Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 1 Lesson 2
In this lesson, we discuss why the Bible is the only truly reliable way to learn about who God is. Using the Bible, we then briefly examine two passages that describe God’s fundamental attributes.
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come on two more lessons about God’s Word how to study it why we trust it we’re gonna turn our attention to God himself God exists and our next lesson is gonna focus on that item and how we know that but today we want to ask what is God like so you see the title of our lesson lesson two is the attributes of God so lesson today is gonna proceed in three parts first we’re gonna consider how people commonly learn who God is second we’ll consider two specific scriptures that tell us about God’s attributes and then third we’ll consider some special application questions let’s pray now before we continue our great God thank you for your word thank you for revealing yourself to us in your word because without it we would get so lost thank you for this special mercy toward us and thank you that you not only reveal yourself but you reveal how we can come to be your children how we can be saved and how can we can be with you forever to behold you and all your beauty I pray God that you’d help me to be able to explain your word now and help the people to meditate on it and apply it Jesus name Amen so we start with first question about how people learn what God is like if you were to ask just a random person most people in the world and you ask them what is God like consider what they might say we could brainstorm this I’ve come up with some examples you I’m sure you can think of more what does God like well many people will tell you that he is loving he is all about love he loves everybody and would never do anything to cause people to suffer he certainly won’t make people suffer forever in hell they might say quite the opposite he is cruel he’s just angry all the time he’s a God of smiting doesn’t really care for people I mean how could he let all the injustice and the wars and the disasters to happen in the world now God is a cruel callous God well they might say he’s disinterested disinterested he may have created the world keeps matter holding together but he doesn’t really involve himself in our lives he’s far away we’re on our own we have to figure out all the answers of life by ourselves or someone might say he’s all about you whatever it is you want from God God will give it to you because God just wants you to be happy so unlock the power inside you to make your dreams come true that’s what God’s all about well they might say he’s an assessing God you’ve got to keep him happy you do something for God he’ll do something for you and he’s gonna weigh every life in the balance if you do more good than bad know bless you and when you die he’ll let you into heaven or a sixth possibility is someone will say he is a mystery all we can know in our lives is what we see in the world God is outside our world so we can’t know anything about God in fact we might we can’t even tell whether God exists or not because God as spiritual is totally outside our physical world now consider these ideas and many like them from where do these ideas come what do you think yes d right yeah I think that’s uh that’s one huge element here we’re looking within four answers about God based on what we feel should be correct or based on our own thinking Roy you had your hand up right yeah Roy I think you know another really huge element in this is that people they take two things that the scripture says but they just they don’t understand it fully or they haven’t they have a very shallow understanding of what the Bible says about God is God loving yes does God have wrath yes but when we combine these things just as you were saying Roy with what we already think and feel or what we experienced in the world we can come up with concepts about God and what God is like that are actually not true and not biblical I think you could say that whether we use experience whether we use your own feelings or even when we use the Bible in an incomplete way at the core of these misunderstandings about God is really the flesh we we have this view towards God that is informed by what our flesh wants or what our flesh feels and that gives us problems when we’re trying to actually understand who God is ah now I think you know the answer this next question does the Bible say that we can know God by looking within by using reason or by studying the world and our experiences well not exactly Bible does say that God’s attributes are on display in creation go to Psalm 19 go to Romans 1 invisible attributes of God are clearly seen his power his divine nature and so there is testimony to God’s nature and God’s attributes in life but the problem is there are several problems without being able to assess this testimony is that first of all man has a rebellious heart and this makes him suppress the truth and twist the truth that comes from these testimonies second of all the man has a weak and imperfect understanding not only because of the fall but also because he’s a finite being so he’s often liable to misinterpret the testimony that there is about God in the world and third issue is that what God displays in creation is limited not all of his attributes are clearly on display in creation some of them are but