Copyright © 2014 S. Michael Houdmann.

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WestBow Press rev. date: 04/08/2014

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction—The Ultimate Question

1. Questions about God’s Existence

2. Questions about Where God Is

3. Questions about God’s Nature

4. Questions about God’s Attributes

5. Questions about God’s Names

6. Questions about God’s Actions

7. Questions about How God Relates to Us

8. Questions about How We Relate to God

Appendix—Statement of Faith

Endnotes

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THIS BOOK IS dedicated to the more than 500 individuals who have served as volunteer writers for Got Questions Ministries in the past ten years. Their hard work, commitment, and passion are what make this ministry possible.

Special thanks goes to Kevin Stone, Rebekah Largent, and Gwen Sellers, who contributed greatly to this volume in writing, editing, organizing, and indexing.

All the glory goes to God, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36).

PREFACE

EVERY DAY, MORE and more people are turning to the Internet to find answers to their questions about spiritual matters. Topics related to spirituality are the second most searched-for subjects online. Sadly, websites that present false teachings far outnumber those that proclaim the truth of God’s Word.

In February of 2002, www.gotquestions.org was launched to help fill this gap and meet the needs of millions of spiritually-minded Web surfers. Since our launch, we have personally answered over 330,000 questions that have been submitted to us. Tens of millions of people have found answers to their questions via our Frequently Asked Questions archives, giving us a unique understanding of what questions are truly on people’s minds.

This volume is a collection of the most important and/or most frequently asked questions about God. Each question is answered directly from the Bible, if the Bible specifically addresses the particular issue. Where the Bible is silent on an issue, biblical principles are used to lead to a solid and correct understanding. The Lord Jesus Christ is our passion, and declaring His Word is our mission.

Following is the mission statement of Got Questions Ministries:

Got Questions Ministries seeks to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by providing biblical, applicable, and timely answers to spiritually-related questions.

INTRODUCTION—THE ULTIMATE QUESTION

Question: How do I get right with God?

Answer: In order to get “right” with God, we must first understand what is “wrong”—sin. “There is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:3). We have rebelled against God’s commands; we “like sheep, have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6).

The bad news is that the penalty for sin is death. “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). The good news is that a loving God has pursued us in order to bring us salvation. Jesus declared His purpose was “to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10), and He pronounced His purpose accomplished when He died on the cross with the words, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

Having a right relationship with God begins with acknowledging your sin. Next comes a humble confession of your sin to God (Isaiah 57:15) and a determination to forsake the sin. “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:10).

This repentance must be accompanied by faith—specifically, faith that Jesus’ sacrificial death and miraculous resurrection qualify Him to be your Savior. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Many other passages speak of the necessity of faith, such as John 20:27; Acts 16:31; Galatians 2:16; 3:11, 26; and Ephesians 2:8.

Being right with God is a matter of your response to what God has done on your behalf. He sent the Savior, He provided the sacrifice to take away your sin (John 1:29), and He offers you a promise: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21).

The parable of the prodigal son is a beautiful illustration of repentance and forgiveness (Luke 15:11–32). The younger son wasted his father’s gift in shameful sin (verse 13). When he acknowledged his wrongdoing, he decided to return home (verse 18). He assumed he would no longer be considered a son (verse 19), but he was wrong. The father loved the returned rebel as much as ever (verse 20). All was forgiven, and a celebration ensued (verse 24). God is good to keep His promises, including the promise to forgive. “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

If you want to get right with God, you can begin with this sample prayer. (Remember, saying this prayer or any other prayer will not save you. It is only trusting in Christ that can save you from sin. This prayer is simply a way to express to God your faith in Him and to thank Him for providing for your salvation.) “God, I know that I have sinned against You and am deserving of punishment. But Jesus Christ took the punishment that I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. I place my trust in You for salvation. Thank You for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness—the gift of eternal life! Amen!”

Have you made a decision to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior because of what you have read here? If so, please send us an email at questions@gotquestions.org.

CHAPTER 1

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD’S EXISTENCE

Contents

Does God exist? Is there evidence for the existence of God?

Is there an argument for the existence of God?

Is God real? How can I know for sure God is real?

Who created God? Where did God come from?

Can monotheism be proven?

Question: Does God exist? Is there evidence for the existence of God?

Answer: The existence of God cannot be proved or disproved. The Bible says that we must accept by faith the fact that God exists: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). If God so desired, He could simply appear and prove to the whole world that He exists. But if He did that, there would be no need for faith. Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

That does not mean, however, that there is no evidence of God’s existence. The Bible states, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1–4). The thousands of stars, the vastness of the universe, the wonders of nature, and the beauty of a sunset—all of these things point to a Creator God. If these are not enough, there is also evidence of God in our own hearts. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us, “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men.” Deep within us is the recognition that there is something beyond this life and someone beyond this world. We can deny this knowledge intellectually, but God’s presence is still obvious in us and all around us. Since the vast majority of people throughout history, in all cultures, in all civilizations, and on all continents believe in the existence of some kind of God, there must be something (or someone) causing this belief.

In addition to the biblical arguments for God’s existence, there are logical arguments. First, there is the ontological argument. The most popular form of the ontological argument uses the concept of God to prove God’s existence. It begins with the definition of God as “a being than which no greater can be conceived.” It is then argued that to exist is greater than to not exist, and therefore, the greatest conceivable being must exist. If God did not exist, then God would not be the greatest conceivable being, and that would contradict the very definition of God.

A second argument is the teleological argument. The teleological argument states that since the universe displays such an amazing design, there must have been a divine Designer. For example, if the earth were significantly closer or farther away from the sun, it would not be capable of supporting much of the life it currently does. If the elements in our atmosphere were even a few percentage points different, nearly every living thing on earth would die. The odds of a single protein molecule forming by chance are 1 in 10^243 (that is, a 1 followed by 243 zeros). A single cell is comprised of millions of protein molecules.

A third logical argument for God’s existence is called the cosmological argument. Every effect must have a cause. This universe and everything in it is an effect. There must be something that caused everything to come into existence. Ultimately, there must be something “un-caused” in order to cause everything else to come into existence. That “un-caused” cause is God.

A fourth argument is known as the moral argument. Every culture throughout history has had some form of law. Everyone has a sense of right and wrong. Murder, lying, stealing, and immorality are rejected almost universally. Where did this sense of right and wrong come from if not from a holy God?

Despite all of this, the Bible tells us that people will reject the clear and undeniable knowledge of God. Romans 1:25 declares, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” The Bible also proclaims that people are without excuse for not believing in God: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

People claim to reject God’s existence because it is “not scientific” or because “there is no proof.” The true reason is that once they admit there is a God, they also must realize that they are responsible to God and in need of forgiveness from Him (Romans 3:23; 6:23). If God exists, then we are accountable to Him for our actions. If God does not exist, then we can do whatever we want, without having to worry about God judging us. That is why many of those who deny the existence of God cling strongly to the theory of naturalistic evolution—it gives them an alternative to believing in a Creator God. God exists, and ultimately, everyone knows that He exists. The very fact that some attempt so aggressively to disprove His existence is in fact an argument for His existence.

How do we know God exists? As Christians, we know God exists because we speak to Him every day. We do not audibly hear Him speaking to us, but we sense His presence, feel His leading, know His love, and desire His grace. Things have occurred that have no possible explanation other than God’s work in our lives. God has so miraculously saved us and changed our lives that we cannot help but acknowledge His existence and praise Him.

None of these arguments can persuade anyone who refuses to acknowledge what is already obvious. In the end, God’s existence must be accepted by faith. Faith in God is not a blind leap into the dark; it is safe step into a well-lit room, where the vast majority of people are already standing.

Question: Is there an argument for the existence of God?

Answer: The question of whether or not there is a conclusive argument for the existence of God has been debated throughout history, with exceedingly intelligent people taking both sides of the dispute. In recent times, arguments against the possibility of God’s existence have taken on a militant spirit that accuses anyone daring to believe in God of being delusional and irrational. Karl Marx seemed to imply that anyone believing in God must have a mental disorder that caused invalid thinking. The psychiatrist Sigmund Freud wrote that a person who believed in a Creator God was delusional and only held that belief due to “wish-fulfillment.”[1] The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche bluntly said that faith equates to “not wanting to know what is true.”[2] The voices of these three figures from history (along with others) are now parroted by a new generation of atheists who claim that a belief in God is intellectually unwarranted.

Is it true that belief in God is an irrational position? No. Is there a logical argument for the existence of God? Yes. Outside of referencing the Bible, can one make a case for the existence of God that refutes the positions of both the old and new atheists and warrants faith in a Creator? Yes.

To argue for the existence of God, we must ask the right questions. We begin with the most basic metaphysical question: “Why do we have something rather than nothing at all?” This is the basic question of existence—why are we here; why is the earth here; why is the universe here instead of nothing?

In considering this question, there are four possible answers to why we have something rather than nothing:

1.   Reality is an illusion.

2.   Reality is/was self-created.

3.   Reality is self-existent (eternal).

4.   Reality was created by something that is self-existent.

So, which is the most plausible answer? Let’s begin with reality being simply an illusion, which is what a number of Eastern religions believe. This option was ruled out centuries ago by the philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes, who is famous for the statement, “I think, therefore I am.” Descartes argued that if he was thinking, then he must “be.” In other words, “I think, therefore I am not an illusion.” Illusions require something experiencing the illusion. Moreover, you cannot doubt the existence of yourself without proving your existence; it is a self-defeating argument. So, the possibility of reality being an illusion is eliminated.

Next is the option of reality being self-created. When we study philosophy, we learn of “analytically false” statements—that is, statements which are false by definition. The possibility of reality being self-created is one of those types of statements for the simple reason that something cannot be prior to itself. If you created yourself, then you must have existed prior to your creating yourself—but that simply cannot be. In the theory of evolution, this is sometimes referred to as “spontaneous generation”—something coming from nothing—a position that few, if any, reasonable people hold to anymore, simply because you cannot get something from nothing. Even the atheist David Hume said, “I never asserted so absurd a proposition as that anything might arise without a cause.”[3] Since something cannot come from nothing, the alternative of reality being self-created is ruled out.

Now we are left with only two choices: an eternal reality or reality being created by something that is eternal—an eternal universe or an eternal Creator. The syllogism below summarizes what the eighteenth-century theologian Jonathan Edwards argued:

•   Something exists.

•   Nothing cannot create something.

•   Therefore, a necessary and eternal “something” exists.

Notice that we must go back to an eternal “something.” The atheist who derides the believer in God for believing in an eternal Creator must turn around and embrace an eternal universe; it is the only other door he can choose. But the questions then become: Where does the evidence lead? Does the evidence point to matter before mind or mind before matter?

To date, all key scientific and philosophical evidence points away from an eternal universe and toward an eternal Creator. From a scientific standpoint, honest scientists admit the universe had a beginning, and whatever has a beginning is not eternal. In other words, whatever has a beginning has a cause, and if the universe had a beginning, it had a cause.

The fact that the universe had a beginning is underscored by evidence such as the second law of thermodynamics, the radiation echo of the big bang discovered in the early 1900s, the fact that the universe is expanding and can be traced back to a singular beginning, and Einstein’s theory of relativity. All these prove the universe is not eternal.

Further, the laws that surround causation speak against the universe being the ultimate cause of all we know for this simple fact: an effect must resemble its cause. This being true, no atheist can explain how an impersonal, purposeless, meaningless, and amoral universe accidentally created beings (us) who are full of personality and obsessed with purpose, meaning, and morals. Such a thing, from a causation standpoint, completely refutes the idea of a natural universe birthing everything that exists. So, in the end, the concept of an eternal universe is eliminated.

Philosopher J. S. Mill (not a Christian) summed up where we have now landed: “It is self-evident that only Mind can create mind.”[4] The only rational and reasonable conclusion is that an eternal Creator is the one who is responsible for reality as we know it. Or to put it in a logical set of statements:

•   Something exists.

•   You do not get something from nothing.

•   Therefore, a necessary and eternal “something” exists.

•   The only two options are an eternal universe or an eternal Creator.

•   Science and philosophy have disproven the concept of an eternal universe.

•   Therefore, an eternal Creator exists.

Former atheist Lee Strobel, who arrived at this conclusion many years ago, has commented, “Essentially, I realized that to stay an atheist, I would have to believe that nothing produces everything; non-life produces life; randomness produces fine-tuning; chaos produces information; unconsciousness produces consciousness; and non-reason produces reason. Those leaps of faith were simply too big for me to take, especially in light of the affirmative case for God’s existence … In other words, in my assessment the Christian worldview accounted for the totality of the evidence much better than the atheistic worldview.”[5]

The next questions we must tackle are these: If an eternal Creator exists (and we have shown that He does), what kind of Creator is He? Can we infer things about Him from what He created? In other words, can we understand the cause by its effects? The answer to this is, yes, we can, with the following characteristics being surmised:

•   He must be supernatural in nature (since He created time and space).

•   He must be powerful (exceedingly).

•   He must be eternal (self-existent).

•   He must be omnipresent. (He created space and is not limited by it.)

•   He must be timeless and changeless. (He created time.)

•   He must be immaterial (because He transcends space/physicality).

•   He must be personal (because the impersonal cannot create personality).

•   He must be infinite and singular, as you cannot have two infinites.

•   He must be diverse yet have unity (as unity and diversity exist in nature).

•   He must be intelligent (supremely). Only a cognitive being can produce a cognitive being.

•   He must be purposeful(as He deliberately created everything).

•   He must be moral (no moral law can be had without a giver).

•   He must be caring (or no moral laws would have been given).

Since these things are true, we now ask if any religion in the world describes such a Creator. The answer to this is, yes, the God of the Bible fits this profile perfectly. He is supernatural (Genesis 1:1), powerful (Jeremiah 32:17), eternal (Psalm 90:2), omnipresent (Psalm 139:7), timeless/changeless (Malachi 3:6), immaterial (John 4:24), personal (Genesis 5:24), necessary (Colossians 1:17), infinite/singular (Jeremiah 23:24; Deuteronomy 6:4), diverse—yet with unity (Matthew 28:19), intelligent (Psalm 147:4–5), purposeful (Jeremiah 29:11), moral (Daniel 9:14), and caring (1 Peter 5:6–7).

One last subject to address is the validity of the atheist’s position. Since the atheist asserts the believer’s position is unsound, it is only reasonable to turn the question around and ask if the atheist’s position is unsound. The first thing to understand is that the atheist’s claim that there is “no god” is an untenable position philosophically. As legal scholar and philosopher Mortimer Adler says, “An affirmative existential proposition can be proved, but a negative existential proposition—one that denies the existence of something—cannot be proved.”[6] For example, someone may claim that red eagles exist, and someone else may assert that red eagles do not exist. The former only needs to find a single red eagle to prove his assertion. But the latter must comb the entire universe and literally be in every place at once to ensure he has not missed a red eagle somewhere and at some time, which is impossible to do. This is why intellectually honest atheists will admit that they cannot prove God does not exist.

Next, it is important to understand that the seriousness of the issue relates directly to the amount of evidence required. For example, say someone puts two containers of lemonade in front of you and says that one may be more tart than the other. Since the consequences of getting the more tart drink would not be serious, you would not require a large amount of evidence in order to make your choice. However, say one container had sweetener and the other had rat poison. Then you would want to have quite a bit of evidence before you made your choice. The seriousness of the issue would demand more proof.

The stakes are very high for a person deciding between atheism and belief in God. Since atheism could possibly result in irreparable and eternal consequences, it would seem that the atheist should be mandated to produce weighty and overriding evidence to support his position. This he cannot do. Atheism simply cannot meet the test for evidence in view of the seriousness of the charge it makes. Instead, the atheist and those whom he convinces of his position slide into eternity with their fingers crossed and hope they do not find the unpleasant truth that eternity does indeed exist. As Mortimer Adler says, “More consequences for life and action follow from the affirmation or denial of God than from any other basic question.”[7]

So, is belief in God intellectually warranted? Is there a rational, logical, and reasonable argument for the existence of God? Absolutely. While atheists such as Freud claim that those believing in God are blinded by wish-fulfillment, perhaps it is Freud and his followers who actually suffer from wish-fulfillment: the hope and wish that there is no God, no accountability, and therefore, no judgment.

The God of the Bible affirms His existence and the fact of a coming judgment for those who suppress the truth (Romans 1:20; Hebrews 10:26–27). To those who acknowledge that a Creator does indeed exist, He offers the way of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12–13).

Question: Is God real? How can I know for sure that God is real?

Answer: We know that God is real because He has revealed Himself to us in three ways: in creation; in His Word; and in His Son, Jesus Christ.

The most basic proof of God’s existence is simply what He has made. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1).

If you found a wristwatch in the middle of a field, you would not assume that it just “appeared” out of nowhere or that it had always existed. Based on the watch’s design, you would assume it had a designer. But there is far greater design and precision in the world around us. Our measurement of time is not based on wristwatches but on God’s handiwork—the regular rotation of the earth (and the radioactive properties of the cesium-133 atom). The universe displays great design, and this argues for a Great Designer.

If you found an encoded message, you would attempt to break the code. Your assumption would be that there is an intelligent sender of the message, someone who created the code. How much more complex is the DNA “code” that we carry in every cell of our bodies? Does not the complexity and purpose of DNA argue for an Intelligent Writer of the code?

Not only has God made an intricate and finely tuned physical world, but also He has instilled a sense of eternity in the heart of every person (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Mankind has an innate perception that there is more to life than meets the eye, that there is an existence higher than this earthly routine. Our sense of eternity manifests itself in at least two ways: lawmaking and worship.

Every civilization throughout history has valued certain moral laws, which are surprisingly similar from culture to culture. For example, the ideal of love is universally esteemed, while the act of lying is universally condemned. This common morality—this global understanding of right and wrong—points to a Supreme Moral Being who gave us such discernment.

In the same way, people all over the world, regardless of culture, have always cultivated a system of worship. The objects of worship may vary, but the sense of a “higher power” is an undeniable part of being human. Our propensity to worship accords with the fact that God created us “in His own image” (Genesis 1:27).

God has also revealed Himself to us through His Word, the Bible. Throughout Scripture, the existence of God is treated as a self-evident fact (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14). When a man writes an autobiography, he does not waste time trying to prove his own existence. Likewise, God does not spend much time proving His existence in His Word. The life-changing nature of the Bible, its integrity, and the miracles that accompanied its writing should be enough to warrant a closer look.

The third way in which God revealed Himself was through His Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:6–11; Colossians 2:9). John 1:1, 14 says, “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

During Jesus’ amazing life, He kept the entire Old Testament law perfectly and fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Messiah (Matthew 5:17). He performed countless acts of compassion and public miracles to authenticate His message and bear witness to His deity (John 21:24–25). Then, three days after His crucifixion, He rose from the dead, a fact affirmed by hundreds of eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:6). The historical record abounds with proof of who Jesus is. As the apostle Paul said that this thing “was not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26).

There will always be skeptics who have their own ideas concerning God and will read the evidence accordingly. And there will be some who will not be convinced by any amount of proof (Psalm 14:1). In the end, it all comes down to faith (Hebrews 11:6).

Question: Who created God? Where did God come from?

Answer: A common argument from atheists and skeptics is that if all things need a cause, then God must also need a cause. This is a slightly more sophisticated form of the basic question, “Who made God?” Everyone knows that something does not come from nothing. So, if God is a “something,” then He must have a cause, right? The conclusion is that, if God needed a cause, then God is not God (and if God is not God, then, of course, there is no God).

The question, “Who created God?” is tricky because it sneaks in the false assumption that God came from somewhere and then asks where that might be. The answer is that the question does not even make sense. It is like asking, “What does blue smell like?” Blue is not in the category of things that have a smell, so the question itself is flawed. In the same way, God is not in the category of things that are created or caused. God is uncaused and uncreated; He simply exists.

How do we know this? We know that from nothing, nothing comes. So, if there were ever a time when there was absolutely nothing in existence, then nothing would have ever come into existence. But things do exist. Therefore, since there could never have been absolutely nothing, something must have always been in existence. That ever-existing thing is what we call God. God is the uncaused Being who caused everything else to come into existence. God is the uncreated Creator who created the universe and everything in it.

Question: Can monotheism be proven?

Answer: The word monotheism comes from two words: mono, meaning “single,” and theism, meaning “belief in God.” Specifically, monotheism is the belief in one true God who is the only creator, sustainer, and judge of all creation. Monotheism differs from henotheism, which is the belief in multiple gods, with one supreme God over all. It is also opposed to polytheism, which is the belief in the existence of more than one god.

There are many arguments for monotheism, including those from special revelation (Scripture), natural revelation (philosophy), and historical anthropology. These will be explained briefly below. This should not in any way be considered an exhaustive list.

Biblical Arguments for Monotheism

Deuteronomy 4:35 states, “You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other.” Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Malachi 2:10a states, “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?” First Corinthians 8:6 says, “Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” Ephesians 4:6 explains, “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” First Timothy 2:5 states, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” James 2:19 explains, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

Obviously, for many people, it wouldn’t suffice to simply say that there is only one God because the Bible says so. This is because without God there is no way to prove that the Bible is His Word in the first place. However, one might argue that since the Bible has the most reliable supernatural evidence confirming what it teaches, monotheism can be affirmed on these grounds.

A similar argument uses the beliefs and teachings of Jesus Christ, who proved that He was God (or, at the very least, approved by God) by His miraculous birth and life and the miracle of His resurrection. God cannot lie or be deceived; therefore, what Jesus believed and taught was true. Therefore, monotheism, which Jesus believed and taught, is true. This argument may not be very impressive to those unfamiliar with the case for the supernatural confirmations of Scripture and Christ, but this is a good place to start for one who is familiar with its strength.

Historical Arguments for Monotheism

Arguments based on popularity are notoriously suspect, but it is interesting just how much monotheism has affected world religions. The popular evolutionary theory of religious development stems from an evolutionary view of reality in general and the presupposition of evolutionary anthropology, which sees “primitive” cultures as representing the earlier stages of religious development. But there are several problems with this evolutionary theory: 1) The kind of development it describes has never been observed; in fact, there seems to be no upward development toward monotheism within any culture—actually, the opposite seems to be the case. 2) The anthropological method’s definition of “primitive” equates to technological development; yet this is hardly a satisfactory criterion, as there are so many components to a given culture. 3) The alleged stages are often missing or skipped. 4) Finally, most polytheistic cultures show vestiges of monotheism early in their development.

What we find throughout history is a belief in a monotheistic God who is personal and masculine, lives in the sky, has great knowledge and power, created the world, is the author of a morality to which we are accountable, and we have disobeyed and are thus estranged from—but who has also provided a way of reconciliation. Virtually every religion carries a variation of this God at some point in its past—before devolving into the chaos of polytheism. Thus, it seems that most religions have begun in monotheism and “devolved” into polytheism, animism, and magic—not vice versa. (Islam is a very rare case, having come full circle back into a monotheistic belief.) Even with this movement, polytheism is often functionally monotheistic or henotheistic. It is a rare polytheistic religion that does not hold one of its gods as sovereign over the rest, with the lesser gods only functioning as intermediaries.

Philosophical/Theological Arguments for Monotheism

There are many philosophical arguments for the impossibility of there being more than one God in existence. Many of these depend a great deal on one’s metaphysical position concerning the nature of reality. Unfortunately, in an article this short, it is impossible to fully explore the topic. So, briefly, here are three arguments one might choose to explore:

1.   If there were more than one God, the universe would be in disorder because of multiple creators and authorities—but it is not in disorder; therefore, there is only one God.

2.   Since God is a completely perfect being, there cannot be a second God, for they would have to differ in some way, and to differ from complete perfection is to be less than perfect and not be God.

3.   Since God is infinite in His existence, He cannot have parts (for parts cannot be added to reach infinity). If God’s existence is not just a part of Him (which it is for all things that can have existence or not), then He must have infinite existence. Therefore, there cannot be two infinite beings, for one would have to differ from the other.

Someone may say that these arguments do not rule out a subclass of “gods,” and that is fine. Although we know this to be untrue biblically, there is nothing wrong with it in theory. In other words, God could have created a sub-class of “gods,” but it just happens to be the case that He did not. If He had, these “gods” would be limited, created things—probably a lot like angels (Psalm 82). This does not hurt the case for monotheism, which does not say that there cannot be any other spirit beings—only that there cannot be more than one God.

CHAPTER 2

QUESTIONS ABOUT WHERE GOD IS

Contents

Where is God? Where is God when it hurts?

What is God’s relationship to time?

What does it mean to be in the presence of God?

What was God doing before He created the universe?

Is God dead?

Did God die? If Jesus was God and Jesus died on the cross, does that mean God died?

Why does Scripture emphasize the right hand of God?

Question: Where is God? Where is God when it hurts?

Answer: The Bible pictures God reigning over the nations from His holy throne in heaven (Psalm 47:8; Isaiah 6:1; 66:1; Hebrews 4:16). But that does not mean God is distant. Scripture is clear that God is omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time). From the very beginning, God’s Spirit hovered over the earth, even when it was as yet formless and empty (Genesis 1:2). There are many examples throughout Scripture of God’s presence interacting with His creation (Genesis 3:8; Deuteronomy 23:14; Exodus 3:2; 1 Kings 19:11–13; Luke 1:35; Acts 16:7). In Jeremiah 23:24, God asks, “Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? … Do not I fill heaven and earth?”

Where is God?

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God is with you, beside you, above you, and inside you. God’s presence and watchful care never leave you. If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, God is right in front of you, inviting you; drawing you; and offering you the love, mercy, and grace that He longs to give you. If you are unsure of your relationship with God, please read our article “How do I get right with God?” Perhaps a better question than, “Where is God?” is, “Where are you in relationship to God?”

Where is God when it hurts?

Life can be painful. When trials come, they are usually accompanied by doubt; feelings of isolation; and the question, “Where is God?” Even Jesus asked, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Considering the fact that Jesus was being crucified for our sins at the time, it seems that God did forsake Jesus in His darkest moment. Yet that isn’t the end of the story. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even death (Romans 8:37–39). After Jesus was crucified, He was raised from the dead and glorified (1 Peter 1:21; Mark 16:6, 19; Romans 4:24–25). From this example, we can know that, even when we do not feel God’s presence, He is still there in the midst of our pain. We still have His promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

Joni Eareckson Tada knows something of pain, and she encourages those who are suffering with these words: “God sometimes permits what He hates to accomplish what He loves.”[8]

God does not lie, He never changes, and His Word stands true forever (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Psalm 110:4; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 7:21; 13:8; James 1:17; 1 Peter 1:25). “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18). God says He is constantly working things together for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). We do not always get to see the good ending, but a time will come when we will understand and see more clearly.

Our lives are like a quilt. If you look at the back side of a quilt, all you see is a mess of knots and loose ends hanging out all over. It is very unattractive, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the work. Yet when you turn the quilt over, you see how the maker has expertly woven together each strand to form a beautiful creation (see Isaiah 64:8). We live with a limited understanding of the things of God; yet a day is coming when we will know and understand (Job 37:5; Isaiah 40:28; Ecclesiastes 11:5; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2).

Where is God when it hurts? Right where He has always been. He has not forsaken you. He sympathizes with your weakness and feels your infirmity (Hebrews 4:15). When you have no strength of your own, that is when you most fully can rest in His presence and know that His strength is made perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Question: What is God’s relationship to time?

Answer: We live in a physical world with its four known dimensions of length, width, height (or depth), and time. However, God dwells in a different “dimension,” beyond the perception of our physical senses. It’s not that God isn’t real; it’s a matter of His not being limited by the physical laws and dimensions that govern our world (Isaiah 57:15).

Knowing that “God is spirit” (John 4:24), what is His relationship to time? In Psalm 90:4, Moses uses a simple yet profound analogy to describe the timelessness of God: “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” The eternity of God is contrasted with the temporality of man. Our lives are but short and frail, but God does not weaken or frail with the passage of time.

In a sense, the marking of time is irrelevant to God because He transcends it. In 2 Peter 3:8 the apostle cautions his readers not to let this one critical fact escape their notice—that God’s perspective on time is far different from mankind’s (cf. Psalm 102:12, 24–27). The Lord is above and outside of the realm of time. God sees all of eternity’s past and eternity’s future; in fact, He is present in eternity past and eternity future in the same way He is present now. The time that passes on earth is of no consequence from God’s timeless perspective. A second is no different from an eon; a billion years pass like seconds to the eternal God.

We cannot possibly comprehend this idea of eternity or the timelessness of God. We are creatures of time, and in our finite minds, we sometimes try to confine God to our time schedule. Those who foolishly demand that God operate according to their timeframe ignore the fact that He is the “High and lofty One … who lives forever” (Isaiah 57:15). This description of God is far removed from man’s condition. Psalm 90:10 states, “The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”

Time is related to change. In our moment-by-moment existence, things change, ever so slightly, each second. Our timepieces are benchmarks of change. We could say, then, that time is a necessary precondition for change, and change is a sufficient condition to establish the passage of time. In other words, whenever there is change of any kind, we know that time has passed. We see this as we age. And we cannot recover the minutes that have passed by. God, on the other hand, is changeless (Malachi 3:6) and so is timeless. God is without a beginning or end; He is eternal, infinite, and everlasting. Psalm 90:2 declares, “From everlasting to everlasting you are God” (see also Psalm 93:2). He always was and always will be the same God—forever.

The science of physics tells us that time is a property resulting from the existence of matter. As such, time exists when matter exists. But God is not matter; God created matter. “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Hebrews 11:3). In other words, the physical universe we see, hear, feel, and experience was created not from existing matter but from a source independent of the physical dimensions we can perceive.

The bottom line is this: time began when God created the universe. Before that, God, the self-existent One, was simply existing. Since there was no matter, and because God does not change, time had no existence and therefore no meaning, no relation to Him.

This brings us to the meaning of the word eternity. We use the term eternal to mean “having no end and/or no beginning.” God has no beginning or end; therefore, we say His existence is eternal. However, in the sense that eternity is a time-related concept, God is even beyond eternity.

Scripture reveals that God lives outside the bounds of time as we know it. Our destiny was planned “before the beginning of time” (2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2) and our redemption conceived “before the creation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20). Time was simply created by God as a limited part of His creation for accommodating the workings of His purpose in His disposable universe (see 2 Peter 3:10–12).

As believers, we gain a deep sense of comfort in knowing that God, though timeless and eternal, is in time with us right now; He is not unreachably transcendent but right here in this moment with us. And because He’s in this moment, He can respond to our needs and prayers.

Question: What does it mean to be in the presence of God?

Answer: Adam and Eve had intimate fellowship in the presence of God before the fall (Genesis 3:8). Since that time, sin has prevented us from being in His presence (Exodus 33:20; Psalm 101:7). Now only the holy, sinless angels are in the physical presence of God (Luke 1:19). But Christians have the presence of God within them by virtue of His indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:23; 15:4), and that indwelling presence comes only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are aware of the reality of this presence because of our obedience to His Word. “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praise of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). If we belong to God, He will be present with us. We never lose the reality of God’s presence, no matter how badly we fail; we never sin so much that we lose our salvation; we never sink so far that we banish the Holy Spirit. We can displease God because of our sin, but believers never lose the presence of the Holy Spirit.

While we will never lose the reality of God’s presence, we might well lose the “sense” of His presence. Every child of God goes through this from time to time. Any believer knows that there are times of spiritual leanness, when perhaps the Lord determines to test our faith. He sifts us; He brings us through the refining flames of affliction so that we might be all the more pure (Job 23:10; 1 Peter 1:7).

But the practical upshot of being in God’s presence is joy! There is no reason for Christians to be gloomy or dejected because they lack a sense of God’s presence. The hymn “Trust and Obey” reminds us that there is “fellowship sweet” for those who walk with the Lord in obedience and faith. That fellowship sustains us, especially during trials. “The joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). The apostle James writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trails of many kinds” (James 1:2) because trials produce faith and develop perseverance. When we persevere through trials, our faith is proven and our sense of God’s presence increases, as does our joy in it.

David speaks of a joy that only the righteous can know because it comes from being near God: “You will fill me with joy in your presence” (Psalm 16:11). This joy is but a foretaste of a far greater and everlasting joy that will come when we see the Lord’s face in glory. The hymn writer John Newton understood the joy of being in God’s presence, for in his hymn “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” he wrote of “solid joys and lasting treasures none but Zion’s children know.”

Question: What was God doing before He created the universe?

