Lesson #2
Section 1 -- WHAT IS GOD LIKE?
p 6 -- Introduction -- In the first lesson, we observed that Jesus in explaining the Scriptures concerning Himself, began with "Moses." (Luke 24:27) Moses was the human instrument used by God to pen the first five books of the Bible. Let us, therefore, in this second lesson begin where Christ began. To Whom are we introduced?
Genesis 1:1 -- In the beginning GOD created ...
Note - As we open our Bibles, we come face to face with Him Who is the Author of all life and being. What is God like? Is He one being, or is the Godhead composed of more than one Person?
Genesis 1:26-27 -- Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: ... So God created man in His own image.
Note - The words, "us" - "our", suggest at least a minimum of two Beings. The word for God (Elohim) in Genesis 1:1 is in the plural form.
Proverbs 8:22-30 -- The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way ... I was by Him as one brought up with Him.
Note - Under the figure of "wisdom" it is believed that Christ's pre-existence is here portrayed as One co-existent with the Eternal. In the New Testament, Christ is declared to be "the wisdom of God." (I Corinthians 1:24)
Zechariah 6:12-13 -- The counsel of peace shall be between them both.
Note - The concept in the Old Testament of two Beings sharing the prerogatives of God is further strengthened by Zechariah 13:7, clearly a Messianic prophecy. Here the Saviour is portrayed as "the Man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts." In Isaiah, the Messianic King of Israel is quoted as saying - "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and His redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." (Isa. 44:6) The word for God is the same as in Genesis 1 :1, in the plural form.
Matthew 3:16-17 -- And Jesus ... the Spirit descending ... a Voice from heaven.
Note - Matthew in recording the baptism of Jesus, notes three Persons working in close association with Each other. The New Testament emphasizes three distinct Persons. What is the relationship between them?
Philippians 2:5-6 -- Christ Jesus ... in the form of God ... equal with God.
Note - - Since Jesus Christ is as truly God as the Father is God, we can worship Him and not violate the commandment which declares - "Thou shalt have no others gods before Me." The next lesson will increase our understanding of Jesus Christ.
Acts 5:3-4 -- The Holy Spirit ... thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
p 7 -- Note - - In this experience a man and his wife had sold a piece of land, and bringing the money to the apostles represented it as the full price of the land. Peter declared that in so doing, it was lying to the Holy Spirit. It was not falsifying before a man [a creature] but was lying to God. The Holy Spirit is set forth as of the essence and level as God.
Section 2 -- GOD THE FATHER
John 1: 18 AND I Timothy 6:15-16 -- No man hath seen God at anytime. Dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.
Note - Both John and Paul indicate that the member of the Godhead we call our Father, cannot be seen by man. How then can we know what He is like?
Genesis 1:26 -- In OUR image after Our likeness.
Note - In the beginning the Father and the Son made one man, and declared him to be in their likeness. Only one earthly illustration conveys such a picture, that of identical twins. The picture of one looks like the resemblance of the other.
Hebrews 1:3 -- The express image of His person.
Note - The Father and the Son are identical in likeness. By beholding Jesus, we see the Father's likeness and character. As stated in John 1:18, the Son who was in the bosom of the Father "hath declared Him."
James 1:17 -- The Father ... with whom there is no variableness.
Note - In these uncertain times, how assuring to know that above all the confusion, strife and turmoil, there is a God to Whom we come as a Father, who does not vary nor change. We may grow old; our circumstances in life may alter, but our God does not change. He is ever and always a God of love.
Section 3 -- WHAT GOD REQUIRES
Note - All that we can study of God is incomplete. Job asks - "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto, perfection?" The answer is - No. We see now as through a smoked glass, but dimly; but we can know of a certainty what God does require of us.
Hebrews 11:6 -- Must believe that He is ... a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
Note - First, even though I cannot see Him. I must believe that God IS, and that if I diligently seek for Him, I will find Him, and He will reward me. However, this seeking after God must be with singleness of purpose.
Luke 4:8 -- Him ONLY shalt thou serve.