even those that are easily misinterpreted by man so what does man need if man is going to truly know who God is well on the one hand man needs a new heart so that he’s willing to accept the truth when he actually comes in to encounter it but secondly man needs a more direct reliable and complete revelation of God man needs a more direct revelation of God and God and His mercy has provided this God has given the Bible the Bible is the direct revelation of God it’s a special revelation that is even abled by the work of God’s Spirit to give man that new heart that he needs and to open his eyes to see God as God truly is so here’s another fundamental truth we’ve got understand at the beginning of our course if we really want to know who God is we must go to what is really the only trustworthy source the Bible just as we said in the last lesson we must start with the Bible and if we do that we will not only learn from the Bible who God really is but we will also learn how to rightly understand how God reveals himself in the world because God does give testimony of himself in the world but we can’t properly understand that testimony we can’t trust our interpretation of that testimony until we go to the Bible but once we go to the Bible we can see how God reveals himself through creation through our consciences through his Providence and through the keeping of his promises the Bible is the revelation of God they’re quite literally the Scriptures are quite literally the answer to what is God like everything that’s revealed in the Bible whether it’s God’s interactions with mankind what God says about himself directly what we see in the Son of God Jesus these all tell us as far as we’re able to understand who God is really our whole steady our whole course is going to be an exploration into that question who is God and we can’t answer this question without the Bible because think about it some of the things that the Bible reveals about God is his unapproachable nature God is spirit no man can see God he dwells in unapproachable light if God did not condescend to reveal himself directly to us in the scriptures we could not know him and in any even limited sense but because God has revealed himself in the Bible we can know him and we can know what he’s like now all that being said I don’t want you to misunderstand the Bible does not tell us everything that there is to know about God we do not get it a a knowledge about God in the Bible that makes it so that we can’t learn anything else about God no indeed the Scriptures themselves say 2nd chronicles – 6 heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain God and Psalm 1:1 45 3 great is the Lord or that is Yahweh great is Yahweh and highly to be praised his greatness is unsearchable in romans 11:33 oh the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways so there is a quality of God that is such that we’ll never right now and as all I’ll explain just I’m saying it will never be able to fully comprehend him and even what we see revealed in the scriptures describing God and his ways is inexhaustible we pour over these words the look at it again and we learn more about God we grow we rejoice in what we learn about him and and how we come to know him but we never arrived we never reached the end we never achieved that exhaustive quality or exhaustive knowledge of God nevertheless the Scriptures are sufficient revelation of God they are what God has deemed necessary for us to know about himself they are enough to make us delight in God and delight to pursue him to know him more by reading the Scriptures we indeed come to know God but we don’t fully know him and this is one of the reasons and you don’t remember this from previous any school classes this is one of the reasons why heaven should be so exciting for believers because what’s gonna happen when we meet God first John 3:2 beloved now we are children of God and it is not appeared as yet what we will be we know that when he appears we will be like him because we will see him just as he is or first Corinthians 13:13 for now we see in a mirror dimly but then that is one more with God face to face now I know in part but then I will know fully just as I have also been fully now when we meet God we all know him in a way that is far more abundant than we ever could in this life and yet I would say even with the full revelation of God in God’s presence it doesn’t mean that even met even then will fully comprehend him he is the infinite God my theology professor was actually saying the other day what what is heaven what is wanting to be the chief activities in heaven it’s gonna be just learning more and more about God forever and ever we will be pursuing God in his glorious character we will be seeking will be finding we will be enjoying like an explorer who delights and encountering a grand new Vista in a new land so will we but just as that Explorer Explorer then proceeds further onward to discover the next wonder so we will work and we’ll never run out of new glories to see in god this is the reward to which believers can look forward but back to the main topic today in this life for us to know who God is we must go to God’s special revelation what he’s actually given us the Bible so what does the Bible tell us about God well we’ll need many more lessons to answer that question even begin to answer that question but today we’re just gonna start with two passages