Becoming a theologian: God's Glory

The last of God's attributes that we will be examining as part of our study is God's glory. There are two different concepts in the Bible that are translated as glory: the honor and respect that God is due (remember our discussion of God's jealousy) and the appropriate outward expression of God's excellence. It is the second of these that we will be looking at today. Let's look at a few verses where God's glory is mentioned.

Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

Exodus 33:18

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.

Exodus 34:29

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

Luke 2:9

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

Revelation 21:23

• In Exodus, Moses asks to see God's glory. God passes by Moses but does not let Moses see His face. When Moses comes down from the mountain, Moses' face is glowing!
• In Luke, when the Shepherds saw the angels announcing the birth of Jesus, there was a bright glow around them, God's glory!
• In Revelation, it talks of the heavenly city not needing the sun, because God's glory is it's light.
• Do we get to see a visible glowing (or whatever) as God's glory? I don't know. Maybe we have and I was not aware of it.
• But, the Bible tells us that we were created to reflect God's glory, in other words, when people look at us, God wants them to see Him in us!
• Do you want to reflect God's glory?

Becoming a theologian: God's Beauty

Today we will be looking at God's beauty. By God's beauty, we don't mean that He is physically beautiful - since He is spirit not physical - but that He is the sum all of desirable qualities.

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 27:4

• The Hebrew word used here for beauty is no`am which means "kindness, pleasantness, delightfulness, beauty, favour"
• Of the English words here, only one is sometimes applied to physical beauty. All them can be used to describe good attributes of character.
• If we saw a picture of a mountain or a sunset, we might describe it a as being beautiful. But seeing the mountain or the sunset in person might make it seem even more beautiful.
• In the same way, reading about God in His Word, we might perceive of His beauty, but through having a relationship with Him and actively seeking Him, we might really know His beauty.
• In the Psalm, David is talking about wanting to spend all of eternity in Heaven with God where he can truly behold God's beauty.
• Do you want to know God's beauty?

Becoming a theologian: Gods' Blessedness

Today we will be looking at God's blessedness. When used in the New Testament to refer to God's blessedness, it means happiness. God is happy and delights fully in himself and in everything that reflects his character.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31

As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

Isaiah 62:5

If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm;

Psalm 37:23

• What are some things that make God happy
• His Creation
• His people
• When people obey Him
• The Greek word makarios is used in 1 Timothy to refer to God and is translated as blessed. One context that this word can be used is in congratulations where someone has done something that they are really happy about or when someone has won something.
• What do you think God has to be happy about?
• What should we be happy about?
• When we show signs of God's character in our lives
• When we are obedient to God
• When we recognize God's gifts in our lives
• What are you happy about?

Becoming a theologian: God's Perfection

We're on the homestretch of our study of God's attributes. Today, we will be looking at God's perfection. When talking about God being perfect, we could also use the word complete. By this we mean that God posseses all the excellent qualities that He needs and does not lack in any desirable qualities.

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48

• The Greek word here is teleios which means
• brought to its end, finished
• wanting nothing necessary to completeness
• perfect
• By "brought to it's end, finished", we can infer that God is not growing, God is not getting better, because there's nothing for God to improve on.
• In baseball, if a pitcher throws a perfect game, he gets all 27 batters that he face out. He can't get any more batters out (in a 9 inning perfect game) because there are no more batters for him to face. There is no more room for improvement and he has brought the game to it's perfect end just like God is perfect.
• The second sense of this definition implies God's completeness and lack of nothing. If God needed anything, would He be perfect?
• This verse we read tells us to be perfect. Do you think you are perfect?
• Because of our sin, we are not perfect.
• It is interesting to me to note the tense of the verbs in this verse. When it tells us to "be perfect" it is in future tense - recognizing that we are not perfect now. When it says that God is perfect it is in present tense - meaning that it is true now.
• How do we become perfect?

Becoming a theologian: God's Omnipotence

Today we will be looking at God's omnipotence. Omnipotence means that God is all-powerful which means that He is able to do all of His will. Let's start by looking at several verses that speak to His omnipotence.

Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

Psalm 24:8

"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.

