CCU Apologetics Series: Part 2

In Colorado Christian University’s second installment of “Tough Questions about Christianity,” Dr. Kyle Greenwood, Assistant Professor of Old Testament Studies here at CCU, discussed the issue of genocide in the Old Testament as it relates to questions about God’s character. He stated that there are generally three accusations made by those who make objections.

1)      God is partisan.

2)      God is sadistic.

3)      God is inconsistent.

Dr. Greenwood started by explaining the accusation that “God is partisan.” He presented several quotes from secular sources that questioned Old Testament examples of genocide. The main question that came up behind all these quotes was “Can we really worship [God] when He does these things?” “He plays favorites,” in the eyes of these individuals, says Dr. Greenwood. God appears to have a desire to preserve the Israelites at the expense of other nations and cultures. Several biblical examples of this “favoritism” were presented (Exodus 10, Deuteronomy 20, Joshua 6, Malachi 1).

One example is Exodus 10:1-2, which states, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.’” In light of this example, secular sources state that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the Israelite slaves go, and he and his people were punished for this, thus, God was unjust and showed favoritism toward the Israelites.

Dr. Greenwood states, however, that this accusation (along with the others) “is based on a less than sophisticated reading of Scripture.” The people who make these accusations do not understand the context of the scripture they are referring to, as is evidenced by the fact that God, in fact, gave Pharaoh seven opportunities previous to this particular instance to let the Israelites go, and each time Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Because God knew that Pharaoh would simply continue hardening his own heart (an act of Pharaoh’s will), God gave him over to this hardening, which is why the Scripture stops saying that Pharaoh hardened his own heart and says that God is the one who hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Thus, Pharaoh had a choice in this matter, and, if he had made the right choice to begin with, he could have avoided much anguish. Dr. Greenwood also provided many other examples of times in the Old Testament in which God was merciful towards those who were not Israelites, and also many examples of times in which God used other cultures as a rod of discipline for the Israelites (particularly when Israel and Judah were conquered and taken captive by Assyria and Babylon, respectively).

Dr. Greenwood presented the second accusation, “God is sadistic,” by providing some more secular quotes from those who believe that God gets pleasure from making people suffer and that this is part of His character. God is presented by these people as being “flawed” in character. The biblical examples that are used to reinforce this accusation are Genesis 6, Exodus 32, and also thirteen instances in the books of Joshua and Judges in which the phrase “utterly destroyed” is used. Dr. Greenwood says that Christians are to respond to these misuses of Scripture by saying, for example, that the instance in Genesis 6:6-7 clearly shows that God does not take “pleasure” in destroying humanity. It hurts Him. “The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain,” states Genesis 6:6, before it states that God decided to wipe man from the face of the earth with a flood. This is far from saying that God was maliciously planning to destroy mankind.

Dr. Greenwood also stated that in Genesis 15, God covenanted with Abraham, told him that he would be the father of many nations and promised his descendents the land of Canaan. God also told him that the descendents would not inherit the Promised Land until the sins of the Amorites (another name for Canaanites) had reached their full magnitude. In other words, God was giving the Amorites time to repent of their evil and turn to Him. Dr. Greenwood stated, “God’s intent for the nations is redemption, not annihilation,” and we see this pattern all through Scripture. God always gives ample time for those to whom he is about to administer justice to repent. Basically, Dr. Greenwood says, “Those who would argue that God is sadistic are simply not reading their Bibles.”

In light of all this, it did not take Dr. Greenwood very much time to make a defense against the third accusation, “God is inconsistent.” Those who make this claim state that the God of the Old Testament is not the same as the Jesus of the New Testament, the Old Testament God being the one who ruthlessly administers justice in wrath and the New Testament Jesus being the one who loves and is merciful. Dr. Greenwood states that if one reads the Old Testament, one will see that “God’s mercy, love, and grace permeate the Old Testament.” The prophets who continually warned God’s people of disaster are in themselves an act of mercy, of God giving those people a chance to repent. And even when they did not repent, God promised that He was still their God and that He would restore them. Dr. Greenwood also stated that we find many examples of Jesus’ anger in the New Testament. The example that probably equates the best with the anger shown in the Old Testament is the wrath displayed in Revelation 20. God’s character is consistent throughout the whole of the Bible.

After reviewing this evidence, it is easy for us to come to the conclusion that God is too big to be placed in a box of merciless justice or a box of merciful grace. God’s character encompasses all of Scripture and Dr. Greenwood has shown us that apparent contradictions can be explained by people who “read their Bibles,” and take the time to understand the context. But it also takes a soft heart and an open mind to realize God’s righteous judgment is one of the many ways He chooses to show us the fact that He loves us, and He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Joshua 1:5b).

