Truly, God is.[1] He is the eternal Father who always has been and always will
be above all.[2] His existence precedes all creation for he is the origin of the
heavens and the earth and all life within it.[3] It is through his reasoning
that all things were made.[4] Indeed, God is the foundation of law and order.[5]
And the government of God is the basis from which all logic, natural laws and
moral realities are realized within the uni-verse. With unlimited power the
everlasting King rules according to infinite knowledge and righteous
purposes.[6] The Lord of Hosts – He is the sovereign master of heaven and
earth.[7] Although the things of this world fade away, the Holy Father will
always be the all-powerful and only wise God.[8] For the immortal God is
incorruptible - ever holy and unchangeable in his being.[9] Eternally perfect
and immutable, the authority of his word remains forever.[10]
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was, and who is, and who is to
come! (Rev 4:8)
Out of his infinite power and perfect wisdom, God
created heaven and earth and all that is in them. [11] He is the father of
humanity having made of one blood all nations of men[12]. From his hand is the
life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.[13] “In him we live,
and move and have our being”.[14] Unlike us who depend on the “Father of light”,
for every good thing, he is self-sufficient.[15] For the father of creation is
ruler and judge over all that he has made.[16] We are his, he is our God, and we
are the sheep of his pasture.[17] He who upholds the world looks down from
heaven seeing every place and knowing all that transpires.[18] For there is no
place that man can hide where God is not afar off.[19] His awareness transcends
space and time into the depth of all things, even within the hearts of man.[20]
Being immanent everywhere within the universe yet infinitely superior, God alone
is able to rule with perfect justice.[21] Government belongs to the transcendent
creator of all things.[22]
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to
receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will
they existed and were created. (Rev. 4:11)
God is one.[23] He is
the only true God and there is no other God besides him.[24] For although there
may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth, there is but one God, the Father,
from whom are all things and for whom we exist.[25] Pre-eminence excludes all
but one Lord who is the first, greatest, highest, and supreme.[26] And the Lord
is one within himself- undivided in person and character.[27] As the creed of
Israel, affirmed by Jesus Christ, states, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the
Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your might”; there is one Lord (personal being) who is
God.[28] Accordingly, we are to love God with oneness of person, regarding the
divine Father alone as being fully God.[29]
To the King of ages,
immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1
Tim. 1:17)
God our Father is a living being active in personality
and character.[30] As the individual from whom man was made in his image, the
divine Father possesses intellect, sensibilities, and will.[31] Like man, God
makes conscious choices according to his will.[32] Yet, unlike fallen humanity,
he is morally perfect in character.[33] Indeed, the Father of Light is holy and
righteous, having a purely good nature.[34] Righteousness and justice are the
foundation of his throne.[35] He is perfectly righteous and perfectly
loving.[36] Although perfect, God is not just an ideal, principle, or moral law
- rather he is a living Father who jealously desires loving relation with his
children.[37] His identity as a personal being is profoundly demonstrated
through the loving sensibilities he has shown in acts of mercy, loving kindness,
and grace.[38] He who is faithful and true has expressed his good will toward
creation.[39]
Our all-present Father knows all things about
us, yet we are limited in knowledge of the “invisible” God.[40] God is spirit,
not of a body of flesh and blood, but of imperishable essence.[41] No man has
ever beheld the immortal Father directly.[42] He dwells in unapproachable light
in the realm of heaven with his angels looking down from on high.[43] In fact,
it is insufferable for man to see God in all his glory lest he die in the
presence of the Holy One.[44] Likewise no man can grasp the fullness of God
since finite mortals cannot search the one who is infinite nor attain the wisdom
of him who is eternal.[45] Yet he is everywhere and his eyes are at every place
and he could be known if we would just grope for him.[46] God can be found, if
he is sought in righteousness with clean hands and a pure heart.[47] The Father
delights in the welfare of his servants showing his face and giving salvation to
all who fear him and follow after truth.[48] The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom.[49] However, God turns his face and hides himself form the
unrighteous.[50] Yet, no one is with excuse for unbelief since God can be
clearly seen through the things that have been made.[51]
"Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah
6:3)
The splendor, order, and vastness of the universe, including
the created things within it, point toward the existence of God[52] This reality
is attested by the universal laws of physics and logic evident within the
observable expansion of space and time. The moral laws, written within the
hearts of man, also testify that God is true.[53] While evident in the presence
of law, order, and morality, the “invisible” God further reveals himself in the
experiences of man and is known by various testimonies he has left upon
creation. Through many witnesses and signs, the Father has demonstrated himself
over the ages.[54] It is he who was revealed to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, by
angelic visitation and vision, and to Moses, David, and to many other prophets.