Jeremiah 32:17

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Matthew 19:26

• Is there anything that God wills that He cannot do?
• Is there any thing that God wills that He is not capable of doing?
• Is there anything that God wills, that is impossible for Him to do?
• Is there anything that God cannot do?

a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,

Titus 1:2

if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

2 Timothy 2:13

• There are things God cannot do because they are not in keeping with His character.
• He cannot lie
• He cannot sin
• He cannot deny Himself
• He cannot cease to exist
• He, because of who He is, cannot do these things, but anything that is according to His will and His plan He can do. The only thing that prevents Him from doing anything else is God himself.
• Let's consider the following things and tell me if God can do them or not:
• Raise a man from the dead
• Create heaven and earth
• Tell a lie
• Make a rock too big for Him to lift
• Make the sun shine
• Forgive our sins

Becoming a theologian: God's Freedom

Today, we will be looking at God's Freedom. After spending time yesterday talking about God's free will, discussing His freedom might seem redundant, but it is not. You can't have free will or make free choices if you aren't free to begin with.

Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.

Psalm 115:3

• Consider the following, suppose you were to freely decide (exercise your free will) that today you were going to cause an earthquake.
• You've made a free will decision to cause an earthquake. Right?
• Do you have the freedom to cause an earthquake?
• What is restraining you from causing an earthquake today?
• God, however, is not restrained from doing so.
• He does what He pleases, because He can.
• The only thing that restrains God is God himself (remember our discussion of His necessary will).
• Can God cause it to be dark when it should be light? Yes, He did so in Exodus as one of the plagues
• Can God turn water into wine? Yes, Jesus did so at the wedding in Cana
• God can do these things that nobody else can do because He has freedom to do so

Becoming a theologian: God's Will

Today, we will start looking at some of God's attributes of purpose. These attributes are the ones that deal with how God makes and carries out His decisions. Today we will be looking at God's will. We will be looking at the following aspects of God's will:

1. What do we mean by God's will?
2. God's necessary will
3. God's free will
4. God's secret will
5. God's revealed will

What do we mean by God's will?

Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology says "God's will is that attribute of God whereby He approves and determines to bring about every action necessary for the existence and activity of Himself and all creation."

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

Ephesians 1:11

• God accomplishes all things according to His will.
• In other words, everything is accomplished according to His plan.
• Who is doing the accomplishing? God is

God's necessary will

God said to Moses, "I am who I am..."

Exodus 3:14a

• God's necessary will refers to what He must do because of who He is.
• Because of His righteousness and holiness, God can not tolerate sin. To do so would be to deny His nature.
• Because of God's truthfulness, we know that He cannot lie.
• Can you think of any other examples of things that God must (or cannot) do that are part of His necessary will?

God's free will

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

Revelation 4:11

• Did God have to create all of creation? No.
• God's free will refers to the things that He has done/will do because He wants to.
• To help understand the difference between necessary will and free will, let's consider the following. You boys are children and you are obligated or required to obey your parents. The things on this list are necessary because you are obedient children are part of your necessary will. The things that you do because you want to are part of your free will.
• Get dressed for the day. Necessary
• Clear your dishes Necessary
• Play with legos free
• Brush your teeth Necessary
• Play Star Wars Lego Wii free

God's Secret will

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 29:29

• God's secret will means that we don't know everything that God wills. Some of His plans for us may be secret.
• When we consider God's wisdom and God's knowledge and know that we can't fully have His knowledge and wisdom, we can begin to imagine that there are some things we just can't know of God's will.
• There may be parts of His will for us that are secret because we might not obey if we knew.
• There may be parts of His will that we just don't need to know.
• There may be parts of His will that we don't need to know now, but will be revealed to us in the future

God's revealed will

• We can also see from the verse in Deuteronomy that God has revealed things to us and those belong to us.
• One of the main places where His will is revealed is the Bible
• Can you think of other places where His will is revealed?
• Let's compare some of these things to see if they are examples of His secret will or His revealed will.
• Worship God only Revealed
• Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength revealed
• What are you getting for your next birthday Secret
• Why not all of our neighbors love God secret