The Healing Power of Prayer

She was two years old, and in a typical two-year-old fashion, had enough energy for three people. She loved to run around the house and spin in circles. But ever since she fell down three weeks ago in a full-speed run in the dining room, she hadn’t walked. There was no swelling of the foot. No wound. The X-rays showed no break. The doctor’s were as baffled as the parents. But the two year-old girl wasn’t walking—and she wasn’t faking it, either. For nearly three weeks, she resorted to crawling. She cried out in pain whenever she had to put on a sock or shoe. Something was wrong. Her parents asked the church to pray for healing. Thursday, the after that prayer meeting, their daughter started walking. It was a limp at first, but by the end of the week, she was running, spinning, and playing like she used to.

What happened? Coincidence? Chance? No. This is just one simple true-life anecdote that could be combined with hundreds more in which Christians have experienced God’s healing power in direct answer to prayer. Believers have experienced God’s amazing healing of cancer, disease, and other terminal illnesses. There is healing power in prayer. But it’s not just experiential evidence that proves this fact. It’s God’s Word.

What the Bible Says
James 5:14-15 tells us this: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”

The Problem:  Sickness
The passage makes it clear that one problem people face is sickness. Not much has changed in the 2,000 years since James wrote his letter. We still experience sickness, even though modern medicine has been able to mitigate many of the diseases and symptoms we experience.

The Solution: Prayer
The spiritual advice the Bible prescribes for sickness is prayer. First, the sick person calls for the leadership of the church. The leaders attend to the sick person. The action that they take here is very important. The main verb is to “pray over him.” The anointing with oil, an accompanying action, is a recognized symbolic act. Based on other New Testament symbolism, we understand that the anointing oil symbolizes the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18, Acts 10:38).

The Manner: Faith
Faith is an important component of prayer. Verse 15 tells us that “the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.” Often, praying can degenerate into a mere wish list of what we want. Prayer is far more. Prayer is an act of faith in an all-powerful God. The prayer for healing is a prayer of faith.

The Result: Healing
What is the result of praying for the sick person’s healing? Answered prayer. The Bible states it in terms of a fact—“And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”

God does heal people. Prayer is the means. While we must not expect God to adhere to our desire that He heal every occasion of sickness that we experience, we must not neglect prayer altogether. The Bible commands it, and prayer does work.

3 Simple Ways to Make Jesus a Part of Your Life

Think about your lifestyle for a minute. How do you dress? What do you do with your time? How do you spend your money? What goals do you have? What do you think about most of the time?

There is no right or wrong answer to those questions. They are simply thought-provoking questions which Christian young people should think about from time to time. God urges believers to exemplify a certain kind of lifestyle. He doesn’t state it explicitly in terms of the kind of clothes that you wear or the type of music you listen to. He states it in terms of conformation vs. transformation. In Romans 12:2, it sounds like this:  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

When someone gives his or her life to Jesus, change immediately takes place. It is a change so powerful, so deep, that the Bible calls you a totally new person after becoming a true Christian (Ephesians 4:24). Becoming a believer affects the way we think (Phil 4:8), the way we talk (Ephesians 4:31-32) and the way we spend our time (Colossians 4:5). Everything changes.

Making Jesus a part of your life is simply a matter of following Him, obeying His Word, and depending upon His grace. No amount of effort, action, or following a set of rules will make you any better. Nonetheless, there are some practical ways that you can make Jesus part of your life.

1—Daily Bible Reading
A friend is someone you talk with, listen to, and have a conversation with. Is God your friend? If so, you ought to be listening to Him. The way to listen to God is through His Word. He wrote this powerful book, the Bible, and you can make Jesus part of your life by reading what He has to say in the Bible. Studying and meditating upon the Bible is one of the most powerful means to becoming more like Jesus in the way that you act, talk, and think.

2—Daily Prayer
Prayer is powerful. Prayer works. God speaks to us through the Bible, and He asks us to speak to Him in prayer. In fact, we are to be praying constantly (1 Thessalonians 1:2). Prayer is the God-given means of making requests, expressing our thanksgiving, and asking for help. Prayer is crucial. Don’t neglect it.

