God
Whether The World Recognizes It Or Not, We Live In A Theocracy, Not A Democracy And God Is The King.
When the Bible speaks of God or the Lord, it is most often in reference to the Father, but sometimes to the triune God (meaning three persons): Father, Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. Each are distinct, eternal, perfect beings who have their own unique work and responsibilities in heaven and on earth. While all three are one God, it’s clear from Scripture that Jesus has been given by the Father all authority on heaven and earth over both the dead and living. It’s also clear that the primary roles of the Holy Spirit are to assist in the administration of the kingdom of God on earth by indwelling, teaching and empowering each believer and limiting the power and authority of Satan in this world. While the Bible makes little attempt to clearly explain the mystery of the Trinity, it is so implicit in scripture that all Christians embrace it. (See Romans 8:14,17 and Matthew 28:18.)
The God of the Bible is the creator of the universe, this earth, mankind, plants and animals – everything. He created everything out of nothing and everything God created was good. He is without beginning and without end and is the absolute, self-determinate, loving, just, sovereign ruler and king over all things, everywhere. He calls himself the “I AM THAT I AM," the “first cause” of all things. Nothing happens anywhere in heaven or on earth without his knowledge, and he either causes or allows all things to happen to fulfill his purposes. He watches over us, loves us, sustains order, and is the source of whatever goodness exists in the universe.
Since God is our creator, it means that he has an exclusive claim on our worship, loyalty and obedience and has the moral authority to determine how we ought to live and for what purpose. While God is a God of love, he’s also made it very clear that he expects our reverence and worship. He is an awesome and jealous God who will not tolerate other gods, or mankind’s indifference to him. The common image of God as a benevolent grandfather, winking at sin, who ultimately gathers all of his children into his lap, can’t be found in scripture. While Jesus encourages those of us who love God to call him our father, he is also our king.
While no one can comprehend fully the nature of God, he has given us a glimpse of himself in Jesus Christ and in ourselves, for he created mankind in his image. This doesn’t mean we look like God, because God is a spirit. It means that human beings have been given some of the attributes of God, which animals do not, such as having purposeful and meaningful work, having the ability to love, create, and the capacity to make moral decisions and think rationally. “God also created us in his image so that we might enjoy three deeply satisfying and productive relationships: with himself, other people and the earth itself”. [1]
We will discover all throughout the Meta Concepts that God’s intentions for how humans are to live are patterned after the nature, order, and work of God himself. God has “a family," he lives in community, he loves, cries, gets angry, he works, he creates, he forgives, and he is a personal God who is still active in the affairs of the world he created.
Adam and Eve, the first man and woman were created by God. All their needs were provided by God, there was no sickness, sin, or death. They were to care for each other and the world God had created. Their work had dignity and God, mankind and creation existed in perfect harmony. This was God’s original intention for his world and still is.
However, because of mankind’s disobedience to God’s commands, which we’ll cover later in the Meta Concepts, sin entered the world with all its devastating consequences, which we call the “fall” of man. The fall caused people to be sinful, death came into the world and we began to distrust each other, disease and suffering entered the world and most importantly mankind became alienated from their creator – God.
Why God tolerates Satan, sin and suffering is still a mystery. But, God did not give up on his creation, which he still loves deeply. Instead, he struck back with his plan for redeeming back everything that belongs to him. Redemption is a major theme in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. To redeem is to purchase back, liberate or ransom someone or something of value. Jesus Christ came to redeem men and women for God, who in return are charged with the responsibility of redeeming “fallen” or sin corrupted relationships, families, communities, righting social and economic injustices, and even caring for the earth itself – the environment. Mankind lost it, so God expects us to take it back which is only possible by faith in Jesus Christ, obedience to God, made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. We and this world belong to God and he wants all of it back! In the words of Abraham Kuyper, a Dutch theologian and former Prime Minister, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry - Mine!” [2]
Exodus 3:13, 14; Leviticus 11:44a; Rom. 9:20,21; I Chronicles 29:11; Job 1:12; Isaiah 40:13,14; Isaiah 40:25; Genesis 1:26; Eph. 2:6-10; John 3:16
- Michael Wittmer, Heaven is a Place on Earth, Grand Rapids, Zondervans Publishing Co., p. 90.
- Abraham Kuyper, Souvereiniteit in Eigen Kring: A Centenial Reader trans. And ed. James D. Bratt, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1998, p. 488.