so the first one I want you to turn to with me is Exodus chapter 34 look at Exodus 34 and we’re gonna look at verses 4 to 9 if we’re looking for places in the Bible that tell us what God is like who God is one of the best places for us to go is one of those places where God Himself tells us who he is and what he is like and that’s what we find in this passage let me remind you the context of this section God’s chosen people Israel have entered into covenant with God at Mount Sinai and they’ve sworn to keep God’s law but immediately after doing this is your breaks God’s law and covenant by making and worshiping a golden calf God seeing this says he’s going to destroy Israel all of Israel but Moses intercedes and he pleads with God for the sake of God’s own name not to destroy this wicked people God heeds Moses his request and in the ensuing conversation Moses asks God to continue to travel them in the presence of the people God again agrees to which an overwhelmed Moses asks God to show Moses God’s glory now turn back to just Exodus 33 for just a second Exodus 33 verses 18 to 20 actually probably the same page in your Bibles Exodus 33 18 to 20 and listen to the way that the conversation proceeds excess 33 verses 18 to 20 then Moses said I pray you show me your glory and he that’s God said I myself will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show compassion on whom I will show compassion but he said you cannot see my face for no man can see me and live then he always said behold there is a place by me and you shall stand there on the rock and it will come about while my glory is passing by then I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by then I will take take my hand away and you shall see my back but my face you shall not from my face shall not be seen now notice here how God tells Moses that Moses cannot handle the full glory of God Moses can only see a brief glimpse of God’s afterglow as it were otherwise Moses could not live notice also that God says that not only will God make his goodness pass by Moses but God will proclaim the name of Yahweh to Moses in other words there’s going to be sight and sound there will be video and audio revelation but this is going to see a glimpse of God’s glory but also hear God explain God’s own name now let’s see how this happens Exodus 34 now verses 4 to 9 God said he was going to do a certain thing let’s see what he does so he that’s Moses cut out two stone tablets like the former ones and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai as Yahweh had commanded him and he took two stone tablets in his hand Yahweh descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of Yahweh then Yahweh passed by in front of him and proclaimed Yahweh Yahweh God compassionate and gracious slow to anger and abounding and loving-kindness and truth who keeps loving-kindness for thousands who forgives iniquity transgression and sin yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished visiting the iniquity of father’s on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship he said if now I found favor in your sight O Lord I pray let the Lord go along in our midst even though the people are so obstinate and pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us as your own possession notice some details of this passage with me notice what God says about himself he says he is Yahweh he is the eternal the self-sufficient the self-existing one the covenant keeping one that’s a special name for God is also God hail the mighty one the powerful one he is compassionate and gracious he’s moved to love in his heart and then manifest that love and kind and undeserving acts he slowed anger though he has the right to be angry instantly he nevertheless is patient he says he’s abounding and loving-kindness and truth and as you probably know the term loving-kindness new American Standard is a translation of that one Hebrew word that you should all learn I think I mentioned it before is the verb it’s the word has said has said we could translate that term other translations use some of these phrases steadfast love or loyal love or covenant love or loving kindness God says he is abounding he is overflowing with loyal love loving kindness to the members of his covenant he also says he abounds in truth overflowing with truth there’s so much truth in God that it cannot be contained he also says he keeps loving-kindness for thousands he generously pours out his covenant love on men one of the manifestations of that God says he forgives iniquity trespasses and sins he is merciful to even the most evil offenders against him he is more than willing to forgive yet God says he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished his overwhelming love does not crowd out contradict or diminish his total justice and his total holiness for those who deserve to be punished for their sins they will be judged and God explains further he visits the iniquity of father’s on later generations this is to say God’s holy judgments are severe he is no wrist slapping God he does not wink it’s in his wrath is profound and in this life it affects multiple generations as an aside the exact interpretation of this final quality and what’s explained here is it’s somewhat difficult it sounds like God’s saying that he punishes children for the sins of fathers but God makes quite clear in other Old Testament passages that he doesn’t no