Answer: Our finite minds find it hard to comprehend that before the universe was created, God existed alone. We know from John 1:1 that Jesus also existed: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The preincarnate Christ was intimately united with the Father so as to partake of His glory and be appropriately called God. He Himself explained it in John 17:5: “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

We also know the Holy Spirit was present before the creation of the world. Genesis 1:2 describes the Spirit “hovering over the waters” of the dark and formless earth. So, before time even began, God existed in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity existed in perfect harmony and flawlessness, having all they needed in one another. David said in Psalm 16:11 (NKJV) that in God’s presence is “fullness of joy; at [His] right hand are pleasures forevermore.” That means this: to be in the presence of God carries with it an overwhelming sense of joy, fulfillment, and pleasure. Before creation, God felt complete joy and fulfillment as He perfectly beheld and communed with Himself. God has and always will experience complete joy because He has complete and perfect knowledge of Himself.

As the great I AM WHO I AM (Exodus 3:14), God is perfectly self-existent. He needs nothing, and He lacks nothing. When we think of eternity, we think of an infinitely long progression of time; yet that does not describe God’s existence. God exists in the eternal present. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was born [past tense], I am [eternally present]!” (John 8:58). Having created time, He is not limited by the progression of time. God was not “waiting around” to create the universe; He simply created, and it was at that point that He created time and the creatures subject to time.

So, before He created the universe, God experienced absolute satisfaction in Himself. God dwelt joyfully alone in eternity as the Trinity—although the word alone is meaningless in a pre-creation context. The three Persons of the Trinity were together in fellowship from all eternity past. They loved each other. We know, at some point, they discussed the redemption of mankind (Ephesians 1:4–5; 2 Timothy 1:9; John 17:24)—although the phrase at some point is related to time and is thus inadequate. Suffice it to say that God was busy being God. He did not need a universe in order to be God. Beyond the knowledge that God has always been who He is, most everything else lies in mystery.

Question: Is God dead?

Answer: The technical term for the teaching that “God is dead” is theothanatology, a threefold compound from the Greek: theos (“god”) + thanatos (“death”) + logia (“word”).

German poet and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is most famous for making the statement, “God is dead,” in the nineteenth century. Nietzsche, influenced by both Greek philosophy and the theory of evolution, wrote, “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves? … Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it?”[9]

Nietzsche’s purpose was to abolish “traditional” morality—Christianity, in particular—because, in his mind, it represented an attempt of self-serving religious leaders to control the weak and unthinking masses. Nietzsche believed that the “idea” of God was no longer necessary; in fact, God was irrelevant because man was evolving to a place where he could create a deeper and more satisfying “master morality” of his own.

Nietzsche’s “God is dead” philosophy has been used to advance the theories of existentialism, nihilism, and socialism. Radical theologians such as Thomas J. J. Altizer[10] and Paul van Buren[11] advocated the “God is dead” idea in the 1960s and 1970s.

The belief that God is dead and religion is irrelevant naturally leads to the following ideas:

1)   If God is dead, there are no moral absolutes and is no universal standard to which all men should conform.

2)   If God is dead, there is no purpose or rational order in life.

3)   If God is dead, man is independent and totally free to create his own values.

4)   If God is dead, the “real” world (as opposed to heaven and hell) is man’s only concern.

The idea that God is dead is primarily a challenge to God’s authority over our lives. The notion that we can safely create our own rules was the lie that the serpent told Eve: “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). Peter warns us, “there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves” (2 Peter 2:1).

The “God is dead” argument is usually presented as a rational, empowering philosophy for artists and intellectuals. But Scripture calls it foolish. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1). Ironically, those who hold to the “God is dead” philosophy will discover the fatal error in their philosophy when they themselves are dead.

Question: Did God die? If Jesus was God and Jesus died on the cross, does that mean God died?

Answer: Did God die when Jesus died on the cross? The answer depends on how we understand the meaning of the word die. To die does not mean an end of existence. Death is separation. Death is when the soul/spirit separates from the physical body. So, in that sense, yes, God died, because Jesus was God in human form and Jesus’ soul/spirit separated from His body. However, if by “die” we mean a cessation of existence, then, no, God did not die. For God to die would mean that He ceased to exist, and neither the Father nor the Son nor the Holy Spirit will ever cease to exist. The essence of Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, left the body He temporarily inhabited on Earth, but His essence did not die—nor could it.

Jesus is truly God and truly man. His physical body did die because it was entirely human. Just as our physical bodies die, so did His. In the same way that Jesus died physically but remained alive spiritually, so our physical bodies will experience death—but our souls and spirits will live because they are eternal.

The question everyone needs to answer is this: “What will happen to my soul/spirit when it leaves my physical body?” This is the most crucial question in life. Our spirits will leave our bodies at death and travel on to somewhere else. Jesus returned to heaven to be with the Father. We will either follow Him there to spend eternity with Him, or we will go to hell to spend eternity in “outer darkness,” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12). There is no other option.

Jesus’ physical death on the cross paid the way, and all who believe in Him can know for sure where their spirits will spend eternity. His physical death provided us with spiritual life, both here and in heaven. “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you” (Romans 8:11).

Question: Why does Scripture emphasize the right hand of God?

Answer: Most people are right-handed. In fact, right-handed people outnumber left-handed people by a ratio of more than 4:1. This means that, in general, the right hand is the preferred hand, the more competent hand, the more helpful hand, and the stronger hand. The right hand is the most useful part of the body, always ready to perform the will.

When the Bible speaks of God’s right hand, it is symbolic of God’s strength, competence, skill, and honor. Since God is Spirit (John 4:24), He does not possess physical hands; the expression, “God’s right hand,” is purely figurative. Psalm 44:3 contains an example of this figure of speech: “It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand …” To paraphrase, the people of Israel did not conquer Canaan by their own strength but by God’s strength. We have an idiom in modern English that relates to the ancient Hebrew way of thinking: if we have an indispensable helper, we might refer to him as our “right-hand man.”

A person of high rank who placed someone at his right hand gave him equal honor with himself and recognized him as possessing equal dignity and equal authority. This is important in the Bible’s descriptions of Christ. The apostle Paul writes that God “seated [Jesus] at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:20–21). The fact that Jesus is seated at the Father’s “right hand” indicates His authority, honor, and glory. (See also Luke 22:69; Acts 7:55–56; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 10:12; and 1 Peter 3:22.)

It is God’s “right hand” that sustains and saves His children (Psalm 18:35; 20:6), defeats His enemies (Psalm 138:7), and exercises His will (Psalm 118:15). In other words, God is mighty to save, He is guaranteed the victory, and nothing can thwart His plans.

It is a wonderful truth that Jesus’ position at the “right hand” of God assures us of our salvation: “Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34). Our Lord uses His glorious position of power not to condemn us but to intercede on our behalf.

CHAPTER 3

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD’S NATURE

Contents

What does the Bible teach about the Trinity?

How is the Trinity not Tritheism?

What is the Godhead?

Why does God refer to Himself in the plural in Genesis 1:26 and 3:22?

What does God look like?

Is God male or female?

Does God have a physical body?

Has anyone ever seen God?

What is anthropomorphism?

Question: What does the Bible teach about the Trinity?

Answer: The most difficult thing about the Christian concept of the Trinity is that there is no way to adequately explain it. The Trinity is a concept that is impossible for any human being to fully understand, let alone explain. God is infinitely greater than we are; therefore, we should not expect to be able to fully understand Him.

The Bible teaches that the Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. The Bible also teaches that there is only one God. Though we can understand some facts about the relationship of the different Persons of the Trinity to one another, ultimately, it is incomprehensible to the human mind. However, this does not mean the Trinity is not true or that it is not based on the teachings of the Bible.

The Trinity is one God existing in three Persons. Understand that this is not in any way suggesting three Gods. Keep in mind when studying this subject that the word “Trinity” is not found in Scripture. This is a term that is used in an attempt to describe the triune God—three coexistent, co-eternal Persons who make up God.

Of real importance is that the concept represented by the word “Trinity” does exist in Scripture. The following is what God’s Word says about the Trinity:

1)   There is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4; Galatians 3:20; 1 Timothy 2:5).

2)   The Trinity consists of three Persons (Genesis 1:1, 26; 3:22; 11:7; Isaiah 6:8; 48:16; 61:1; Matthew 3:16–17; 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14). In Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew plural noun Elohim is used. In Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; and Isaiah 6:8, the plural pronoun for “us” is used. The word Elohim and the pronoun “us” are plural forms, definitely referring in the Hebrew language to more than two. While this is not an explicit argument for the Trinity, it does denote the aspect of plurality in God.

In Isaiah 48:16 and 61:1, the Son is speaking while making reference to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Compare Isaiah 61:1 to Luke 4:14–19 to see that it is the Son speaking. Matthew 3:16–17 describes the event of Jesus’ baptism. In this passage, God the Holy Spirit descends on God the Son while God the Father proclaims His pleasure in the Son. Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 are also examples of Scripture teaching three distinct Persons in the Trinity.

3)   The members of the Trinity are distinguished one from another in various passages. In the Old Testament, “LORD” is distinguished from “Lord” (Psalm 110:1). The LORD has a Son (Psalm 2:7, 12; Proverbs 30:2–4). The Spirit is distinguished from the “LORD” (Numbers 27:18) and from “God” (Psalm 51:10–12). God the Son is distinguished from God the Father (Psalm 45:6–7; Hebrews 1:8–9).

In the New Testament, Jesus says He will speak to the Father about sending a Helper, the Holy Spirit (John 14:16–17). This shows that Jesus did not consider Himself to be the Father or the Holy Spirit. Consider also all the other times in the Gospels where Jesus speaks to the Father. Was He speaking to Himself? No. He spoke to another person in the Trinity—the Father.

4)   Each member of the Trinity is God. The Father is God (John 6:27; Romans 1:7; 1 Peter 1:2). The Son is God (John 1:1, 14; Romans 9:5; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:8; 1 John 5:20). The Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3–4; 1 Corinthians 3:16).

5)   There is subordination within the Trinity. Scripture shows that the Holy Spirit is subordinate to the Father and the Son, and the Son is subordinate to the Father. This is an internal relationship and does not deny the deity of any person of the Trinity. This is simply an area that our finite minds cannot understand concerning the infinite God. Concerning the Son, see Luke 22:42; John 5:36; John 20:21; and 1 John 4:14. Concerning the Holy Spirit, see John 14:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7; and especially John 16:13–14.

6)   The individual members of the Trinity have different tasks. The Father is the ultimate source or cause of the universe (1 Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:11), divine revelation (Revelation 1:1), salvation (John 3:16–17), and Jesus’ human works (John 5:17; 14:10). The Father initiates all of these things.

The Son is the agent through whom the Father does the following works: the creation and maintenance of the universe (1 Corinthians 8:6; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16–17), divine revelation (John 1:1; 16:12–15; Matthew 11:27; Revelation 1:1), and salvation (2 Corinthians 5:19; Matthew 1:21; John 4:42).

The Holy Spirit is the means by whom the Father does the following works: the creation and maintenance of the universe (Genesis 1:2; Job 26:13; Psalm 104:30), divine revelation (John 16:12–15; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Peter 1:21), salvation (John 3:6; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:2), and Jesus’ works (Isaiah 61:1; Acts 10:38). Thus, the Father does all these things by the power of the Holy Spirit.

There have been many attempts to develop illustrations of the Trinity. However, none of the popular illustrations are completely accurate. The egg (or apple) fails in that the shell, white, and yolk are parts of the egg and not the egg in themselves, just as the skin, flesh, and seeds of the apple are parts of it and not the apple itself. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not parts of God; each of them is God. The water illustration is somewhat better, but it still fails to adequately describe the Trinity. Liquid, vapor, and ice are forms of water. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not forms of God. Each of them is God. So, while these illustrations may give us a picture of the Trinity, the picture is not entirely accurate. An infinite God cannot be described fully by a finite illustration.

The doctrine of the Trinity has been a divisive issue throughout the entire history of the Christian church. While the core aspects of the Trinity are clearly presented in God’s Word, some of the side issues are not as explicitly clear. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God—but there is only one God. That is the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. Beyond that, dogmatism is probably unnecessary.

Rather than attempting to fully define the Trinity with our finite, human minds, we would be better served by focusing on the fact of God’s greatness and His infinitely higher nature. “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’” (Romans 11:33–34).

Question: How is the Trinity not tritheism?

Answer: The doctrine of the Trinity is at the very center of the Christian faith. That God is triune in nature is affirmed not only in Scripture but also in the early ecumenical creeds of the church—specifically, Nicaea (A.D. 325) and Constantinople (A.D. 381). The doctrine is essentially that God is one in being while existing as three co-equal, co-eternal Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

One often-heard objection to the Trinity is that the doctrine logically entails tritheism (a belief in three gods). But is this criticism valid? Is Trinitarian theology at odds with the clearly taught monotheism of the Hebrew Scriptures? Or did the early Christians get it right when they upheld the monotheism of the Old Testament while at the same time affirming the full deity of three distinct Persons? To answer this question, we need to look over the biblical data.

The Bible clearly affirms that there is but one God (Isaiah 43:10; 1 Corinthians 8:4). In addition, the Bible teaches the deity of the Father (John 6:27; Romans 1:7; 1 Peter 1:2), the Son (John 1:1–3; Hebrews 1:2; Titus 2:13; Colossians 1:16–17), and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3–4; 1 Corinthians 3:16). Moreover, the biblical writers go out of their way to affirm that all three Persons are distinct from each other (Matthew 28:19; Romans 15:30; 2 Corinthians 3:3). So, while it is true that the word trinity is not found in the Bible, the concept most certainly is.

Does the fact that three divine Persons exist mean that three separate Gods exist? The answer is no. The same Scriptures that affirm that all three Persons of the Trinity are divine also unequivocally affirm monotheism (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Timothy 2:5). So, what are we to do with this tension between the idea of three divine Persons and monotheism? A helpful clarification involves what we mean by the word person.

Person can be defined as “a center of self-consciousness.” A person has a mind, emotions, and a will; can communicate with others; and is capable of performing actions. When we speak of personhood as it relates to the Trinity, we are describing self-distinctions in God. All three Persons of the one triune God possess the complete attributes of deity. All three Persons are truly divine, yet eternally distinct from one another. The divine Persons can and do communicate with each other (John 17:1–26; Hebrews 1:8–9). Essentially, God has three centers of self-consciousness. Yet this one Being (the triune God of Scripture) possesses one indivisible essence. There is only one Being that is God, but this one Being is tri-personal, with each of the three Persons having full possession of the divine nature.

Question: What is the Godhead?

Answer: The term Godhead is found three times in the King James Version, in Acts 17:29; Romans 1:20; and Colossians 2:9. Three different Greek words are used, but each one means “divinity.” It is important for us to understand from the outset that God exists in three Persons. The concept of the Godhead is that God is one, yet God is three.

How can this be? While the word trinity is not found in Scripture, the concept is there from beginning to end. There is no question about it; the doctrine of the Trinity is divinely revealed biblical truth: our one God exists in three Persons. That is not to say that the authors of Scripture understood it clearly. When Peter, John, and the other disciples first saw Jesus, they did not say, “Oh, look, there goes God in flesh, the second Person of the holy Trinity.” Yet, as they heard Him claim to be the revelation of the Father with the prerogatives of deity, and as they watched Him perform the supernatural works of deity, they became convinced that He was God the Son.

Additionally, the disciples probably gave little thought at first to the Holy Spirit being the third Person of the eternal Godhead. But, after the events of the Day of Pentecost, it was obvious to them that the power they had witnessed working in and through them was not their own. It was the power of God. The Spirit who indwelled them was none other than God Himself. Led by that same divine Spirit, the apostles revealed to us in their writings the triune nature of the eternal God.

Explanation of the Triune Godhead

What then does it mean that God exists as the Trinity? It is a basic principle of our biblical faith that there is only one God. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The unity of the Godhead cannot be questioned. God does not consist of parts. He is one. But Scripture reveals that there are, in that one divine essence, three eternal distinctions. Those distinctions seem best described as Persons, known as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three have identical attributes, however, and therefore, they are one—not merely one in mind and purpose but one in substance. To possess all the same attributes is to be one in essential nature. The three Persons of the Godhead possess identical attributes. They are one in substance and one in essence, and therefore, they are one God.

Evidence for the Triune Godhead

While the primary emphasis of the Old Testament is on the unity of God, the indications of His triune nature are seen even there. We need not read far to find the first indication: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Elohim, the Hebrew word for “God” in this verse, is plural. That may not prove the Trinity, but it definitely allows for more than one Person in the Godhead. There was no other logical reason to choose a plural name. We are not surprised, then, to hear God say a short time later, “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26, emphasis added). The plural pronouns could not refer to angels, who are never associated with God’s creative activity. Consequently, more than one divine Person was involved. The plural pronouns make no sense otherwise (Genesis 3:22; Genesis 11:7). John reiterates this truth when, speaking of Jesus, he declares, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3). Clearly, Jesus was present and involved in the act of creation; yet Genesis 1:1 says, “God created the heavens and the earth.”

The undeniable biblical testimony of the Trinity is simply that all three Persons are referred to as divine. First, the Father is called God. He is referred to as “God the Father” (Galatians 1:1), “God our Father” (Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2), and “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). His deity is unquestioned.

The Son is likewise referred to as God. He possesses the attributes of deity, such as eternality, immutability, omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. He bears the names of deity, such as Jehovah, Lord, Immanuel, and the Word. He exercises the prerogatives of deity, such as forgiving sins, raising the dead, and judging all men. And He accepts worship reserved only for God, permitting Thomas to call Him “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28).

Jesus claimed that He deserved the very same reverence that was reserved for God the Father. He was not a liar or a lunatic, so He must have been who He claimed to be—God the Son, equal with the Father and worthy of the same honor as the Father.

The Father Himself addressed His Son as God: “But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever’” (Hebrews 1:8). Paul further explains, “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9 NKJV). The Greek word translated “Godhead” is theote¯s, which means “divinity,” so the totality of divinity (God) is embodied in Jesus. The prologue to John’s Gospel tells us one reason Christ came to earth: to make the Father known, to reveal God to men (John 1:18).

We can know what God is like by examining the Person of Jesus Christ. He is God in the flesh. As we explore Scripture and seek to discover who God is, we cannot neglect the earthly life of Jesus Christ. He is God the Son.

The Holy Spirit is also God. His name is “the Spirit of God” (Genesis 1:2). He too possesses the attributes of deity and performs the works of deity. While He is the Spirit, who proceeds from the Father (John 15:26), He is at the same time called “the Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9). He is coequal with both the Father and the Son. The apostle Peter clearly viewed Him as God when he said to Ananias, “How is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit? … You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:3–4). If the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all bear the names of God, possess the attributes of God, and perform the works of God, then there is no alternative but to acknowledge that our one God exists in three Persons.

The Ministry of the Triune Godhead

Scripture links these three Persons of the Godhead together so closely in so many divine activities that it would be foolish to deny that any one of them is God. Observe some of those activities:

•   Creating the world: All three were involved in creation—the Father (Genesis 1:1), the Son (John 1:3, 10), and the Spirit (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:30). If all three created, then God the Creator must exist in three Persons.

•   Sending the Son: All three members of the Trinity were active in the incarnation. When Mary questioned the angel about the possibility of a virgin birth, the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). The power of the Father, ministered through the agency of the Spirit, resulted in the birth of the Son into the world. This close association in the birth of the Savior is further indication of their oneness.

•   Identifying the Messiah: At precisely the proper moment, Jesus Christ was revealed to Israel as her Messiah. John the Baptist was the chosen instrument, and the act of baptism was the chosen means (Matthew 3:16–17). As the Spirit came upon the Son, the Father’s voice was heard from heaven, expressing His approval. It was another powerful testament to the eternal, triune Godhead.

•   Providing redemption: Two central passages bring the three members of the Godhead together in providing for man’s eternal salvation. “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:14). Our salvation is based on the offering of the Son to the Father by the power of the Spirit. The apostle Peter taught, furthermore, that God the Father chose us to salvation, God the Son paid for it by shedding His blood, and God the Spirit set us apart unto the obedience of faith (1 Peter 1:1–2). Without each Person of the Godhead doing His part, we would remain in our sins.

•   Proclaiming salvation: In the early years of the church, God did some spectacular things to verify the gospel message the apostles were preaching. The writer to the Hebrews tells us, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Hebrews 2:3–4). It was the same message that was first spoken by the Son Himself. When the apostles proclaimed it, the Father bore witness to its truthfulness by bestowing miraculous gifts through the Spirit. Evangelism is another demonstration of the triune God at work.

•   Sending the Spirit: The three Persons of the Trinity are so interwoven in sending the Spirit into the world that it is difficult to distinguish among them. One passage states that the Father would send the Spirit in Christ’s name and that the Spirit would testify concerning Christ (John 14:26). Another says that the Son would send the Spirit from the Father (John 15:26). In yet another, the Father sends Him and calls Him the Spirit of His Son (Galatians 4:6). What a picture of unity—such perfect unity that the actions of one are considered to be the actions of the other. The Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. But all three are vitally involved in His coming.

•   Indwelling believers: Jesus taught His disciples that both He and His Father would make their home with them (John 14:23). But their indwelling would be in the Person of the Comforter, the Spirit of truth (John 14:16–17). As the Spirit of both the Father and the Son, His indwelling is that of the Godhead. That could not be possible unless the three are one.

•   Baptizing believers: In our Lord’s commission to His disciples, He said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). The unity of the Godhead is declared by combining them in one “name” (singular). Yet the distinctiveness of the Persons is maintained by listing them separately. It is another link in the long chain of evidence that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one God.

•   Entering God’s presence: All three members of the Godhead are involved in the believer’s access to the presence of God. Speaking of Christ, the apostle Paul taught, “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit” (Ephesians 2:18). Both Jews and Gentiles can approach the Father through the merits of the Son, with the help of the Spirit.

•   Blessing believers: In Paul’s final remarks to the Corinthian Christians, he linked the three members of the Godhead together in a beautiful benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). Unless the three are one, eternally and equally supreme, there would be little reason to put them together equally in a divine blessing. The apostle certainly considered them to be one.

The reality of the triune Godhead cannot be denied. Unbelievers may object, but such objections arise primarily because they seek to understand the Creator in terms of the creature, to see God as merely a bigger and better version of man, when in reality, He is a totally different kind of being, an infinite Being, whom our finite minds cannot fully comprehend. We believe in the Godhead not because we understand it but because God has revealed it. It is not incidental or unimportant. It is the very essence of His being, the way He is. The doctrine of the triune Godhead is necessary for us to know if we hope to grow in our understanding of His nature and perfections.

Question: Why does God refer to Himself in the plural in Genesis 1:26 and 3:22?

Answer: Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.’” In Genesis 3:22, God says, “The man has now become like one of us.” There are also other verses in the Old Testament that use plural forms when referring to God. It is also interesting to note that Elohim, one of the primary titles of God in the Old Testament (occurring over 2,500 times), is a plural word.

Some people have used these Scriptures to hypothesize that there is more than one God. We can rule out polytheism (belief in multiple gods) because that would contradict countless other Scriptures that tell us that God is one and that there is only one God. Four times in Isaiah 45 alone, God states, “I am the LORD, and there is no other” (verses 5, 6, 18).

A second possible explanation for the use of plural constructions is that God was speaking to the angels, including them as a group in His statements. However, the Bible nowhere states that angels have the same “image” or “likeness” as God. That description is used of humanity alone (see Genesis 1:26).

Since the Bible, and the New Testament especially, presents God as a Trinity (three Persons but only one God), Genesis 1:26 and 3:22 are most naturally interpreted as a conversation within the Trinity. God the Father is having a “conversation” with God the Son and/or God the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament hints at the plurality of God, and the New Testament clarifies this plurality with the doctrine of the Trinity. Obviously, there is no way we can fully understand how this works, but God has given us enough information to know that He does exist in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Question: What does God look like?

Answer: God is a spirit (John 4:24), and so His appearance is not like anything we can describe. Exodus 33:20 tells us, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” As sinful human beings, we are incapable of seeing God in all His glory. His appearance is utterly unimaginable and too glorious to be safely perceived by sinful man.

The Bible does describe God appearing to people on various occasions. However, these instances do not describe exactly what God looks like; rather, they describe how God revealed Himself to us in a way that we can understand. What God looks like is beyond our capability of comprehension and description. God gives glimpses of what He “looks like” to teach us truths about Himself, not so that we can have an image of Him in our minds.

Two passages that powerfully describe God’s amazing appearance are Ezekiel 1:26–28 and Revelation 1:14–16. Ezekiel 1:26–28 says, “Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.” Revelation 1:14–16 gives us a picture of the Son of Man (Jesus) in His glory: “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”

These passages represent Ezekiel’s and John’s best attempts at describing the appearance of God. They had to use symbolic language to describe that for which human language has no words (i.e., “like the appearance,” “what looked like,” etc.). We do know that when we are in heaven, “we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Sin will be no more, and we will be able to perceive God in all His glory.

Question: Is God male or female?

Answer: In examining Scripture, two facts become clear. First, God is a Spirit and does not possess human characteristics or limitations. Second, all the evidence contained in Scripture agrees that God revealed Himself to mankind in a male form. To begin, we need to understand God’s true nature. God is a Person, because God exhibits all the characteristics of personhood; God has a mind, a will, an intellect, and emotions. God communicates, and He has relationships. God’s personal actions are evidenced throughout Scripture.

As John 4:24 states, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Since God is a spiritual being, He does not possess physical human characteristics. However, sometimes figurative language used in Scripture assigns human characteristics to God to make it possible for man to understand God. This assignment of human characteristics to describe God is called “anthropomorphism.” Anthropomorphism is simply a means for God (a spiritual being) to communicate truth about His nature to humanity (physical beings). Since humanity is physical, we are limited in our understanding of those things beyond the physical realm; therefore, anthropomorphism in Scripture helps us to understand who God is.

Some of the difficulty comes in examining the fact that humanity is created in God’s image. Genesis 1:26–27 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Both man and woman are created in the image of God, in that they are greater than all the other creations, and like God, they have a mind, will, intellect, emotions, and moral capacity. Animals do not possess a moral capacity and do not possess an immaterial component like humanity does. The image of God is the spiritual component that humanity alone possesses. God created humanity to have a relationship with Him. Humanity is the only creation designed for that purpose.

That said, man and woman are only patterned after the image of God—they are not tiny “copies” of God. The fact that there are men and women does not require God to have male and female features. Remember, being made in the image of God has nothing to do with physical characteristics.

We know that God is a spiritual being and does not possess physical characteristics. This does not limit, however, how God may choose to reveal Himself to humanity. Scripture contains all the revelation God gave to humanity about Himself, and so it is the only objective source of information about God. It tells us several things about the form in which God has revealed Himself to humanity.

Scripture contains approximately 170 references to God as the “Father.” By necessity, one cannot be a father unless one is male. If God had chosen to be revealed to man in a female form, then the word mother would have occurred in these places, not father. In the Old and New Testaments, masculine pronouns are used over and over again in reference to God.

Jesus Christ referred to God as the Father several times and in other cases used masculine pronouns in reference to God. In the Gospels alone, Christ uses the term Father in direct reference to God nearly 160 times. Of particular interest is Christ’s statement in John 10:30: “I and the Father are one.” Jesus Christ came in the form of a human man to die on the cross as payment for the sins of the world. Like God the Father, Jesus was revealed to humanity in a male form.

The New Testament Epistles (from Acts to Revelation) also contain nearly 900 verses where the word theos—a masculine noun in the Greek—is used in direct reference to God. In countless references to God in Scripture, there is clearly a consistent pattern of His being referred to with masculine titles, nouns, and pronouns. While God is not a man, He chose a masculine form in order to reveal Himself to humanity. Likewise, Jesus Christ, who is constantly referred to with masculine titles, nouns, and pronouns, took a male form while He walked on the earth. The prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament refer to both God and Jesus Christ with masculine names and titles. God chose to be revealed in this form in order for humanity to more easily grasp who He is.

Question: Does God have a physical body?

Answer: Both the Bible and good philosophy report that God is non-physical—that is, He is spirit. In John 4:24, Jesus says that God is spirit (see also Colossians 1:15 and 1 Timothy 1:17). This is one reason why no material thing was ever to be used to represent God (Exodus 20:4).

Philosophy upholds the same truth. All that is created is finite and limited. But the first cause (God) is uncreated and, therefore, must be non-finite, or infinite. That which is beyond the finite must, by definition, be infinite, and the Bible states that God is beyond creation (1 Kings 8:27; Job 11:7–9; Isaiah 66:1–2; Colossians 1:17). That which is physical cannot be infinite, for you cannot add finite parts together to reach infinity. Therefore, God is spirit as opposed to physical/material. But this does not mean He cannot take on a physical appearance.

God is not composed of matter or any other imaginable substance. He also cannot be measured and is not spatial. Knowing this truth can help us understand the metaphorical speech often used to describe God in Scripture. Once all finitude is negated from a statement, what is left is what is actually true. For example, when Scripture describes God’s mighty arm, we know that arms are by definition limited, but might is not. So God’s “mighty arm” is actually His unlimited power to act (what we call omnipotence). When Scripture describes God’s mind, we know that minds are limited, but knowledge is not. God’s “mind” is actually His infinite knowledge (what we call omniscience).

There were times in the Bible when God appears in a physical form in order to be seen by men without danger to them. Because God said, “No one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:20), He chose at certain times to reveal Himself in human form (Genesis 12:7; 18:1–33; 32:22–30).These occurrences are called theophanies. Every theophany, wherein God took on human form, foreshadowed the incarnation, where God took the form of a man to live among us as Immanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

Question: Has anyone ever seen God?

Answer: The Bible tells us that no one has ever seen God (John 1:18) except the Lord Jesus Christ. In Exodus 33:20, God declares, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” These Scriptures seem to contradict other Scriptures, which describe various people “seeing” God. For example, Exodus 33:19–23 describes Moses speaking to God “face-to-face.” How could Moses speak with God “face-to-face” if no one can see God’s face and live? In this instance, the phrase “face-to-face” is a figure of speech, indicating they were in very close communion. God and Moses were speaking to each other as if they were two human beings having a close conversation. In Genesis 32:30, Jacob saw God appearing as an angel; he did not truly see God. Samson’s parents were terrified when they realized they had seen God (Judges 13:22), but they had only seen Him appearing as an angel.

Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14), so when people saw Him, they were seeing God. So, yes, God can be “seen,” and many people have “seen” God. At the same time, no one has ever seen God revealed in all His glory. In our fallen human condition, if God were to fully reveal Himself to us, we would be consumed and destroyed. Therefore, God veils Himself and appears in forms in which we can “see” Him. People have seen visions of God, images of God, and appearances of God, but no one has ever seen God in all His fullness (Exodus 33:20).

Question: What is anthropomorphism?

Answer: The word anthropomorphism comes from two Greek words, anthropos, meaning “man,” and morphe, meaning “form.” In theological terms, an anthropomorphism is a description of God as if He possessed the form of a man; or it is the assigning of human characteristics to God. Anthropomorphic language is language we can grasp. To say, “God will be with you,” is encouraging, but to say, “God will hold your hand,” is more poetic and, in a way, more impactful.

In several places in the Bible, God is described as having physical attributes. He makes “His face” to shine (Numbers 6:25). He stretches out “His hand” (Exodus 7:5; Isaiah 23:11). He scatters His enemies with “His strong arm” (Psalm 89:10). He “stoops down” to look on creation (Psalm 113:6). The “eyes of the Lord” are on the righteous (Psalm 34:15). The earth is His “footstool” (Isaiah 66:1). Do these verses mean that God literally has eyes, a face, hands, and feet? No. God is spirit, not flesh and blood (John 4:24). Because we are not spirit, anthropomorphisms help us understand who God is and what He does.

We have ears, and we are familiar with what ears do—they enable us to listen. God told Israel, “My ears [will be] attentive to the prayers offered in this place” (2 Chronicles 7:15). Here, God describes Himself in human terms—as having physical ears. There may be much of God’s nature that we do not comprehend. But, through this anthropomorphism, we know this: He is attentive when we pray.

A word of caution concerning anthropomorphisms: they are not meant to limit our view of God. No figure of speech can adequately relate the infinite. God is said to have a “hand” (Psalm 45:4). By this, we understand that God is capable of performing work; however, to say that God is limited to a human-like body would diminish His incomparable power. We read God’s Word with the realization that He offers small glimpses of His glory in ways we can absorb. Anthropomorphisms help us understand our loving God in terms to which we can relate.

