s love revealed in the Bible!

God solved this problem by being just and holy, yet punishing the sins that separate us from Him. How did He do that? God, in love, sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth to enter the human race and become a true human being, born to offer up His human life, to pay for the sins of all mankind. Listen to the Bible that reveals this beauty of God’s love and mercy found in Christ’s gift to save us from the sin penalty coming for us all.

1 John 4:8 (NIV)  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Eph 2:4-8 (NLT)  But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead... 8 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

In these passages, the Bible is speaking to those who have been saved by the grace, mercy and love of God. How is this possible? Well God answers this for us in His Word,

Rom 1:17 (NLT)  This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."

Gal 3:11 (NLT)  Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever be right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."

1 John 5:12 (NLT)  So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life.

 The Good News is all sinners, that is all human beings ever born, can receive God’s forgiveness and be granted His life eternal --  if we recognize the fact that we are sinners and have sinned against God and are worthy of His eternal separation to come upon death. To be saved, we confess this to God and as we learn that God the Son gave His life in death upon a cross for our sins. And, He offers His death as substitution for us, whereby we can receive His eternal life.

Yes, God grants to all sinners regardless of the depth of their sins, eternal life and forever forgiveness of all sin, when we “receive” Jesus Christ into our hearts and lives by surrendering to Him and crowning Christ Lord and Savior.

John 3:16-17 (NLT)  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.

John 1:12 (NLT)  But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

Indeed there is a God who created all things, and none of us are without excuse to recognize Him and submit ourselves to His rulership and will. The Bible warns us,

Rom 1:20 (NIV)  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

So then the question, “Who is God?” is answered for us in the Bible. God is the eternal omnipotent Creator Being revealed to us in Jesus Christ, who holds the power of life and death and warns us the entire world of mankind is under the penalty of sin and death. However the Bible also reveals God is a great God of mercy and love and has devised a plan to save us if we are willing to receive it.  Say friend, have you reached out in your mind and heart to acknowledge you are a sinner worthy of death?

Have you understood God’s love worked out in the Person of Jesus Christ who lived and died for us that we might be forgiven our sins? Have you received Jesus Christ personally? I’m not talking about taking communion, or being baptized, or joining a church. Have you confessed your sins to God in a prayer of faith acknowledging Jesus Christ as your Savior God? Apart for that no man will live on in life eternal and God’s presence. But all who accept Jesus Christ, will!

 It is my prayer each week on this program that the truth of God’s Word and the revelation of His Being always is clearly taught and that our listeners have opened their hearts to Jesus Christ an become a child of God through Him. That is all that really matters in this life, for the life to come will either be in a place called Hell, or the glory of Heaven. It’s our choice only in this life.

May God so grant you my listening friend a mind to understand; a heart to desire, and a will surrendered to crown Jesus Christ king of your life. Amen.

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·         Radio talk #3006

·         Broadcast date: July 23, 2006

·         Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

·         Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

·         Address: P.O. Box 60033 Grand Junction, CO 81506

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The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 26 years, and serves as General Director.

* These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual audio radio messages on CD's, and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.

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