such thing Ezekiel 18 for instance God says the soul that sins will die and a son will not suffer for his father’s sin or not be punished for his father’s sin so it’s not what that verse that’s not what this verse is saying here what does it what is it communicating to us the statement appears to mean either that and the number of interpreters take this view God will pursue and punish iniquity as long as it lasts if it’s passed down from generation generation a father teaches his son evil then God will pursue that iniquity and both will be judged through multiple generations he will keep pursuing that iniquity and judging that iniquity he is tenacious in his judgment alternatively it could be that when God judges one generation for its evil that judgment will be so severe so full of wrath and holiness that the effects will reach even far-flung descendants and whichever meaning is meant both of these are true and they’re evident in the Old Testament especially Israel’s history I mean consider when God judged Adam that is something that we all feel the effects up over God’s judge Israel several times that’s something we all feel hurt not we all but many in Israel felt the effects of that even if they were not direct participants anyways here God in these various statements reveals some of his attributes and notice Moses his response to God’s declarations Moses vows quickly to worship and he prays to God he prays for God to be merciful and to continue to go with Israel to have his presence be with Israel despite Israel’s witness now this is a foundational passage in Scripture many other biblical passages especially in the Old Testament refer back to this revelation or to revelation that says the same thing as this passage which makes me think many scriptures are set to song someone really should set the words of this passage to song because it’s such a an important revelation of God’s character in his attributes but who is God we learn a number of fundamental truths in this passage we could summarize it most basically God is a God full of generous love and loyalty God is a God full of forgiveness and mercy but God is also a God of full holiness justice and wrath but how can these all be true at the same time how can God be full of love and full of anger together don’t they contradict well not at all because God says that they’re there or over we can you can see how this works God is a righteous king is a good king loves and will provide for his own subjects so good King also hates and will destroy all enemies all rebels all criminals and yet even to these enemies God says he is willing to show mercy he forgives sins and trespasses so how can one go from being a hated enemy of God under his just and righteous anger to being a protected and beloved subject even a son or daughter of God now that is the great story of the Bible that is the good news that’s the gospel and we’re gonna trace that story through our study of Scripture but of course you already know what is the ultimate answer to that question how does one go from being an enemy of God to a beloved son a way to experience God’s mercy is through his undeserved provision of salvation His Son Jesus Christ we are all rebels against God and followers of her own way we will experience the profound and holy wrath of God for our sin but God made provision for rebellious man by sending his own son Jesus to live a righteous life dying innocent death in the place of sinners and rise again from the dead the good news is that whoever will give up his sins and believe in the Son of God as Lord and Savior will have his sins totally forgiven and be clothed with God’s own righteousness that believing sinner will never experience God’s wrath but will instead receive eternal life and forevermore will know only the love of the one who abounds in the said and his promise is held out to even every one of us listening today so we see a profound revelation of God’s character here in Exodus 34 but don’t miss out on the other great lesson of this passage we not only see the specific revelation of God’s attributes but we also see addressed really the purpose of man many of you know that famous statement from the Westminster Cat Gizem question and answer what is the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy him forever Moses asked to see God’s glory and God granted Moses that request and what is Moses is response once he sees that glory God please don’t take your glorious presence away from us you see Moses understood something and it’s the same thing that we all must understand and that is we need God not just what God can give us we need God Himself we need to behold his glory God Himself not God’s gifts or what are intended to satisfy man forever as long as you seek satisfaction is something else besides God not only we not be satisfied but you actually sin against God he is everything that is lovely if you say there’s something lacking in God or you can find something else for your satisfaction you blaspheme God because he is all that is good and that is great consider Jesus’s own prayer in John 17 Jesus prays on behalf of all his believing disciples in John 17 24 Jesus says this John 17 24 father I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am so that they may see my glory which you have given me for you love me before the foundation of the world so consider that what is Jesus’s prayer for you as a