3—Regular Church Attendance
Church doesn’t make you a better person. Still, church attendance is an important way of life for the believer. By attending a Bible-teaching, God-honoring church, we are benefit from corporate worship, experience fellowship with other believers, and hear teaching from God’s Word. Attending church demonstrates that we love Jesus enough to spend some our time worshipping Him.

Jesus is not an optional add-on for the believer’s life. He is an integral component of everything we do. By incorporating these core practices in your life, you are making a statement to others, to yourself, and to Jesus Himself that He is important—He is part of your daily life.

CCU Apologetics Series: Part 1

January 18, 2010 marked the beginning of a six week apologetics series titled “Tough Questions About Christianity” here at Colorado Christian University. Dr. Phil Mitchell, Associate Professor of History at CCU, gave a well-reasoned and impassioned lecture regarding “the secular accusation that Christian history mostly consists of atrocities and therefore can be discarded with other ‘unprogressive’ religions of history.” He first presented four general principles that we should take into account when regarding events of history, after which he discussed six of the atrocities that some say merit the dismissal of the Christian faith.

Dr. Mitchell’s four principles include:
1) “Every sin that can be committed has been committed by Christians, and committed in the name of Christ.” Christians are just as capable of committing sin as any other human being and we do not have any doctrine that states otherwise. A Christian who knows the Truth of the Gospel will not claim that that he is sinless and will in fact state that it is impossible for him to be sinless as long as he is living this earthly life.
2) “Those who have power will abuse it.”  Power has a tendency to corrupt even those who follow Christ.
3) “In the study of history, all questions have to be given this answer: ‘Compared to what?’” In other words, when we look at atrocities that Christians have committed in the name of Christ, we need to compare them to other atrocities that have been committed in the name of other ideologies and religions that have far exceeded those of Christians in magnitude and severity.
4) “To the extent that Christianity conforms to the culture, they will conform to the sins of that culture.” The atrocity is never a result of Christianity by itself, but it is always a result of the cultural sins that a particular group of Christians have allowed themselves to be conformed to.

The first atrocity that Dr. Mitchell addressed was the Crusades. He stated that those who participated were simply doing what had been done to them centuries earlier (although this does not justify their actions). Some of them wanted access to the Holy Land, but others supported the Crusades simply because the population was becoming exceedingly large and the Crusades helped reduce it. Needless to say, the Crusades had no connection with New Testament Christianity; this was a result of the culture in which these particular Christians were living at the time. Dr. Mitchell also states that if religion ceased to exist, there would still be wars, because people will do anything to make an excuse for war. Humans are sinful.

The second atrocity addressed was the Inquisition. Dr. Mitchell says that the Roman Catholics were afraid of heresy because they equated it with treason. They believed that if there was no religious consistency in their culture, there would also be war in their culture, and that was true! Dr. Mitchell says, “If you disagreed with the Church you destabilized society.” He employed his third principle for studying the atrocious events of history here: “It was wrong, but compared to what?” There have been many atrocious events in history that have far exceeded this in magnitude and severity. He also stated that forced conversion is an oxymoron and inconsistent with New Testament theology. The Inquisition was merely “an arm of the monarch.”

The third atrocity was “missionary abuse of natives” which Dr. Mitchell quickly stated is “absurd” because the only group of people protecting the natives were missionaries. He states that there was tension between the missionaries and the military in this area. Dr. Mitchell states that missionaries are the “greatest agents of cross-cultural blessing who have ever existed,” and he questions why, if they are “so bad,” countless people have come to know Christ through them. Dr. Mitchell also pointed out that in foreign countries, one hardly ever sees orphanages or hospitals established by atheistic Marxist organizations. He says, “You can talk to me about the moral failures of my religion after you show up!”

The fourth atrocity that Dr. Mitchell addressed was the Salem Witch Trials. He said that the killings of those who were believed to perform witchcraft were more an example of occult belief than Christianity. Those who killed the “witches” believed that their spells had power, unlike most Christians, especially those of today. Dr. Mitchell also stated that the Salem Witch Trials were much smaller in terms of the amount of people that were killed as compared to the “witch” killings that took place in Europe.

The fifth atrocity was slavery. Dr. Mitchell states that the Christian church has been very tolerant of slavery, but slavery is also a very universal practice. In fact, what is strange about Western culture is the fact that we abolished slavery; those responsible for the abolition were mostly Christians like William Wilberforce (Abraham Lincoln was also a Christian, as well as Martin Luther King, Jr.). Also, past tolerance of slavery doesn’t seem to deter today’s African Americans from having a relationship with Jesus, so it shouldn’t be a deterring factor for those who are not African Americans.

