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Christianity Explained Information Find Christian Unity in Biblical Explanations of the Doctrines That Count! |
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You have a choice to make: You
can either believe the opinions of theologians, atheists, or agnostics,
or you can determine for yourself what the Bible says by studying it.
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What Is Religion and Where Did It Originate? What Is the Bible, and How Relative Is It to My Life? What Are Messianic Prophecies? Who Was Jesus of Nazareth, Really? Why Are There So Many World Religions? Why Are There So Many Christian Denominations? What Is the Law and How Does It Apply to Me? What's All This About the End of the World and End-time Prophecies? Isn't the Book of Daniel a Closed Book? Revelation: How can anyone understand all that symbolism? Who or What Was Jesus' Mother, Mary? Didn't Darwin Disprove Creation? What's the Truth About Faith and Works? Christian E-mails: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Complete Directory of Articles/Studies
Title Abbreviations for Books of the Bible Genesis
- Ge |
We Don't Have To Wonder Who God Is!Through his word, the Bible, God tells us enough about himself that we can make an informed decision about who he is and how he relates to us.
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| He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. |
| And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. |
And what is the evidence of this love?
Genesis 1:1 relates,
| In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth |
| Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." | |
| So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. | |
| Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." |
| And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" | |
| Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." | |
| And the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." |
| Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), | |
| that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, | |
| knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, | |
| and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." | |
| For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, | |
| by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. | |
| But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. | |
| But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. | |
| The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. |
The only one who can . . .
According to scripture, Elohim--God Almighty, the mighty ones, later to introduce himself to Moses as Jehovah or Yaweh, the Lord or the Lord God--is the only God that can do what he does:
| "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: 'I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. | |
| And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them. | |
| Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.' " |
Attributes of God
Omnipotence:
To be omnipotent is to be all powerful, to be able to do anything. Although many men refuse to believe it, God claimed this for himself in scripture.
| When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. |
| Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. |
| "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them. |
| "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." |
| "I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty." |
There are only three things God cannot do: he cannot force us to follow him (he gives us a choice); he cannot go back on his promises; and he cannot break his own Commandments. (So I guess actually there are 12 things he cannot do.)
Creator:
God's title, in the way that the supreme leader of the USA is the President, is Creator. Many men also don't want to believe this, because if God has created all that is, then we owe him our allegience (loyalty) and worship, and we'd really rather follow the designs of our own hearts and worship ourselves. We control freaks really don't like to acknowledge that there is something we don't have control over. Yet, the fact remains, no one has ever "created" life, living matter from non-living matter. I think Job said it best:
| The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. |
| Who gave Him charge over the earth? Or who appointed Him over the whole world? | |
| If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, | |
| All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust. |
| who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. |
To be omnicient is to know everything. Through his prophets, God has revealed to whomever will listen, what is coming on the earth. While some self-proclaimed prophets err in their predictions, God does not. It's just a matter of time (see 2 Peter, above) before the prophecies of Scripture come to pass, but he assures us that he shares with us whatever is important to us so that we can know what to expect before it happens and know that he is God when it happens.
| Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. |
| 'Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. |
| He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. |
| The king answered Daniel, and said, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret." |
| [Daniel speaking] "But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart. |
| God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, | |
| has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; |
| As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, |
| "whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. |
| "Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. |
| that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world." |
| Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! |
| So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: |
| and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." |
The only thing God doesn't show us is the inner workings of himself, what he did for eternity before the creation of the earth, and what he will do in the eternity following the recreation of the earth.
| "Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, Why do those who know Him see not His days? |
| "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. |
Righteousness/Justice:
Every one desires justice, but no one wants it badly enough to try to be righteous. And if you're not righteous--perfect in all your ways--if something bad happens to you, isn't that justice? If you study scripture, you find that only God is righteous. Even when we try to do good, our motives aren't always pure. Some of us are only trying to buy our way into each others' or God's good graces.If there was no one to impress, we wouldn't be doing our good works.
| But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. |
| As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; | |
| There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. | |
| They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." | |
| "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; | |
| "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." | |
| "Their feet are swift to shed blood; | |
| Destruction and misery are in their ways; | |
| And the way of peace they have not known." | |
| "There is no fear of God before their eyes." |
Our immediate reaction is to say, "But I'm not that bad!"
| For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. |
We want to believe we're righteous, and we'll go to any lengths to justify ourselves . . . even twisting or ignoring scripture. But the wage of sin is still death.