Christian it’s that you might be with him and behold his glory forever why is that because Jesus is needy of your company no but because you are media of his glory and he in his graciousness going to give it to you so a few questions now reflecting on this passage number one do you let God tell you who he is through his Bible or do you let your own fleshly feelings and thoughts tell you who God is two other times that you have doubted God’s love God’s mercy God’s holiness if so how are you gonna deal with this passage God declares who he is but you’re gonna contradict God three have you yet come to see that you need to behold God in his glory not just once but continually and if you have what are you doing so that you may behold his glory do you expose yourself to God’s Word do you expose yourself to the fellowship of God’s people do you serve the Lord do you exercise faith in God do you put your faith into practice these are all ways that we behold and make known the glory of the Lord if you’re not smitten with the Lord’s glory which seductive idol has your attention where has your gaze been diverted so that you no longer can appreciate the beauty of the Lord if you find yourself loving something else more than God then remember what God says in his word Exodus 20 verses 3 to 6 this is part of the 10 commandments you shall have no other gods before me you shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the water under the earth you shall not worship them or serve them for I Yahweh your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the father’s on the children on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing loving-kindness to thousands for those who love me and keep my Commandments so I asked you will you believe the Lord cast away your idols so that you may receive the gift of God himself so we’ve seen one profound instance of God revealing himself in the Bible this morning I’d also like to look at one other instance with you and this one it’s gonna be in Psalm 90 turn to Psalm 90 and we’re gonna look at verses 1 to 6 back in the Psalms let me give you the context of this song I mean notice as you turn there a little description at the top but this is a psalm that is explicitly said the only song that is said explicitly to come from Moses so this is a very old song it was composed before the people of Israel entered the promised land I recall that the Psalms are prayer poems or prayer songs this one was given for the people of Israel to sing and it is a song of petition to turn a song a petition to God that God might turn with kindness and mercy again to his wicked and undeserving people actually the topic the subject sounds look very similar to what Moses was just dealing with in the passage in Exodus 34 we don’t deserve a God but please show us kindness now a key theme in this song has to do with a strong contrast between God and man we’re gonna see this contrast presented throughout but the contrast is presented throughout the song but it’s introduced in verses 1 to 6 and it’s those verses that we’re gonna look at together now look at Psalm 90 verses 1 to 6 Lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were born where you gave birth to the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting you are God you turn man back in the dust and say returned Oh children of men for a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it passes by Peraza watching the night you swept them away like a flood they fall asleep in the morning there like grass which sprouts anew in the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew to what evening it fades and withers away notice now the great contrast in this passage between God and man on the one hand roses tell us that God is the creator of everything in the world even the mountains that seem so permanent it seemed that they’ve been around forever Moses reminds us God created those mountains those mountains had a beginning and their beginning was God indeed Moses further says God Himself is from everlasting to everlasting what does that mean what could it mean except that God is eternal from one forever to another forever you are God Moses says as we often say God has always existed from eternity past to Eternity future or to say the same thing another way God is not bound by time there is no time for God like the wrister man he is outside of time he transcends time just as he cannot be bound by space neither can God be bound by time consider what it means for God to be eternally in the past that’s so hard to fathom but it’s something like God is currently present in the past just as he is right now in the future and just as he is right now in the present he’s in every one of those God does not progress like man does he always is he is somehow able to be in every time at once and at the same time in no time at all how do we wrap our minds around you know we can’t we’re finite beings we’re not like that but Moses says this is who God is from everlasting to everlasting and he further illustrates this holy other aspect God’s time using assimilates Moses says a thousand years I like yesterday to you Oh God once they’re past it’s just like yesterday we’re even Oh watching the night what’s a watching the night well it’s just a length of a soldier’s guard duty during the night you know the soldiers would rotate I always have to have somebody on guard but people just need to get their