Understanding God: Step-by-Step

In television, printed media and among the public we hear many different 'Gods' spoken of. There is the Catholic God, the God of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormon God, Allah in the Islamic faith and many others. This same term 'God' is almost always used, but when you take time to learn about the 'God' which they worship you find that each one is completely different from the others. So who is God? Is there a true God? Colin Murray explains how we can understand the true God, the only God - the God of the Bible. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works - 2 Timothy 3:16

Amongst many other things, the Word of God is profitable for doctrine. This word 'doctrine' should not be interpreted as something which is only within the reach of a select few scholars of Bible literature. God would not have His Word to be accessible to only a small number of individuals - it is for all! It is crucial that every believer knows and understand the doctrine of Scripture.

It is vital that we know the doctrine of God, as contained in the Bible. Through this knowledge, we will grow to know our God better, we will learn to serve Him better, we will want to serve Him better and we will feel compelled to witness for Him better than ever before. We must understand God. Of course, as we have said, there are many different views on God. Some say there is no God, others says there could be a God but it is impossible to know Him. There are views that everything is a God, or that there are many Gods. But the Bible teaches clearly that there is ONE God. So who is this God, and how can we know Him better? THE TRINITY To know God, and to understand who He is, we must first accept and believe in the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity teaches, from Scripture, that God is three unique persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each one of these three person is fully God. Yet there exists one God. This is teaching of Scripture, and it is a teaching which we must accept. We must believe that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are all fully, and individually God, yet there is only one God and not three. This is taught clearly through the verses outlined below: The Father is God - Philippians 1:2; the Son (Jesus Christ) is God - Titus 2:13; the Holy Spirit is God - Acts 5:3-4; they are THREE distinct persons - Mark 1:10-11; yet there is ONE God - James 2:19. We will, however, never understand such a concept, as our limited minds could never comprehend such a truth. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts - Isaiah 55:9 It is beyond human logic, yet many have tried (and failed) to encapsulate it into a sense of logic which we can grasp (refer to slides 4-6 of the accompanying presentation). This concept is further proved in Scripture through the first chapter of the Bible. In the opening verse of Genesis, the word 'God' is the Hebrew word 'Elohiym', which is a plural word, NOT singular. Yet the correct rendering of this word is 'God', not 'Gods'. In verse 26 of the opening chapter, God declares 'Let us make man...', again indicating a plurality. The concept of the Trinity is fundamental to understanding who God is, and how we can know Him. For it is only then that we ca truly understand that it was the true love of the Father to send the Son to die on the cross for us that we might receive the forgiveness of sins, and have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit in our lives every day. Because only God could show the level of love and mercy that it took to send 'His only begotten Son' to a world that rejected Him. Only God, though humbling Himself to become a man who would lay down His life at Calvary, could destroy the power of sin, death and hell, taking His life back up once again. Only God could give us the peace and comfort of eternal security, teaching us in the ways of Scripture and filling us with the joy of salvation. Yet it is one God that we worship. To Him be the glory! There are many other things we can know about God from Scripture, some of which can be seen on slide 7 of the accompanying presentation. Even the very names of God (slide 8) can teach us so much about His love, His care, His presence and His power. As Christians, we are commanded to be like Christ, and although we can never hope to attain to what Christ is, and was, it should be our desire that live according to His example. And so we must study the Scriptures, learning about the Holiness, the Righteousness, the Truthfulness, Goodness, Love, Grace, Mercy and Longsuffering of God, to know what He expects us to be in a world that knows Him not. In doing so, let us look forward to that day when we shall see Christ, when we shall glory in the presence of the Father and when we shall commune eternally and perfectly with the Spirit in heaven. For it is only then that we will truly understand God, and will know Him better than anything or anyone we have ever known before. What a blessed hope! Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is - 1 John 3:2