CHAPTER 4

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD’S ATTRIBUTES

Contents

What are the attributes of God? What is God like?

Who is God? What is God? How can we know God?

What does it mean that God is love?

How should I understand the concept of the Father God?

Why is God a jealous God?

What does it mean that God is eternal?

Is God fair?

What does it mean that God is infinite?

What does it mean that God is omnipotent?

What does it mean that God is omniscient?

What does it mean that God is omnipresent?

What does it mean that God is holy, holy, holy?

How do I get the image of God as imposing and angry out of my mind?

What does it mean that God is transcendent?

What is the immanence of God?

What is the immutability of God?

Is God sovereign, or do we have a free will?

What is the glory of God?

Can God sin? If God cannot sin, is He truly omnipotent?

What does it mean that God is a consuming fire?

Is God a cosmic killjoy?

Is there anything God cannot do?

Does God have a sense of humor?

Question: What are the attributes of God? What is God like?

Answer: The Bible, God’s Word, tells us what God is like and what He is not like. Without the authority of the Bible, any attempt to explain God’s attributes would be no better than an opinion, which by itself is often incorrect, especially in understanding God (Job 42:7). To say that it is important for us to try to understand what God is like is a huge understatement. Failure to do so can cause us to set up, chase after, and worship false gods, which is contrary to His will (Exodus 20:3–5).

Only what God has chosen to reveal of Himself can be known. One of God’s attributes or qualities is “light,” meaning that He is self-revealing in information of Himself (Isaiah 60:19; James 1:17). The fact that God has revealed knowledge of Himself should not be neglected (Hebrews 4:1). Creation, the Bible, and the Word made flesh (Jesus Christ) will help us to know what God is like.

Let’s start by understanding that God is our Creator and that we are a part of His creation (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 24:1) and created in His image. Man is above the rest of creation and was given dominion over it (Genesis 1:26–28). Creation is marred by the fall but still offers a glimpse of God’s works (Genesis 3:17–18; Romans 1:19–20). By considering creation’s vastness, complexity, beauty, and order, we can have a sense of the awesomeness of God.

Reading through some of the names of God can be helpful in our search of what God is like. They are as follows:

•   Elohim—strong One, divine (Genesis 1:1)

•   Adonai—Lord, indicating a Master-to-servant relationship (Exodus 4:10, 13)

•   El Elyon—Most High, the strongest One (Genesis 14:20)

•   El Roi—the strong One who sees (Genesis 16:13)

•   El Shaddai—Almighty God (Genesis 17:1)

•   El Olam—Everlasting God (Isaiah 40:28)

•   Yahweh—LORD, “I AM,” meaning the eternal, self-existent God (Exodus 3:13, 14)

God is eternal, meaning He had no beginning and His existence will never end. He is immortal and infinite (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; 1 Timothy 1:17). God is immutable, meaning He is unchanging; this, in turn, means that God is absolutely reliable and trustworthy (Malachi 3:6; Numbers 23:19; Psalm 102:26, 27). God is incomparable; there is no one like Him in works or being. He is unequaled and perfect (2 Samuel 7:22; Psalm 86:8; Isaiah 40:25; Matthew 5:48). God is inscrutable, unfathomable, unsearchable, and past finding out as far as understanding Him completely (Isaiah 40:28; Psalm 145:3; Romans 11:33, 34).

God is just; He is no respecter of persons in the sense of showing favoritism (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 18:30). God is omnipotent; He is all-powerful and can do anything that pleases Him, but His actions will always be in accord with the rest of His character (Revelation 19:6; Jeremiah 32:17, 27). God is omnipresent, meaning He is present everywhere, but this does not mean that God is everything (Psalm 139:7–12; Jeremiah 23:23). God is omniscient, meaning He knows the past, present, and future, including what we are thinking at any given moment. Since He knows everything, His justice will always be administered fairly (Psalm 139:1–5; Proverbs 5:21).

God is one; not only is there no other, but also He is alone in being able to meet the deepest needs and longings of our hearts. God alone is worthy of our worship and devotion (Deuteronomy 6:4–5). God is righteous, meaning that He cannot and will not pass over wrongdoing. It is because of God’s righteousness and justice that, in order for our sins to be forgiven, Jesus had to experience God’s wrath when our sins were placed upon Him (Romans 3:21–26).

God is sovereign, meaning He is supreme. All of His creation put together cannot thwart His purposes (Psalm 93:1; 95:3; Jeremiah 23:20). God is spirit, meaning He is invisible (John 1:18; 4:24). God is a Trinity. He is three in one, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. God is truth; He will remain incorruptible and cannot lie (Psalm 117:2; 1 Samuel 15:29).

God is holy (Isaiah 6:3), separated from all moral defilement and hostile toward it (Habakkuk 1:13). God sees all evil, and it angers Him. God is referred to as a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). God is gracious, and His grace includes His goodness, kindness, mercy, and love. If it were not for God’s grace, His holiness would exclude us from His presence. Thankfully, this is not the case, for He desires to know each of us personally (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 31:19; 1 Peter 1:3; John 3:16; 17:3).

Since God is an infinite Being, no human can fully answer this God-sized question, but through God’s Word, we can understand much about who God is and what He is like. May we all wholeheartedly continue to seek after Him (Jeremiah 29:13).

Question: Who is God? What is God? How can we know God?

Answer: Who is God? (The Fact)

The fact of God’s existence is so conspicuous, both through creation and through man’s conscience, that the Bible calls the atheist a “fool” (Psalm 14:1). Accordingly, the Bible never attempts to prove the existence of God; rather, it assumes His existence from the very beginning (Genesis 1:1). What the Bible does is reveal the nature, character, and work of God.

Who is God? (The Definition)

It is of utmost importance to think correctly about God because a false idea about God is idolatry. In Psalm 50:21, God reproves the wicked man with this accusation: “You thought I was altogether like you.” To start with, a good summary definition of God is: “the Supreme Being; the Creator and Ruler of all that is; the Self-existent One who is perfect in power, goodness, and wisdom.”

Who is God? (His Nature)

We know certain things to be true of God for one reason: in His mercy, He has condescended to reveal some of His qualities to us. God is spirit, by nature intangible (John 4:24). God is One, but He exists as three Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16–17). God is infinite (1 Timothy 1:17), incomparable (2 Samuel 7:22), and unchanging (Malachi 3:6). God exists everywhere (Psalm 139:7–12), knows everything (Matthew 11:21), and has all power and authority (Ephesians 1; Revelation 19:6).

Who is God? (His Character)

Here are some of God’s characteristics as revealed in the Bible: God is just (Acts 17:31), loving (Ephesians 2:4–5), truthful (John 14:6), and holy (1 John 1:5). God shows compassion (2 Corinthians 1:3), mercy (Romans 9:15), and grace (Romans 5:17). God judges sin (Psalm 5:5) but also offers forgiveness (Psalm 130:4).

Who is God? (His Work)

We cannot understand God apart from His works, because what God does flows from who He is. Here is an abbreviated list of God’s works, past, present, and future: God created the world (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 42:5); He actively sustains the world (Colossians 1:17); He is executing His eternal plan (Ephesians 1:11), which involves the redemption of man from the curse of sin and death (Galatians 3:13–14); He draws people to Christ (John 6:44); He disciplines His children (Hebrews 12:6); and He will judge the world (Revelation 20:11–15).

Who is God? (A Relationship with Him)

In the Person of the Son, God became incarnate (John 1:14). The Son of God became the Son of Man and is therefore the “bridge” between God and man (John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5). It is only through the Son that we can have forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7), reconciliation with God (John 15:15; Romans 5:10), and eternal salvation (2 Timothy 2:10). In Jesus Christ, “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). So, to really know who God is, all we have to do is look at Jesus.

Question: What does it mean that God is love?

Answer: Let’s look at how the Bible describes love, and then we will see a few ways in which God is the essence of love. First Corinthians 13 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4–8a). This is God’s description of love, and because God is love (1 John 4:8), this is what He is like.

Love (God) does not force Himself on anyone. Those who come to Him do so in response to His love. Love (God) shows kindness to all. Love (Jesus) went about doing good to everyone without partiality. Love (Jesus) did not covet what others had and lived a humble life without complaining. Love (Jesus) did not brag about who He was in the flesh; although, He could have overpowered anyone He ever came in contact with. Love (God) does not demand obedience. God did not force His Son to obey Him; rather, Jesus willingly obeyed His Father in heaven. “The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:31). Love (Jesus) was/is always looking out for the interests of others.

The greatest expression of God’s love is communicated to us in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Romans 5:8 proclaims the same message: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We can see from these verses that it is God’s greatest desire that we join Him in His eternal home, heaven. He has made the way possible by paying the price for our sins. He loves us because He chose to as an act of His will. Love forgives. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

So, what does it mean that God is love? Love is an attribute of God. Love is a core aspect of God’s character, His Person. God’s love in no sense conflicts with His holiness, righteousness, justice, or even His wrath. All of God’s attributes are in perfect harmony. Everything God does is loving, in the same way that everything He does is just and right. God is the perfect example of true love. Amazingly, God has given those who receive His Son Jesus as their personal Savior the ability to love as He does, through the power of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1, 23–24).

Question: How should I understand the concept of the Father God?

Answer: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). In the ESV, this verse begins with a command: “See.” John wants us to observe the manifestations of the Father’s love. He introduced the subject of God’s love in the preceding chapter (1 John 2:5, 15), briefly discusses it here, and fully explains it in the fourth chapter. John’s purpose is to describe the kind of love the Father gives His children: “great” love. The Greek word translated “how great” is found only six times in the New Testament and always implies astonishment and admiration.

It is interesting to note here that John does not say, “The Father loves us.” In doing so, he would be describing a condition. Instead, he tells us that the Father has “lavished” His love on us, and this, in turn, portrays an action and the extent of God’s love. It is also interesting to note that John has chosen the word Father purposely. That word implies the father-child relationship. God did not become Father when He adopted us as children. God’s fatherhood is eternal. He is eternally the Father of Jesus Christ, and through Jesus, He is also our Father. Through Jesus, we receive the Father’s love and are called “children of God.”

What an honor it is that God calls us His children and gives us the assurance that as His children “we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). In his Gospel, John also tells us that everyone who has received Christ as Savior by faith also receives the God-given right to become children of God (John 1:12). God extends His love to His Son Jesus Christ and, through Him, to all His adopted children.

When John exclaims, “That is what we are!” he declares the reality of our status. Right now, at this very moment, we are God’s children. In other words, this is not a promise that God will fulfill in the future. No, the truth is that we are already God’s children. We enjoy all the rights and privileges our adoption entails because we have come to know God as our Father. As His children, we experience His love. As His children, we acknowledge Him as our Father, for we have an experiential knowledge of God. We put our trust in Him who loves us, provides for us, and protects us (as our earthly fathers should). Also, just as earthly fathers should, God disciplines His children when they disobey or ignore His commands. He does this for our benefit, so “that we may share in His holiness” (Hebrews 12:10).

The Scriptures describe those who have a relationship with God in many ways. We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), holy priests (1 Peter 2:5), new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), and partakers in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). But more than any of these—more significant than any title or position—is the simple fact that we are God’s children, and He is our heavenly Father.

Question: Why is God a jealous God?

Answer: It is important to understand how the word jealous is used. Its use in Exodus 20:5 to describe God is different from how it is used to describe the sin of jealousy (Galatians 5:20). When we use the word jealous, we most often use it to describe being envious of someone who has something we do not have. A person might be jealous or envious of another person because he or she has a nice car or home (possessions). Or a person might be jealous or envious of another person because of some ability or skill that other person has (such as athletic ability). A person might also be jealous or envious of another because of his or her beauty.

Exodus 20:5 is not saying that God is jealous or envious because someone has something He wants or needs. Exodus 20:4–5 says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God …” Notice that God is jealous when someone gives to another something that rightly belongs to Him.

In these verses, God is speaking of people making idols and bowing down and worshiping those idols instead of giving Him the worship that belongs to Him alone. God is possessive of the worship and service that belong to Him. It is a sin (as God points out in this commandment) to worship or serve anything other than God. He is jealous of what rightly belongs to Him as God; worship and service belong to Him alone, and they are to be given to Him alone.

Perhaps a practical example will help us understand the difference. If a husband sees another man flirting with his wife, he is right to be jealous, for only he has the right to flirt with his wife. This type of jealousy is not sinful. Rather, it is entirely appropriate. Being jealous for something that God declares belongs to you is good and appropriate. Jealousy is a sin when it is a desire for something that does not belong to you.

Worship, praise, honor, and adoration belong to God alone, for only He is truly worthy of it. Therefore, God is rightly jealous when worship, praise, honor, or adoration is given to idols. This is precisely the jealousy the apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 11:2a: “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy.”

Question: What does it mean that God is eternal?

Answer: The word eternal means “everlasting, having no beginning and no end.” Psalm 90:2 tells us about God’s eternality: “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” Since humans measure everything in time, it is very hard for us to conceive of something that had no beginning but has always been and will continue forever. However, the Bible does not try to prove God’s existence or His eternality; it simply begins with the statement, “In the beginning God …” (Genesis 1:1), indicating that at the beginning of recorded time, God was already in existence. From duration stretching backward, without limit, to duration stretching forward, without limit, from eternal ages to eternal ages, God was and is forever.

When God commissioned Moses, the prophet asked what name God should be called. God’s reply is most revealing: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). This name signifies the essence of God, His self-existence, and that He is the Being of beings. It also implies His eternality and immutability, as well as His constancy and faithfulness in fulfilling His promises, because it includes all time, past, present, and future. The sense is this: not only am I what I am at present, but also I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be and shall be what I am. God’s own words about His eternality speak to us from the pages of Scripture.

Jesus Christ, God incarnate, verified His deity and eternality by declaring, “Before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58). Jesus, in using the name of the Lord revealed to Moses, was claiming to be God in the flesh. The Jews, upon hearing Jesus’ statement, tried to stone Him to death. To them, declaring oneself to be the eternal God was blasphemy worthy of death (Leviticus 24:16). The apostle John also presented Christ as the eternal God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). From before recorded time, Jesus and His Father were one in essence and shared equally the attribute of eternality.

Romans 1:20 tells us that God reveals to us His eternal nature and His eternal power through His creation. All men see and understand this aspect of God’s nature through the witness of the created order. The sun and heavenly bodies continue in their orbits century after century. The seasons come and go at their appointed times; the trees produce leaves in spring and drop them in autumn. Year after year these things continue, and no one can stop them or alter God’s plan. All of this attests to God’s eternal power.

One day, God will create a new heaven and new earth, and they, like Him, will continue into eternity. We who belong to Christ through faith will continue through eternity as well, sharing the eternality of our God, who created us in His image.

Question: Is God fair?

Answer: Fortunately for us, God is not fair. Fairness would mean that everyone receives exactly what he or she deserves. In many people’s minds, fairness is everyone being treated the same. If God were completely fair, we would all spend eternity in hell, paying for our sins, which is exactly what we deserve. We have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23) and are, therefore, worthy of eternal death (Romans 6:23). If we received what we deserve, we would end up in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14–15). But God is not fair; instead, He is merciful and good. He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve (2 Corinthians 5:21). All we have to do is believe in Him, and we will be saved, forgiven, and given an eternal home in heaven (John 3:16).

However, despite God’s loving grace, no one would believe in Him on his or her own (Romans 3:10–18). God has to draw us to Himself in order for us to believe (John 6:44). God does not draw everyone. He only draws certain people, whom He has sovereignly chosen (Romans 8:29–30; Ephesians 1:5, 11). This is not “fair” in our eyes because it appears that God is not treating all people equally. However, God does not have to choose anyone. Again, it would be entirely fair for everyone to spend eternity in hell. God saving some is not unfair to those who remain unsaved, as they are receiving precisely what they deserve.

Those whom God has chosen are receiving God’s love and grace. And when God draws our hearts and opens our minds, we all have the opportunity to respond to the revelation of creation (Psalm 19:1–3) and the conscience God has put within us (Romans 2:15) and turn to God. Those who do not will receive what they truly deserve because of their rejection of Him. Those who reject Him receive the punishment that is fair (John 3:18, 36). Those who believe are receiving far more, and much better, than what they deserve. No one, though, is being punished beyond what he or she deserves.

Is God fair? No. Thankfully, God is much more than fair! God is gracious, merciful, and forgiving—but He is also holy, just, and righteous.

Question: What does it mean that God is infinite?

Answer: The infinite nature of God simply means that God exists outside of and is not limited by time or space. Infinite simply means “without limits.” When we refer to God as “infinite,” we generally use terms like omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence.

Omniscience means that God is all-knowing or that He has unlimited knowledge. His infinite knowledge is what qualifies Him as sovereign ruler and judge over all things. Not only does God know everything that will happen, but also He knows all things that could have possibly happened. Nothing takes God by surprise, and no one can hide sin from Him. There are many verses in the Bible in which God reveals this aspect of His nature. One such verse is 1 John 3:20 (NASB): “… God is greater than our heart and knows all things.”

Omnipotence means that God is all-powerful or that He has unlimited power. Having all power is significant because it establishes God’s ability to carry out His sovereign will. Because God is omnipotent and has infinite power, nothing can stop His decreed will from happening, and nothing can thwart or stop His divine purposes from being fulfilled. There are many verses in the Bible in which God reveals this aspect of His nature. One such verse is Psalm 115:3 (NASB): “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” Or when answering His disciples’ question, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25), Jesus says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

Omnipresence means that God is always present. There is no place you could go to escape God’s presence. God is not limited by time or space. He is present at every point of time and space. God’s infinite presence is significant because it establishes that God is eternal. God has always existed and will always exist. Before time began, God was. Before the world or even matter itself was created, God was. He has no beginning or end, and there was never a time He did not exist; nor will there ever be a time when He ceases to exist. Many verses in the Bible reveal this aspect of God’s nature to us; one of them is Psalm 139:7–10: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

Because God is infinite, He is also said to be transcendent, which simply means that God is exceedingly far above creation and is both greater than creation and independent of it. God is so infinitely above and beyond us and our ability to fully comprehend His nature that had He not revealed Himself, we would not know or understand what He is like. But, thankfully, God has not left us ignorant. Instead, He has revealed Himself to us through both general revelation (creation and our consciences) and special revelation (the written Word of God, the Bible, and the living Word of God, Jesus Christ). Therefore, we can know God, and we can know how to be reconciled to Him and how to live according to His will. Despite the fact that we are finite and God is infinite, we can know and understand God as He has revealed Himself to us.

Question: What does it mean that God is omnipotent?

Answer: The word omnipotent is a conjoining of omni-, meaning “all,” and potent, meaning “power.” As with the attributes of omniscience and omnipresence, God’s omnipotence is an essential part of His nature. If God is infinite, and if He is sovereign, then He must also be omnipotent. God has all power over all things at all times and in all ways.

Job spoke of God’s power in Job 42:2: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.” Job was acknowledging God’s omnipotence in carrying out His plans. God reminded Moses that He had all power to fulfill His purposes: “The LORD answered Moses, ‘Is the LORD’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you’” (Numbers 11:23).

Nowhere is God’s omnipotence seen more clearly than in creation. God said, “Let there be …” and it was so (Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, etc.). Man needs tools and materials to create; God simply spoke, and by the power of His word, everything was created from nothing. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6).

God’s power is also seen in the preservation of His creation. All life on earth would perish were it not for God’s continual provision of everything needed for food, shelter, and other sustenance. The earth’s renewable resources are sustained by His power; He is the preserver of man and beast (Psalm 36:6). The seas, which cover most of the earth, and over which we are powerless, would overwhelm us if God did not proscribe their limits (Job 38:8–11).

God’s omnipotence also extends to governments and leaders (Daniel 2:21). He restrains them or lets them go their way according to His purposes. The same is true regarding Satan and his demons. Satan’s attack on Job was limited to only certain actions. He was restrained by God’s unlimited power (Job 1:12; 2:6). And Jesus reminded Pilate that he had no power over Him unless the God of all power granted it to him (John 19:11).

Being omnipotent, God can do anything. However, sometimes the Bible says that God cannot do something. That doesn’t mean God has lost His omnipotence. For example, Hebrews 6:18 says that God cannot lie. That does not mean He lacks the power to lie but that God chooses not to lie in accord with His own moral perfection. He is Truth, and He remains faithful to Himself. But despite His being all-powerful and hating evil, God sometimes allows evil to happen according to His good purposes. God allowed the greatest evil of all to occur—the murder of Jesus—and the holy Lamb of God died to become the means of mankind’s redemption.

As God incarnate, Jesus Christ is omnipotent. His power is evident in the miracles He performed—His numerous healings, the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:30–44), the calming of the storm (Mark 4:37–41), the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38–44), etc. Jesus came to destroy death (1 Corinthians 15:22; Hebrews 2:14) and to bring sinners into a right relationship with God. The Lord Jesus stated clearly that He had power to lay down His life and power to take it up again (John 10:18). He had the power to call upon more than twelve legions of angels to rescue Him from death (Matthew 26:53); yet He offered Himself in humility and love (Philippians 2:1–11).

The great mystery is that believers who are united to God in Jesus Christ can share this power. His grace overcomes our sin, and His power overshadows our frailty. Paul says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9b). God’s power is exalted in us most when we are at our weakest. He “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). God’s power continues to hold us in a state of grace, despite our sin (2 Timothy 1:12). His power keeps us from falling (Jude 24). The host of heaven will proclaim his power for all eternity (Revelation 19:1). May we join that blessed company!

Question: What does it mean that God is omniscient?

Answer: Omniscience is defined as “the quality of having total, complete knowledge.” To be omniscient is to know absolutely everything. For God to be sovereign over His creation of all things, whether visible or invisible, He has to be all-knowing. His omniscience is not restricted to any one person in the Godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all by nature omniscient.

God knows everything (1 John 3:20). He knows the minutest details of our lives and those of everything around us. Jesus says that He knows when a sparrow falls and when we lose a single hair (Matthew 10:29–30). God knows everything that will occur until the end of history itself (Isaiah 46:9–10). He knows our very thoughts, even before we speak (Psalm 139:4). He knows our hearts from afar; He even saw us in the womb (Psalm 139:1–3, 15–16). Solomon expressed God’s omniscience when he said, “For you alone know the hearts of all men” (1 Kings 8:39).

The Son of God condescended to empty Himself and make Himself nothing (Philippians 2:7); yet His omniscience is clearly seen in the New Testament writings. The prayer of the apostles in Acts 1:24, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart,” implies Jesus’ omniscience, which is necessary if He is to receive petitions and intercede at God’s right hand. On earth, Jesus’ omniscience is just as clear. He knew the thoughts of His audience (Matthew 9:4; 12:25; Mark 2:6–8; Luke 6:8). He knew about people’s lives before He had even met them. When He met the woman collecting water at the well at Sychar, He said to her, “The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband” (John 4:18). He told His disciples that their friend Lazarus was dead, even though He was over 25 miles away from Lazarus’s home (John 11:11–15). He advised the disciples to go and make preparations for the Lord’s Supper, describing the person they were to meet and follow (Mark 14:13–15). And He knew Nathanael before ever meeting Him, for He knew his heart (John 1:47–48).

Clearly, we have proof of Jesus’ omniscience on earth, but this is also where the paradox begins. Jesus asked questions, which usually implies an absence of knowledge. However, almost all of Jesus’ questions were for the benefit of His audience and not for Himself (see Matthew 16:13 and 20:21).

We also read that as a boy Jesus “grew in wisdom” (Luke 2:52) and that as an adult He “learned obedience” (Hebrews 5:8). At one point, He said that He did not know when the world would be brought to an end (Matthew 24:34–36). Therefore, we must ask, “Why would God the Son ‘not know’ something? How could He ‘learn’ if He knows everything?” This can be answered by understanding the limitations of the human nature Jesus assumed in the incarnation. We should regard Jesus’ need to learn as a purposeful, controlled lack of knowledge. As God Incarnate, Jesus could have exercised every prerogative of deity, but He chose to limit Himself to the human experience. Physically, He hungered (Matthew 4:2) and grew tired (John 4:6). Intellectually, He gained knowledge through study, not because He had to but because He chose to live as a human being. He was the Son of Man as well as the Son of God. His whole life was a willing act of humility to fully share our nature (Philippians 2:6–8; Hebrews 2:17).

The fact that we have an omniscient God means we can rest secure in Him. He has known us from eternity past, even before creation—who we would be, when we would appear in the course of time, and with whom we would interact. He even foresaw our sin in all its depravity; yet, in His love, He set His seal upon us and drew us to Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3–6). One day we will see Him face-to-face, and our knowledge of Him will increase but will never be complete. We will forever wonder at our omniscient God, who “knows the way” that we take (Job 23:10).

Question: What does it mean that God is omnipresent?

Answer: The prefix omni- comes from the Latin word, meaning “all.” So, to say that God is omnipresent is to say that God is present everywhere. In many religions, God is regarded as omnipresent; whereas, in both Judaism and Christianity, this view is further subdivided into God’s transcendence (He is above all creation) and immanence (He exists within creation). Although God is not totally immersed in the fabric of creation (pantheism), He is present everywhere at all times.

Although God’s presence is continuous throughout all of creation, it may not be revealed in the same way and at the same time to all people. The Bible reveals that God can be manifestly present to a person (Psalm 46:1; Isaiah 57:15) and at the same time present in every situation in all of creation (Psalm 33:13–14). Although God is present in all time and space, God is not locally limited to any time or space. God is everywhere and in every now. No molecule or atomic particle is so small that God is not fully present to it, and no galaxy is so vast that God does not circumscribe it.

God is naturally present in every aspect of the natural order of things, in every manner, time, and place (Isaiah 40:12; Nahum 1:3). God is actively present in every event in history as provident guide of human affairs (Psalm 48:7; 2 Chronicles 20:37; Daniel 5:5–6). God is attentively present to those who call upon His name, who intercede for others, who adore God, who petition, and who pray earnestly for forgiveness (Psalm 46:1). He is mystically present in the universal church, against which the gates of Hades will not prevail (Matthew 16:18; Hebrews 13:5). And God is supremely present in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:19).

Due to the limitations of the human mind, the doctrine of the omnipresence of God contains some paradoxes. One of these is important to discuss: the presence of God in hell, that place where the wicked suffer the unceasing fury of God because of their sins. Many argue that hell is a place of separation from God (Matthew 25:41), and if it is, can God be truly omnipresent? God cannot be said to be present with people who are separated from Him. However, Revelation 14:10 speaks of hell’s torments, saying that the wicked are “in the presence of the Lamb.” So, God is present in hell. He is present because He fills all things (Colossians 1:17) and upholds all things (Hebrews 1:3); yet He is not necessarily everywhere to bless. In hell, God displays no attribute other than His wrath.

The doctrine of God’s omnipresence should remind us that we cannot hide from God (Psalm 139:11–12) and that, when we sin, we can return to God in repentance and faith, without even having to move (Isaiah 57:16).

Question: What does it mean that God is holy, holy, holy?

Answer: The phrase “holy, holy, holy” appears twice in the Bible, once in the Old Testament (Isaiah 6:3) and once in the New (Revelation 4:8). Both times, the phrase is spoken or sung by heavenly creatures, and both times, it was heard by a man who was transported to the throne of God: first by the prophet Isaiah and then by the apostle John.

Before addressing the three-fold repetition of God’s holiness, it is important to understand what is meant by God’s holiness. The holiness of God is the most difficult of all God’s attributes to explain, partly because it is one of His essential attributes that man does not share. Being created in God’s image, we share many of His attributes—love, mercy, faithfulness, etc.—to a much lesser extent, of course. But some of God’s attributes will never be shared by created beings—omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, and holiness, for example. God’s holiness is what separates Him from all other beings. It involves His perfection and sinless purity, but it is more than that. It is the essence of His “other-ness,” His transcendence. God’s holiness embodies the mystery of His wonder, majesty, and perfection.

Isaiah was a firsthand witness of God’s holiness on display, as he records in Isaiah 6. Even though Isaiah was a prophet of God and a righteous man, his reaction to God’s holiness was an awareness of his own sinfulness and despair for his life (Isaiah 6:5). Even the angels in God’s presence, who were crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty,” covered their faces and feet with four of their six wings. Covering the face and feet no doubt denotes the reverence and awe inspired by the immediate presence of God. The seraphim stood covered, as if concealing themselves as much as possible, in recognition of their unworthiness in the presence of the Holy One. If the pure and sinless seraphim exhibit such reverence in the presence of Jehovah, with what profound awe should we, polluted and sinful creatures, draw near to Him! The reverence shown to God by the angels should warn us of thoughtlessness and irreverence in His presence. Those who approach God flippantly do not begin to understand His holiness.

John’s vision of God’s throne in Revelation 4 is similar to that of Isaiah. Again, there were living creatures around the throne, crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 4:8). John goes on to describe these creatures giving glory and honor and reverence to God continually. Interestingly, John’s reaction to his vision is different from Isaiah’s. There is no record of John fretting over his sinful state, perhaps because John had already encountered the risen Christ. In Revelation 1:17, Christ had placed His hand upon John and told him not to be afraid. The same Christ gives us boldness to approach the throne of grace. If we have the “hand of Christ” upon us—that is, if we possess His righteousness, which was exchanged for our sin at the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21)—we need not fear God’s presence.

But why the threefold repetition “holy, holy, holy” (called the trihagion)? The repetition of a name or an expression three times was quite common among the Jews, and it served as an intensifier. In Jeremiah 7:4, the threefold repetition of “the temple of the LORD” expresses an intense confidence in the Jewish form of worship. Jeremiah 22:29 and Ezekiel 21:27 contain similar three-fold expressions. Therefore, when the angels around the throne cry out, “Holy, holy, holy,” they are expressing with force and passion the truth of the supreme holiness of God. God’s holiness is the essential characteristic of His nature.

In addition, the trihagion suggests the triune nature of God. The three Persons of the Godhead are equally holy. God the Father is the “Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12:6; 17:7; 30:12). God the Son is the Holy One who did not “see decay” in the grave but was resurrected and exalted (Acts 2:27; 13:33–35) and whose death on the cross allows sinners to stand before the throne of a holy God unashamed (Hebrews 4:16). God the Holy Spirit’s very name signifies His fundamental attribute.

Finally, the two visions of angels around the throne, crying, “Holy, holy, holy,” clearly indicate that God does not change. He was holy in the Old Testament, and He is holy in the New Testament. Sometimes, we think of God in the Old Testament as wrathful and in the New Testament as loving. But Isaiah and John present a unified picture of our holy, majestic, awesome God, who does not change (Malachi 3:6). He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). God “does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). He is eternally holy, forever blessed.

Question: How do I get the image of God as imposing and angry out of my mind?

Answer: The fact is, God is imposing. If we were to stand in His presence with our sins unforgiven, we would surely feel intimidated and desperate. It’s why Adam and Eve hid from God in the garden (Genesis 3:8) and why Isaiah despaired of his life (Isaiah 6:5). And the fact is, God is angry. He is “angry with the wicked every day” because of their sin (Psalm 7:11). Fearing God, therefore, is wise (Proverbs 9:10). Fearing God helps to keep us from sin.

However, once we experience the grace of God, our sins are forgiven, and we are welcomed into God’s family. Jesus referred to His disciples as “servants,” then “friends,” and finally, “brothers” (John 15:15; 20:17). This is the progression of grace—from servant to fellow heir. Those who believe in Christ are given “the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). That right includes an invitation from the Spirit to call God our “Abba Father” (Romans 8:15).

Perhaps it will help to consider one of the most profound statements in the Bible: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Never was more meaning crowded into fewer words—God is love. God doesn’t just love; He is love. Love is not simply His action; it is His nature and essence. Love means God does what is best for those He loves, regardless of the cost. His love informs all His other attributes, even His justice and wrath. When we think of God’s anger, it may help to remember that His holy anger is working in tandem with His perfect love.

God is not angry with His children—those who have come to Christ in faith for forgiveness of sin. In fact, we are His “workmanship” (Ephesians 2:10), “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9). Jesus “loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:5). We are “holy” in God’s sight because we have been justified. When He looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Jesus. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God’s wrath against our sin was poured out on Jesus on the cross, and we are now under no condemnation (Romans 8:1).