Praise God, if we acknowledge our faults before the Lord and ask forgiveness, we don't have to feel so bad about ourselves. He knows who and what we are, and he has made provision for us because he loves us unconditionally!
| If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. |
But we're so busy trying to prove we can do it ourselves, we don't recognize the only source of unconditional love and righteousness.
But if only God is righteous, then only God can bestow perfect justice. Explains a lot about the justice system in our countries, doesn't it?
| "Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Almighty to commit iniquity. | |
| For He repays man according to his work, And makes man to find a reward according to his way. | |
| Surely God will never do wickedly, Nor will the Almighty pervert justice. |
| As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, In judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress. |
Ahah! There's that O word. We oppress each other daily! By our words, by our giving of understanding, grace, tolerance, forgiveness, etc., we display our righteousness, or lack thereof. It goes back to the first and foremost point: if we do not live in unconditional love for each other, we are not righteous and we are not God's, no matter how we try to deceive ourselves.
Wisdom:
What can you say about Wisdom? It is the ability to make the right decisions for ourselves and those around us all the time. Sometimes we have it and sometimes we don't. Unlike our "almighty politicians", who think they have all the answers, God doesn't suffer from that problem. He really does have all the answers. He really does know what to do in every instance so that the most people will receive the best outcome. and everyone will get what (s)he deserves.
Everyone wants to be wise, but humans gain wisdom in only two ways: either they listen to God and do what he wants them to do, or they don't listen to God, do what they want to do, and later wish they had listened to God and done what he wanted.
| To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. |
| for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, |
Solomon, known as the wisest man who ever lived, lost his gift almost completely when he began to honor the gods of his many wives. The decision to marry many and outside his faith was the beginning of his loss of wisdom. But, considering the book of Ecclesiastes, surely written from an experienced point of view, I'd say he began to listen to God more closely once he was already in his mess--kind of like Sampson--and realized that his former wisdom had come directly from God. His conclusion: Walking close to God is the only safe way to journey through life.
Omnipresence:
The ability to be everywhere at the same time is called Omnipresence. God, the life-giver of all, is everywhere. The Holy Spirit, by whom we are drawn to God and instructed in Christ's desires for us, is everywhere. Christ himself, gave up omnipresence to become human and die for us. He is now in heaven, in the temple after which the earthly sanctuary was patterned, administering his own blood in the holy place for our sins. When he is finished, he will return to take us back to heaven, that where he is, we may be also.
| He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. |
God is spirit
| "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." |
The
fact that God is Spirit explains his omnipresence. A spirit is not
confined to physical parameters. Nor is it confined to our "space-time
continuum".
Judgement
Abraham acknowledged God as the ultimate judge of all the earth.| "Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" |
Many others also relied on God's final judgment between them and the ones they felt were doing them wrong. David was only one:
| "Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you. |
This was not a matter of judging actions and lawbreaking, but judging hearts.
| "For the Lord will judge His people And have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their power is gone, And there is no one remaining, bond or free. |
| The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed." |
| "For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. |
| Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord, For He is coming to judge the earth. |
| "Can anyone teach God knowledge, Since He judges those on high? |
| The Lord shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me. | |
| Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, But establish the just; For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. |
I could go on for days . . . Point made?
God the redeemer--he knew when he created us that we would need a redeemer.
| All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. |
| For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; | |
| And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, |
| Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. |
| "Fear not, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you," says the Lord And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. |
| Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives-The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. |
| "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: 'I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. |
| Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: "I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; |
| For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. |
| Doubtless You are our Father, Though Abraham was ignorant of us, And Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. |
| "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, |
| Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), |
| But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, | |
| to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. |
| who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. |
| knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, | |
| but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. |
| And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, |
| They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. |
What is God's will? (The Bible tells us what it is not.)
What about "acts of God"? (The Bible tells us who is responsible for all the woes of the world.)
Related Links
Written in the HeartThe Truth About Mary Magdalene
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