sleep so they take shifts and one shift was about three hours Moses says that’s like what a thousand years are to you god it’s like you look back and it was just a previous shift was just a couple hours ago Moses says when you consider timing Khan’s respective it’s wholly different from what you experienced and you’re probably reminded of that verse in the New Testament given by Peter where he says something very similar 2nd Peter 3:8 Peter writes but do not let this one fact escaped your notice beloved that would the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day so it’s not just that things go really slow dude all right things seem to go really slowly for God they can also seem to go really fast thousand years are also like one day in one day is like a thousand years how can those both be true what’s because time for God is not like time for us I think the way to describe it is to say that God is not bound by time he’s very different from us he is eternal just as an aside we’ll probably come back to this later on but some see this passage in Psalm 90 and his verse in second Peter 3 is giving a basis for believing in an Old Earth they say well for God a day is like a thousand years so when refers to six days in Genesis 1 it’s really talking about 6,000 years or more Genesis 1 is talking about God days well we’ll have more to say about the issue of the age of the earth and upcoming lessons while we talk about creation but let me just give you briefly a few reasons why that interpretation of these verses can’t hold up number one as we’re already seeing the original intent of these passages is not to define God days as we’ve just said God doesn’t have any days at all the define a God day would be impossible God is eternal we could never experience time the way that God experiences it number two even if there were such a thing as a god day neither of these passages seek to define a God day because they both use the term like they do not say that a day for God is a thousand years but it’s like a thousand years and a thousand years is like three hours that is to say it’s very different these this crucial word like shows that these things are not equivalent this is just making a point time with God is not like time with man and thirdly even if we were to accept the concept of a god day and even if you could define what a god day is there is no reason to say from the context in Genesis 1 that Moses is reporting God days I mean what would be the use in speaking to the original audience in such turns in such terms since they are humans and not God you don’t live in God days they live in human days and Moses gives no indication in Genesis 1 that he’s speaking of such divine days so why would we infer it rather Moses gives extensive evidence that he’s speaking of regular 24-hour days their real reason for such an intern inference of these divine extremely long days is of course not because the Bible says it but because other authorities are pressuring us to reinterpret it that way man scientific consensus is conclusions today and contradict the Bible and so we feel pressured to make the Bible agree with that but we’ll come back as I say we’ll come back to that issue later on we’re not talking about these passages are not defining for us God days anyways so Moses and Psalm 90 reminds us that God’s nature especially the eternality is very different from ours but then notice verse 3 verse 3 shows us that God is sovereign God is the one who commands sent commands man saying return to dust notice doesn’t say that God allows man to return to dust he actually causes it he turns man back into dust it says God is in complete control his commands cannot be contradicted he has total power even over life and death he’s the one that’s making things happen despite man’s apparent strength and man’s great effort to live God is the one who sets the limit on each man’s life and no one can disobey the command to return to dust so this is who we see who God is on the one hand God is creator god is eternal God is sovereign what on the other hand is man well man is part of the creation of God man is limited in his power he’s unable to contradict God and then there’s verse 5 notice in verse 5 it starts in the beginning it mentions the pronoun them now first it sounds like this verse is talking about the 1,000 years that was mentioned in verse 4 but if we use a thousand years trying to form the rest of verse 5 doesn’t really make sense God sweeps away the years like a flood they fall asleep how does a year fall asleep they spring up like grass and then fade away and evening that doesn’t sound like what a thousand years do so them most likely has a different antecedent it’s a little different for us in terms of expectations coming from English but them probably refers to something else and what makes more sense in the context is that them refers to men children of men going back to verse three it’s men who are easily slipped away by God like a flood it’s men who are like grass that grows and fades in them or grows in the morning and fades in the evening that is to say men talking about men and women here not talking about males mankind is extremely transient and this is something that the scripture reminds us of continually Isaiah chapter 40 verses 6 & 7 starting in 6c Isaiah 46 and 7 all flesh is grass and all its loveliness is like a flower of the field the grass withers the