Sometimes, we base our pictures of God on what we’ve seen in those around us. The actions and attitudes of a pastor, a parent, or a Christian friend can shape our views of God. It’s not uncommon for those models to have been hurtful; a proud pastor, a domineering parent, or a hypocritical friend can warp our theology if we aren’t careful. Even in the best of cases, where the exemplars have been helpful, the picture is still incomplete.

If you really want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. He is the full revelation of God to the world (Hebrews 1:3). Was Jesus imposing and angry? Only with those who obstinately rejected Him and who tried to prevent others from believing. Look at Jesus’ approachability: “Let the little children come to me” (Matthew 19:14). Look at Jesus’ gentleness: He did not snuff out the “smoldering wick” or break the “bruised reed” (Matthew 12:20). Look at Jesus’ open invitation: “Come to me all …” (Matthew 11:28).

One more thing: you must be sure of your own relationship to God, especially if you see Him as angry and imposing. The Bible says to “examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). If you doubt that you truly belong to Christ, then repent, and ask Him to save you (Acts 3:19). God will forgive your sins and give you His Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Once you are assured that you are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9), it is time to grow (2 Peter 3:18). Read and study His Word, and ask the Lord to show Himself to you as He truly is (John 14:21).

God loves you and longs for a personal relationship with you. If you seek Him with all your heart, you will surely find Him (Jeremiah 29:13), and the better you know Him, the more in love with Him you will be. The children who came to Jesus did not see Him as imposing and angry but as loving and gracious and kind. “And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them” (Mark 10:16). Our Lord wants to do the same for you.

Question: What does it mean that God is transcendent?

Answer: To transcend means “to exist above and independent from; to rise above, surpass.” By this definition, God is the only truly transcendent Being. The “LORD God Almighty” (in Hebrew, El Shaddai) created all things on the earth, beneath the earth, and in the heavens above; yet He exists above and independent from them. God exists outside of space and time; He is “wholly other,” set apart from His creation. All things are upheld by His mighty power (Hebrews 1:3); yet He is upheld by Himself alone. The whole universe exists in Him and for Him so that He may receive glory, honor, and praise.

Being transcendent, God is both the unknown and unknowable; yet He continually seeks to reveal Himself to His creation, i.e., the unknown seeks to be known. Here is a paradox. Being transcendent, God is the incomprehensible Creator, existing outside of space-time and thus is unknowable and unsearchable. Neither by an act of our will nor by our own reasoning can we possibly come to understand God or experience Him personally. God wants us to seek to know Him; yet how can the finite possibly know and understand the infinite? Our minds and thoughts are so far beneath His (Isaiah 55:8–9). The answer lies in 1 Corinthians 2:16: “‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

Another aspect of God’s transcendent nature that places Him beyond the reach of His creation is His holiness. Because of man’s proclivity to sin and his desire for wickedness, he is denied the right to enter God’s presence. God has no choice but to turn His face away from us, as He did with Moses: “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). To see the fullness of God’s glory would be too much for any human to bear; it would break the earthen vessel in pieces. The full revelation of God is, therefore, reserved for the future, when all things will be seen as they are, and the redeemed will be in a condition to receive them.

The prophet Isaiah realized the necessity of God remaining aloof from His creation: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins” (Isaiah 64:6–7). Our transcendent God is forced by His very righteousness to keep Himself separate from anything sinful, impure, unclean, or less than perfect. However, not only is God transcendent, but also He is immanent (present within the universe). It is God’s immanence that allows us to draw near to Him.

This, too, is a paradox. “‘Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the LORD, ‘and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:23–24). God’s transcendent nature keeps Him distant and remote from His creation, both in space and time. On the other hand, His immanent nature draws Him near to His creation and sustains the universe. God’s love for His creation is so great that we see His immanence overshadowing His transcendence. God’s immanence became most visible in His incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus broke through the barrier of sin and separation to draw us into a close, personal relationship with the Father. Those who believe in Christ have the personal presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The miracle of salvation includes the transcendent God living in our very hearts.

Question: What is the immanence of God?

Answer: God’s immanence refers to His presence within His creation. (It is not to be confused with imminence, which refers to the timing of Jesus’ return to earth.) A belief in God’s immanence holds that God is present in all of creation, while remaining distinct from it. In other words, there is no place where God is not. His sovereign control extends everywhere simultaneously.

Pantheism and deism twist many people’s views of how God relates to His creation. Pantheists believe that everything is God or is a part of God, making Him equal with His creation and unable to act upon it. Deists hold that God is distinct from His creation but deny that He plays an active role in it. Contrary to these and other false views of God, the Bible says that God is both different from His creation and actively upholding it.

Transcendence (God exists outside of space and time) and immanence (God is present within space and time) are both attributes of God. He is both “nearby” and “far away,” according to Jeremiah 23:23. “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). That is God’s transcendence. “In him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). That is God’s immanence.

God’s omnipresence is closely related to His immanence, and Psalm 139:1–10 describes it in beautiful detail. In the New Testament, Paul declares that God “himself gives all men life and breath and everything else,” and “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:25, 28). God guides, governs, and provides for His creation, even though He is so far above it (Ephesians 1:11; 4:6).

The immanence of God is also supported in the story of the Bible as a whole. The very existence of God’s Word in written form testifies to God’s actions in His world. Israel’s survival throughout biblical history and Jesus’ incarnation also bear powerful witness that God is present and involved. He is literally “sustaining all things by His powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). He is Immanuel, “God with us”; He is immanent.

Question: What is the immutability of God?

Answer: The immutability, or unchangeableness, of God is clearly taught in Scripture. For example, in Malachi 3:6, God affirms, “I the LORD do not change.” (See also Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; and Isaiah 46:9–11.)

James 1:17 (NKJV) tells us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation or shadow of turning.” The “shadow of turning” refers to the inconstancy of the sun that rises and sets, varies in intensity, moves from one tropic to another, and at certain times is even eclipsed. But with God, who is light itself, there is no darkness at all; there is no change, not even a passing shadow. God is unchangeable in His nature, perfection, purposes, promises, and gifts. He is holy, and any variation from holiness would be to admit a degree of evil; this He cannot do. Nor can He, who is the fountain of light, be a source of darkness. Since every good and perfect gift flows from Him, mediocre and imperfect gifts cannot be from His hand. The Bible is clear that God does not change His mind, His will, or His nature.

There are several logical reasons why it is impossible for God to change. First, if anything changes, it must do so in some chronological order. There must be a point in time before the change and a point in time after the change. Therefore, for change to occur, it must happen within the constraints of time; however, God is eternal and exists outside of the constraints of time (Psalm 33:11; 41:13; 90:2–4; John 17:5; 2 Timothy 1:9).

Second, if anything changes, it must change for the better or for the worse, because a change that makes no difference is not a change. For change to take place, either something that is needed is added, which is a change for the better, or something that is needed is lost, which is a change for the worse. But since God is perfect, He does not need anything. Therefore, He cannot change for the better. By definition, perfection cannot be improved. If God were to lose something, He would not be perfect; therefore, He cannot change for the worse. Perfection has no need to change.

Third, when someone changes his mind, it is often because new information has come to light or the circumstances have changed, requiring a different attitude or action. Because God is omniscient, He cannot learn something new or that He did not already know.

Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” No, God does not change His mind. These verses affirm the doctrine of God’s immutability: He is unchanging and unchangeable.

Question: Is God sovereign, or do we have a free will?

Answer: Discussions about free will are usually concerned with salvation. Having the freedom to choose salad or steak for dinner does not engender much debate. It is the weighty subject of who controls our eternal destinies that keeps the theologians occupied.

Any discussion of man’s free will must begin with an understanding of his nature, because man’s will is bound by that nature. A prisoner has the freedom to pace up and down in his cell, but he is constrained by the walls of that cell; he can go no further, no matter how much he may will it. So it is with man’s will. Because of sin, our volition is imprisoned within a cell of corruption and wickedness that permeates to the very core of our being. Every part of us is in bondage to sin—our bodies, our minds, and our wills. Jeremiah 17:9 says that the natural state of man’s heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. In our unregenerate state, we are carnally minded, not spiritually minded. “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so” (Romans 8:7). In his natural state, man is incapable of choosing that which is good and holy. In other words, his “free will” is limited by his sinful nature. He can choose differing ways to sin, but he cannot choose holiness. Luther called this the “bondage of the will.”[12] Man’s volition is constrained by his nature, just as the prisoner is constrained by his cell.

How then can anyone be saved? The disciples asked Jesus just such a question, and the Lord replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). Ephesians 2:1–10 describes the process of salvation in more detail: we who were “dead in [our] transgressions and sins” have been made alive through Christ. A dead man cannot make himself alive because he lacks the necessary power to do so. Lazarus lay in his tomb four days, unable to do a thing to resurrect himself. Christ came along and commanded him to come to life (John 11), and Lazarus did.

So it is with us. We were spiritually dead, unable to rise. But “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He calls us out of our spiritual graves and gives us a completely new nature, one undefiled by sin as the old nature was (2 Corinthians 5:17). God saw the helpless state of our souls, and in His great love and mercy, He sent His Son to the cross to redeem us. We are saved by His grace through the gift of faith. His grace is a free gift, our faith is a free gift, and our salvation is a free gift. God chose the redeemed “before the creation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). God chose to save us in this way, “in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:5–6).

It is important to understand that the plan of salvation is designed to glorify God, not man. Our response is to praise Him. If we chose our own salvation, we would get the glory, and God has made it clear that He will not give His glory to anyone else (Isaiah 48:11).

The question naturally arises: “How do we know who has been saved ‘before the creation of the world’”? We don’t. That is why we take the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, telling all to repent and receive God’s gift of grace. Second Corinthians 5:20 tells us we are to be pleading with others to be reconciled to God before it is too late. We cannot know who God will choose to release from their prison cells of sin. We leave that choice to Him and present the gospel to all. The Father will draw the elect to Christ (John 6:44). The ones who come to Jesus, He “will never drive away” (John 6:37).

Question: What is the glory of God?

Answer: The glory of God is the beauty of His spirit. It is not an aesthetic beauty or a material beauty; it is the beauty that emanates from His character, from all that He is. James 1:10 (NASB) calls on the rich man to “glory in his humiliation,” indicating a glory other than riches or power or material beauty. This glory can crown man or fill the earth. It is seen within man and in the earth, but it is not of them; it is of God. The glory of man is the beauty of man’s spirit, which is fallible and eventually passes away and is, therefore, humiliating—as the verse tells us. But the glory of God, which is manifested in all His attributes together, never passes away. It is eternal.

Isaiah 43:7 says that God created us for His glory. In context, it can be said that man “glorifies” God in things such as love, music, and heroism—things belonging to God that we carry “in jars of clay” (2 Corinthians 4:7). We are the vessels that “contain” His glory. All the good things we are able to do and be find their source in Him. God interacts with nature in a similar way, revealing His glory. It may be the grandeur of the mountains or the beauty of the sea, but that which is behind them both (God’s glory) speaks to people and connects them to God. In this way, God is able to reveal Himself to all men, no matter their race, heritage, or location. As Psalm 19:1–4 (NASB) says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world.”

Psalm 73:24 calls heaven itself “glory.” Christians sometimes talk of death as being “received unto glory,” a phrase borrowed from this psalm. When the Christian dies, he or she is taken into God’s presence, where he or she will naturally be surrounded by God’s glory. Again, the beauty of God’s Spirit (or the essence of who He is) is His “glory.” In heaven, God’s glory will not need to come obliquely through man or nature, but it will be seen clearly, just as 1 Corinthians 13:12 says: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

In the human/earthly sense, glory is a beauty or vibrancy that rests upon the material of the earth (Psalm 37:20; Psalm 49:17).Therefore, earthly glory fades. Material things do not last. Think of the rich man mentioned earlier. The verse says, “The rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.” What does this mean? The verse is admonishing the rich man to realize that his wealth and power and beauty come from God, not from transient riches. The rich in this world should humbly acknowledge that it is God who makes them what they are and gives them all they have. And the knowledge that they will pass away like the grass will help them realize that God is the one from whom all glory comes. God’s glory is the source, the wellspring from which all smaller glories flow.

Since God is the “owner” of all glory, He will not let stand the assertion that glory comes from man or from the idols of man or from nature. In Isaiah 42:8, God says that He “will not give [His] glory to another or [His] praise to idols.” God’s jealous guarding of His glory is also seen in Romans 1:21–25, where Paul speaks of how people worship the creature rather than the Creator. Idolaters look at the object through which God’s glory is shown, and instead of giving God credit, they worship the animal or tree or man—as if the beauty they possess originated from within themselves. This is a very common occurrence. Everyone has committed this error at one time or another. We have all “exchanged” the glory of God in favor of the “glory of man.”

This is the mistake many people continue to make: trusting in earthly things, or relationships, their own powers or talents or beauty, or the goodness they see in others. But when these things fade and fail, as they inevitably will do (being only temporary carriers of the greater glory), these people despair. What we need to realize is that God’s glory is constant, and as we journey through life, we will see it manifest here and there, in this person or that forest, in a story of love or heroism, or in our own personal lives. But it all goes back to God in the end. And the only way to God is through His Son, Jesus Christ, who has promised to share God’s glory with us (John 17:22, 24). We will find true beauty and the very source of it in Him, in heaven, if we are in Christ.

Question: Can God sin? If God cannot sin, is He truly omnipotent?

Answer: To answer this question, we must first consider who God is. God is holy (Psalm 99:9), righteous (Psalm 97:2), and true (Psalm 119:160). Because He is absolutely holy, He is sinless; and because He is absolutely true, He can do nothing inconsistent with Himself. Sin would be at variance with His holiness and His truth. Therefore, God cannot sin. If God were to sin, He would possess inconsistency within Himself and cease to be God. The fact that God is “holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3) prevents Him from doing anything unholy.

God’s omnipotence has nothing to do with whether or not He can sin. Having all power does not change the fact of God’s perfect righteousness. Omnipotence means that God can do anything; but He will never choose to do anything that is at odds with His perfection. God will never act out of character.

We cannot leave this subject without highlighting the amazing fact that our holy God involved Himself in mankind’s sin. He sent His one and only Son to this earth to die to pay sin’s penalty. “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18a). “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood” (Romans 3:23–25a).

Question: What does it mean that God is a consuming fire?

Answer: God is first identified as a consuming or devouring fire in Deuteronomy 4:24 and 9:3. The writer to the Hebrews reiterates, warning the Hebrews to worship God with reverence and awe, that “God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). There is nothing mysterious about the Hebrew and Greek words translated “consuming fire.” They mean exactly that—a fire that utterly consumes or destroys. How, then, can a loving and merciful God also be a consuming fire that utterly destroys?

In both Deuteronomy passages in which God is called a consuming fire, Moses is warning the Israelites against idolatry. God is a jealous God and will not share His glory with worthless idols. Idolatry provokes Him to a righteous anger that is justified when His holiness is disrespected. In Deuteronomy 9:3, Moses refers to God as a consuming (or devouring) fire, who would go ahead of the Israelites into the Promised Land, destroying and subduing their enemies. Again, we see God’s wrath depicted as fire that utterly consumes and destroys those who oppose Him.

There are several incidents in which God’s wrath, judgment, holiness, and power are displayed by fire from heaven. Aaron’s sons Abihu and Nadab were destroyed by fire when they offered a profane sacrifice in the tabernacle (Leviticus 10). Their “unauthorized fire” was a sign of their disregard for the holiness of God, and God’s judgment showed the need to honor Him in solemn and holy fear.

The confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel is another instance of consuming fire from God (1 Kings 18). The prophets of Baal called upon their god all day long to rain fire from heaven, to no avail. Then Elijah built an altar of stones, dug a ditch around it, placed a bull on the altar, and called for water to be poured over his sacrifice three times. Elijah prayed a simple prayer, and God sent fire down from heaven, completely consuming the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the water in the ditch. Then His anger turned against the false prophets, and they were all killed.

When he prophesied the destruction of the Assyrians, who resisted the true and living God and warred against His people, Isaiah spoke of God’s “arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire” (Isaiah 30:30).

God’s holiness is the reason He is called a consuming fire. Unholiness cannot stand in His presence. The holiness of God is that part of His nature that most separates Him from sinful man. The godless, Isaiah writes, tremble before Him: “Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?” (Isaiah 33:14b). The answer is that only the righteous can withstand the consuming fire of God’s wrath. But Isaiah also assures us that no amount of our own righteousness is sufficient (Isaiah 64:6).

Fortunately, God provided the righteousness we need by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. In that one act, Christ appeased God’s wrath, exchanging His perfect righteousness for our sin. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The wrath of God was poured out on Jesus so that those who belong to Him would not have to suffer the same fate as Nadab, Abihu, the prophets of Baal, or the Assyrians. “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31), but praise the Lord, we need not fear God’s consuming fire if we are covered by the purifying blood of Christ.

Question: Is God a cosmic killjoy?

Answer: Sometimes we may imagine God as a taskmaster, a dictator opposed to fun or pleasure. We may envision Him as a grimacing judge with a gavel, readily pointing out faults and stifling any sense of joy we have. We might see God as a cosmic killjoy. What a sad—and unbiblical—picture of God! The God of the Bible is not a cold, disagreeable sourpuss. When we study Scripture and come to understand God’s character, we see that He is not in any sense a cosmic killjoy. In fact, He is the one who restores us and gives us true joy.

Jesus declares, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Life “to the full” does not sound like a gift from a killjoy. Throughout the Bible, we see depictions of what a life-to-the-full life might look like. One great example is the life of Jesus Himself. His first miracle was performed at a wedding feast (John 2). Children flocked to Him—and we know that children will shun a grump (Mark 10:13–16). In Luke 7:34, Jesus gave us a glimpse of His joy: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and ‘sinners.’” Jesus was not joyless; in fact, He exhibited too much joy as far as His critics were concerned. He participated in life and was not abstemious.

God Himself takes pleasure in things. Zephaniah 3:17, for example, says that God delights in us and sings over us. He also delights in showing mercy (Micah 7:18).

God created the human body with the capacity to experience pleasure. God’s design includes taste buds and enough flavorful foods to satisfy any palate. God designed the human eye and enough colors to dazzle the mind. God designed the sexual organs, with their myriad of nerve endings, so that a married couple can enjoy the pleasure of their love. In other words, pleasure was God’s idea; He is anything but a killjoy.

The Old Testament is filled with instructions for celebrations and festivals. While the feasts served as important reminders of God’s faithfulness and provided glimpses of who the Messiah would be. They were also times of outright celebration. A cosmic killjoy would not institute such feasts.

Sometimes, as Christians, we get the idea that being joyful only means reading the Bible, meditating on God, or serving. So we end up thinking God isn’t a killjoy per se, but maybe He expects us to have “fun” with things that sometimes are not all that fun. We certainly can and do experience joy in reading the Bible and serving others, but joy is not found in those activities exclusively. God created us to experience fellowship, recreation, and creativity. We were made to delight in being His children, using the skills He has given us, and welcoming the pleasures He offers. The Westminster Shorter Catechism has it right in its very first answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”[13]

However, we should be careful not to love pleasure for pleasure’s sake. We must realize that God is opposed to certain types of “pleasure.” The sad truth is that we live in a fallen world, where God’s best for us is often perverted. Many activities that our society deems pleasurable are not pleasing to God (see Galatians 5:19–21; Colossians 3:5–6; 1 Corinthians 6:12–17). God does not condone promiscuous sex or drunkenness, for example. As a result, some call God a killjoy. However, these “pleasures” of the world are not in fact healthy for us or conducive to long-term joy. They are the “pleasures of sin for a short time” (Hebrews 11:25). They are false friends that quickly abandon us and leave us empty and longing. So, rather than killing our fun, God is protecting us and providing what is truly best for us. In this way, He is much like an earthly parent who provides boundaries for his children. A parent may be called a killjoy for limiting the amount of candy his children consume, but that boundary will ultimately benefit the children.

It is also important to keep in mind that the purpose of our lives is not for us to go on a joyride. Our lives have deep meaning. We were created to delight in God (Psalm 37:4), and we appreciate the good things He provides. But our focus should be on the Giver, not the gift.

God is not a killjoy; He is the creator of joy. His Spirit produces it in our lives (Galatians 5:22). Because He is the source of joy, any pursuit of pleasure apart from God is idolatry. For our own well being, God opposes our grasping after the worldly, temporary joy that sin promises. Sometimes we must put aside instant gratification in order to invest in the greater joy of God’s kingdom. As Psalm 16 says, “You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11b).

Question: Is there anything God cannot do?

Answer: On a clear night, look up at the stars in the sky. Genesis 1 records that God made all of them! Imagine the power in just one star. But it is not just about raw power—there is intelligence and design packed into our universe, in every DNA strand, in the smallest subatomic particle. God’s power and wisdom are beyond our comprehension. That is why the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 18:14, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” It was what God meant when He asked Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short?” (Numbers 11:23). Jeremiah 32:17 states, “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”

The only thing that God cannot do is act contrary to His own character and nature. For example, Titus 1:2 states that God does not lie. Because He is holy (Isaiah 6:3; 1 Peter 1:16), He cannot sin. Because He is just, He cannot ignore sin. But because Christ paid the penalty for sin, God is now able to forgive those who will turn to Him (Isaiah 53:1–12; Romans 3:26).

Truly our God is an awesome God—unchanging, eternal, and unlimited in power, majesty, knowledge, wisdom, love, mercy, and holiness. But we are very much like the Israelites, who, even after seeing God display His power and love repeatedly, doubted both as they faced each new trial in their lives (e.g., Numbers 13–14). May God help us to honor Him with dependence and trust in Him through whatever we face, for “nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37), and He is an “ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Question: Does God have a sense of humor?

Answer: Perhaps the best indication that God does have a sense of humor is that people do. God created man in His image (Genesis 1:27), and certainly our ability to perceive and express humor is simply a reflection of God’s ability to do the same.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a “sense of humor” as “the ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is comical or funny.”[14] According to this definition, then, God must show an ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is comical. The difficulty is that different people have different perceptions about what is comical, and what sinful man often calls “funny” does not amuse a holy and perfect God. Much of what the world calls humor is not funny; it is crass and should have no part in a Christian’s life (Colossians 3:8). Other humor is expressed at the expense of others (tearing them down rather than building them up); this too is something contrary to God’s Word (Colossians 4:6; Ephesians 4:29). So, when we say that God has a sense of humor, we don’t mean that His humor is identical to mankind’s.

An example of God’s humor at work is in 1 Samuel 5. The Israelites were using the Ark of the Covenant like a good-luck charm and took it into battle. The Philistines captured the Ark and placed it in their temple, before their idol of Dagon. The Philistines came into the temple the next day and found Dagon flat on his face before the Ark. They set their god back up. The next morning, there he was again, but this time he had his hands and head broken off as a symbol of his powerlessness before the God of the Ark. God’s forcing Dagon into a position of submission before His Ark is a comical picture.

Other examples of divine humor include Jesus’ use of hyperbole in Matthew 7:3 and the excuses He related in Luke 14:18–20. Also, God’s mention of “many cattle” in Jonah 4:11 is seen by some commentators as highly ironic and, therefore, an example of sardonic humor.

Humor is out of place on some occasions; for example, a person does not crack jokes in the presence of one who has just lost a close loved one. In the same way, God is focused on the lost and is looking for those who will care for their souls as He does. The Bible’s purpose is not to reveal God’s humor but His grace and love. Our lives (while having times of refreshing and humor) should be characterized by “soberness” (seriousness about making our lives count for Christ), according to 1 Thessalonians 5:6, 8 and Titus 2:2, 6.

CHAPTER 5

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD’S NAMES

Contents

What are the different names of God, and what do they mean?

What is YHWH? What is the Tetragrammaton?

What does it mean that God is our Abba Father?

What does it mean that God is Almighty?

What does it mean that God is the Ancient of Days?

What does it mean that God is Jehovah-Jireh?

What do Lord, GOD, Lord, God, etc. stand for in the Bible? Why are they used in place of God’s name?

Question: What are the different names of God, and what do they mean?

Answer: Each of the many names of God describes a different aspect of His many-faceted character. Here are some of the better-known names of God in the Bible, along with some references for where the names occur:

EL/ELOAH means God, “mighty, strong, prominent” (Numbers 12:13; Isaiah 9:6)—etymologically, El appears to mean “power.” El is associated with qualities such as integrity (Numbers 23:19), jealousy (Deuteronomy 5:9), and compassion (Nehemiah 9:31), but the root idea of “might” remains.

ELOHIM means God, “Creator, mighty, and strong” (Genesis 17:7; Jeremiah 31:33)—the plural form of Eloah, which emphasizes God’s majesty and greatness. The plural form also accommodates the doctrine of the Trinity. From the Bible’s first sentence, the superlative nature of God’s power is evident as God (Elohim) speaks the world into existence (Genesis 1:1).

EL SHADDAI means “God Almighty,” (Genesis 17:1) and speaks to God’s ultimate power over all.

ADONAI means “Lord” (Genesis 15:2; Judges 6:15) and is used in place of YHWH, which was thought by the Jews to be too sacred to be uttered by sinful men. In the Old Testament, YHWH is more often used in God’s dealings with His people, while Adonai is used more when He deals with the Gentiles.

YHWH/YAHWEH/JEHOVAH means “LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4; Daniel 9:14). Strictly speaking, this is the only proper name for God. It is translated “LORD” (all capitals) to distinguish it from Adonai, “Lord.” The revelation of the name is first given to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). This name specifies immediacy, a present existence. Yahweh is eternally present, accessible, and near to those who call on Him for deliverance (Psalm 107:13), forgiveness (Psalm 25:11), and guidance (Psalm 31:3).

YAHWEH-JIREH means “The LORD Will Provide” (Genesis 22:14). This name was memorialized by Abraham when God provided the ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac.

YAHWEH-RAPHA means “The LORD Who Heals” (Exodus 15:26)—“I am the LORD, who heals you,” both in body and soul. God heals physically by curing diseases and spiritually by pardoning iniquity.

YAHWEH-NISSI means “The LORD Our Banner” (Exodus 17:15), where banner is understood to be a rallying place. This name commemorates the desert victory over the Amalekites in Exodus 17.

YAHWEH-M’KADDESH means “The LORD Who Sanctifies, Makes Holy” (Leviticus 20:8; Ezekiel 37:28). God makes it clear that He alone, not the law, can cleanse the hearts of His people and make them holy.

YAHWEH-SHALOM means “The LORD Our Peace” (Judges 6:24)—the name Gideon gave the altar he built after God assured him he would not die, even though he had “seen the angel of the LORD face to face” (Judges 6:22).

YAHWEH-ELOHIM means “LORD God” (Genesis 2:4; Psalm 59:5)—a combination of God’s unique name YHWH and the generic God, signifying that He is the Lord of Lords.

YAHWEH-TSIDKENU means “The LORD Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16). It is God alone who provides righteousness to man. This righteousness ultimately came in the person of Jesus Christ, who became sin for us “that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB).

YAHWEH-ROHI means “The LORD Our Shepherd” (Psalm 23:1). After David pondered his relationship as a shepherd to his sheep, he realized that was exactly the relationship God had with him, and so he declared, “Yahweh-Rohi. I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).

YAHWEH-SHAMMAH means “The LORD Is There” (Ezekiel 48:35)—the name ascribed to Jerusalem and the temple, indicating that the once-departed glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 8—11) had returned (Ezekiel 44:1–4).

YAHWEH-SABAOTH means “The LORD of Hosts” (Isaiah 1:24; Psalm 46:7). Hosts means “hordes” or “armies,” both of angels and of men. He is Lord of the host of heaven and of the inhabitants of the earth, of Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, master and slave. The name is expressive of the majesty, power, and authority of God and shows that He is able to accomplish what He determines to do.

EL ELYON means “Most High” (Daniel 7:25)—derived from the Hebrew root for “go up” or “ascend.” The name carries the connotation of being exalted to the very highest place. El Elyon possesses the absolute right to lordship.

EL ROI means “God of Seeing” (Genesis 16:13)—the name ascribed to God by the slave Hagar, who was alone and desperate in the wilderness after running away from her mistress, Sarai (Genesis 16:1–14).When Hagar met the angel of the Lord, she realized she had seen God Himself in a theophany. She also realized that El Roi saw her in her distress, and she testified that He is a God who lives and sees all—even the outcasts.

ELOLAM means “Everlasting God” (Genesis 21:33). God’s nature is without beginning or end, free from all constraints of time, and He contains within Himself the very cause of time itself. “From everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2).

ELGIBHOR means “Mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6)—a name describing the Messiah in this prophetic portion of Isaiah. As a powerful and mighty warrior, the Messiah, the Mighty God, will accomplish the destruction of God’s enemies and rule with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15).

Question: What is YHWH? What is the Tetragrammaton?

Answer: The ancient Hebrew language did not use vowels in its written form. In the original Hebrew, God’s name is given as YHWH. This is known as the Tetragrammaton (literally, “the four-letter word”). Because of the lack of vowels in the Tetragrammaton, Bible scholars debate about how YHWH was pronounced.

Contrary to what some Christians (and at least one cult that uses this name) believe, Jehovah is probably not the Divine Name revealed to Israel. Due to fear of accidentally taking God’s Name in vain (Leviticus 24:16), the Jews basically quit saying it out loud. Instead, when reading the Hebrew Scriptures, they substituted the Tetragrammaton with the word Adonai (“Lord”). Even in the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament), the translators substituted Kurios (“Lord”) for the Divine Name. Eventually, the vowels from Adonai or Elohim (“God”) found their way into the consonants YHWH, thus forming YaHWeH. But this does not give us any indication of how God’s Name was originally pronounced.

Any number of vowel combinations is possible, and the Jews are as uncertain of the real pronunciation of YHWH as Christians are. Jehovah is actually a much later (probably sixteenth century) variant in Latin. The Y was substituted with a J—Hebrew does not even have a J sound. Also, the W became a V, resulting in JeHoVaH. The vowel combination here is composed of the abbreviated forms of the imperfect, the participle, and the perfect tenses of the Hebrew being verb (equivalent to the English is)—thus, Jehovah could be said to mean “He who will be, is, and has been.”

So, what is God’s name, and what does it mean? The most likely choice for how the Tetragrammaton was pronounced is “yä-wā” ([jɑːˌweɪ]) or something very similar. The name Yahweh refers to God’s self-existence. It is linked to how God described Himself in Exodus 3:14, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I AM has sent me to you.”’”

God’s name is a reflection of His being. God is the only self-existent/self-sufficient Being in the universe. Only God has life in and of Himself. That is the essential meaning of the Tetragrammaton/YHWH/Yahweh.

Question: What does it mean that God is our Abba Father?

Answer: There are many different names of God in Scripture. While all the names of God are important, “Abba Father” is one of the most significant in understanding how He relates to His people. The word Abba is Aramaic and could be accurately translated “Daddy.” “Abba” was the common way young children would address their fathers. It signifies a close, intimate relationship and the childlike trust that a young one has in his or her “daddy.”

While many people claim that all are “children of God,” the Bible reveals quite a different truth. We are all His creations and under His authority, but we are not all His children (John 8:44). Having the right to call Him “Abba Father” is something that only born-again Christians possess (John 1:12–13; Romans 8:15).

A person becomes a child of God only when God adopts that person through his or her faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26). If we are born again (John 3:1–8), we have been adopted into God’s family, have been redeemed from the curse of sin, and are “co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:7).

Part of this relationship is God’s chastisement when we sin; as a wise Father, God disciplines His children (Hebrews 12:3–11). If a person is living a life of sin and there is no chastisement of God upon him, then we know he is “illegitimate” and not a son (Hebrews 12:8). In other words, he is an unbeliever.

Understanding what it means to call God our “Daddy” is life-changing. It means we can approach a holy God as our heavenly Father with confidence (Hebrews 4:16) and “full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22). It means we have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, who “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16–17). It means we have a secure future and the motivation to “live a life worthy of the calling [we] have received” (Ephesians 4:1). It means we have an affectionate heavenly Father, who views His dear children with tenderness and love.

How amazing that God not only allows but also encourages us to call Him “Abba Father”! It is proof of God’s wonderful grace that He who created and sustains all things, the only all-powerful, all-knowing God, would allow sinful humans to call Him “Daddy.” It is a privilege with eternal benefits, made possible by the sacrifice of Christ.

Question: What does it mean that God is Almighty?