The last atrocity addressed was the Holocaust, and Dr. Mitchell says it is amazing that anyone would attribute this to Christianity, as Hitler was far from being a Christian (he hated Christianity, in fact). Academic historians generally state that Hitler was actually a Social Darwinist.

Dr. Mitchell closed by saying that the sins of Christians are not justified by the sins of others, but it helps us to put the sins of Christians into perspective. “Christianity has blessed the world more than any other religious faith.” He says that the people of the world agree with this, as seen in the way that they have a tendency to “hustle themselves to Christian culture.” When asked if there are any other atrocities committed in the name of Christ that bother him, Dr. Mitchell said, “Of course!” But God is sovereign over these things and has a plan. “History is ‘His Story.’”

The Problem of Pain, Part 2: Pain’s Positive Role

“In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

While it seems as though a loving and just Father would do everything to prevent His children from enduring suffering, Jesus told His disciples during the Last Supper that they would have trouble. This is a message that has transcended the bounds of history through the pen of John, the disciple Jesus loved, and reached our eyes and ears. The message wouldn’t have made it this far if God didn’t want us to know and understand that we truly would endure trouble. But how can we take heart when tragedy strikes? Sometimes the grief simply seems insurmountable, and it causes us to doubt the love of God. Could it be that our doubt simply stems from a misunderstanding of God’s love and how He can use pain to make a difference in our lives?

The normal person would wonder, at this point, how pain can possibly be beneficial. When truly painful things happen, they are often completely beyond our control and miserably frustrating. It can sometimes be so bad that it causes us to feel as though life is no longer worth living. In the initial stages of grief over our pain, those of us who pray may ask God to either take away our affliction or take our lives. Those of us who don’t pray might languish for a long time before finding our solace in some earthly pleasure. This is a solace that, if we are honest with ourselves, is temporary because what we placed our hope in is temporary. As soon as this object is taken away, we are back to square one.

The apostle Paul is a wonderful example of this exact principle. This man had been through pain and frustration of a magnitude that many of us cannot imagine for the sake of the Gospel at the time he wrote 2 Corinthians. Not only that, but He had a “thorn in [his] flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment [him].” This man, like many of us, prayed that God would take away His affliction. And do you know what Christ said to Him? Christ, the loving and merciful Savior, said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Read 2 Corinthians 11:16-12:10 to get the full story.

God allowed this to happen to Paul in order to keep him from becoming conceited. God brought Paul to the point of complete dependency on Him so that Paul wouldn’t think that he could do any of his ministry on his own, because frankly he couldn’t. Paul was called by God to minister to the Gentiles and served as a catalyst for the spread of the Gospel all over the world. This was not easy, and Paul needed to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit in order to endure it!

You see, if we are to serve God and fulfill His purpose for our lives, we must depend on Him for every ounce of strength. Pain brings us to our knees in order that we may have humility and realize that we can’t do this on our own, in dependency on other people, or in dependency on other things. The benefit that pain has to offer us is the opportunity to fall into God’s open arms, crying “Abba, Father!” He is there to bring comfort in the midst of our distress, and He wants to! He wants to have a relationship with you, and He is jealous for you. Let Him have your life, and you will never see your pain the same way again. You will have a loving and all-knowing Father to lead and guide you every step of the way. He holds the past, the present, and the future, and even if your pain feels as though it is needless, realize that He is big enough to use any circumstances, whether they are painful or not.

Awesome

What do you think of when you hear that word?

Awesome. Cool. Sick. Fun. Sweet. God. Song. Emotion. Whatever.

Now I ask you, what is awe? What composes the word ‘awesome’?

To remain academically honest, I looked up awesome. Here are some synonyms: amazing, appalling, breathtaking, ghostly, grand, hairy, imposing, majestic, solemn, uncanny, alarming, and astonishing.

Next I looked up simply awe, since my first answer was not satisfactory. This is what I got: an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God.

~(Thank You Dictionary.com)~

An overwhelming feeling of reverence, fear and admiration.

I present to you that our culture has taken the word awesome and degraded it. Do we ever recognize God’s awesomeness? Are we ever overwhelmed by his immense power? Are we ever overwhelmed with fear when we just begin to imagine what we deserve from such a powerful God? Are we ever truly in awe of His unyielding love?