In the fulfillment of time, God principally manifested his wisdom and love
through his chosen son Christ Jesus (Yeshuah, the Messiah) having perfectly
represented the Father in expressing his character, declaring his truth, and
doing his will.[55] The Biblical Scripture is the principal record of God, his
law, his dealings with man, and the testimony to his Son. Having been breathed
out by God, all Scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, and for training in righteousness.[56]
The Father
demonstrates himself through his Holy Spirit given through Jesus in fulfillment
of the Gospel.[57] The Holy Spirit is the breath of God - his transmissible
virtue and power that affects the world and life within it.[58] Deriving from
God’s infinite power and wisdom, the Spirit is divine substance transmitted from
above. Being the supernatural extension of God by which the Father involves
himself in our physical world, it can be said that the Spirit is the “finger” of
God.[59] When believers are filled with the Spirit of God, they do the work of
God in accordance with his will.[60] The Holy Spirit gives is truth, wisdom,
life, and power.[61] This Spirit transforms, purifies, and comforts.[62] Through
his Spirit, God created the heavens and the earth.[63] And by the Spirit, God
has spoken through the prophets.[64] Since God is spirit revealing himself
through spirit, those who worship him must do so in spirit and truth; The Father
seeks such to be his worshippers.[65] To see the kingdom of God, one must be
born again by his Spirit.[66] The gift of his Spirit is our adoption as his sons
by which the Father takes charge of our lives.[67]
God had
predestined the means by which fallen man would be saved through faith and
receive his Spirit, even before the foundation of the world.[68] Before the ages
began, foreknowing all things, God purposed through his eternal reason (word) a
Gospel by which man’s destiny would not necessarily be death, but that through
the righteousness of faith man could hold an inheritance of eternal life.[69]
This provision is for all who would choose to entrust themselves to his Christ
in faithfulness to his will.[70] We are saved by God’s wisdom manifested in the
Gospel, whereas truth and love are brought together is such way that his perfect
law is upheld so that through faith we have the forgiveness of sins.[71] God is
no respecter of persons, and desires that all come to repentance in knowledge of
the truth.[72] God is love. Yet in his love, he cannot violate his own law and
principles.[73] Although the Holy Father wishes that none should perish and that
all would be saved, he will eventually cast his judgment on all wickedness and
rebelliousness.[74]
Ultimate judgment comes from him who
is sovereign over the universe.[75] No standing wrong will go unpunished.[76]
The heavens and the earth will be shaken once more.[77] Only that which is
imperishable will remain.[78] The world will be judged in fire.[79] And, as God
is a consuming fire, all the enemies of God and of his Christ will be
destroyed.[80] The righteous will be separated from the wicked and the wicked
will be as chaff destroyed in the fire.[81] Through Jesus, whom he has chosen,
God will judge the world in righteousness; putting all things in subjection
under his feet until all his enemies are destroyed.[82] In the end, after the
destruction of every opposing rule and power through Christ, God will be all in
all.[83] Regardless of all opposition, his eternal word will certainly come to
pass.[84]
The fool has said in his heart that there is no
God.[85] The uncircumcised in heart and ears resist the Holy Spirit.[86] In the
pride of his anger the wicked says, “God will not call to account”.[87] Yet,
while this world suffers injustice now, God has already initiated his plan and
purpose to judge the world.[88] The good God is allowing evil and iniquity to
continue for a time so that more may gain eternal life as children of his
kingdom. in a world that suffers not the absence of his presence.[89] His wisdom
will thus be shown in the delaying of judgment until the appointed time.
Therefore we preach, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe the gospel!”[90] At the end of the age, God will fulfill all
justice.[91]