Answer: In Hebrew, the title “God Almighty” is El Shaddai and probably means “God, the All-Powerful One” or “The Mighty One of Jacob” (Genesis 49:24; Psalm 132:2, 5). The title speaks to God’s ultimate power over all. All might and all power are His. We are first introduced to this name in Genesis 17:1, when God appeared to Abram and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.”

As the Almighty One, God is able to do more than we can ask or even imagine (Ephesians 3:20). “He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted” (Job 9:10). God’s power is unlimited. He can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants (Psalm 115:3). He spoke the universe into existence (Genesis 1). Furthermore, He answers to no one about His plans and purposes: “All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35). God Almighty is indeed a great, mighty, and awesome God (Deuteronomy 10:17). He is God above all things, without limitation.

The title El Shaddai is an important part of God’s progressive revelation. In Exodus 6:2–3, God says to Moses, “I am the LORD [YHWH]. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.” This is significant because God, whom we previously knew only as “God Almighty,” has now given a new, more personal name to Moses (and Israel). God’s desire for a more personal relationship with mankind would later cause God Almighty to send His only Son to earth—God in the flesh—to die on the cross to provide the way for the forgiveness of our sins (John 3:16). The fact that God Almighty would humble Himself in this way makes His name all the more remarkable.

Question: What does it mean that God is the Ancient of Days?

Answer: The title “Ancient of Days” first appears in Daniel 7:9, where Daniel describes a vision of heaven. An ancient, venerable Personage sits on a flaming throne, with wheels of fire. His hair and clothing are as white as snow. The flaming throne of the Ancient of Days is symbolic of judgment; the white hair and the title “Ancient” indicate great age. The wheels enable the throne to be turned in any direction; this signifies that God has a clear view of everything and that His justice will prevail everywhere.

Other passages also refer to God’s “ancient” existence. God is “from everlasting to everlasting” in Psalm 90:2. In Isaiah 44:6, He is the first and the last. In Isaiah 43:13, God refers to Himself as existing “from ancient days” (literally, “before days were”). Genesis 1 shows how God created time, marked by days and nights. Having created time, God obviously existed before time began. If God existed before days were even created, He is more than “age-old”; He is ageless.

The title “Ancient of Days” is found only three times in Scripture, all in Daniel 7 (verses 9, 13, and 22). It is a name for God that emphasizes His agelessness, His venerability, and His judgment. This section of Daniel also deals with the kingdoms of this world, pictured as four beasts on the earth. The final beast has a horn (identified as a king) that wages war against the saints, “until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High” (verses 21–22). Man’s kingdoms come and go, but the Ancient of Days rules an everlasting kingdom. The kings of this world may use and abuse their power, but they must all give account to the Ancient of Days, who sits on the throne.

Question: What does it mean that God is Jehovah-Jireh?

Answer: “Jehovah-Jireh” is one of the many different names of God found in the Old Testament. Jehovah-Jireh (or YHWH-Yireh) means “The LORD Will Provide” (Genesis 22:14). It is the name Abraham memorialized when God provided the ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac.

The story in Genesis 22 begins with a strange command from God to Abraham, instructing him to offer his “son of promise,” Isaac, as a burnt offering. Early the next morning, Abraham packed wood and a knife, and he and Isaac traveled to Moriah, the place God had specified. As they neared the site, Isaac questioned Abraham concerning the intended offering: “Where is the lamb?” With great faith and foresight, Abraham responded, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (verse 8). (The New Testament tells us that Abraham believed God would raise Isaac from the dead [Hebrews 11:19]).

Upon reaching the place God had chosen, Abraham demonstrated his faith and obedience by building an altar, binding Isaac, and placing him on the wood. But before Abraham could finish the offering, the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and Isaac’s life was spared. Then, “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son” (Genesis 22:13). Abraham named the place “Jehovah-Jireh” because of God’s gracious provision of a substitute for Isaac. Immediately afterward, God reconfirmed His covenant with Abraham (verses 17–18). Centuries later, King Solomon would build the temple in the same location (2 Chronicles 3:1).

The account of Abraham on Mt. Moriah thus becomes more than a dramatic illustration of faith and obedience. It is a presentation of the Lord’s eternal grace, continual provision, and all-encompassing wisdom. Jehovah-Jireh is not “The LORD Did Provide,” but “The LORD Will Provide.” In other words, the name does not simply memorialize a past event; it anticipates a future action.

Likewise, the statement “on the mountain of the LORD it will be provided” (verse 14) refers to more than Mt. Moriah—it also refers to a hill called Calvary, where God “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). Abraham’s faith-filled statement that “God himself will provide the lamb” is a companion to John the Baptist’s exclamation, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Jehovah-Jireh provided a sacrifice to save Isaac, and that action was a foreshadowing of the provision of His Son for the salvation of the world.

Question: What do Lord, God, Lord, God, etc., stand for in the Bible? Why are they used in place of God’s name?

Answer: It can be confusing to sort out how God’s different titles are used in the Bible. Part of the problem is that different Bible translations use the terms somewhat differently. The primary reason for the use of “LORD” in place of God’s Hebrew name is to follow the Jewish tradition of not pronouncing or spelling out God’s name. So, where God’s Hebrew name YHWH is found in the Old Testament, most English translations use “LORD” (in upper case). Also, since ancient Hebrew did not use vowels in its written form, it is not entirely clear how God’s name should be spelled or pronounced. It could be Yahweh or Jehovah or Yehowah or something else.

When “Lord” (in lower case) occurs in Old Testament English translations, it is usually a rendering of Adonai, a name/title of God that emphasizes His lordship. Lord/YHWH and Lord/Adonai are by far the two most consistent renderings throughout all the different English Bible translations.

In the Old Testament, when “God” is used, it is usually a rendering of the general Hebrew word Elohim. When “LORD GOD” or “Lord GOD” occurs, it is usually a rendering of a dual name for God: Adonai YHWH. The Hebrew term YHWH Sabaoth is usually rendered “Lord of Hosts.” The Hebrew term YHWH Shaddai is usually rendered “LORD Almighty.” The Old Testament uses many different names and titles to refer to God to emphasize certain aspects of His person and attributes.

The usage of “Lord” and “God” in the New Testament is less complicated. Almost universally, “God” is a translation of theos, the general Greek word for deity. Also, “Lord” is a translation of kurios, the general Greek word for a master. The key point is that whether we use His actual Hebrew name or refer to Him as “God” or “Lord” or “Lord God,” we should always show reverence to Him and His name.

CHAPTER 6

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD’S ACTIONS

Contents

Does God change His mind?

Did God create evil?

Does God still perform miracles?

Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e., earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?

Does God still speak to us today?

Does God hewar/answer the prayers of a sinner/unbeliever?

Does God punish us when we sin?

Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?

Is God cruel?

What is the biblical understanding of the wrath of God?

If God knew that Satan would rebel and Adam and Eve would sin, why did he create them?

Why does God allow birth defects?

Why did God command the extermination of the Canaanites, women and children included?

Does God love Satan?

Where was God on September 11?

Does God make mistakes?

Why did God condone such terrible violence in the Old Testament?

Why did God allow the Holocaust?

Why does God allow the innocent to suffer?

Why is God so different in the Old Testament than He is in the New Testament?

Could God create a rock so heavy He could not lift it?

Why does God allow evil men like Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein to come into power?

Question: Does God change His mind?

Answer: Malachi 3:6 declares, “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” Similarly, James 1:17 tells us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” The meaning of Numbers 23:19 could not be clearer: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” No, God does not change His mind. These verses assert that God is unchanging and unchangeable.

How then do we explain verses such as Genesis 6:6: “The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain”? Also, Jonah 3:10, which says, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.” Similarly, Exodus 32:14 proclaims, “Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” These verses speak of the Lord “relenting” of something and seem to contradict the doctrine of God’s immutability. However, close examination of these passages reveals that these are not truly indications that God is capable of changing. In the original language, the word that is translated as “repent” or “relent” is the Hebrew expression for “to be sorry for.” Being sorry for something does not mean that a change has occurred; it simply means there is regret for something that has taken place.

Consider Genesis 6:6: “… the LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth.” This verse even goes on to say, “his heart was filled with pain.” This verse declares that God had regret for creating man. However, obviously, He did not reverse His decision. Instead, through Noah, He allowed man to continue to exist. The fact that we are alive today is proof that God did not change His mind about creating man. In addition, the context of this passage is a description of the sinful state in which man was living. It was man’s sinfulness that triggered God’s sorrow, not man’s existence.

Consider Jonah 3:10: “… He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.” Again, the same Hebrew word is used, which translates “to be sorry for.” Why was God sorry for what He had planned for the Ninevites? Because they had a change in heart and, as a result, changed their ways from disobedience to obedience. God is entirely consistent. God was going to judge Nineveh because of its evil. However, Nineveh repented and changed its ways. As a result, God had mercy on Nineveh, which is entirely consistent with His character.

Romans 3:23 teaches us that all men sin and fall short of God’s standard. Romans 6:23 states that the consequence for this sin is death (spiritual and physical). So the people of Nineveh were deserving of punishment. All of us face this same situation; it is man’s sin that separates us from God. Man cannot hold God responsible for his own predicament. So it would be contrary to the character of God to not punish the Ninevites had they continued in sin. However, the people of Nineveh turned to obedience, and for that, the Lord chose not to punish them as He had originally intended. Did the change on the part of the Ninevites obligate God to do what He did? Absolutely not! God cannot be placed in a position of obligation to man. God is good and righteous and chose not to punish the Ninevites as a result of their change of heart. If anything, what this passage does is point to the fact that God does not change, because had the Lord not preserved the Ninevites, it would have been contrary to His character.

The Scriptures that some interpret as God changing His mind are human attempts to explain the actions of God. God was going to do something, but instead, He did something else. To us, that sounds like a change. But to God, who is omniscient and sovereign, it is not a change. God always knew what He was going to do. God does what He needs to do to cause humanity to fulfill His perfect plan. God declares, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please … what I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do” (Isaiah 46:10–11). God threatened Nineveh with destruction, knowing it would cause Nineveh to repent. God also threatened Israel with destruction, knowing Moses would intercede. God does not regret His decisions, but He is saddened by what man sometimes does in response to His decisions. God does not change His mind but acts consistently with His Word in response to our actions.

Question: Did God create evil?

Answer: At first, it might seem that, if God created all things, evil must have been created by God. However, evil is not a “thing” like a rock or electricity. You cannot have a jar of evil. Evil has no existence of its own; it is the absence of good. For example, holes are real, but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole, but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all He created was good. Some of the good things God made were creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order for this to be a real choice, God had to allow something besides good to be chosen. So, God allowed free angels and humans to choose good or reject good (therefore, choosing evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things, we call that evil; but it does not become a “thing” that required God to create it.

Perhaps a further illustration will help. If a person is asked, “Does cold exist?” the answer would likely be “yes.” However, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist. Cold is the absence of heat. Darkness does not exist; it is the absence of light. In the same way, evil is the absence of good, or better, evil is the absence of God. God did not have to create evil, only allow for the absence of good.

God did not create evil, but He does allow evil. If God had not allowed the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice. He did not want “robots” that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their “programming.” God allowed the possibility of evil so we could genuinely have a free will and choose whether or not we want to serve Him.

As finite human beings, we can never fully understand an infinite God (Romans 11:33–34). Sometimes we think we understand why God is doing something, only to find out later that we didn’t understand after all. God looks at things from a holy, heavenly, eternal perspective. We look at things from a sinful, earthly, and temporal perspective. Why did God put us on earth, knowing that Adam and Eve would sin and therefore bring evil, death, and suffering on all mankind? Why didn’t He just create us all and put us in heaven, where we would be perfect and without suffering? These questions cannot be adequately answered this side of eternity. What we can know is that whatever God does is holy and perfect and ultimately will glorify Him. God allowed the possibility of evil in order to give us a true choice in regard to whether or not we worship Him. God did not create evil, but He allows it. If He did not allowed evil, we would be worshipping Him out of obligation, not by a choice of our own will.

Question: Does God still perform miracles?

Answer: Many people desire God to perform miracles to “prove” Himself to them. “If only God would perform a miracle, sign, or wonder, then I would believe!” Scripture, though, contradicts this idea. When God performed amazing and powerful miracles for the Israelites, did that cause them to obey Him? No, the Israelites constantly disobeyed and rebelled against God, even though they saw many miracles. The same people who saw God part the Red Sea later doubted God’s ability to conquer the inhabitants of the Promised Land. This truth is further explained in Luke 16:19–31. In the story, a man in hell asks Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn his brothers. Abraham informed the man, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31).

Jesus performed countless miracles; yet the vast majority of people did not believe in Him. If God performed miracles today, in the exact same way He did in the Bible, the result would be the same. People would be amazed and would believe in God for a short time. That faith would be shallow and disappear the moment something unexpected or frightening occurred. A faith based on miracles is not a mature faith.

God performed the greatest miracle of all time in coming to earth as the man Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins (Romans 5:8) so that we could be saved (John 3:16). And God does still perform miracles—many of them simply go unnoticed or are denied. We do not need more miracles. What we need is to believe in the miracle of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

The purpose of miracles was to authenticate the performer of the miracles. Acts 2:22 declares, “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.” The same is said of the apostles, “The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance” (2 Corinthians 12:12). Speaking of the gospel, Hebrews 2:4 proclaims, “God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.”

Jesus and His apostles, as recorded in Scripture, are the cornerstone and foundation of our faith (Ephesians 2:20). Therefore, miracles are no longer necessary, as the message of Jesus and His apostles has already been attested to and accurately recorded in the Scriptures. Yes, God still performs miracles today. At the same time, we should not necessarily expect miracles to occur just as they did in Bible times.

Question: Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e., earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?

Answer: Why does God allow earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, cyclones, mudslides, and other natural disasters? The 2004 tsunami tragedy in Asia, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in the southeastern United States, and the 2008 cyclone in Myanmar had many people questioning God’s goodness. It is distressing that natural disasters are often termed “acts of God,” while no “credit” is given to God for years, decades, or even centuries of peaceful weather. God created the whole universe and the laws of nature (Genesis 1:1). Most natural disasters are a result of these laws at work. Hurricanes, typhoons, and tornados are the results of divergent weather patterns colliding. Earthquakes are the result of the earth’s plate structure shifting. A tsunami is caused by an underwater earthquake.

The Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ holds all of nature together (Colossians 1:16–17). Could God prevent natural disasters? Absolutely! Does God sometimes influence the weather? Yes, as we see in Deuteronomy 11:17 and James 5:17. Numbers 16:30–34 shows us that God sometimes causes natural disasters as a judgment against sin. The book of Revelation describes many events that could definitely be described as natural disasters (Revelation chapters 6, 8, and 16). But is every natural disaster a punishment from God? Absolutely not.

In much the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts, God allows the earth to reflect the consequences sin has had on creation. Romans 8:19–21 tells us, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” The fall of humanity into sin had effects on everything, including the world we inhabit. Everything in creation is subject to “frustration” and “decay.” Sin is the ultimate cause of natural disasters, just as it is the cause of death, disease, and suffering.

We can understand why natural disasters occur. What we do not understand is why God allows them to occur. Why did God allow the tsunami to kill over 225,000 people in Asia? Why did God allow Hurricane Katrina to destroy the homes of thousands of people? For one thing, such events shake our confidence in this life and force us to think about eternity. Churches are usually filled after disasters, as people realize how tenuous their lives really are and how life can be taken away in an instant.

What we do know is this: God is good! Many amazing miracles occur during the course of natural disasters that prevent even greater loss of life. Natural disasters cause millions of people to reevaluate their priorities. Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid is sent to help the people who are suffering. Christian ministries have the opportunity to help, minister, counsel, pray, and lead people to saving faith in Christ! God can, and does, bring great good out of terrible tragedies (Romans 8:28).

Question: Does God still speak to us today?

Answer: The Bible records God speaking to people many times (a small sampling: Exodus 3:14; Joshua 1:1; Judges 6:18; 1 Samuel 3:11; 2 Samuel 2:1; Job 40:1; Isaiah 7:3; Jeremiah 1:7; Acts 8:26; 9:15). There is no biblical reason why God could not or would not speak to a person audibly today. With the hundreds of times the Bible records God speaking, we have to remember that they occurred over the course of 4,000 years of human history. God speaking audibly is the exception, not the rule. Even in the biblically recorded instances of God speaking, it is not always clear whether it was an audible voice, an inner voice, or a mental impression.

God does speak to people today. First, God speaks to us through His Word (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Isaiah 55:11 tells us, “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” The Bible records God’s words, everything we need to know in order to be saved and live the Christian life. Second Peter 1:3 declares, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

Second, God speaks through impressions, events, and thoughts. God helps us to discern right from wrong through our consciences (1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Peter 3:16). God is in the process of conforming our minds to think His thoughts (Romans 12:2). God allows events to occur in our lives to direct us, change us, and help us grow spiritually (James 1:2–5; Hebrews 12:5–11). First Peter 1:6–7 reminds us, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Finally, God may sometimes speak audibly to people. It is highly doubtful, though, that this occurs as often as some people claim it does. Again, even in the Bible, God speaking audibly is the exception, not the ordinary. If someone claims that God has spoken to him or her, always compare what was said with what the Bible says. If God was going to speak today, His words would be in full agreement with what He said in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16–17). God does not contradict Himself.

Question: Does God hear/answer the prayers of a sinner/unbeliever?

Answer: John 9:31 says, “We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.” It has also been said, “The only prayer that God hears from a sinner is the prayer for salvation.” As a result, some believe that God does not hear and/or will never answer the prayers of an unbeliever. In context, though, John 9:31 is not quoting Jesus but the man born blind; it is a man’s opinion of what God does or does not do. First John 5:14–15 tells us that God answers prayers based on whether or not they are asked according to His will. This principle, perhaps, applies to unbelievers. If an unbeliever asks something of God that is according to His will, nothing prevents God from affirmatively answering such a prayer—according to His will.

Some Scriptures describe God hearing and answering the prayers of unbelievers. In most of these cases, prayer was involved. In one or two, God responded to the cry of the heart (it is not stated whether or not that cry was directed toward God). In some of these cases, the prayer seems to be combined with repentance. In other cases, the prayer was simply for an earthly need or blessing, and God responded either out of compassion or in response to the genuine seeking or the faith of the person. Here are some passages dealing with prayer by an unbeliever:

•   The people of Nineveh prayed that Nineveh might be spared (Jonah 3:5–10). God answered this prayer and did not destroy the city of Nineveh as He had threatened.

•   Hagar asked God to protect her son Ishmael (Genesis 21:14–19). God not only protected Ishmael, but also God blessed him exceedingly.

•   In 1 Kings 21:17–29, especially verses 27–29, Ahab fasts and mourns over Elijah’s prophecy concerning his posterity. God responds by not bringing about the calamity in Ahab’s time.

•   The Gentile woman from the Tyre/Sidon area prayed that Jesus would deliver her daughter from a demon (Mark 7:24–30). Jesus cast the demon out of the woman’s daughter.

•   Cornelius, the Roman centurion, “prayed to God regularly,” and God sent the apostle Peter to him with the gospel (Acts 10:2).

God does make promises that are applicable to all (saved and unsaved alike), such as Jeremiah 29:13: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” This was the case for Cornelius in Acts 10:1–6. But there are many promises that, according to the context of the passages, are for Christians alone. Because Christians have received Jesus as Savior, they are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace to find help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14–16). We are told that when we ask for anything according to God’s will, He hears and gives us what we ask for (1 John 5:14–15). There are many other promises for Christians concerning prayer (Matthew 21:22; John 14:13; 15:7).

So, yes, there are instances in which God does not answer the prayers of an unbeliever. At the same time, in His grace and mercy, God can intervene in the lives of unbelievers in response to their prayers.

Question: Does God punish us when we sin?

Answer: In order to answer this question, we first need to distinguish between punishment and discipline. For believers in Jesus, all our sins—past, present, and future—have already been punished on the cross. As Christians, we will never be punished for sin. That was done once and for all. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, God sees only the righteousness of Christ when He looks at us. Our sin was nailed to the cross with Jesus, and we will never be punished for it.

The sin that remains in our lives, however, does sometimes require God’s discipline. If we continue to act in sinful ways and do not repent and turn from that sin, God brings His divine discipline to bear upon us. If He did not, He would not be a loving and concerned Father. Just as we discipline our own children for their welfare, so does our heavenly Father lovingly correct His children for their benefit. Hebrews 12:7–11 tells us, “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Discipline, then, is how God lovingly turns His children from rebellion to obedience. Our eyes are opened more clearly to God’s perspective on our lives through discipline. As King David stated in Psalm 32, discipline causes us to confess and repent of sin we have not yet dealt with. In this way, discipline is cleansing. It is also a growth catalyst. The more we know about God, the more we know about His desires for our lives. Discipline presents us with the opportunity to learn and to conform ourselves to the image of Christ (Romans 12:1–2). Discipline is a good thing!

We need to remember that sin is a constant in our lives while we are yet on this earth (Romans 3:10, 23). Therefore, we not only have to deal with God’s discipline for our disobedience, but also we have to deal with the natural consequences resulting from sin. If a believer steals something but confesses and repents, God will forgive him and cleanse him from the sin of theft, restoring fellowship between Himself and the repentant thief. However, the societal consequences of theft can be severe, resulting in fines or even incarceration. These are natural consequences of sin that must be endured. But God works even through those consequences to increase our faith and glorify Himself.

Question: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

Answer: This is one of the most difficult questions in all of theology. God is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Why should human beings (not eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent) expect to be able to fully understand God’s ways? The book of Job deals with this issue. In it God allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him. What was Job’s reaction? “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21b). Job did not understand why God had allowed the things He did, but he knew God was good and, therefore, continued to trust in Him. Ultimately, that should be our reaction as well.

Why do bad things happen to good people? The biblical answer is there are no “good” people. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that all of us are tainted by and infected with sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). Romans 3:10–18 could not be clearer about the non-existence of “good” people: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’” Every human being on this planet deserves to be thrown into hell at this very moment. Every second we spend alive is only by the grace and mercy of God. Even the most terrible misery we could experience on this planet is merciful compared to what we deserve: eternal hell in the lake of fire.

A better question would be, “Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?” Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Despite the evil, wicked, sinful nature of the people of this world, God still loves us. He loved us enough to die to take the penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23). If we receive Jesus Christ as Savior (John 3:16; Romans 10:9), we will be forgiven and are promised an eternal home in heaven (Romans 8:1). What we deserve is hell. What we are given is eternal life in heaven if we come to Christ in faith.

Yes, bad things sometimes happen to people who seem undeserving of them. But God allows things to happen for His reasons, whether or not we understand them. Above all, we must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Often things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God’s goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5–6).

Question: Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?

Answer: This question is similar to its converse: “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” Both questions refer to a perplexing injustice. The 73rd Psalm deals with the very same questions, which also tormented the psalmist. Finding himself in terrible distress and agony of soul, he wrote, “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:2–3).

The writer of this psalm was a man named Asaph, a leader of one of the temple choirs. Obviously, he was not a wealthy man, but one who had dedicated his life to serving God (see 1 Chronicles 25). Like us, he experienced some difficulties in life. As he faced trials, he watched the evil people around him living by their own rules, enjoying the pleasures of the world, and piling riches upon riches. Asaph questioned the justice of it all. He complained, “They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills” (Psalm 73:4–5).

In essence, Asaph was asking, “Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?” The wicked didn’t seem to have any problems. They could pay their bills. They had plenty to eat and then some. But poor Asaph was stuck with directing the choir and trying to live in a godly manner. The problem was that godliness didn’t seem to be getting him anywhere: “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence” (verse 13). His reward for trying to do what is right seemed more like a penalty: “All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning” (verse 14). Where was the fairness in that? Asaph began not only to envy the wicked but also to question God!

How often do we find ourselves relating to Asaph? We dedicate our lives to serving God. Then we see ungodly people around us get new cars, luxurious homes, beautiful clothes, and fabulous vacations. Meanwhile, we struggle to pay the electric bill. The consolation lies in the remainder of the psalm.

Asaph’s envy dissipated when he realized one very important thing: the destiny of the wicked. “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies” (verses 16–20). Those who have temporary riches on earth are in reality spiritual beggars because they do not have true riches—a knowledge of God and eternal life.

When Asaph entered the sanctuary of God, he saw that there was no need for him to be envious of the wicked because their prosperity is a transitory illusion. Upon entering the sanctuary, Asaph realized that worldly prosperity is a fleeting fulfillment, a fashion show of the passing away. Asaph rebukes himself for his own stupidity. He admits to being “senseless and ignorant” in being jealous of the perishing (verse 22). He took his eyes off of man and placed them on God, and his thoughts followed suit. Asaph returned to his own happiness in God when he realized how much more joy, fulfillment, and true prosperity he had in the Creator.

We may not have everything we want here on earth, but this world is not all there is. Whenever we are tempted to try the other road, we should remember that the other road is a dead end (Matthew 7:13). In all truth, the narrow road is our joy and our comfort. “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge” (Psalm 73:25, 27–28).

We need not concern ourselves when good things happen to bad people. We only need to keep our focus on our Creator and enter into His presence every day through the portal of His holy Word. There we will find truth, contentment, spiritual riches, and eternal joy.

Question: Is God cruel?

Answer: There are some who argue that the God who is presented in the Bible is cruel. For example, the online Skeptic’s Annotated Bible has an entire section devoted to biblical passages that, it claims, demonstrate that God is cruel. The word cruelty is defined as “callous indifference to or pleasure in causing pain and suffering.”[15] To say that God is cruel is to allow that God either doesn’t care about pain and suffering or that He actually enjoys watching His creatures suffer.

Those who claim that God is cruel have a large burden of proof. They are not merely claiming to know the actions of God; they are also claiming to sufficiently know the circumstances in which He performed those actions and His motivations. They are claiming to know the very mind of God, ascribing to Him the attitudes of indifference and/or sadistic pleasure. However, this is beyond anyone’s ability to demonstrate—no one can possibly know the mind of God. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8–9).

There is no doubt that God both allows and, at times, causes pain and suffering, but God’s goodness cannot be impugned solely on the basis of such actions. A physician administering a vaccination causes a certain amount of pain, but inoculating a child is not “cruel” in any sense.

While we can’t claim to know God’s reasoning in every circumstance, we do know the reasons for many of His actions revealed in Scripture. He moves:

1.   To mete out just punishment. If a punishment is just, can it be said to be cruel? What critics usually do not understand is that God’s love is not diminished when He punishes people. God sometimes judges wrongdoers in order to spare the righteous. And in reality, to allow evil to go unpunished would be cruel, indicating callousness toward the innocent. When God brought the Red Sea upon Pharaoh’s army, He was not only punishing Pharaoh’s rebellion against Him but also was saving His people from certain slaughter (Exodus 14).

Wrongdoing that is never punished inevitably leads to greater wrongdoing, which benefits no one and is detrimental to the common good. Even in those cases when God told the Israelites to completely destroy their enemies, including women and children, He knew that to let them live would ensure the existence of future generations devoted to evil—including child sacrifice on the altars of false gods.

2.   To bring about a greater good. Pain and suffering are sometimes necessary to produce a greater good. The pain an athlete endures results in greater strength and competitiveness. The Bible says that trials produce stronger Christians, and we should “consider it pure joy” (James 1:2) when we encounter difficulties. God brings these about for our benefit, in order to refine us like gold in the fire of affliction. The apostle Paul saw his own suffering—beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, hunger, thirst, cold, imprisonments—as a means of ensuring that he would be ever conscious of his own weakness and of God’s power (2 Corinthians 1:8–10; 4:7–12).

God demonstrates His mercy to unbelievers by warning them of the consequences of sin. When, through their own rebellion, they bring upon themselves calamity, it is a just punishment, not cruelty. The fact that God allows rebels to shake their fists at Him as long as He does indicates His mercy and patience, not cruelty.

3.   To glorify Himself. God is glorified by the exhibition of His attributes. Everyone agrees that displays of God’s love and mercy are beautiful. But every divine attribute is holy and perfect, even His wrath and anger, and all of them bring Him glory. That is the ultimate goal—His glory, not ours. Our finite brains cannot even adequately imagine Him, much less call Him into question.

All these are valid, noble causes for pain and suffering. Contrary to the claims of skeptics, there are good reasons for God’s allowing evil and suffering in this world. We are privileged to know some of those reasons, but we do not always know why God allows pain. When we do not understand, we trust. But this is no blind leap of faith. Rather, we trust Him in what we don’t understand because we see His faithfulness in what we do understand.

If we read the Bible carefully, rather than seeking to judge God and accuse Him of cruelty, we see Him acting out of love. For example, the book of Job is often used as an example of God’s sadistic actions against an innocent man. The book declares that Job was innocent of the suffering that came upon him—a fact that appears to favor the skeptic’s position. But to claim that Job proves God’s sadism betrays a superficial understanding of the book.

In the Near East, during the time of the patriarchs, a common belief was that God always blessed the righteous and brought suffering on the unrighteous. The book of Job is a polemic against that theology. The story shows that man’s view of God’s justice needed to be modified. We need to understand that God is not limited in any way; He is not compelled to use suffering as a means of retribution. Additionally, Job’s story brings us closer to understanding God’s work of atonement on the cross. The idea that God can’t allow an innocent man to suffer would blind us to God’s plan for redeeming the world. God allowed the suffering of a perfectly innocent Man (Jesus Christ) in order to bring us to salvation. The book of Job is an invaluable contribution to the history of redemption.

In summary, the skeptic bears the burden of proof in claiming that God’s actions are characterized by cruelty. The biblical passages that appear to depict God as cruel actually do no such thing. In fact, with a proper understanding of the Scriptures, we see that God’s actions are always motivated by, and consistent with, His holy and perfect character.

Question: What is the biblical understanding of the wrath of God?

Answer: Wrath is often synonymous with “anger,” “indignation,” or “vexation.” Both humans and God express wrath. But there is a vast difference between the wrath of God and the wrath of man. God’s wrath is holy and always justified.

The wrath of God is a divine response to human sin and disobedience. Idolatry was many times the occasion for divine wrath (Psalm 78:56–66, for example). The wrath of God is consistently directed toward those who do not follow His will (Deuteronomy 1:26–46; Joshua 7:1; Psalm 2:1–6). The Old Testament prophets often wrote of a future “day of wrath,” when God’s judgment will fall (Zephaniah 1:14–15).

God’s wrath against sin is perfectly justified because His plan for mankind is holy and perfect, just as God Himself is holy and perfect. God has provided a way to turn His wrath away from the sinner—the sacrifice of Christ. To reject that perfect plan of salvation is to reject God’s love, mercy, grace, and favor and incur His righteous wrath (John 3:18).

Jesus clearly taught the wrath of God against sin. The story of the rich man and Lazarus speaks of the judgment of God and serious consequences for the unrepentant sinner (Luke 16:19–31). Jesus said in John 3:36 (emphasis added), “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on Him.” Those who believe in the Son will not suffer God’s wrath for sin, because the Son took God’s wrath when He died in our place on the cross (Romans 5:6–11). Those who do not believe in the Son, who do not receive Him as Savior, will be judged on the day of wrath (Romans 2:5–6).

In contrast to divine wrath, human wrath is fraught with problems. “Man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:20). We are warned against acting out of wrath in Romans 12:19; Ephesians 4:26; and Colossians 3:8–10. God alone has the right to avenge sin because His vengeance is perfect and holy; whereas, man’s wrath is sinful and mixed with selfish motives, opening him up to demonic influence. For the Christian, anger and wrath are inconsistent with the new nature, which is the nature of Christ Himself (2 Corinthians 5:17). The believer needs the Holy Spirit to sanctify and cleanse his or her heart of feelings of wrath and unrighteous anger. Philippians 4:4–7 says that the mind controlled by the Spirit is filled with peace.

The wrath of God is a fearsome thing. Only those whose sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ can be assured that God’s wrath will never fall on them. “Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!” (Romans 5:9).

Question: If God knew that Satan would rebel and Adam and Eve would sin, why did He create them?

Answer: This is a two-part question. The first part is, “Did God know Satan would rebel and Adam and Eve would sin?” The answer lies in what the Bible teaches about God’s knowledge. We know from Scripture that God is omniscient, which literally means “all-knowing.” The Bible leaves no doubt that God’s knowledge is infinite and that He knows everything that has happened in the past, is happening now, and will happen in the future (Job 37:16; Psalm 139:2–4; 147:5; Proverbs 5:21; Isaiah 46:9–10; 1 John 3:19–20).