God is an amazingly powerful God – He spoke the world into existence; and He’s omnipotent – all powerful. God is powerful. That speaks for itself. His power is so immense that He flooded the entire earth, it is so immense that He stopped time – held the sun in the sky – just so that the Israelites might have victory. He is so powerful, that when the Philistines so much as had the ark in their possession, disease broke out; so powerful, so holy, that the seventy Israelites that looked inside the ark when it came back died where they stood. So powerful, that he decimated Sodom and Gomorrah for their immorality. God is powerful; that much is clear.

Now think of what God could do with that power if He were not merciful, if He were to unleash His wrath on all of his deserving creation. All have fallen short of God’s glory, all have sinned, and all deserve death, deserve his wrath. That means that You and I are both at the mercy of that awesomely powerful God. We deserve His wrath, we deserve the worst kind of pain we could imagine, and worse. Just think of what happened to Christ. Okay, He suffered horrible things on earth. But that was nothing compared to God’s wrath. That was the wrath of Man. Imagine God’s wrath who is infinitely more powerful than we are. Imagine that and be filled with fear.

Finally, think of God’s love. His power is awesome, His wrath is awesome, but we yet live – why? It’s because God loves us. John 3:16 is a well quoted verse. It basically says that God sent His only Son to die by our hands, so that we may be with Him. God sent His Son, to suffer His awesome wrath, just so that we could be together with Him. Is that not awe inspiring love? So it’s not only the love that keeps us from suffering His wrath, but love beyond that; so that we can go to heaven and be with Him. Is that not amazing? Is that not awesome?

The Problem of Pain: Part 1

Although Christianity involves a God who is loving, merciful, kind, and compassionate, many choose to question His love and, in turn, His existence. There are 991,000 individuals in America who claim to be agnostic,[1] meaning they believe in the possibility of the existence of a god or gods, but they are not certain of this existence. What is it that blocks their certainty? This is the question that many evangelical Christians may ask as they make an effort to share their faith with those around them, as Jesus commanded us to do in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20).

I submit that the main impediment for many agnostics is the problem of pain. Sometimes we, as human beings who are small and easily thrown by the winds and waves of life, simply have to ask the question, “Why?” “Why do I endure needless suffering day by day?” “Why did my loved one pass away so suddenly and unexpectedly?” “How many times and for how long do I have sit here and grieve loss and have my life interrupted by unnecessary pain that does nothing but impede my growth?” Aside from personal struggles, we may also ask, “Why would a god who is loving and merciful allow the pain and suffering that happens in the world today? After all, 15 million children die every year from starvation;[2] 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually;[3] not to mention the whole slew of natural disasters that continually takes place, inflicting massive amounts of death and injury on millions of innocent people. The mere existence of death in and of itself is cause for complaint. Wouldn’t an omnipotent God be able to prevent these things from happening? Wouldn’t a completely righteous God be just enough to do so?” These questions have the potential to lead one to the conclusion that either God isn’t really loving and merciful or He doesn’t exist altogether.

Because of the massive impact that these questions can have on a person’s faith, it is important for us to be sensitive to the importance of this issue. Some of us are strong like Job and can simply trust God’s sovereignty in any and every situation. That is a wonderful gift and an ability that should bring peace and joy to the lives of those who have it. But what of those who lack that ability? What becomes of their faith, and consequently, what becomes of them? It is important for those of us who are strong to not pass judgment on these people and to be empathetic and supportive of them in their time of pain and doubt. Sometimes they don’t need for us to accuse them of being faithless by questioning God, but they need us simply to love them and care for them to the best of our ability and by the strength and power of the Holy Spirit that is given to us. Then, when they are ready, we can embark on a beautiful journey with them of the discovery of God’s plan and purpose for their lives.

In the meantime, these people may want practical answers. Maybe you are enduring times of difficulty and pain and you are seeking answers to some of these questions for yourself. If so, know that you have no reason to be ashamed, but take heart in knowing that God will never leave you nor forsake you (Deut. 31:6) and he collects every single one of your tears in His own bottle and keeps them (Ps. 56:8). This God is a big God, bigger than all your pain and heartache. He cares for you, as is evidenced by the sacrifice of His son in order that your sins may be atoned for and you may have fellowship with Him (John 3:16). Be strong and take heart, and stay tuned for some more analyses of how pain could possibly play a positive role in your life and in the lives of others.

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[1] http://www.religioustolerance.org/agnostic.htm

[2] http://library.thinkquest.org/C002291/high/present/stats.htm

[3] http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ncvrw/2005/pg5l.html

Attributes of God

Attributes of God
Have you ever wondered about God’s true nature? A breakdown of His character, as revealed in the Bible, can be discovered.

