If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 2 Cor 5:17
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These pages are designed to aid study or investigation for Christian discipleship through individual Bible study, Cell groups, Home groups, or meeting one to one. The questions could be used alone allowing each person to use their own Bible.
God is first and foremost our creator, and as our Father, He loves us. The infinite God is able to watch over every person in His creation. The almighty God has power to work through all things for good. This amazing God is worth getting to know -
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So, who is God?
- Father God our creator is our Father.
- Father’s heart - Our Father has a heart of deep love for us His children.
- God of Mystery - God is bigger than us. He does not sit in our boxes.
- God Almighty - God is powerful, He overcomes any obstacle set before Him.
- Glory - God is glorious!
- Trinity - God is three persons, but one God. Now figure that one out!
God is our Father. He is our Father because He created us. We are very precious to Him and He longs for us to respond to His love. He is also Father in a special way to those who have received His Spirit. They are His Spiritual children, children born of God. However none of us compare to the only one who is God’s Son by nature, Jesus.
In this section we focus on God as creator of all - Acts 17:24-28
- What has God made?
- What place does God have over creation?
- What special place do people hold in God’s heart?
- How does God want us to approach Him?
Acts 17:24-28 24 "He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man-made temples,25 and human hands can't serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.26 From one man* he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
27 "His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your* own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
A broader perspective on Father
The fact that God is Father gives us an amazing picture of His relationship with us. Many think God is like earthly fathers, but fathers are far from perfect. We need to understand what kind of a Father God is. Jesus gives us great insights about our Father, and what we can expect from Him. Jesus trusted His Father completely, and He teaches us the Father’s values and attitudes.
- How does Jesus contrast our giving gifts with how God gives to us?
- What makes a GIFT GOOD?
- Why does our Father want His children to ask for things?
Matthew 7:9-11 9 "You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
A broader perspective on Father’s Heart
God in heaven - unseen and mystery. God is, after all, the creator. It is an arrogant creation that presumes it can gain a complete understanding of its creator. God understands our desire to answer the question, What is God?. He has revealed Himself through Jesus, His Word -the Bible, and His Spirit. Though God is a mystery, He does not deny us the opportunity to find out about Him. He encourages us to seek Him, but we need to embark on this journey with humility.
- How is God described here?
- To what extent is it possible to know God?
- This passage quotes some writers who knew God well compared to most of their generation. What is their testimony about God?
Romans 11v33-36 33 Oh, how great are God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!
34 For who can know the LORD's thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice?*
35 And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?
36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen
A broader perspective on God of Mystery
One of the greatest challenges is not over physical effects but over people’s will, especially people of authority and power.
- What had God done previously for this family?
- What was the need of the woman and her family?
- What was the need of the king?
- What did God need to orchestrate for the needs to be answered?
2 Kings 8: 1 Elisha had told the woman whose son he had brought back to life, "Take your family and move to some other place, for the LORD has called for a famine on Israel that will last for seven years."2 So the woman did as the man of God instructed. She took her family and settled in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
3 After the famine ended she returned from the land of the Philistines, and she went to see the king about getting back her house and land.4 As she came in, the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. The king had just said, "Tell me some stories about the great things Elisha has done."5 And Gehazi was telling the king about the time Elisha had brought a boy back to life. At that very moment, the mother of the boy walked in to make her appeal to the king about her house and land.
"Look, my lord the king!" Gehazi exclaimed. "Here is the woman now, and this is her son—the very one Elisha brought back to life!"
6 "Is this true?" the king asked her. And she told him the story. So he directed one of his officials to see that everything she had lost was restored to her, including the value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence.
A broader perspective on God Almighty
God is the only one on earth who deserves glory in of himself. Many want glory; many will make great sacrifices for glory. However God views glory as something intrinsically belonging to Him. He generously gives it to His people, but He desires it to be handled well, ultimately it should be returned to Him through worship. John 17:1-5
- For what purpose does the Father give His glory?
- How does Jesus glorify the Father?
- This passage seems to suggest that Jesus’ glory in heaven is going to be different from the glory we saw on earth. How will it differ?
John 17:1-5 1 After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you.2 For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him.3 And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.4 I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.5 Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.
A broader perspective on God of Glory
God is one! There is also Jesus and the Holy Spirit, both of whom are described as God. How does that work? The arrival of Jesus and the the Holy Spirit had many people thinking it took a couple of hundred years for scholars to explain it consistently with the whole Bible.
What the scholars came up with is that there is one God, and that this one God is made up of three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This maintains the fact that there is unity without uniformity; it allows for the three relating together, so each having an identity and will, yet they are one God.
1 Peter 1:2 draws out the work of the Three, in one work - our salvation, done with one purpose, but each having a slightly different role.
- What is the end to which all Three are working?
- What are the distinctive roles of each?
1 Peter 1:2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
May God give you more and more grace and peace.
A broader perspective on Trinity
GOD