Looking at some of the superlatives in these verses—“perfect in knowledge,” “his understanding has no limit,” “he knows everything”—it is clear that God’s knowledge is not merely greater than our own, but also it is infinitely greater. He knows all things in totality. Isaiah 46:10 says that God not only knows everything, but also He controls everything. So, did God know that Adam and Eve were going to sin? Did He know Lucifer would rebel against Him and become Satan? Absolutely! Were those events out of His control at any time? Absolutely not. If God’s knowledge is not perfect, then there is a deficiency in His nature. Any deficiency in God’s nature means He cannot be God, for God’s very essence requires the perfection of all His attributes. Therefore, the answer to the first question must be “yes.”

Let’s move on to the second part of the question: “Why did God create Satan and Adam and Eve, knowing they were going to sin?” This question is trickier because we are asking a “why” question, to which the Bible does not usually provide comprehensive answers. Despite that, we should be able to come to a limited understanding if we examine a few passages. To begin, we have already seen that God is omniscient, and nothing can happen outside of His knowledge. So, if God knew that Satan would rebel and fall from heaven and that Adam and Eve would sin, yet He created them anyway, it must mean that the fall of mankind was part of God’s sovereign plan from the beginning. No other answer makes sense, given what we have seen thus far.

We must be careful to note that Adam and Eve’s fall into sin does not mean that God is the author of sin; nor does it mean that he tempted Adam and Eve to sin (James 1:13). The fall serves a purpose in God’s overall plan for creation and mankind—otherwise the fall of mankind never would have happened.

If we consider what some theologians call the “meta-narrative” (overarching storyline) of Scripture, we see that biblical history can be roughly divided into three sections: 1) paradise (Genesis 1—2); 2) paradise lost (Genesis 3—Revelation 20); and 3) paradise regained (Revelation 21—22). By far the largest part of the narrative is devoted to moving from paradise lost to paradise regained. At the center of this meta-narrative is the cross of Christ. The cross was planned from the very beginning (Acts 2:23). It was foreordained that Christ would go to the cross and “give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28)—those chosen by God’s foreknowledge and predestined to be His people (Ephesians 1:4–5).

Reading Scripture carefully and taking what has been said so far, we are led to the following conclusions:

1.   The rebellion of Satan and the fall of mankind were foreknown and foreordained by God.

2.   Those who would become the people of God, the elect, were foreknown and foreordained by God.

3.   The crucifixion of Christ, the atonement for God’s people, was foreknown and foreordained by God.

So, we are left with the following questions: Why would God create mankind in spite of His knowledge of the fall? Why create mankind, knowing that only some would be saved? Why knowingly send Jesus to die for people who knowingly fell into sin? (From man’s perspective, it does not make sense.) Why should the meta-narrative include paradise lost? Why not just keep paradise or go straight to paradise regained and avoid the whole paradise-lost interlude?

The conclusion we are drawn to is that God’s purpose was to create a world in which His glory could be manifest in all its fullness. The glory of God is the overarching goal of creation. In fact, it is the central goal of everything He does. The universe was created to display God’s glory (Psalm 19:1), and the wrath of God is revealed against those who fail to glorify God (Romans 1:21–24). Our sin causes us to fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23), and in the new heaven and new earth, the glory of God provides the light (Revelation 21:23). The glory of God is most manifest when all of His attributes are displayed, and the story of redemption is a vital part of that display.

We see this in Romans 9:19–24. Wrath and mercy display the riches of God’s glory, but you cannot get either without the fall of mankind. Therefore, man’s fall and his election, redemption, and atonement all serve the purpose of glorifying God. When man fell into sin, God’s mercy was immediately displayed in not killing him on the spot. God’s patience and forbearance were also on display as mankind fell deeper into sin prior to the flood. God’s justice and wrath were on display as He executed judgment during the flood, and God’s grace was demonstrated as He saved Noah and his family. God also will reveal His wrath and justice in the future, when He deals with Satan once and for all (Revelation 20:7–10).

The ultimate exhibition of God’s glory was at the cross, where His wrath, justice, and mercy met. The righteous judgment of all sin was executed at the cross, and God’s grace was on display as Jesus bore God’s wrath for our sin. God’s love and grace are on display in those whom He has saved (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8–9). In the end, God will be glorified as His chosen people and the angels worship Him for all eternity. The wicked will also glorify God as His justice and righteousness are on eternal display in the punishment of unrepentant sinners (Philippians 2:10–11). Without the rebellion of Satan and the fall of Adam and Eve, much of God’s glory would never have been revealed.

The classic objection to this position is that God’s foreknowledge and foreordination of the fall damages man’s freedom. In other words, if God created mankind in spite of His knowledge of their impending fall, how can man be responsible for sin? The best answer to this question is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter III: “God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.”[16]

In other words, God ordains future events in such a way that our freedom and the working of secondary causes (e.g., laws of nature) are preserved. Theologians call this “concurrence.” God’s sovereign will flows concurrently with our free choices in such a way that our free choices always result in the carrying out of God’s will (by “free choices,” we mean that our choices are not coerced by outside influences).

To summarize, God knew that Satan would rebel and that Adam and Eve would sin. Even with that knowledge, God created Lucifer and Adam and Eve because creating them and ordaining the fall was part of His sovereign plan to manifest His glory in the fullest possible way. Our freedom to make choices is not violated because, in God’s “most wise and holy counsel,” our free choices are the means by which His will is accomplished.

Question: Why does God allow birth defects?

Answer: When Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3), they brought evil, sickness, disease, and death into the world. Sin has been wreaking havoc on the human race ever since. Birth defects and deformities occur because of sin—not because of specific sins the parents or the baby have committed but because of sin itself. We live in a fallen world. Still, we know God is omnipotent. So why doesn’t He prevent birth defects from occurring?

As we ponder this question, it might be good to remember the following truths in Scripture:

1)   God is good, just, loving, and merciful. “The LORD is upright … and there is no wickedness in him” (Psalm 92:15).

2)   God is dealing with the world’s sin problem, but it is not through an “instant fix.” God has established the law of cause and effect, and He is, for the most part, allowing the effects of sin to influence creation (Galatians 6:7; Romans 8:18–22).

3)   In His infinite wisdom, God can use even a defect or deformity for our own good and to glorify Himself. God’s plan is perfect and infinitely detailed, and it covers the “big picture” in its entirety.

Jesus met a man born blind, and He attributed the fact of the man’s blindness to God’s desire to perform a great work in his life (John 9:1–3). Jesus proceeded to heal the man physically and save him spiritually—a double miracle. Of course, without the blindness, there would have been no miracle at all.

The book of Job deals with the issue of not understanding why God allows certain things to occur. In Job’s situation, God had allowed Satan to do anything he wanted except take Job’s life. What was Job’s reaction? “Though [God] slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21). Job did not understand why God had allowed such tragedy, but he knew God is good and, therefore, continued to trust Him. Job set a great example.

Things will happen to us that we simply cannot understand. Instead of doubting God’s goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him more. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5–6).

Ultimately, the answer to why God allows birth defects has to be, “We don’t know.” We will never be able to fully understand God and His ways. We do know sickness and disease are the result of sin. We know God allows for the fact of evil and that His plans are not thwarted by it. And we know God has provided the “cure” for sin in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8).

Once we are in heaven, we will be free from sickness, disease, and death. Until that glorious day, we live in a fallen world and deal with sin and its consequences. We can praise God, though, that He can and will use birth defects and other heartbreaks for our ultimate good and His eventual glory.

Question: Why did God command the extermination of the Canaanites, women and children included?

Answer: In 1 Samuel 15:2–3, God commanded Saul and the Israelites, “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” God ordered similar things when the Israelites were invading the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 2:34; 3:6; 20:16–18). Why would God have the Israelites exterminate an entire group of people, women and children included?

This is a difficult issue. We do not fully understand why God would command such a thing, but at the same time, we trust that God is just—and we recognize that we are incapable of fully understanding a sovereign, infinite, and eternal God. As we look at difficult issues such as this one, we have to remember that God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9; Romans 11:33–36). We must be willing to trust God and have faith in Him, even when we do not understand His ways.

Unlike us, God knows the future. God knew what the results would be if Israel did not completely eradicate the Amalekites. If Israel did not carry out God’s orders, the Amalekites would come back to “haunt” the Israelites again and again. Saul claimed to have killed everyone but the Amalekite king Agag (1 Samuel 15:20). Obviously, Saul was lying; just a couple of decades later, there were enough Amalekites to take David and his men’s families captive (1 Samuel 30:1–2). After David and his men attacked the Amalekites and rescued their families, 400 Amalekites escaped. Several hundred years later, a descendant of Agag, Haman, tried to have the entire Jewish people exterminated (see the book of Esther). Saul’s incomplete obedience nearly resulted in Israel’s destruction. God knew this would occur, so He ordered the extermination of the Amalekites ahead of time.

In regard to the Canaanites, God commanded, “In the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). The Israelites failed in this mission as well, and the result was exactly what God said would happen (Judges 2:1–3; 1 Kings 11:5; 14:24; 2 Kings 16:3–4). Israel fell into idolatry. God did not order the extermination of these people to be cruel but to prevent even greater evil in the future.

Probably the most difficult part of these commands from God is the order to kill children and infants as well. Why would God order the death of innocent children? Here are some reasons: 1) Children are not “innocent,” in that they do have a sin nature (Psalm 51:5; 58:3); 2) These children would have likely grown up as adherents to the evil religions and practices of their parents; 3) Some of these children would have grown up bent on avenging their parents’ deaths, and this would have led to insurrection; 4) By ending their lives as children, God gave them entrance to heaven. We believe that all children who die are accepted into heaven by the grace and mercy of God (2 Samuel 12:22–23; Matthew 18:2–4; Mark 10:14–15).

This answer does not completely deal with all the issues. But our focus should be on trusting God, even when we do not understand His ways. We also have to remember that God looks at things from an eternal perspective. God is just, righteous, holy, loving, merciful, and gracious. How His attributes work together can be a mystery to us—but that does not mean that He is not who the Bible proclaims Him to be.

Question: Does God love Satan?

Answer: One of the most precious statements in all of Scripture is, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). However, the Bible also tells us that God hates many things. For example, He hates idolatry (Deuteronomy 12:31; 16:22; Psalm 31:6), because the worship of false gods robs Him of the praise and glory that belong to Him alone. Proverbs 6:16–19 tell us that God hates seven things: a proud look, a tongue that lies, murder, a heart that plots wicked things, feet hurrying to evil, a false witness, and he who causes fighting among brothers. God also hates divorce (Malachi 2:16).

Because God is holy and perfectly righteous, He hates with a pure, holy, righteous hatred. He cannot do otherwise. Neither can He love that which is evil and unholy—and Satan embodies all of that. Satan is the enemy (1 Peter 5:8); the evil one (Matthew 6:13); the father of lies and a murderer (John 8:44); the accuser of God’s people (Revelation 12:10); the tempter (1 Thessalonians 3:5); proud, wicked, and violent (Isaiah 14:12–15); a deceiver (John 8:44); a schemer (Ephesians 6:11); a thief (Luke 8:12); and many more evil things. He is, in fact, everything that God hates. The heart of Satan is fixed and confirmed in his hatred of God, his judgment is final, and his destruction is sure. Revelation 20 describes God’s future plan for Satan, and “love” for the devil has no part in it.

Because Satan is the embodiment of evil and everything that is antithetical to the God we love, we cannot love Satan. When Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44), He is referring to other people. We pray for them to come to know God through faith, to believe in Christ, and to be saved from their sins. We are never told to pray for Satan because there is no chance of his salvation. He does not need faith because he has seen God, knows God, and has rejected God.

God has already determined that there will be no forgiveness for Satan; there will be absolutely no chance of him coming into God’s presence, and the sacrificial love God shows for His children is not extended to Satan. And even if love were within Satan’s grasp, he would spurn it, just as he spurned God’s rule in heaven.

Question: Where was God on September 11, 2001?

Answer: On September 11, 2001, God was exactly where He always has been—in heaven, in total control of everything that happens in the universe. Why, then, would a good and loving God allow such a tragedy to happen? This is a more difficult question to answer. First, we must remember, “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 impossible for finite human beings to fully understand the ways of an infinite God (Romans 11:33–35). Second, we must realize that God does not cause the wicked acts of evil men. The Bible tells us that humanity is desperately wicked and sinful (Romans 3:10–18, 23). God allows human beings to commit sins for His own reasons and to fulfill His own purposes. Sometimes we think we understand why God is doing something, only to find out later that it was for a different purpose than we originally thought.

God looks at things from an eternal perspective. We look at things from an earthly perspective. Why did God put man on earth, knowing that Adam and Eve would sin and, therefore, bring evil, death, and suffering on all mankind? Why didn’t He just create us all and leave us in heaven, where we would be perfect and without suffering? We must remember that the purpose for all creation and all creatures is to glorify God. God is glorified when His nature and attributes are on display. If there were no sin, God would have no opportunity to display His justice and wrath as He punishes sin. Nor would He have the opportunity to show His grace, His mercy, and His love to undeserving creatures. The ultimate display of God’s grace was at the cross, where Jesus died for our sins. Unselfishness and obedience were displayed in His Son, who knew no sin but was made “to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This was all to the “praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:14).

When thinking of September 11, we tend to forget the thousands of miracles that occurred on that day. Hundreds of people were able to flee the buildings in the nick of time. A small handful of firemen and one civilian survived in a tiny space in a stairwell as one of the towers collapsed around them. It was a miracle in and of itself that the passengers on Flight 93 defeated the terrorists. Yes, September 11 was a terrible day. Sin reared its ugly head and caused great devastation. However, God was and is still in control. His sovereignty is never to be doubted.

Could God have prevented what happened on September 11? Of course He could have, but He chose to allow the events to unfold exactly as they did. He prevented that day from being as bad as it could have been.

Since September 11, how many lives have been changed for the better? How many people have placed their faith in Christ for salvation as a result of what happened? The words of Romans 8:28 should always be in our minds when we think of September 11, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Question: Does God make mistakes?

Answer: Make no mistake about it; God makes no mistakes. “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalms 145:3 KJV). In the original language, the word for “unsearchable” incorporates the thought of being impossible to fathom or find out or enumerate. Such a description could not apply to one who made a mistake, for then it could be said that he was one who made at least one mistake; that is, his greatness could be quantified or enumerated.

“Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:5 KJV). The understanding of anyone capable of mistakes would be finite, not infinite. A mistake reveals a lack of understanding of the right way of doing a thing.

“God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19). Man makes mistakes, has afterthoughts leading to a change of mind, and issues decrees that he later has to annul. Man, a finite being, cannot consider every consequence or eventuality, and he is powerless to bring to pass all that he says. God, an infinite being, is unlike man. “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5b). “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made” (Psalm 145:17).

Perhaps someone would mistakenly think God had second thoughts in Scripture: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them” (Genesis 6:5–7 KJV). Note that He did not say He would destroy all men, for in the next verse, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). And so it followed that Jesus came through Noah’s son, Shem. No, God had not discovered a mistake in His work. He has a high and lofty purpose in permitting, for a time, the expression of the sin of mankind and angels.

You will notice the word repent used in Scripture. When used of God, it incorporates the thought of grief, even compassionate grief, and consolation or comfort. Yes, God felt suffering and grief in the time before the flood, but it was sorrow for man’s sin, not for man’s existence. God was sorry for man’s choice to rebel, not for His choice to create. To be sure, He made no mistake in creating Satan either.

Paul received grace in order “to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:9–11).

God makes no mistakes but has a purpose in everything. The outcome is never a surprise to Him, for He declares the end from the beginning: “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isaiah 46:9–10).

Sometimes we may wonder if God has made a mistake in our own personal life experiences. However, we are told that “all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). We must understand that the things of this life are expendable and are being spent for our eternal reward according to His grace. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17–18).

There is no fault in our God; there are no mistakes He has made. He has no shortcomings, no imperfections, no weaknesses, no deficiencies, no flaws. He never needs to apologize, recant, rethink, or make amends. His acts are “mighty”; it is impossible to “fully declare his praise” (Psalm 106:2). There is no fault, no mistake made by God’s Son. Satan utterly failed in all his desperate efforts to disclose one single fault in Jesus (Matthew 4:1–11). Satan’s stooge Pontius Pilate even declared, “I find no fault in this man” (Luke 23:4 KJV). There was no fault to find.

Question: Why did God condone such terrible violence in the Old Testament?

Answer: The fact that God commanded the killing of entire nations in the Old Testament is the subject of harsh criticism from opponents of Christianity. In his bestselling book The God Delusion, atheist Richard Dawkins refers to the God of the Old Testament as “a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser.”[17] Journalist Christopher Hitchens complains that the Old Testament warrants “indiscriminate massacre.”[18] Other critics of Christianity have leveled similar charges, accusing Yahweh of “crimes against humanity.”

That there was violence in the Old Testament is indisputable. But are the criticisms valid? Is the God of the Old Testament a “moral monster,” who arbitrarily commands genocide against innocent men, women, and children? Were His actions against the Canaanites and Amalekites a vicious form of “ethnic cleansing,” no different from atrocities committed by the Nazis? Or is it possible that God had morally sufficient reasons for ordering the destruction of these nations?

In commanding the Israelite attack on the Canaanites, God carried out a kind of corporate capital punishment on a people who were deserving of judgment. This destruction was directed more at the Canaanite religion (Deuteronomy 7:3–5; 12:2–3) than the Canaanite people per se. It was not ethnically motivated. With reference to the Canaanites, Norman Geisler comments, “This was a thoroughly evil culture, so much so that the Bible says it nauseated God. They were into brutality, cruelty, incest, bestiality, cultic prostitution, and even child sacrifice by fire. They were an aggressive culture that wanted to annihilate the Israelites.”[19] In the conquest of Canaan, God used the Israelites to execute His judgment on a culture of wickedness.

We must remember that God gave the Canaanite people more than sufficient time to repent of their evil ways—over 400 years (Genesis 15:13–16)! The book of Hebrews tells us that the Canaanites were “disobedient,” a phrase that implies moral culpability on their part (Hebrews 11:31). The Canaanites were aware of God’s power (Joshua 2:10–11; 9:9) and could have sought repentance. The example of Rahab and her family is sure proof that the Canaanites could have avoided destruction if they had repented (Joshua 2). God’s desire is that the wicked turn from their sin rather than die (Ezekiel 18:31–32; 33:11).

But didn’t God also command the Israelites to kill non-combatants? The biblical record is clear that He did. It is true that Canaanite women did not fight in armed battle, but this in no way means they were innocent, as their behavior in Numbers 25 indicates. They too were intent on Israel’s demise, using the subtler tactics of deceit, seduction, and manipulation.

And what about the children? There is no easy answer, but we must keep several things in mind. First, no person (including infants) is truly innocent. Scripture teaches that we are all born in sin (Psalm 51:5; 58:3). This implies that all people are morally culpable for Adam’s sin in some way. Infants are just as guilty as adults are before the righteous God of the universe.

Second, God is sovereign over all of life. He can take it whenever He sees fit. God, and God alone, can give life, and God alone has the right to take it. In fact, He ultimately takes every person’s life at death. They are not our lives to begin with; they are God’s. We know this intuitively, and we express it when we accuse someone who takes a life of “playing God.” God is under no obligation to extend anyone’s life for even another day. How and when we die is completely up to Him.

Third, the children spared in Canaan would have likely grown up as practitioners of the evil religion of their parents. Thus, the pagan influence would have remained in Israel. Also, some of those children, as adults, would have sought to avenge their parents’ deaths. Insurrection, revolution, and bloodshed would have been a continual threat.

Fourth, an argument can be made that it would have been cruel for God to spare only the children. Without the protection and support of their parents, the infants and small children were likely to face death by starvation or exposure anyway. The chances of survival for an orphan in the ancient Near East were not good.

Finally, and most importantly, God’s grace provided for the salvation of those infants who were killed. We believe that all infants and young children who die before the age of moral accountability go straight to heaven. Those Canaanite children, then, are in a far better place than if God had allowed them to live and grow to maturity in a depraved culture.

Surely, the issue of God commanding violence in the Old Testament is difficult. However, to accuse God of injustice is to malign His character, deny the reality of sin, and refuse the certainty of judgment.

We know that God sees things from an eternal perspective, and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8–9). The apostle Paul tells us that God is both kind and severe (Romans 11:22). God’s holy character demands that sin be punished, but His grace and mercy are extended to those who are willing to repent and be saved. The Canaanite destruction provides us with a sober reminder that judgment comes to all. While our God is gracious and merciful, He is also a God of holiness and wrath.

Question: Why did God allow the Holocaust?

Answer: In dealing with the problem of evil in the world, we run into many problems like this one. Could God have prevented the Holocaust? Yes, He could have. He also could have prevented Stalin’s massacres in the USSR, the Spanish Inquisition’s torture of dissidents, and Nero’s reign of terror. In each case, God allowed evil men to exercise a certain amount of power for a short period of time.

Ultimately, we do not know the reasons for what God allows. His ways and thoughts are infinitely higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8–9). His sovereign plan takes in the whole scope of history—past, present, and future—encompassing every possible course of action, every cause and effect, every potentiality, and every contingency. There is no way we could possibly fathom the intricacies of His design. By faith, we trust that His plan is the best plan possible for restoring fallen humanity and a cursed world to righteousness and blessing.

We can understand this: God’s permission is not the same as His approval. God permitted Adam to eat of the forbidden tree, but He did not approve of the action. In the same way, God’s allowing the Holocaust in no way suggests His approval of it. God is grieved by the sinfulness of man and the hardness of his heart (Genesis 6:6; Mark 3:5).

We also know that God has done everything possible to redeem us from the sin that will, apart from Christ, destroy us. He gave His only Son, who sacrificed His life for our sins and took our penalty. All who turn to Jesus Christ in faith are saved. The sin in this world, and horrors such as the Holocaust, are a direct result of mankind’s continued rebellion against God.

While nothing can justify the Holocaust, we do see at least one good thing that came from World War II: Israel now exists as a nation. The Holocaust was a primary reason the White Paper of 1939 was rescinded, freeing Jews to immigrate to Palestine. The fact that, as of 1948, the Jews have a restored national identity helps to fulfill such biblical prophecies as Ezekiel 37 and Matthew 24. Defeating Nazism and giving the land of Israel back to the Jews is a classic example of God thwarting Satan’s plan and bringing about good in spite of the evil.

In all of His doings, God is just (Psalm 145:17). The blame for the Holocaust lies squarely on the shoulders of sinful humanity. The Holocaust was the product of sinful choices made by sinful men in rebellion against a holy God. If the Holocaust proves anything, it is the utter depravity of man. Just fourteen years after “the war to end all wars” (World War I), Hitler rose to power. What is even more shocking is that millions followed him, enabling his horrific policies and pursuing a path to national destruction.

And while Nazism took hold in Germany, where were the European churches? Some, it is true, stood fast against the evil in their midst, and some churchmen, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, paid the ultimate price for dissenting. But they were the minority. Most churches of the era acquiesced to Nazi Party rules and remained silent while the Jews were slaughtered. Where were the world leaders? Other than England’s Winston Churchill, the world’s politicos took the route of isolation or appeasement. Neither worked. Where were the good, decent people? Edmund Burke is often quoted as saying, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”[20] Although there were a few Germans and other Europeans, such as Oscar Schindler and Corrie ten Boom and her family, who risked their lives to save thousands of Jews from annihilation, most remained silent, and the Holocaust ensued. The question is not so much, “Why did God allow the Holocaust?” but, “Why did we?”

God gives mankind freedom of choice. We can choose to follow Him and take a stand for righteousness, or we can rebel against Him and pursue evil. The problem resides in the heart of man. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Until man’s heart turns to God, the world will continue to witness “ethnic cleansings,” genocides, and atrocities such as the Holocaust.

Question: Why does God allow the innocent to suffer?

Answer: The first thing to consider is whether or not such a thing as “the innocent” even exists. According to the Bible, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9), and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Therefore, no one is innocent in the sense of being sinless. Sin entered the world when Adam and Even rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, and mankind has been in rebellion ever since. Sin’s effects permeate everything, and the suffering we see all around us is a direct result of that sin.

Even when suffering seems to be undeserved, our loving and merciful God has a perfect plan to use that suffering to accomplish a threefold purpose. First, He uses pain and suffering to draw us to Himself. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). Trials and distress are part of what it means to be human in a fallen world. In Christ, we have an anchor that holds fast in all the storms of life. But if we never sail into those storms, how will we know His constancy? It is in times of despair and sorrow that we reach out to Him, and if we are His children, we always find Him waiting to comfort and uphold us. In times of suffering, God proves His faithfulness to us and ensures that we stay close to Him. An added benefit is that our experience of God’s comfort through trials enables us to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Second, He proves to us that our faith is real through times of suffering and pain. How we respond to suffering is determined by the genuineness of our faith. Suffering will not crush those with faith truly from God, “the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Instead, suffering will “prove” their faith so that it “may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7). Believers can “consider it pure joy” (James 1:2), knowing that trials produce patience and spiritual maturity. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

Finally, God uses suffering to take our eyes off this world and onto the next. The Bible exhorts us that this world and all that is in it will pass away, but the kingdom of God is eternal. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), and those who would follow Him know the things of this life, both good and bad, are not the end of the story. Even the sufferings we endure “are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Could God prevent all suffering? Of course. But He allows it to accomplish a greater good. He assures us that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NKJV). His plan is perfect, His character is flawless, and those who trust Him will not be disappointed.

Question: Why is God so different in the Old Testament than He is in the New Testament?

Answer: At the very heart of this question lies a fundamental misunderstanding of what both the Old and New Testaments reveal about the nature of God. Another way of expressing this same basic thought is when people say, “The God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath, while the God of the New Testament is a God of love.” The fact that the Bible is God’s progressive revelation of Himself to us through historical events and through His relationships with people throughout history might contribute to misconceptions about what God is like in the Old Testament compared to in the New Testament. However, when one reads both the Old and the New Testaments, it becomes evident that God is not different from one Testament to another and that God’s wrath and His love are revealed in both testaments.

For example, throughout the Old Testament, God is declared to be a “compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 86:15; see also Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 4:31; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 86:5; 108:4; 145:8; Joel 2:13). Yet in the New Testament, God’s loving-kindness and mercy are manifested even more fully through the fact that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Throughout the Old Testament, we also see God dealing with Israel the same way a loving father deals with a child. When they willfully sinned against Him and began to worship idols, God would punish them. Yet each time He would deliver them once they had repented of their idolatry. This is much the same way God deals with Christians in the New Testament. For example, Hebrews 12:6 tells us that “the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

In a similar way, throughout the Old Testament, we see God’s judgment and wrath poured out on sin. Likewise, in the New Testament, we see that the wrath of God is still “being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Romans 1:18). So, clearly, God is no different in the Old Testament than He is in the New Testament. God, by His very nature, is immutable (unchanging). While we might see one aspect of His nature revealed in certain passages of Scripture more than other aspects, God Himself does not change.

As we read and study the Bible, it becomes clear that God is the same in the Old and New Testaments. Even though the Bible is comprised of 66 individual books that were written on two (or possibly three) continents, in three different languages, over a period of approximately 1,500 years, by more than 40 authors, it remains one unified book from beginning to end, without contradiction. In it we see how a loving, merciful, and just God deals with sinful men in all kinds of situations. God’s love for His creation, especially for mankind, is evident all through Scripture. Throughout the Bible, we see God lovingly and mercifully calling people into a special relationship with Him, not because they deserve it, but because He is a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth. Yet we also see a holy and righteous God, who is the Judge of all those who disobey His Word and refuse to worship Him, turning instead to worship gods of their own creation (Romans 1).

Because of God’s righteous and holy character, all sin—past, present, and future—must be judged. Yet God in His infinite love has provided a payment for sin and a way of reconciliation so that sinful man can escape His wrath. We see this wonderful truth in verses like 1 John 4:10: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

In the Old Testament, God provided a sacrificial system, whereby atonement could be made for sin. However, this sacrificial system was only temporary and merely looked forward to the coming of Jesus Christ, who would die on the cross to make a complete substitutionary atonement for sin. The Savior who was promised in the Old Testament is fully revealed in the New Testament. The ultimate expression of God’s love, the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, is only envisioned in the Old Testament but revealed in all its glory in the New Testament.

Both the Old and the New Testaments were given “to make [us] wise unto salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15 KJV). When we study the Testaments closely, it is evident that God “does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).

Question: Could God create a rock so heavy He could not lift it?

Answer: Skeptics of God and the Bible frequently ask this question. If God can create a rock that He cannot lift, then God is not omnipotent. If God cannot create a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it, then God is not omnipotent. According to this argument, omnipotence is self-contradictory. Therefore, God cannot be omnipotent. Right?

The quick answer to the question is “no.” But the explanation is far more important to understand than the answer.

This question is based on a popular misunderstanding about the definitions of words like almighty or omnipotent. These terms do not mean that God can do anything. Rather, they describe the amount of God’s power. Power is the ability to effect change or make something happen. God (being unlimited) has unlimited power, and the Bible affirms this (Job 11:7–11; 37:23; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Revelation 4:8). Therefore, God can do whatever is possible to be done. God cannot, however, do that which is actually impossible. This is because true impossibility is not based on the amount of power one has; it is based on the reality of what is really possible. The truly impossible is not made possible by adding more power. Therefore, unless the context indicates otherwise (e.g., Matthew 19:26, where man’s ability is contrasted to God’s), impossible means the same thing whether or not God is involved.

So, the first part of the question is based on a false idea—that God’s being almighty means that He can do anything. In fact, the Bible itself lists things God cannot do. He cannot lie or deny Himself (Hebrews 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:13; Titus 1:2). The reason He cannot do these things is rooted in His nature and the nature of reality itself. God cannot do what is not logically possible to do, like creating a two-sided triangle or a married bachelor. Just because words can be strung together this way does not make the impossible possible. These things are logical contradictions; they are truly impossible in reality.

Now, what about this rock? A rock would have to be infinitely large to counter an infinite amount of lifting power. But an infinite rock is a contradiction, since material objects cannot be infinite. Only God is infinite. There cannot be two infinites. So the question is actually asking whether or not God can make a contradiction—which He cannot.

Question: Why does God allow evil men like Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein to come into power?

Answer: The Bible says that God is sovereign. This means that He is ultimately in control of everything, not just some things. He is in control of the weather (Psalm 148:8), life and death (Psalm 104:29–30), and even seemingly inconsequential happenings (Proverbs 16:33). God’s sovereignty extends to the rulers of nations. “Wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them” (Daniel 2:20b–21a). One hundred and fifty years before the birth of Cyrus the Great, God was already calling him by name and promising to set him on the throne of Persia: “I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness” (Isaiah 45:13). God’s sovereign plan allows for the pagan Cyrus, the proud Nebuchadnezzar, and, yes, the Hitlers and Husseins of the world.

Romans 13:1 says, “There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” This is a startling statement, given that the book of Romans was probably written in A.D. 56–57. The emperor at the time was Nero, a decidedly evil ruler. Nero led one of the most severe Christian persecutions in the history of the church. When Paul wrote this portion of Scripture, he was aware of Nero’s wickedness; yet he did not question why God put Nero in power. In fact, Paul never mentions Nero specifically; the general truth that authorities are “established by God” applies to all rulers everywhere.

In Acts 8, we see that governing authorities led a persecution against the early church. It was a hard time, and there were probably believers who began to doubt God’s sovereignty or question His care. Yet the persecution had the effect that the church in Jerusalem was “scattered throughout Judea and Samaria” (verse 1). Thus, in part because of evil men in places of authority, the Great Commission was put into action. The gospel then spread, and the church grew.

God does not explicitly say why He allows evil men to rule. At times, God has used evil rulers to bring judgment on His people and bring them back to righteousness. It is worth noting that all rulers are accountable to God for their actions. For example, God raised up Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in order to punish Judah for its repeated idolatry (2 Kings 20:17–18). Later, after Babylon had fulfilled its purpose, it was judged for its own wickedness (Isaiah 13:19; 14:4). Their king, Nebuchadnezzar, suffered an individual judgment (Daniel 4). God did the same with Assyria, allowing its rise for a purpose and then judging that nation’s pride and cruelty (Isaiah 10:5–19).

