RUSHWAVE: Establishing Believers in the Christian Faith

Chapter 3: What do you mean by “God”?

The nature and character of God as taught by Jesus Christ is founded upon the Bible.

For thousands of years man has pondered the existence and nature of God. Listing all the different beliefs would require thousands of volumes of books. Consider just a few of these views.

There is no personal God of any kind.
There is no personal God, but rather a universal energy and force that animates us all.
God is the collective consciousness of the human race.
There are several spirit beings who have power over different aspects of life and the universe — a sun god, a rain god, a fertility god, a god of war, and others.
There are gods and goddesses as described in the ancient civilizations of …
God created everything, but He does not concern Himself with man’s affairs and we can’t know Him.
There are gods and goddesses, and they are revealed through the writings in the Vedas and the teachings of Hinduism.
God is revealed through the writings in the Koran and the teachings of Islam.
There is a personal God who has revealed Himself in all religions — each is true and each leads to God.

In John 3:16 where we are told “God so loved the world,” which (if any) of these definitions are we talking about? A universal force? A collective consciousness? A host of spirit beings? The gods of the Mayans? Incas? Vikings? The gods of fallen ancient empires such as the Egyptians? Babylonians? Assyrians? Romans? Greeks? The gods of a specific, modern day Indian tribe in the Amazon rain forest? A particular Eskimo tribe in the polar regions? A nomadic Bedouin tribe in the desert? As pointed out in the previous chapter, the gods (or God) in each of these groups had their own nature and characteristics. Which concept of God is in view?

The nature and character of God as understood through Jesus Christ requires a detailed study of the Bible. For it is in the Bible that God reveals Himself to mankind through the writings of His prophets, apostles, and Christ Himself. It is outside the scope of this book to address the authority of the Bible or the principles that should be used in its interpretation. Our goal in this book is to grasp foundational truths regarding the word “God” as taught by Jesus Christ who Himself held to the inspiration and authority of scripture. In doing so we will understand the full import of the phrase “God so loved the world.

Your conception of God is just one of many throughout the history of the world. That conception may have been formed by your parents, the teachings of a philosopher, the sayings of a wise man, the sacred writings of a religion outside Christianity, or any number of other sources. But the message of John 3:16 pertains to the teachings of Jesus Christ, and He held to the authority of Old Testament prophets, Himself, and the apostles He commissioned. If your understanding of the nature and character of God does not align with scripture, your disagreement is ultimately with Jesus Christ who boldly declared “I am … the truth” John 14:6.

from The Nature and Character of God

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