flower fades when the breath of Yahweh blows upon it surely the people are or James for James for verses 13 to 14 come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go to Sutton set the city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow you are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away are you seeing the contrast that Moses is presenting us between God and man God is creator man is created God is sovereign man is subject to God’s power God is eternal man is extremely transient what’s the point of all this why bring these things back to our minds Moses in this song well I think it’s for a couple of reasons first of all it’s to give God’s worshipers a proper humility this is the same lesson that Jobe had to learn right if you start feeling uppity you want God to give you some answers as to what he does you want to pass judgment on God remember remember who you are God is not like you don’t try to pass judgment on God as if he were your equal he’s very different from you he is far above you you’ve got to remember that these reminders of God’s nature and contrast our own should give us humility but second dish reminders give God’s worshipers a proper perspective on life if life is so short as Moses reminds us then what should we be valuing what should we be pursuing should we really be clinging to the things of the world should we really be sinning to obtain that which is gonna pass away so quickly or should we focus on God and what is eternal that’s why verse 12 says in this same chapter Psalm 90 verse 12 so teach us to number our days that we may present to you a heart of wisdom so there these first two reasons humility wisdom the third this contrast helps us it should cause us to beseech God for help to be dependent on God when we see how limited we are and how unlimited and powerful God is that encourages us to go to him in prayer that encourages us to cry out to him for deliverance that encourages us to seek Him to provide our needs and to wait upon him to do what we cannot these are all necessary things for us to remember that’s why this song is so valuable so brothers and sisters what is your response to Moses’s contrast have you realized just how different God is from you do you see how high above he is are you humbled on seeing how God is so transcendent to you this to change the priorities of your life and does it cause you to cry out to him as the only Savior the only sustainer so in summary today we’ve seen a little of what God is like we’ve seen from Exodus 34 that God is loving merciful holy bath full and we’ve seen from Psalm 90 that God is very different from us yes we do share that is some of his communicable attributes we are made in His image but he’s also very different from us he is the creator he is eternal and he is sovereign now what Allah we will learn much more about God’s attributes as we continue through our study of the Bible but again remember this fundamental truth if we want to know who God is we must go to and rely on the Bible now what comments or questions do you have based on today’s lesson I’m not seeing any hands out wait is that a hand Roy so I ROI didn’t catch everywhere but you said but I think you’re asking about Paul’s statement in first Corinthians where he says that the things of God’s truth cannot be understood by one who’s not saved because they’re spiritually discerned is that right right yeah yeah so that’s a really good question part of our understanding that statement accurately is one of the one of the terms there spiritually or he’s not I can’t remember which one but that the idea of spiritually discerning the truth of God as it is revealed in the scriptures has the sense of judging a right actually my theology teacher was just talking about this the other day it’s not that those who don’t believe in God can’t understand what the Bible says in one sense you know it’s kind of a strange phenomenon but there are several are there are many commentaries on the Bible that are written by people who actually don’t believe in God you don’t have a saving relationship with God and you might think yourself well what uses that commentary but actually they point out some really helpful things they’re able to understand you know this looks exactly what Paul says in this particular section here’s his argument and here’s the reason why based on the grammar and this and you think like wow how could they understand that if they don’t believe in God well you can understand the nuts and bolts of Scripture you can even understand what it says but you don’t believe it in that sense you you can never understand it you you look at it and you come away with the same conclusion that the Bible says the unbelievers do they judge it foolishness say yeah that’s what Paul said but I don’t believe it or yeah that’s that’s what Jesus said but that’s not what my heart testifies it it’s true so they can’t an unbeliever when he looks through scriptures even though he can understand in a sense what it says he can’t really understand he can know what it says but he can’t know it because doesn’t believe it it it’s that light that is just going against the darkness and he resists it so much now bringing that back to our discussion today this is one of the reasons why I said man has this problem with understanding who God really is and the problem is not just well he doesn’t have revelation but it’s also that the revelation