God sometimes allows an evil kaiser, czar, fuehrer, sultan, or despot to rule, and the reasons for His choices are not readily apparent. But we know this: God always sets boundaries for the potentates (see Psalm 74:12–17). Human rulers are not omnipotent, are not eternal, and are not immune from punishment. There will be a day of reckoning. Rulers who die in their sins will face the ultimate punishment: eternity in hell.

CHAPTER 7

QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GOD RELATES TO US

Contents

Is God/the Bible sexist?

Is God’s love conditional or unconditional?

Why does God love us?

Why does God require faith?

Why does God demand, seek, or request that we worship Him?

Does God tempt us to sin?

Is it sometimes God’s will for believers to be sick?

Does God hate? If God is love, how can He hate?

Does God love me?

Why does God allow sickness?

Why does God test us?

Does God love everyone or just Christians?

Question: Is God/the Bible sexist?

Answer: Sexism is one gender, usually male, having dominance over the other gender, usually female. The Bible contains many references to women that, to our modern mindset, sound discriminatory towards women. But we have to remember that when the Bible describes an action, it does not necessarily mean that the Bible endorses that action. The Bible sometimes describes men treating women as little more than property, but that does not mean God approves of those actions. The Bible is far more focused on reforming our souls than our societies. God knows that a changed heart will result in changed behavior.

During Old Testament times, virtually every culture in the entire world was patriarchal in structure. That status of history is very clear—not only in Scripture but also in the rules that governed most societies. By modern value systems and worldly human viewpoints, that is called “sexist.” God ordained order in society, not man, and He established principles of authority. However, like everything else, fallen man has corrupted this order. That has resulted in the inequality of the standings of men and women throughout history. The exclusion and the discrimination that we find in our world is nothing new. It is the result of the fall of man and the introduction of sin. Therefore, we can rightly say that the term and the practice of “sexism” are a result of sin. The progressive revelation of the Bible leads us to the cure for sexism and indeed all the sinful practices of the human race.

To find and maintain a spiritual balance between the God-ordained positions of authority, we must look to Scripture. The New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old, and in it we find principles that tell us the correct line of authority and the cure for sin, the ill of all humanity—and that includes discrimination based upon gender.

The cross of Christ is the great equalizer. John 3:16 says, “Whoever believes” (emphasis added), and that is an all-inclusive statement. No one is left out on the basis of position in society, mental capacity, or gender. We also find a passage in Galatians that speaks of our equal opportunity for salvation. “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26–28). There is no sexism at the cross.

The Bible is not sexist in its accurate portrayal of the results of sin in both men and women. The Bible records all kinds of sin: slavery and bondage and the failures of its greatest heroes. Yet it also gives us the answer and the cure for those sins against God and His established order—a right relationship with God. The Old Testament was looking forward to the supreme sacrifice, and each time a sacrifice for sin was made, it was teaching the need for reconciliation with God. In the New Testament, the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) was born, died, was buried, and rose again, and then He ascended to His place in heaven, where He intercedes for us. It is through belief in Him that the cure for sin is found, and that includes the sin of sexism.

The charge of sexism in the Bible is based upon a lack of knowledge of Scripture. When men and women of all ages have taken their God-ordained places and lived according to “thus says the Lord,” then there was a wonderful balance between the genders. That balance is what God began with, and it is what He will end with. There is an inordinate amount of attention paid to the various products of sin and not to the root of it. It is only when there is personal reconciliation with God through the Lord Jesus Christ that we find true equality. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

It is also very important to understand that the Bible’s ascribing different roles to men and women does not constitute sexism. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God expects men to take the leadership role in the church and the home. Does this make women inferior? Absolutely not. Does this mean women are less intelligent, less capable, or viewed as less worthy in God’s eyes? Absolutely not! What it means is that in our sin-stained world, there has to be structure and authority. God has instituted the roles of authority for our good. Sexism is the abuse of these roles, not the existence of these roles.

Question: Is God’s love conditional or unconditional?

Answer: God’s love, as described in the Bible, is clearly unconditional, in that His love is expressed toward the objects of His love (His people) despite their dispositions toward Him. God loves because it is His nature to love (1 John 4:8). His loving nature moves Him toward benevolent action.

The unconditional nature of God’s love is clearly seen in the gospel, which is basically a story of divine rescue. As God considers the plight of His rebellious people, He determines to save them from their sin, and this determination is based on His love (Ephesians 1:4–5). “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God did not require us to be good before He loved us; His unconditional love sent His Son “while we were still sinners.”

Reading through the book of Romans, we learn that we are alienated from God due to our sin. We are at enmity with God, and His wrath is being revealed against the ungodly for their unrighteousness (Romans 1:18–20). We reject God, and God gives us over to our sin. We also learn that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23), none of us seek God, and none of us do what is right in His eyes (Romans 3:10–18).

Despite this hostility we have toward God, God revealed His love toward us in giving us His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the propitiation (the appeasement of God’s righteous wrath) for our sins. We did not have to meet certain conditions before God sent His Son; God’s plan from before creation was to send the Savior into a broken world that could not fix itself.

This divine rescue mission resulted in a gracious act of self-sacrifice. As Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). That is precisely what God, in Christ, has done.

The unconditional nature of God’s love is also made clear in these passages: 1) “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4–5). 2) “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9–10).

It is important to note that God’s love initiates; it is never simply a response. That is precisely what makes it unconditional. If God’s love were conditional, then we would have to do something to earn it. We would have to somehow appease His wrath and cleanse ourselves of our sin before God would be able to love us. But the biblical message—the gospel—is that God, motivated by unconditional love, moved to save His people from their sin.

Question: Why does God love us?

Answer: This short question is among the most profound ever asked, and no human would ever be able to answer it sufficiently. One thing is certain, however: God does not love us because we are lovable or because we deserve His love. If anything, the opposite is true. The state of mankind since the fall is one of rebellion and disobedience. Jeremiah 17:9 describes man’s natural condition: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Our innermost being is so corrupted by sin that we don’t even realize the extent to which sin has tainted us. In our natural state, we do not seek God; we do not love God; we do not desire God. Romans 3:10–12 clearly presents the state of the unregenerate person: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” How, then, is it possible for a holy, righteous, and perfect God to love such creatures? To understand this, we must understand something of the nature of love and the character of God.

First John 4:8 and 16 tell us, “God is love.” Never was so much meaning crowded into so few words—God is love. God doesn’t just love; He is love. In other words, love is not an action God performs; love is His nature and essence. Love permeates His very being and infuses all His other attributes, even His wrath and anger. Because God’s very nature is love, He must demonstrate love, just as He must demonstrate all His attributes because doing so brings Him glory. Glorifying God is the highest, noblest of all acts; so, naturally, glorifying Himself is what God must do.

Since it is God’s essential nature to love, He demonstrates His love by lavishing it on undeserving people who are in rebellion against Him. God’s love is not a sappy, sentimental, romantic feeling. Rather, it is agape love, the love of self-sacrifice. He demonstrated this sacrificial love by sending His Son to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin (1 John 4:10), by drawing us to Himself (John 6:44), by forgiving us of our rebellion against Him, and by sending His Holy Spirit to dwell within us—enabling us to love as He loves. God did this in spite of the fact that we did not deserve it. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Love does not focus on the worthiness of its object but on its need.

God’s love is personal. He knows us individually and loves us personally. His is a mighty love that has no beginning and no end. It is this experiencing of God’s love that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions.

Why does God love us? It is because of who He is: “God is love.”

Question: Why does God require faith?

Answer: All relationships require faith. We can never fully know any other person. We cannot experience others’ experiences or enter their minds to know their thoughts and emotions. Proverbs 14:10 (NASB) says, “The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy.”

Because we are incapable of fully knowing other people, faith (trust) must be an integral ingredient in our relationships, to some degree. For example, a wife trusts her husband enough to be a willing passenger when he is driving, even though he often drives faster than she would on winter roads. When we share information about ourselves with others, we trust they will not betray us with that knowledge. We even exercise faith in total strangers; as we drive down a city street, we trust those driving around us to follow the rules of the road. Trust is a necessary component of our relationships.

If we cannot know finite human beings fully, how can we expect to know an infinite God fully? Even if He should desire to fully reveal Himself, it would be impossible for us to comprehend Him completely. It would be like trying to pour the ocean into a teacup. However, having perfect knowledge of someone is not required in a relationship. Knowledge plus trust is. We can have meaningful relationships with other people based on our (limited) knowledge of them, combined with our trust in them. In the same way, our relationship with God is grounded in our (limited) knowledge of Him and our trust in Him. God has revealed Himself through His creation (Romans 1:18–21), through His written Word (2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:16–21), and through His Son (John 14:9); therefore, we can know enough of Him to trust Him.

Trusting God is the basis of a meaningful relationship with Him. The Bible is specific about what this trust entails: faith in Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, who died on the cross to take our punishment for sin and rose again the third day (Romans 10:9–10). Those who believe in Him become children of God and live eternally in His presence (John 1:12; 3:16; 1 John 3:1).

Some people think, If only God would prove Himself to me, then I would believe. However, faith does not require proof. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). God is pleased when we trust Him (Hebrews 11:6).

There have been times when God “proved” Himself to people. A prime example of this is the Exodus from Egypt, when God revealed Himself to the Israelites. He sent plagues upon the Egyptians (Exodus 7:14—11:8), opened the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army (Exodus 14:22–29), guided the Israelites with the Shekinah Glory—a visible representation of His presence (Exodus 13:21), and fed them miraculously with manna (Exodus 16).

Given these repeated demonstrations of God’s love, guidance, and power, one would think the Israelites would have had a vibrant faith. Yet the record shows that they still refused to trust Him when it came time to enter the Promised Land. That generation’s choice not to trust God led to their eventual death in the wilderness. Therefore, faith is not based on what we can see. God’s further revelation of Himself does not produce a greater ability to trust Him. The Israelites had miracles; what they needed was faith.

The fact is that God has revealed enough of His nature to enable us to trust Him. History, nature, and Jesus Christ all show us that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, all-holy, and eternal. And in that revelation, He has shown that He is worthy to be trusted. We have the knowledge; now God requires faith. How could we not trust Him, knowing what we know about Him?

Question: Why does God demand, seek, or request that we worship Him?

Answer: Worship means “to give honor, homage, reverence, respect, adoration, praise, or glory to a superior being.”[21] God demands worship because He and He alone is worthy of it. He is the only being who truly deserves worship. He requests that we acknowledge His greatness, His power, and His glory. Revelation 4:11 tells us, “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.” God created us, and He will not be usurped. “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God …” (Exodus 20:4–5). God’s jealousy is not the sinful envy we experience, born out of pride and covetousness. It is a holy and righteous jealousy that protects and maintains what is rightfully His. God cannot allow the glory due only to Him to be given to another.

God expects us to worship Him as an expression of reverence and thanksgiving to Him, and this worship includes actions. God expects us to be obedient to Him. He wants us not only to love Him but also to act justly toward each other and to show love and compassion to others. In this way, we present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him. This glorifies God and is our “spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1). When we worship with an obedient heart and an open and repentant spirit, God is glorified, Christians are purified, the church is edified, and the lost are evangelized. These are all the elements of true worship.

God also desires that we worship Him because it is what we were created to do. “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever!” (Romans 11:36). Hammers were not designed to mow lawns, and people were not designed to glorify themselves. Just as a hammer fulfills its purpose when it is driving nails, a person fulfills his or her divine destiny when he or she is worshiping the Lord.

Our worship of the true and living God sets us apart as God’s people. Philippians 3:3 describes the true church, the body of believers in Jesus Christ, whose eternal destiny is heaven: “For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh.” In other words, the church is uniquely identified as God’s people, not through physical circumcision but through worship, joy, and faith. Those who do not worship the true and living God are none of His, and their eternal destiny is hell. But the true worshipers’ eternal home is with the God they adore.

God demands, seeks, and requests our worship because He deserves it, because it is the nature of a Christian to worship Him, and because it is what we were created to do. That is the theme of redemptive history: to worship the true, living, and glorious God.

Question: Does God tempt us to sin?

Answer: The most commonly thought of passage of Scripture in regards to God possibly tempting someone to sin is the account of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22. In Genesis 22:2, God gives Abraham a strange command: “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering.” Human sacrifice is abhorrent to God (Deuteronomy 18:10), so why would God tell Abraham to do such a thing? Verse 1 (KJV) says, “God did tempt Abraham.” Should we understand this “temptation” as God’s attempt to cause a man to sin?

The Hebrew word translated “tempt” is the word nacah, and it means “to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test.” Because “tempt” has so many possible synonyms, we must look to the context and compare it to other passages. As we read the account of this event, we note that God did not intend for Abraham to complete the sacrifice of Isaac. However, Abraham did not know that and was willing to carry out God’s orders, knowing that if God did require such a sacrifice, He was able to raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:17–19).

James 1:13 provides a guiding principle: no one can truthfully say that he has been “tempted of God.” The word of is essential to understanding this statement, because it indicates the origin of something. Temptations to sin do not originate with God. James reasons that God cannot be tempted with evil, and He does not tempt anyone to sin.

Another important word in this discussion is found in James 1:2–3: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” The Greek word translated “trials” denotes “trouble” or something that breaks the pattern of peace, comfort, joy, and happiness in someone’s life. The verb form of this word means “to put someone or something to the test” with the purpose of discovering that person’s nature or that thing’s quality. God brings such tests to prove—and increase—the strength and quality of one’s faith and to demonstrate its validity (verses 2–12). So, according to James, when we face temptations or trials, God’s purpose is to prove our faith and produce godly character. That is a high, good, noble motive.

Are there temptations that are designed to make us fail? Yes, but they do not come from God—they come from Satan (Matthew 4:1), his evil angels (Ephesians 6:12), or from our own sinful natures (Romans 13:14; Galatians 5:13). God allows us to experience these temptations, and they are allowed for our benefit. God told Abraham to offer Isaac, but the “temptation” was not intended to cause Abraham to sin; it was meant to test and prove his faith.

Question: Is it sometimes God’s will for believers to be sick?

Answer: God is sovereign; that is, He is almighty, and He exercises dominion over everything. He is in complete control. Nothing, past, present, or future, happens outside of His jurisdiction. He either directly causes or passively allows everything. Here is an important distinction. Allowing something to happen and directly causing it are two different things. For example, God created Adam. God was the cause and giver of life. He then allowed Adam to rebel against Him. God did not cause Adam to sin, and He certainly could have stopped him, but He chose not to. Adam’s rebellion brought all manner of evil into the world—evil that is not caused by God but which is permitted by Him to exist.

Sickness is one manifestation of the two broad types of evil: moral and natural. Moral evil is the result of human activity—man’s sinful actions (or inactions, as the case may be). Natural evil is the result of natural processes—things like natural disasters (tornados, floods, earthquakes) and physical illnesses. Evil is a perversion or corruption of something that was originally good. The Greek word for evil, ponerous, actually implies a malignancy, something that is corrupting a good and healthy state of being.

When Adam sinned, he condemned all of humanity to suffer the consequences of that sin, including the natural evil of sickness. Romans 8:20–22 says, “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it … We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” God, the “one who subjected” the creation to frustration following the fall, has a plan to eventually liberate creation from the effects of sin. Until that day, God allows sickness and other evils to bring about His sovereign purposes, to glorify Himself, and to exalt His holy name.

At times, God miraculously heals sickness. Jesus healed all types of sicknesses and diseases (Matthew 4:23) and even raised Lazarus from the dead after a fatal illness. At other times, God uses sicknesses as a method of discipline or as judgment against sin. King Uzziah was struck with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:19–20) because of his pride and disobedience. Nebuchadnezzar was driven to madness until he came to understand that “the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men” (Daniel 4). Herod was struck down and eaten by worms because he accepted praise as if God’s glory was his own (Acts 12:21–23). There is even at least one case where God allowed a physical defect—blindness—not to punish sin, but to reveal Himself and His mighty works through that blindness (John 9:1–3).

Many times, illness is not the result of God’s direct intervention but simply the result of living in a fallen world with fallen bodies. Ultimately, God allows all sickness and disease for His purposes, whether we understand them or not. It is not always God’s will to heal in this world.

Sickness is certainly a result of man’s fall into sin, but God is very much in control, and He determines how far evil can go. God set limits to what Satan could do during Job’s trials, and Satan was not allowed to exceed those boundaries. God tells us He is all-powerful over fifty times in the Bible, and it is amazing to see how His sovereignty unites with our choices (both bad and good) to work out His perfect plan (Romans 8:28).

For believers who are suffering with sicknesses or diseases, there is consolation in the knowledge that they can glorify God through their sufferings. Knowing God is good tempers the uncertainty of why He allows illnesses. In eternity, when we stand in His presence, all questions will be answered—or perhaps we will no longer care about the questions then.

Question: Does God hate? If God is love, how can He hate?

Answer: It seems a contradiction that a God who is love can also hate. We are created with the capacity for both love and hate; it is part of being created in the image of God. The fact that we are all tainted with sin does not negate the fact that we all have the ability to love and hate. Therefore, if it is no contradiction for a human being to be able to love and hate, then neither is it contradictory for God to possess the same ability.

When the Bible speaks of God hating, the object of the hatred is usually sin and wickedness. Among the things God hates are idolatry (Deuteronomy 12:31; 16:22) and those who do evil (Psalm 5:4–6; 11:5). Proverbs 6:16–19 outlines seven things the Lord hates: pride, lying, murder, evil plots, those who love evil, false witnesses, and troublemakers. Notice that this passage does not include just things that God hates; it includes people as well. People are, by nature, sinful.

The question to be answered at this point is why does God hate these things? God hates them because they are contrary to His nature—God’s nature is holy, pure, and righteous. In fact, David writes, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell” (Psalm 5:4, emphasis added). God is holy and therefore hates sin. If He did not hate sin, He would not be holy. God is love, which means He desires what is best for us, and what is best for us is to refrain from sin. His love coexists with wrath, justice, and vengeance. His wrath is a holy wrath, as are His justice and vengeance. God’s love is holy. God loves righteousness and holiness because they are good, perfect, and life-affirming; He hates sin and evil because they are wrong, imperfect, and life-destroying. If He did not hate evil, He would not be God.

So if God hates sin and loves holiness, how can He have a loving relationship with us? It’s simple. He has offered everyone who believes the righteousness of Christ, who became sin for us on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Father poured out His wrath and vengeance against sin on His Son so He could pour out His mercy and love on us. Without that sacrifice credited to us, God’s wrath remains on us because He hates our sin. The Bible never says He “hates the sin, but loves the sinner.” In fact, He is “angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11 KJV). Is there a sense in which God loves everyone? Yes; He has given us His Son, the best gift possible. Does that love prevent God from also hating sin, wickedness, and evil? No.

Question: Does God love me?

Answer: The question of whether or not God loves us—personally and individually—is common. Surrounded by the conditional, imperfect love of finite humanity, we cannot comprehend easily that God would love us. We know our faults. We know God is perfect and sinless. Why would God, who is infinite and holy, love us, who are finite and sinful? And yet the great truth of the gospel is that He does! Time and again, Scripture reminds us of God’s love for us.

To begin with, God created mankind in His own image. And He did so with great care and concern. He “formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being … the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:7, 21–22). There’s an intimacy here between God and mankind. With the rest of creation, God merely spoke, and it was. Yet God took time in forming man and woman. Then He gave them dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:28). God related directly to Adam and Eve. After they sinned, the couple hid from God when He came “walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). It was not abnormal for them to speak with God; it was abnormal for them to hide.

Our relationship with God was broken after the fall, but His love remained. Immediately following God’s pronouncement of curses on the sinful couple, Scripture paints another loving image of God. “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’ So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken” (Genesis 3:21–23). God’s action here is not vindictive or punitive; it is protective. God clothed Adam and Eve to hide their shame. He drove them out of Eden to protect them from further harm. God acted out of love. Then, God’s plan of redemption and restoration began to unfold—a plan not designed after the fall but before creation (1 Peter 1:20). God loves humankind so much that He chose to create us even knowing the heartache it would cause Him to redeem us.

There are many verses that attest to God’s love. We can see His tenderness in Old and New Testament alike. David and other psalmists were especially articulate regarding God’s love. Just look at Psalm 139. Song of Solomon is another wonderful picture of love. God’s love is evident in the history of the Israelites, as God continually preserved a remnant and pled with His people to obey and live. God is just, but He is also merciful. He is tender. He is jealous for His people, desirous that a relationship be restored.

Sometimes we look at the Old Testament and think that God only loves people as a nation, not as individuals. But it is important to remember that Ruth, Hagar, David, Abraham, Moses, and Jeremiah were all individuals. God stepped into each of their lives and loved them individually. This individual love becomes most obvious in the person of Jesus.

God confined Himself to human skin in order to redeem us (Philippians 2:5–11). He entered our world as a baby, born to an unassuming family in a very humble way. (He spent His first night in a feeding trough, with animals, in a cave.) Jesus grew up like any child would. During His public ministry, He often associated with society’s outcasts. He stopped for the sick. He healed. He listened to people. He blessed children. He also taught us about God’s love. Luke 13:34 records Jesus crying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” This speaks of God’s heart desire that people would return to Him. He longs for us. Not to punish us, but to love us.

The greatest proof of God’s love is Jesus’ passion and crucifixion. Paul reminds us, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6–8). Jesus’ work on the cross was an unmistakable declaration of love. And this love is unconditional. We were in our worst state when Christ died for us. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins … but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace that you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:1, 4–5).

This salvation has made true life possible. As Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). God is not stingy. He wants to lavish His love on us. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1–2).

Paul was formerly an enemy of Christ. He vehemently persecuted Christians. He lived by the letter of the law rather than by an understanding of God’s love. If he even thought of God’s love, Paul probably felt that God could not love him apart from his rule-following. Yet, in Christ, he found God’s grace and accepted God’s love. One of his greatest articulations of God’s love is this: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31–32, 35–39).

So the simple answer is, “Yes!” Yes, God loves you! As hard as it may be to believe, it is the truth.

Here are some other Scriptures about God’s love for you:

God is love.

—1 John 4:8

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

—Ephesians 5:1–2

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

—Ephesians 5:25–27

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

—John 15:9–11

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

—1 John 3:16a

Question: Why does God allow sickness?

Answer: The issue of sickness is always a difficult one with which to deal. The key is remembering that God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). When we are suffering with a sickness, disease, or injury, we usually focus solely on our own suffering. In the midst of a trial of sickness, it is difficult to focus on what good God might bring about as a result. Romans 8:28 reminds us that God can bring about good from any situation. Many people look back on times of sickness as times when they grew closer to God, learned to trust Him more, and/or learned how to truly value life. This is God’s perspective because He is sovereign and knows the end result.

This does not mean sickness is always from God or that God always allows sickness to teach us a spiritual lesson. In a world tainted by sin, sickness, disease, and death will always be with us. We are fallen beings, with physical bodies prone to disease and illness. Some sickness is simply a result of the natural course of things in this world. Sickness can also be the result of a demonic attack. The Bible describes several instances when Satan and his demons caused physical suffering (Matthew 17:14–18; Luke 13:10–13). So, some sickness is not from God; it is from Satan. Even in these instances, however, God is still in control. God sometimes allows sin and/or Satan to cause physical suffering. Even when sickness is not directly from God, He will still use it according to His perfect will.

It is undeniable, though, that God sometimes intentionally allows sickness to accomplish His sovereign purposes. While sickness is not directly addressed in the passage, Hebrews 12:5–11 describes God disciplining us to “produce a harvest of righteousness” (verse 11). Sickness can be a means of God’s loving discipline. It is difficult for us to comprehend why God would work in this manner. But, if we believe in the sovereignty of God, we must concede that suffering is something God allows and/or causes.

A good example of this is found is Psalm 119. Notice the progression through verses 67, 71, and 75: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word … It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees … I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.” The psalmist was looking at suffering from God’s perspective. It was good for him to be afflicted. It was faithfulness that caused God to afflict him. The result of the affliction was that he could learn God’s decrees and obey His Word.

Again, sickness and suffering are never easy things to deal with. But one thing is for sure, sickness should not cause us to lose faith in God. God is good, even when we are suffering. Even death is an act of God’s goodness. It is hard to imagine anyone in heaven being bitter about what he or she went through in this life.

One final note: When people are suffering, it is our responsibility to minister to them, care for them, pray for them, and comfort them. One of the purposes of an illness might just be to provide an opportunity for others to show the love of Christ in a practical way.

Question: Why does God test us?

Answer: When we ask why God tests us, or allows us to be tested, we admit that testing does indeed come from Him, as is clearly taught in Scripture. When God tests His children, He does a valuable thing. David sought God’s testing, asking Him to examine his heart and mind to see that they were true to Him (Psalm 26:2; 139:23).

In both the Old and New Testaments, the words translated “test” mean “to prove by trial.” Therefore, when God tests His children, His purpose is to prove that their faith is real. It’s not that God needs to prove it to Himself, since He knows all things; rather, He is proving to us that our faith is real, that we are truly His children, and that no trial or test will overcome that faith.

In His Parable of the Sower, Jesus describes those who receive God’s Word with joy, but as soon as a time of testing comes, they fall away. James explains that the testing of our faith develops perseverance, which leads to maturity in our walk with God (James 1:3–4). James goes on to say that tests are a blessing because, when the testing is over and we have “stood the test,” we will “receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). Testing comes from our heavenly Father, who works all things together for good for those who love Him and who are called to be the children of God (Romans 8:28).

The testing we undergo comes in various ways. Being a Christian often requires us to move out of our comfort zones. We’ve perhaps heard the saying, “No pain, no gain,” when exercising our physical bodies. The same applies to exercising our faith in God. This is why James wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). The testing of our faith might manifest itself in small things, like daily irritations; it could also show up as a severe affliction (Isaiah 48:10). Whatever form the testing takes, it is to our benefit to undergo trials.

The account of Job is a perfect example of God allowing one of His saints to be tested by the devil. Job bore all his trials patiently and “did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22). The account of Job’s testing is also proof that Satan’s ability to tempt us is limited by God’s sovereign control. No demon can test or afflict us beyond what God has ordained for His perfect purposes and for our benefit.

There are many examples to illustrate the positive results of being tested. The psalmist likens our testing to being refined as silver (Psalm 66:10). By testing our faith, God causes us to grow into strong disciples who truly “live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

When testing and trials come our way, we should receive them with joy because we know that it is God who allows them to strengthen us. When we experience the storms of life, we must be like a tree that digs its roots ever deeper. Or, to use Jesus’ metaphor, we must build our house on the rock—the sure foundation of God’s Word—and so withstand whatever comes against us (Matthew 7:24).

We take comfort in the fact that God will never allow us to be tested beyond what we are able to handle. In all things, God will provide a way out of the test (1 Corinthians 10:13). This does not mean He will remove the trial from us. Why would He, when He says trials are for our benefit? Rather, the “way out” is the way through. With God, who is ever faithful, by our side, we will emerge from trials as stronger, more mature Christians—by His grace and power.

Question: Does God love everyone or just Christians?

Answer: There is a sense in which God loves everyone in the whole world (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2; Romans 5:8). This love is not conditional; it is based only on the fact that God is a God of love (1 John 4:8, 16). God’s love for all of mankind results in the fact that God shows His mercy by not immediately punishing people for their sins (Romans 3:23; 6:23). God’s love for the world is manifested in the fact that He gives people the opportunity to repent (2 Peter 3:9). However, God’s love for the world does not mean He will ignore sin. God is also a God of justice (2 Thessalonians 1:6). Sin cannot go unpunished forever (Romans 3:25–26).

The most loving act of eternity is described in Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Anyone who ignores God’s love, rejects Christ as Savior, and/or denies the Savior who bought him (2 Peter 2:1), has spurned God’s love and will be subject to God’s wrath for eternity (Romans 1:18).

God loves everyone unconditionally. But He only has “covenant love” for those who place their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation (John 3:36). Only those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will experience God’s covenant love for eternity.

Does God love everyone? Yes. Does God love Christians more than He loves non-Christians? No. God loves everyone equally, in that He is merciful to all. The unconditional love God has for everyone should bring us to faith in Him. Our response to His love should be a grateful receiving of the gift of salvation that He offers through Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER 8

QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW WE RELATE TO GOD

Contents

What does it mean to have the fear of God?

Is it wrong to be angry with God?

Is it wrong to feel disappointment with God?

What is God’s will?

What does it mean to bless God?

Does God expect us to have blind faith?

Is it wrong to be frustrated with God?

Is it wrong to question God?

Why is seeking God important?

What is the key to truly knowing God?

What does it mean to find God?

Why was God so evident in the Bible when He seems so hidden today?

Is it really true that all things are possible with God?

Question: What does it mean to have the fear of God?

Answer: For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of His judgment and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer’s fear is reverence for God. Hebrews 12:28–29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” This reverence and awe are the motivating factors for us to surrender to the Creator of the universe.

Proverbs 1:7a declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous. Deuteronomy 10:12, 20–21 records, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.” The fear of God is the basis for our walking in His ways, serving Him, and loving Him.

Some redefine the fear of God for believers as “respecting” Him. While respect is definitely included in the concept of fearing God, there is more to it than that. A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin—even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5–11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing. When we were children, the fear of discipline from our parents no doubt prevented some evil actions. The same should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline and, therefore, seek to live our lives in ways that please Him.

Believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38–39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on how we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshipping Him in awe.

Question: Is it wrong to be angry with God?

Answer: Being angry with God is something that many people, both believers and unbelievers, have wrestled with throughout time. When something tragic happens in our lives, we may ask God the question, “Why?” because it is our natural response. What we are really asking Him, though, is often not so much, “Why, God?” as, “Why me, God?” This response indicates two flaws in our thinking. First, as believers, we sometimes operate under the impression that life should be easy and that God should prevent tragedy from happening to us. When He does not, we may get angry with Him. Second, when we do not understand the extent of God’s sovereignty, we can lose confidence in His ability to control circumstances, other people, and the ways they affect us. Then we get angry with God because He seems to have lost control of the universe and especially of our lives. When we lose faith in God’s sovereignty, it is because our frail human flesh is grappling with our lack of control over events.

When good things happen, we all too often attribute them to our own achievements and successes. When bad things happen, however, we can be quick to blame God and get angry with Him for not preventing them. This indicates the first flaw in our thinking—that we deserve to be immune to unpleasant circumstances.

Tragedies bring home the awful truth that we are not in charge. All of us think at one time or another that we can control the outcomes of situations, but the reality is that God is in charge of all creation. Everything that happens is either caused by or allowed by God. Not a sparrow falls to the ground or a hair from our heads without God knowing about (Matthew 10:29–31). We can complain, get angry, and blame God for what is happening; yet if we will trust Him and yield our bitterness and pain to Him, acknowledging the pride of trying to force our own will over His, He can and will grant us His peace and strength to get us through any difficult situation (Numbers 6:26). Many believers in Jesus Christ can testify to that very fact. At some point, we must all accept that there are things we cannot control or even understand.

Our understanding of the sovereignty of God must be coupled with an understanding of His other attributes: love, mercy, kindness, goodness, righteousness, justice, and holiness. God’s Word tells us that our loving God works all things together for our good (Romans 8:28) and that He has a perfect plan for us that cannot be thwarted (Isaiah 14:24; 46:9–10).When we see our difficulties through the truth of God’s Word, we begin to see our problems in a different light. We also know from Scripture that this life will never be one of continual happiness. Rather, Job reminds us that “man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7) and that life is short and “full of trouble” (Job 14:1). Just because we come to Christ for salvation from sin does not mean we are guaranteed a life free from problems. In fact, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” The good news is that He has “overcome the world” (John 16:33), enabling us to have peace in spite of the storms that rage around us (John 14:27).

One thing is certain: inappropriate anger is sin (Galatians 5:19–20; Ephesians 4:26–27, 31; Colossians 3:8). Ungodly anger is self-defeating, gives the devil a foothold in our lives, and can destroy our joy and peace. Holding onto our anger will allow bitterness and resentment to spring up in our hearts. We must confess it to the Lord and release those angry feelings to Him. The Bible tells us in 2 Samuel 12:15–23 that David went before the throne of grace on behalf of his sick baby, fasting, weeping, and praying for the baby to survive. When the baby passed away, David got up and worshipped the Lord. Then he told his servants that he knew where his baby was and that he would someday be with him in God’s presence. That is a wonderful testimony. God knows our hearts, so it is pointless to try to hide how we really feel. Talking to Him about our pain and frustration is one of the best ways to handle our grief. If we do so humbly, pouring out our hearts to Him, He will work through us and in us. In the process, He will make us more like Him.