Note - God requires undivided service and worship. Not our wives, nor our husbands, nor our children should come between us and God. Our jobs, our social status, our pleasures are all to be secondary. Him only shalt thou serve!
p 8 -- John 4:24 -- Must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Note - This is a compound must. Not only must there be worship in spirit such as prayer, singing of hymns, and testimonies; but this worship must be done according to truth. Jesus defines truth as " Thy word [God's word] is truth." John 17:17. Our worship of God must, therefore, conform to His revealed will in the Bible, the Word of Truth.
Genesis 4:3-7 -- If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
Note - Here is an illustration of acceptable and unacceptable worship. Both Cain and Abel came to worship before the same God. Both brought offerings. Cain brought what he desired rather than what God indicated. See Genesis 3:21. God recognized only that worship which was in accordance with truth - His word. This is the same God with Whom we have to do today, for "with Him is no variableness neither shadow of turning." We, too, must worship Him in truth as well as in spirit if our worship is to be acceptable in His sight.
John 14:6 -- I am the way ... no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.
Note - Jesus Christ is the way to God. He is the truth and the life. So in the next lesson, we will study - "Jesus Christ, Who Is He?"
Lesson #2 Quiz -- (Fill in the blanks)
1. -- The term - God applies equally to the ___ and the ___ and the ___ ___.
2. -- Jesus Christ was in the ___ of God, and was ___ to the Father
3. -- We know that the Father has form and substance because Jesus Christ is declared to be the ___ image of His ___. Text:___.
4. -- The first thing in my relationship to God is that I must believe that He ___.
5. -- I must not serve ___ or ___ more than God.
6. -- The worship that God requires must not only be in ___ but also in ___.
7. -- To worship in truth means that I must worship according to the ___.
8. -- Cain and Abel both worshiped the same God. But God did not accept Cain's offering of the ___ of the ___ because it was not in harmony with His ___. Abel on the other hand brought a ___ as an ___ to God. This, God did accept. We must come before the ___ God in worship today. Our ___ of Him, must therefore be in ___.
9. The Holy Spirit does not belong to the order of ___, but to the order of Beings we call ___. Text:___.
p 9 -- CONCEPTS FOR IN DEPTH STUDY -- Relationship Between Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit
Between the Testaments
1) -- The Old Testament portrays "the Spirit of God" as the active agent in Creation. (Gen. 1:2)
The New Testament, states that through "Jesus Christ" all things were created. (Eph. 3:9)
2) -- The New Testament indicates that "the Holy Spirit" was the source of all prophetic utterances. (II Peter 1:21) Also called "the Spirit of Christ." (I Peter 1:11)
The Old Testament indicates that Michael holds this prerogative, shared with Gabriel. (Dan. 10:21)
In the New Testament
1) -- Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as "another" Comforter. (John 14:16) The word is allos, not heteros.
"Allos and heteros have a difference in meaning, which despite a tendency to be lost, is to be observed in numerous passages. Allos expresses a numerical difference and denotes another of the same sort. Christ promised to send 'another Comforter' (allos, another like Himself, not heteros) ... In Luke 23:32 heteroi is used of the two malefactors crucified with Christ." (A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Original Greek Words with Their Precise Meaning for English Readers. p. 62)
While two distinct Persons, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are so much alike that Jesus could say - though He would depart to the heavens, there to remain "until the times of restitution of all things" (Acts 3:21) "I will not leave you orphans, I will come unto you." (John 14:18, margin)
2) -- Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth as "He." (John 16:13) The word is ekeinos - masculine - while the word for Spirit - pneuma - is in the neuter.
3) -- The book of Revelation is directed to the Seven Churches. (Rev. 1:11) In each of the messages given, Jesus Christ is revealed at the introduction of each with the words - "These things saith He," and a description given, or as in the case of Thyatira, it is specifically stated - "These things saith the Son of God. " (Rev. 2:18) At the close of each message is to be found these words - "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches."4) -- In the symbolism of Revelation, Jesus is pictured as "a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." (Rev. 5:6) This could symbolize complete power and authority, and fullness of perception. (See Matt. 28:18, 20).
Quiz Answers
Lesson #2 -- (1) Father, Son, Holy Spirit. (2) form, equal. (3) express, person. Hebrews 1:3. (4) is. (5) man, things. (6) spirit, truth. (7) Bible. (8) fruits, ground, word, lamb, offering, same, worship, truth. (9) man, God. Acts 5:3, 4.