he does receive he resists he suppresses whether it’s in it’s the testimony and creation or even the special revelation of God’s Word so not only does God need to provide us with this special revelation he also needs to open our hearts and our eyes to judge it or write and we will never do that apart from God’s merciful work we will continue to say you know that’s nice but I don’t I don’t want that you know interesting argument Jesus seems like a good person but I just don’t believe it that’s what I’d say about that at least right now other questions or comments yes Steve hmm in terms of sufficiently knowing about God yeah that’s a good question we know that hmm well let’s say this first of all we don’t know completely what the state of God’s revelation was before certain elements of Scripture were written like how did Jobe know the things that he knew about God what word Adam and Eve telling their descendants what was the knowledge of God before and after the flood so there’s an element to that that we don’t understand but I think the answer is and they’re kind of just thinking off the fly here I think the answer is that God deemed that certain amount and certain type of revelation was sufficient for each period of time he his plan was to unfold more and more revelation but he says for now this is sufficient for you to know about me so by the time of Moses or the time before Moses he said whatever revelation I provided is sufficient for you and whenever Moses wrote his books he says Israel this is sufficient for you and as we as we go more and more through the Scriptures and God has deemed that what we have now in in the cut in the completed Bible is sufficient for us in this age now this does not mean that this is the end of God’s revelation we actually even here in the scriptures that in the Tribulation Period and afterwards there’s going to be more revelation there’s going to be prophets there’s going to be visions there’s going to be other things but for now this is God sufficient revelation he says you have no need of anything else and that’s why we can even point to verses like the one in 2nd Timothy 3 this is what God has given us is able to make the man complete adequate prepared for every good work that’s my thought on that question right now that’s a good question before we end I do want to point out a few other application questions for you to consider we’re not going to take the time to go through these questions but I do want you to think about them more more meditation on what God’s Word in the real world looks like even as we consider the revelation of God’s attributes number one you think about this if you talk about it with your family or talk about what the people in the church which attributes of God do people and even Christians often doubt ignore or do not know why what is it about certain attributes that we have trouble with and why do we that’s one for you to consider number two how would you answer someone who because the great sufferings in the world and in his own life concluded that God must not exist yeah I think there are several ways to answer that question but I ask you to think about that and then number three how can you praise God in prayer and in song for each of his attributes sometimes are really good about praising the Lord at certain attributes but we never praise the Lord for his other attributes are they not lovely are they somehow not noble in God and they all deserve praise they are all part of his perfections so do we praise him for that how can we do that more so I want you to think about that as well you have other questions or comments based on today’s lesson or even questions about these application questions I’d love to hear from you you can always email me and I’ll get back to you but that’s it for this week next week and we’re going to continue talking about God and specifically deal with the question how do I know that God exists let’s close in prayer our great God we are humbled by the revelation that you have given us because even though this is what you’ve given is not all the revelation that there could be about you you are infinite you are unsearchable and yet you have made yourself known to us in a sufficient way and a wonderful way but even what you’ve shown us God has shown us that how you are so far above us you were different from us and even in the ways that we’re similar you are far greater and each one of those aspects thank you for your love thank you for your justice thank for your mercy thinking that we don’t have to experience the wrath that is required by your justice because of Jesus Christ but Lord every way of yours is right and good thank you for revealing yourself to us not only by giving us the scripture by opening our hearts to believe it we would never have believed it unless you had acted first even though it is totally reasonable that’s totally there’s no excuse for not believing it our sin is such God that we would never unless you have opened our eyes thank you for that unfathomable mercy I pray God if there is any who are listening today who have not yet experienced that God that you would open their eyes and they would humble themselves before you and put their trust in you as Lord and Savior I gotta preach you bless the rest of the service at Calvary today and continue to build up your people build up your church in Jesus name Amen all right thank you guys see you next