The bottom line is this: can we trust God with everything, including our very lives and the lives of our loved ones? Of course we can! Our God is compassionate, gracious, and loving. As disciples of Christ, we can trust Him with all things. When tragedies happen to us, we know God can use them to bring us closer to Him and to strengthen our faith. He desires to bring us to maturity and completeness (James 1:2–4).Then, we can be a comforting testimony to others (2 Corinthians 1:3–5). Of course, this is easier said than done. It requires us to surrender our own will to God’s on a daily basis and a faithful study of His attributes as seen in Scripture, much prayer, and the application of God’s promises to our own situations. When we do this, our faith will grow and mature, making it easier to trust Him.

So, to answer the question directly, yes, it is wrong to be angry with God. Anger with God is a result of an inability or unwillingness to trust God. Anger at God is essentially telling God that He has done something wrong, which He never does. Does God understand when we are angry, frustrated, or disappointed with Him? Yes. He knows our hearts, and He knows how difficult and painful life in this world can be. Does that make it right to be angry with God? Absolutely not. Instead of being angry with God, we should pour out our hearts to Him in prayer and then trust that He is in control and His plan is perfect.

Question: Is it wrong to feel disappointment with God?

Answer: Disappointment with God is not necessarily wrong or sinful; rather, it is a part of the human condition. The word disappointment means “a feeling of dissatisfaction when one’s hopes, desires, and expectations fail to come to pass.” When God somehow fails to satisfy our hopes or does not live up to our expectations, disappointment inevitably follows. If God does not perform in the manner we think He should, we may become disillusioned with Him and dissatisfied with His performance. This can lead to a wavering faith in God, especially concerning His sovereignty and goodness.

When God does not act when we think He should act, it is not because He is unable to do so. Rather, He simply chooses not to. While this might seem arbitrary or capricious on His part, the exact opposite is true. God chooses to act or not to act according to His perfect and holy will, in order to bring about His righteous purposes. Nothing happens that is out of God’s plan. He has control of every molecule in the universe, and God’s will encompasses every action and decision made by every person throughout the world, at all times. He tells us in Isaiah 46:11, “From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.” Even the birds are somehow part of His foreordained plans. There are times when He chooses to let us know His plans (Isaiah 46:10) and times when He does not. Sometimes we understand what He is doing; sometimes we do not (Isaiah 55:9). One thing we do know for sure: if we belong to Him, whatever He does will be to our benefit, whether or not we understand it (Romans 8:28).

The key to avoiding disappointment with God is aligning our will with His and submitting to His will in all things. Doing so will not only keep us from being disappointed with God, but also it will preclude grumbling and complaining about the events that occur in our lives.

The Israelites in the desert griped and questioned God on several occasions, despite having seen miraculous displays of His power in the parting of the Red Sea, the provision of manna and quail in the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord that followed them in the form of pillars of cloud and fire (Exodus 15—16; Exodus 13:20–22). Despite God’s continual faithfulness to His people, they grumbled and were disappointed because God did not act as they thought He should. Rather than submitting to His will and trusting Him, they were in a constant state of turmoil and confusion.

When we align our will with God’s will and when we can say, with Jesus, “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42), then we find the contentment Paul spoke of in 1 Timothy 6:6–8 and Philippians 4:11–12. Paul had learned to be content with whatever God sent his way. He trusted God and submitted to His will, knowing that a holy, righteous, perfect, loving, and merciful God would work all things together for his good, because that is what He promised. When we see God in that light, we cannot possibly be disappointed with Him. Rather, we submit willingly to our heavenly Father, knowing that His will is perfect and everything He brings to pass in our lives will be for our good and His glory.

Question: What is God’s will?

Answer: Many people see three different aspects of God’s will in the Bible. Different writers use different terms, but the more common ones are God’s “sovereign” will, God’s “preceptive” will, and God’s “will of disposition.”

The first is known as God’s sovereign, decretive, or hidden will. This is God’s “ultimate” will. This facet of God’s will is based on God’s sovereignty and the fact that He ordains everything that comes to pass. In other words, God is in control, and there is nothing that happens outside of His sovereign will. Ephesians 1:11 says that God is the one “who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Job 42:2 says, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.” Because God is sovereign, His will can never be frustrated. What God decrees to happen happens.

This understanding of God’s sovereign will does not imply that God is the cause of everything. He does not cause sin, for example. Rather, it acknowledges that, because God is sovereign, He must at least permit or passively allow all events. He always has the power and right to intervene. When God allows something to happen, He has, in a sense, “willed” it.

God’s sovereign will is often hidden from us until it comes to pass, but there is another aspect of His will that is plain to us: His preceptive (“having to do with precepts”) or revealed will. As the name implies, this facet of God’s will concerns the part of His plan that He has chosen to divulge. The preceptive will of God includes His directives on what we should or should not do. For example, we know that it is God’s will that we do not steal, that we love our enemies, and that we repent of our sins. This is revealed both in His Word and in our consciences, through which God has written His moral law upon the hearts of everyone. The will of God, whether found in Scripture or in our hearts, is binding upon us.

While we have the ability to disobey God’s commands, we do not have the right to do so. Therefore, there is no excuse for sin, and we cannot justify wrongdoing with the claim that it fulfills God’s sovereign decree. Judas fulfilled God’s sovereign will in betraying Christ, but he broke God’s preceptive will. Judas’s betrayal was no less treacherous simply because it had been prophesied. Saying, “Jesus had to die in order to save us,” does not mitigate Judas’s sin, and he was held responsible for it (Mark 14:21).Even though, in His sovereign will, God permits sin, we are still held accountable for sinning.

The third aspect of God’s will is God’s will of disposition. This facet of God’s will concerns God’s “attitude” and defines what is pleasing to Him. For example, it is clear that God takes no pleasure in the deaths of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23), but it is also clear that He wills or decrees their deaths. The statement that God does not enjoy bringing death upon the wicked is an expression of God’s will of disposition. Another example is in 1 Timothy 2:4. There we see that God desires “all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” God is disposed to save everyone because He has universal compassion—He is willing to save all. Yet we know that God’s sovereign will is that “no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). God would “like” for everyone to be saved, but that desire is superseded by a desire to show His power and justice and mercy in all its glory by saving some and allowing others to reject Him.

If we are not careful, we can make finding the will of God an unhealthy pursuit. If the will we are seeking is His secret, hidden, or decretive will, we are on a foolish quest. God has chosen not to reveal those aspects of His will to us. What we should seek to know is the preceptive or revealed will of God. A true mark of spirituality is the desire to know and live according to the will of God as revealed in Scripture. He has shown us what to do (Micah 6:8; 1 Peter 1:15–16). Our responsibility is to obey the revealed will of God and forego speculations about His hidden will.

Romans 12:1–2 calls us to present our “bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” To know the will of God, we should immerse ourselves in the Word of God, saturating our minds with it, and praying that the Holy Spirit will transform us and renew our minds. The result is knowing what is good, acceptable, and perfect—the will of God.

Question: What does it mean to bless God?

Answer: We are familiar with God’s blessings upon us, but what does it mean for us to bless the Lord? The expressions, “Bless the Lord,” and, “Bless God,” are found primarily in the Old Testament. The King James Version uses “bless the Lord” many times, but the more modern translations render it “praise the Lord.” The Hebrew word translated “bless” or “praise” means literally “to kneel,” the implication being to kneel in worship.

Therefore, to bless the Lord means to praise Him, exalt Him, and worship Him. The Psalms are filled with blessings upon God for His counsel (Psalm 16:7), His holiness (Psalm 103:1), His dominion over all things (Psalm 103:22), and His honor and majesty (Psalm 104:1). We offer Him our praise and blessings because He deserves them. Unlike God’s blessings upon us, which are wholly undeserved, our blessing God is eminently merited.

God is glorified when we bless and praise and acknowledge Him. Blessing Him is what we were created for. However, no man can truly bless God unless He is right with God, for as we read in Proverbs 28:9, “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.” Once God has blessed us in the heavenly realms through Christ (Ephesians 1:3), we can bless God in return.

Question: Does God expect us to have blind faith?

Answer: The phrase “blind faith” means different things to different people, and sadly, many people use it as a disparaging term to describe anyone who believes in God. A dictionary definition of “blind faith” is “belief without true understanding, perception, or discrimination.” Is this the kind of faith God desires for us to have? More to the point, is the kind of faith God gives us as a gift a blind faith—that is, an ignorant faith (Ephesians 2:8)?

We will start by looking at one of the greatest examples of faith found in the Old Testament. God told Abraham that he would be a father of many nations and that Sarah, his wife, would bear him a child, even though they were very old. Indeed, Sarah was 90, and Abraham was around 100 when Isaac was finally born to them. Then God told Abraham to do the unthinkable: to kill Isaac as a sacrifice (Genesis 22:1–2). Upon receiving the order, Abraham did not question God. He “blindly” followed God’s orders and made the preparations to sacrifice his son. In the end, God stopped him and said, “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12).

Based on this account, it seems God was complimenting Abraham for blind faith. Since Abraham is a model for us to follow, it would seem that blind faith is the ideal. That, however, is not the whole story. If we turn to the book of Hebrews, we find out a bit more about Abraham.

Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the “hall of fame of faith.” In it we find some of the greatest people of the Bible and what they accomplished through faith. Abraham is listed more than once, but verse 19 tells us Abraham “reasoned” that God had promised a great nation through Isaac and that, if Isaac were killed, God would bring him back from the dead. Because of that reasoning—not blind faith—Abraham intended to obey the command. Abraham did not act blindly or ignorantly. Instead, he used his powers of reason, based on what he knew about God, to think it through. His faith was not indiscriminate; it was based on what he knew of God’s nature as a faithful God. Abraham remembered God’s promise regarding Isaac and acted accordingly.

Throughout Scripture, we find reason, wisdom, and logic promoted as good traits. For example, Proverbs 3:13 says we are blessed when we find wisdom and understanding. Hebrews 5:12–14 admonishes believers for not growing in their own understanding. The apostle Paul commends the church at Berea because they searched the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11). Many times in Acts, Paul is said to “reason” with the lost, proving to them the truth of his words. James 1:5 tells us to ask God for wisdom, which He gives “generously to all without finding fault.” There are also many other places where reason and understanding are uplifted.

To state the point in a simpler manner, God created humans with the ability to think and reason, and He expects us to use those gifts. Remember that the goal of reason and logic is to find truth, and Jesus made the bold claim that He is truth (John 14:6)—so reason and logic should lead us to Jesus every time.

God expects us to act in faith on His promises, just as Abraham did, but we do that from a position of trust that is based on knowledge. Abraham followed God’s order because He knew God. He believed God would keep His promise to raise up a nation through Isaac. His was a reasoned and informed faith.

There will be times in our walk with God that we will act purely on faith because we cannot see the whole picture, as in the case of Abraham. However, this faith is not blind; it is based on knowledge of God’s nature and character, His promises in Scripture, and our personal experiences of walking with God every day.

Question: Is it wrong to be frustrated with God?

Answer: Frustration is that feeling of impatience and anxiety we get when we think our needs are not being met or when we deal with seemingly insurmountable problems. Sometimes, God is the focus of our impatience and dissatisfaction; we become frustrated with Him. Frustration with God, His ways, and His dealings with us can be a major stumbling block for Christians. “God could easily handle this problem. Why doesn’t He?” “God knows I have a need. Where is He?” There are few Christians who have not been fuming with frustration at the Lord for one reason or another at some point in their lives.

Martha is a case in point (Luke 10:38–42). Jesus was visiting her home, and Martha wanted to treat Jesus to a fine meal. Scripture says she “was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.”

Meanwhile, Martha’s sister, Mary, “sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.” In her busyness, Martha felt she deserved some help in the kitchen, and her frustration boiled over. She “came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’” Note that Martha was frustrated both with Mary for not helping and with the Lord for allowing Mary to be “lazy.”

Jesus calmed His friend: “‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things.’” He then took the opportunity to teach a lesson on being still and knowing God (cf. Psalm 46:10)—a lesson we forget when we are frustrated.

Another well-known story is that of Jonah. He too knew what it was to be frustrated with the Lord. Jonah heard from God, but he didn’t like what he heard (Jonah 1:1–3). After finally and reluctantly proclaiming God’s message to the Ninevites, Jonah was convinced that they would not listen and that he would have the satisfaction of seeing them slaughtered by a vengeful God. To Jonah’s chagrin, the Ninevites responded with repentance and humility toward God (Jonah 3:5–10). Jonah was frustrated. His sense of justice was at odds with God’s mercy. To make matters worse, God withered the leafy plant under which Jonah had been taking shade, leaving Jonah exposed to the blazing sun (Jonah 4:7). Jonah’s frustration mounted to the point of wanting to die (Jonah 4:9). God had to remind His angry prophet that his perspective was skewed; Jonah cared more for an insentient plant than for a great city full of people. Frustration can cloud our vision and choke our compassion.

Is it wrong to be frustrated with God? Yes, it is. Frustration is a product of our sinful, human nature. Frustration with God could be evidence of a lack of trust in Him or a misunderstanding of who He is. If God is perfect—and the Bible says He is (Psalm 18:30)—then He has perfect intentions, perfect timing, perfect methods, and perfect results. As we focus our minds on the Lord and trust in Him, we will know peace, not frustration (Isaiah 26:3).

Our frustration with God also could be a by-product of our own stubbornness. When our ambitions conflict with God’s purposes, we will be naturally frustrated. It is never advisable to fight against God. Saul of Tarsus learned this lesson the hard way, and Jesus had to remind him, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14). A simple prayer of humble submission gives far greater comfort than digging in our heels and stubbornly insisting on our plans.

God tells earthly fathers, “Do not exasperate your children” (Colossians 3:21 NASB). Certainly, God does not wish to exasperate His own children. When we feel frustrated with God, it is due to a lack of understanding on our part, not any lack on God’s part. The best way to deal with being frustrated with God is to submit to His will, accept His timing, and trust His goodness. “Cast all your anxiety [and your impatience and frustration] on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Question: Is it wrong to question God?

Answer: The issue is not whether or not we should question God but in what manner and for what reason we question Him. To question God is not in itself wrong. The prophet Habakkuk had questions for God concerning the timing and agency of the Lord’s plan. Habakkuk, rather than being rebuked for his questions, was patiently answered, and the prophet ended his book with a song of praise to the Lord. Many questions were put to God in the Psalms (Psalms 10; 44; 74; 77). These were and are the cries of the persecuted who are desperate for God’s intervention and salvation. Although God does not always answer our questions in the way we want him to, we can conclude from these passages that God welcomes a sincere question from an earnest heart.

Insincere questions, or questions from a hypocritical heart, are a different matter. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). After King Saul disobeyed God, his questions went unanswered (1 Samuel 28:6). It is entirely different to wonder why God allowed a certain event than it is to directly question God’s goodness. Having doubts is different from questioning God’s sovereignty and attacking His character. In short, an honest question is not a sin, but a bitter, untrusting, or rebellious heart is.

God is not intimidated by questions. God invites us to enjoy close fellowship with Him. When we “question God,” it should be from a humble spirit and open mind. We can question God, but we should not expect an answer unless we are genuinely interested in His answer. God knows our hearts and knows whether or not we are genuinely seeking Him to enlighten us. Our hearts’ attitudes are what determine whether it is right or wrong to question God.

Question: Why is seeking God important?

Answer: In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul quoted an astonishing statement from the Psalms: “There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God” (Romans 3:11). How could Paul, and David before him, make such a sweeping declaration? Of all who have ever lived, not even one person has really sought after God? There’s no question that billions of people have sought after a god, but they have never, on their own, sought after the true God.

This fact ties directly to Adam and Eve’s sin. After they disobeyed God, they ran and hid—and we have been running ever since. Throughout the history of mankind, Satan’s deception has been so thorough that natural man cannot perceive the real truth about God. As a result, our conceptions of God are blurred. It is only when God chooses to reveal Himself to us that our eyes are opened to truth. Then, truly seeking God becomes possible, and our being is consumed with a desire for Him: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:2).

Jesus tells us in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Here Jesus is telling us that continuing to seek God and desiring to know Him more is the essence of true life—eternal life. The most important thoughts our minds can entertain are thoughts of God, because they will determine the quality and direction of our lives. Seeking God, then, is an ongoing responsibility and privilege for all Christians.

This is not always an easy thing to do, not because God is elusive but because our minds are saturated with misconceptions planted by Satan and reinforced by culture. But the good news is that these mistaken beliefs are done away with when we seek God and come to know Him. Second Chronicles 15:2–4 was written to people like us: “He [Azariah the prophet] went out to meet Asa and said to him, ‘Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.’”

Their instructions were simple: when Israel sincerely sought God, things went well, but when their desire to seek Him waned, their world came apart. Sin increased, morality declined, contact with God ceased. The admonition to the children of God of that time is clear to us today: “If you seek him, he will be found by you.” This profound principle is repeated throughout Scripture. God wants to be found. When we draw near to Him, He reveals Himself to us. God does not hide Himself from the seeking heart.

But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

—Deuteronomy 4:29

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

—Jeremiah 29:13

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

—Matthew 7:7

Question: What is the key to truly knowing God?

Answer: Within all of us there exists a strong desire for relationship—to know others and to be known. The ultimate relationship is with God—to know Him and be known by Him. The world bombards us with promises to satisfy our cravings to know more, have more, and be more. However, the world’s empty promises will never satisfy the way that knowing God will satisfy. Jesus actually equated eternal life with having a relationship with God: “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

So, what is the key to truly knowing God? First, it is imperative to understand that man, on his own, is incapable of truly knowing God because of man’s sinfulness. The Scriptures reveal that we are all sinful (Romans 3) and that we fall short of the standard of holiness required to commune with God. The consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and eternal separation from God. However, in His mercy, God offers to forgive our sin through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Step one in truly knowing God is to come to Him in faith, on the basis of Jesus’ death and resurrection. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Jesus makes it clear that He alone is the way to have a personal knowledge of God: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Once we have received Christ as our Savior, we can begin the journey of knowing God more and growing in our relationship with Him. Understanding that the Bible is God’s Word is a key factor in this journey. It is His revelation of Himself, His promises, and His will. The Bible is essentially a love letter from the God who created us to know Him intimately. What better way to learn about our Creator than to immerse ourselves in His Word, revealed to us for that very reason? Bible study is important as we get to know God. Paul writes to Timothy, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:14–17).

Finally, truly knowing God involves our commitment to obey the Scriptures. “This is love for God: to obey his commands” (1 John 5:3a). We are part of God’s plan to continue to reveal Himself to the world. We carry the responsibility to live out the very faith that is required to know God. We are salt and light on this earth (Matthew 5:13–14), designed to bring God’s “flavor” to the world and to serve as a shining light in the midst of darkness. Jesus stressed the importance of loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:34–40). The only way to keep this command is by faithfully reading and applying the truth revealed in God’s Word.

In our quest to know God better, let us never forget that those who are born again have God’s Spirit dwelling within them. Jesus promised that the Spirit of Truth “lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). As we read the Word, the Holy Spirit will give us understanding. As we yield to the Spirit, He will empower us to obey the Word. As we seek to know Him, He will allow Himself to be known.

Question: What does it mean to find God?

Answer: “Finding God” can mean different things to different people. For some, the phrase is synonymous with “getting religion,” whatever religion that may be. For others, it means “cleaning up one’s life,” usually with the help of a higher power. It is sometimes used derogatorily to describe a spiritual transformation of questionable authenticity. In any case, to “find God” involves a change in someone’s attitude and/or behavior.

Biblically speaking, to find God means to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is only through Jesus that anyone can come to God (John 14:6), and receiving Christ results in a spiritual transformation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Therefore, to find God is to recognize one’s need for salvation and exercise faith in Christ. The result of finding God is living the Christian life.

The Bible says we do not naturally seek God (Psalm 14:2–3). Then God commands us to forsake our sin and seek Him (Isaiah 55:6–7). The Lord gives mercy and goodness to those who seek and find Him (Psalm 9:10; 22:26).

It is God’s desire to be found. He delights in forgiveness, and He is close to all who call on Him. As Paul taught, “God [deals with us] so that men [will] seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27).

Question: Why was God so evident in the Bible when He seems so hidden today?

Answer: Interestingly, Gideon asked the same question. When the Angel of the Lord commissioned Gideon to lead God’s people to victory over their enemies, Gideon replied, “If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us …” (Judges 6:13). It has been a perennial complaint: God used to help us, but not anymore; we saw God a long time ago, but He’s gone now.

Like Gideon, many believers today wonder why God seemed so willing to reveal Himself in “Bible times” yet seems so hidden and silent today.

Let’s keep in mind that God is always at work, and He can and does “unhide” Himself when He needs to. The irony of Gideon’s doubt-filled question is that he was speaking to God at the time, and Gideon soon saw that God was indeed involved in current events.

Also, the idea that God was producing a miracle a minute in “Bible times” is false. As far as we know, there have only been three short periods of concentrated miraculous activity in the history of the world. Each of these periods marked an important change that God was effecting: 1) the time of Moses, when God was establishing His people as a new nation; 2) the time of Elijah and Elisha, when God was eradicating Baal worship from Israel; and 3) the time of Jesus and the apostles, when God was instituting the New Covenant and establishing the church. So, most people in the history of the world never saw overt evidence of God’s intervention.

There are several reasons for God’s perceived silence today. First, God has already spoken, and His words have been miraculously preserved through the ages in the form of the Bible. Now we have the completed canon of Scripture, and we need no further miracles to “validate” the Bible. Everything we need “for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16) is in God’s perfect Word. The Bible is complete and is perfectly able to make us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). It is a “word of the prophets made more certain, and [we] will do well to pay attention to it” (2 Peter 1:19). We need nothing more, and we are not to seek extra-biblical revelation. To do so calls into question the efficacy of Scripture, which God has declared to be sufficient.

Second, we have within us the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to “guide [us] into all truth” (John 16:13). He speaks to us continually, teaching us (1 Corinthians 2:13), reminding us of all things that Jesus taught (John 14:26), and convicting us of sin (John 16:8). God is indeed “speaking” to us today through the Holy Spirit.

The prophet Habakkuk alludes to another reason for God’s seeming concealment: “The righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). God does not perform a continual chain of miraculous signs; not even Jesus did that (Matthew 16:1–4). God expects us to trust what He has already done, search the Scriptures daily, respond to the Holy Spirit within, and live by faith and not by sight (Matthew 16:4; John 20:29).

Finally, even in those times when it seems that God is doing nothing, He is still the sovereign Lord of all creation. He is constantly at work, bringing about the fruition of His perfect plan. He works behind the scenes even today.

Question: Is it really true that all things are possible with God?

Answer: God has unlimited power and can do anything He wishes to do. God has done the impossible on many occasions: from parting the Red Sea (Exodus 14) to defeating whole armies (2 Chronicles 32) and raising the dead (2 Kings 4).

Sometimes we doubt God’s power. It happens to even the most faith-filled among us. The Lord told Moses that He would feed the children of Israel in the desert with meat for a month. Moses balked at the promise, not seeing any possible way for it to be fulfilled. But God said, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you,” and God promptly kept His promise (Numbers 11:18–23, 31–32).

However, God will not do something against His will or contradictory to His nature. In fact, He cannot act in such a way. He can commit no sin, for example, for He is 100 percent holy, and sinning is not in His character.

Jesus said, “All things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). Obviously, Jesus did not mean that God can sin. But aren’t there some other things God cannot do? Some skeptics offer the following paradox as proof that God cannot do everything: “Can God make a stone so heavy He can’t lift it?” Whether the answer is “yes” or “no,” God is proved to be potent, maybe, but not omnipotent. However, what the skeptic is really asking is, “Can God create a contradiction?” It’s like asking God to make a square circle or an air-filled vacuum. Such things are self-contradictory. A rock with infinite weight (required to stymie a God with infinite power) is illogical, because material things cannot be infinite. If words have meaning, then the question about the rock is itself absurd. God cannot create contradictions to logic.

God is omnipotent—all-powerful—not equaled or surpassed by anyone or anything. When God’s people were entering the Promised Land, He parted the mighty Jordan River to allow them safe passage. Joshua 4:24 reveals the lesson God was teaching: “He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful.” In Jeremiah 32:27 God says, “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” The question God asks is rhetorical; His point is that there is absolutely nothing too hard for Him.

The angel in Luke 1:37 tells Mary, “Nothing is impossible with God.” Does this mean you can run faster than a car or leap tall buildings in a single bound? It is within God’s power to make those things possible—God empowered Samson’s great feats—but is it God’s desire that you outrun a car? God is not obligated to fulfill every possibility. Can He cause dollar bills to grow on the tree in your backyard? Yes. Will He? Probably not. He does things according to His own will and purposes (Ephesians 1:11).

God is He “who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it” (Isaiah 42:5). God’s arm is not too short. There is nothing too difficult for Him.

APPENDIX—STATEMENT OF FAITH

Section 1: The Bible

WE BELIEVE THE Bible, comprised of the Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16–17). In faith, we hold the Bible to be inerrant in the original writings, God-breathed, and the complete and final authority for faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16–17). While still using the individual writing styles of the human authors, the Holy Spirit perfectly guided them to ensure they wrote precisely what He wanted written, without error or omission (2 Peter 1:21).

Section 2: God

We believe in one God, who is Creator of all (Deuteronomy 6:4; Colossians 1:16), who has revealed Himself in three distinct Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14)—yet who is one in being, essence, and glory (John 10:30). God is eternal (Psalm 90:2), infinite (1 Timothy 1:17), and sovereign (Psalm 93:1). God is omniscient (Psalm 139:1–6), omnipresent (Psalm 139:7–13), omnipotent (Revelation 19:6), and unchanging (Malachi 3:6). God is holy (Isaiah 6:3), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and righteous (Exodus 9:27). God is love (1 John 4:8), gracious (Ephesians 2:8), merciful (1 Peter 1:3), and good (Romans 8:28).

Section 3: Jesus Christ

We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God incarnate, God in human form—the expressed image of the Father, who, without ceasing to be God, became man in order that He might demonstrate who God is and provide the means of salvation for humanity (Matthew 1:21; John 1:18; Colossians 1:15).

We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:23); that He is truly, fully God and truly, fully man (John 1:1, 14); that He lived a perfect, sinless life (Hebrews 4:15); that all His teachings are true. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for all humanity (1 John 2:2) as a substitutionary sacrifice (Isaiah 53:5–6). We hold that His death is sufficient to provide salvation for all who receive Him as Savior (John 1:12; Acts 16:31); that our justification is grounded in the shedding of His blood (Romans 5:9); and that it is attested by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:6; 1 Peter 1:3).

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven in His glorified body (Acts 1:9–11) and is now seated at the right hand of God as our High Priest and Advocate (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 4:14).

Section 4: The Holy Spirit

We believe in the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3–4). He regenerates sinners (Titus 3:5) and indwells believers (Romans 8:9). He is the agent by whom Christ baptizes all believers into His body (1 Corinthians 12:12–14). He is the seal by whom the Father guarantees the salvation of believers unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13–14). He is the Divine Teacher, who illumines believers’ hearts and minds as they study the Word of God (1 Corinthians 2:9–12).

We believe that the Holy Spirit is ultimately sovereign in the distribution of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:8–11). We believe that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, while by no means outside of the Spirit’s ability to empower, no longer function to the same degree they did in the early development of the church (1 Corinthians 12:4–11; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 2:20; 4:7–12).

Section 5: Angels and Demons

We believe in the reality and personality of angels. We believe that God created the angels to be His servants and messengers (Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 148:2; Hebrews 1:14).

We believe in the existence and personality of Satan and demons. Satan is a fallen angel, who led a group of angels in rebellion against God (Isaiah 14:12–17; Ezekiel 28:12–15). He is the great enemy of God and man, and the demons are his servants in evil. He and his demons will be eternally punished in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

Section 6: Humanity

We believe that humanity came into existence by direct creation of God and that humanity is uniquely made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26–27). We believe that all humanity, because of Adam’s fall, has inherited a sinful nature, that all human beings choose to sin (Romans 3:23), and that all sin is exceedingly offensive to God (Romans 6:23). Humanity is utterly unable to remedy this fallen state (Ephesians 2:1–5, 12).

Section 7: Salvation

We believe that salvation is a gift of God’s grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Ephesians 2:8–9). Christ’s death fully accomplished justification through faith and redemption from sin. Christ died in our place (Romans 5:8–9) and bore our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24).

We believe salvation is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Good works and obedience are results of salvation, not requirements for salvation. Due to the greatness, sufficiency, and perfection of Christ’s sacrifice, all those who have truly received Christ as Savior are eternally secure in salvation, kept by God’s power, and secured and sealed in Christ forever (John 6:37–40; 10:27–30; Romans 8:1, 38–39; Ephesians 1:13–14; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 24). Just as salvation cannot be earned by good works, neither does it need good works to be maintained or sustained. Good works and changed lives are the inevitable results of salvation (James 2:14–26).

Section 8: The Church

We believe that the church, the body of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all believers of this present age (1 Corinthians 12:12–14; Ephesians 1:22–23; 5:25–27). We believe in the ordinances of believers’ water baptism by immersion as a testimony to Christ and identification with Him and the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of Christ’s death and shed blood (Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 2:41–42; 18:8; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26). Through the church, believers are to be taught to obey the Lord and to testify concerning their faith in Christ as Savior and to honor Him by holy living. We believe in the Great Commission as the primary mission of the church. It is the obligation of all believers to witness, by word and life, to the truths of God’s Word. The gospel of the grace of God is to be preached to all the world (Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19–20).

Section 9: Things to Come

We believe in the blessed hope (Titus 2:13), the personal and imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to rapture His saints (1 Thessalonians 4:13–17). We believe in the visible and bodily return of Christ to the earth with His saints to establish His promised millennial kingdom (Zechariah 14:4–11; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 20:1–6). We believe in the physical resurrection of all men—the saints to everlasting joy and bliss on the new earth and the wicked to eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28–29; Revelation 20:5–6, 12–13).

We believe that the souls of believers are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where they await their resurrection when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21). We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until their resurrection, when, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne judgment and shall be cast into the lake of fire to suffer everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:41–46; Mark 9:43–48; Luke 16:19–26; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–9; Revelation 20:11–15).

ENDNOTES

1.   Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion (Connecticut: Martino Fine Books, 2010).

2.   Friedrich Nietzsche, Der Antichrist (Nikol Verlagsges.mbH, 2008).

3.   J.Y.T. Greid, ed., The Letters of David Hume, v. 1, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).

4.   John Stuart Mill, Theism (Montana: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2007).

5.   Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator (Michigan: Zondervan, 2005).

6.   Mortimer Adler, Truth in Religion (New York: McMillian, 1990).

7.   Ravi Zacharias, The Real Face of Atheism (Michigan: Baker Publishing Group, 1990).

8.   Joni Eareckson Tada, The God I Love: A Lifetime of Walking with Jesus (Michigan: Zondervan, 2003).

9.   Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science (New York: Vantage Books, 1974).

10.   Thomas J. J. Alitzer, Living the Death of God: A Theological Memoir (New York: State University of New York Press, 2006).

11.   Paul M. Van Buren, The Secular Meaning of the Gospel (New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1963).

12.   Martin Luther, trans. by Henry Cole, The Bondage of the Will (Digireads.com Publishing, 2009).

13.    The Westminster Shorter Catechism (Pennsylvania: Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1897).

14.    The American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed. (Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006).

15.   Elizabeth J. Jewell and Frank Abate, ed., The New Oxford American Dictionary (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).

16.    The Westminster Confession of Faith (Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics, http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs)

17.    Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006).

18.   Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (New York: Hachette Book Group, Inc., 2007).

19.   Quoted in The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel (Michigan: Zondervan, 2000).

20.   Adapted from Edmund Burke’s 1770 essay, “Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents.”

21.   John MacArthur, True Worship (http://www.gty.org/resources/study-guides/40-0583/true-worship).

Table of Contents

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD

COPYRIGHT

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION—THE ULTIMATE QUESTION

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD’S EXISTENCE

QUESTIONS ABOUT WHERE GOD IS

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD’S NATURE

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD’S ATTRIBUTES

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD’S NAMES

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD’S ACTIONS

QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GOD RELATES TO US

QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW WE RELATE TO GOD

APPENDIX—STATEMENT OF FAITH

ENDNOTES