The Meaning
God is a word that means different things to different people. What enters our minds when we think about God is considered to be the most important thing about us.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without him was not one thing made that has come into being.” (Gospel of John 1:1-3)

Characteristics

Wisdom
“Wisdom is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve these ends by the most perfect means.” (Dr. Fred R. Johnson, Ph.D.)

Infinitude
Infinitude impacts all of the others, and since God is infinite, everything else about Him must also be infinite.

Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the application of His other attributes of being all-knowing and all-powerful. Sovereignty makes Him absolutely free to do what He knows to be best.

Holiness
Holiness is what sets God apart from all other created beings, which is pure and righteous in all the universe.

Trinity
The Trinity consists of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all called God, given worship as God, exist eternally, and are involved in doing things only God could do.

Omniscience
Omniscience means all-knowing, which means God knows everything, and His knowledge is infinite.

Faithfulness
God’s Faithfulness guarantees everything that He has promised will come to pass. His faithfulness guarantees this fact, which has Jesus confirmed.

A Continuing Study

Love
Love simply means that God holds the well-being of others as His primary concern.

Omnipotence
Omnipotence means all-powerful, and since God is infinite and possesses power, He possesses infinite power.

Self-Existence
Self-Existence means God has no beginning or end; He just exists. Nothing else in all the universe is self-caused.

Self-Sufficiency
God is Self-Sufficient. He does not need our help with anything, but because of His grace and love, He allows us to be a part of advancing His plan on earth and being a blessing to others. We are the ones who change, but never God.

Justice
The Bible says that God is just, but it is His character that defines what being just really is. His justice is needed to be satisfied, but He took care of it for all who will believe in Jesus.

Immutability
It is why the Bible says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This simply means that God never changes.

Mercy
“Mercy is the attribute of God which disposes Him to be actively compassionate.” Since God’s justice is satisfied in Jesus, He is free to show mercy to all those who have chosen to follow Him.

Eternal
God always has been and will forever be, because God dwells in eternity. It is why God can see the end from the beginning, and why He is never surprised by anything.

Goodness
Goodness is why He bestows all the blessing He does on His followers. God’s actions define what goodness is, and we can easily see it in the way Jesus related to the people around Him.

Gracious
God enjoys giving great gifts to those who love Him, even when they do not deserve it.  Jesus Christ is the channel through which His grace moves.

Omnipresence
Omnipresence means “always present.” Since God is infinite, His being knows no boundaries. This is certainly a comforting truth for all who follow Jesus.

The Conclusion
By learning the attributes of God, you may praise God for who He really is and for how each of His attributes impacts your life in a positive way.

Who is God?

Who is God?
Who does God claim to be? The Creator? A benevolent friend? A life-force? Who is God to YOU?

Who Does He Claim to Be?
God has been described as everything from an impersonal life-force to a benevolent, personal, almighty Creator. He has been called by many names, including: “Zeus,” “Jupiter,” “Brahma,” “Allah,” “Ra,” “Odin,” “Ashur,” “Izanagi,” “Viracocha,” “Ahura Mazda,” and “the Great Spirit” just to name a few. He’s seen by some as “Mother Nature” and by others as “Father God.” But who is He really? Who does He claim to be?

Father God or Mother Nature?
What has He revealed about Himself? To begin with, whenever He refers to Himself in parental terms, He always addresses Himself as “Father,” never “Mother.” He calls Himself “a Father to Israel,”and in one instance, when His “children” were particularly disrespectful to Him, He said to them, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence?”

His prophets acknowledged Him as Father by saying, “You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand,”and “do we not all have one Father? Has not one God created us?” Never once does God refer to Himself as “Mother” and never once is He called such by the prophets to whom He spoke. Calling God “Mother Nature” is comparable to calling your earthly father “Mom.”

Does God Exist?

Does God Exist?
God may not be provable through mathematical formula or properties of physics, but we live in an era where the evidence of God is all around us.

An answer to this fundamental question is a prerequisite for answering the other big questions of life: Where did we come from? Why are we here? What purpose do we serve? Do we have any intrinsic value? What happens after we die? The question of the existence of God is fundamental.

Does God Exist Scientifically?
God either exists or He doesn’t. Your opinion of this issue determines your entire worldview.

Does God Exist Philosophically?
Based on intellect and experience, many people are creating their own world-views – their own philosophies for living. Using standard cultural labels, it seems we’re all becoming materialist, naturalist, relativist, humanist, hedonists that seem to think we have it pretty well together.

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