WHAT IS BELIEVED ABOUT GOD DETERMINES HOW HE IS TRUSTED AND THE KIND OF OBEDIENCE RENDERED
  • "But without faith it is impossible to please him [GOD]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).
    • THIS GREAT VERSE in that great chapter on faith in the Bible (Hebrews 11) makes a profound statement about faith. After asserting the importance and necessity of it in approaching God, the writer brings out the two facets of faith. (1) We must believe in the reality of God ("that God is"), and (2) we must trust this God who is real—"believe…that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." The first one, our concept of God, has a lot to do with the second, trusting Him (and to the extent that we do trust Him). What we believe about God determines how we trust Him and the kind of obedience rendered. It is that simple.
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    With these apparent observations in mind, we wish to go into more detail with this to point out some very simple, yet profound, truths. But before we do this, as background thought, let us check out some of the early references to God in the first books of the Bible. This is very interesting and rewarding.
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    BACKGROUND THOUGHTS
    ON THE VARIOUS NAMES FOR GOD
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    Elohim (Plural) "Created" (Singular)
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    We are fittingly first introduced to God in Genesis 1:1 where it reads, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." The English translation gives no hint of this, but intriguingly the Hebrew word for "God," Elohim, is plural. At the same time the corresponding verb "created" is singular. Evidently, the plural, Elohim (in keeping with oriental usage), is used to stress the greatness and majesty of God (especially appropriate here in connection with creation). And in the fuller revelation of the New Testament, we learn that although God is one, yet He expresses Himself through three personalities (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). The plural reference here serves as a backdrop to the New Testament revelation, as well as verse 26, when God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…"
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    "The LORD [JEHOVAH] God"
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    In the second chapter of Genesis another name is coupled with God in talking about deity, "the LORD God" (Genesis 2:5,7,9,16,18,19,21,22). Modern "scholarship" would try to tell us Genesis and the other books of the Pentateuch were pieced together from different sources. One way they try to identify supposed different sources, is by the different names used for God. But the idea of different sources would deny what is affirmed throughout the Bible, the Mosaic authorship of these books. A better explanation why different names were used is in the meaning of the names. They fittingly are used in what the writer would like to emphasize about God in the particular context.
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    "I AM THAT I AM"
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    In Isaiah 42:8, God strongly asserts, "I am the LORD: that is my name…" When God called and commissioned Moses from the burning bush, He revealed Himself as "I AM THAT I AM," and then instructed Moses to say to the Israelites, "The LORD God of your fathers…hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations" (Exodus 3:14,15). Although it looks like God had earlier identified Himself to Abraham as "the LORD" (Genesis 15:7), it seems this term had not been commonly used, for Exodus 6:3 reads, "I am the LORD: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH [the LORD] was I not known to them."
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    The Covenant Name of God
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    The name "LORD" (also rendered "JEHOVAH") appears to have come directly from the expression "I AM THAT I AM." It means the Eternal, Self-Existent One. It is the covenant name of God in His personal and continuing relationship with man. Moses, when telling of the creation of man in the second chapter of Genesis, very appropriately identifies God as "the LORD God." This emphasizes God’s personal relationship to man who was being created in God’s image, as well as letting Israel know that the God of Israel was the God of creation. And, as a matter of interest, this name rendered "LORD" and "JEHOVAH" (always in capital letters) and sometimes suggested to be YEWEH, was the name of God whose pronunciation has been lost. Out of deep respect the personal name of God was not spoken by the Jews, just a substitute word, and with time the exact pronunciation was no longer remembered since initially the written Hebrew language had only consonant stems.
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    "The Almighty God"
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    The appellation "God Almighty" (El Shaddai) is one that is used repeatedly throughout the patriarchal age (Genesis 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25) and is even found in the concluding pages of the Bible (Revelation 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7,14; 19:6,15; 21:22). It was the dominate expression in God’s dealing with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 6:3). It is first recorded in Genesis 17:1 when Abraham was 99 years old. God, speaking from the perspective of the Almighty One who would be able to bring it about, assured Abraham that within a year he would father a son in his old age (and from this a great nation would come). And the simple expression "the Almighty" is also many times used as a stand-alone designation for God in the Old Testament. How appropriate it is to speak of God as the Almighty.
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    WHAT IS BELIEVED DETERMINES 
    TRUST AND OBEDIENCE
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    Now with these thoughts behind us, and as we let them serve as sort of a foundation, let us get back to our original premise. What we believe about God, or even whether we believe, determines our trust in Him and has a direct bearing on the kind and quality of obedience rendered. That being the case, we need to have the proper concept of God. This study is very simple, but the truths are far reaching. We become like the God we worship. There are many implications. Many of the things we point out will overlap.
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    God Is
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    "God is." This is the first of several great and simple statements we wish to notice. God had identified Himself to Moses from the burning bush as, "I AM THAT I AM." This is an emphatic declaration and statement in the first person singular of the existence and reality of the person speaking. God is the Uncaused First Cause behind every cause. Things just didn’t "happen" by chance. The Psalmist wrote, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Psalms 90:2). To the Athenians, Paul added, "For in him [God] we live, and move, and have our being…" (Acts 17:28). Whether we like it or not, believe it, or even know it, this is true. This simple fact should get our attention, arousing our interest to know more about this great truth (and our relationship to it).
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    God Is Spirit
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    Man is made in the "image" and "likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26). What is this image and likeness? It cannot mean the physical body that is seen, as idolatry is strongly condemned in the Scriptures. Idolatry comes from the word "idol" that comes directly from the Greek word eidos, which means that which is seen. And although so much of the Old Testament religion involved the external and ritual, the God they worshipped was not physical. That which was physical actually served as an antitype of the spiritual revelation that was to follow in the New Testament. Jesus told the woman at the well, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth" (John 4:23,24). In a post resurrection appearance Jesus told his disciples that "a spirit hath not flesh and blood" (Luke 24:39). God’s essence and being is in the realm of spirit, and that being the cause He is invisible to the physical eye (Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; John 1:18). Therefore, man being created in the "image" and "likeness" of God has reference to the part of man that is spirit and is in the realm of the spirit. We are a spirit clothed with a body.
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    Yes, God is Spirit. Our relationship to Him is on that basis, and consequently on the basis of faith. Paul said, "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). Yet it is said of Moses, as he responded to God through faith, that he was "seeing him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27). The apostle Paul also asserted that "we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).
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    The Old Testament antitypes prophetically foreshadowed that which is spiritual. Christ came into the world to "seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, the "kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 4:17; Matthew chapter 13), not a physical one. A person must experience a spiritual birth to get into this kingdom (John 3:3-5; Matthew 18:3). And as Jesus said, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24), not with emphasis upon temples and cathedrals of man (John 4:20-24; Acts 17:24-29). Peter wrote, "Ye also, as lively [living] stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (I Peter 2:5). Paul likewise wrote, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable [rational, spiritual] service [worship]. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:1,2).
    God is One
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    Moses, addressing the Israelites, said, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deuteronomy 6:4,5). This truth is so great that the Lord Jesus mentioned it in his teachings (Luke 10:27; Matthew 22:37). Paul further highlighted it when he said, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Timothy 1:17). God is one, not many. Therefore, He is to be the object of all of our love—i.e., "with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." What is our concept of God? Have we made the one true God a lesser deity, with many competing other "gods" in our lives? Are we like the Athenians in Acts 17? If we really believe that God is one, we should respond and act accordingly with our undivided devotion to Him.
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    Also since God is one, His plan and laws for mankind are one. The apostle Paul wrote, "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Eph. 4:4-6). Man-made denominations are contrary to the New Testament. Man has no authority to start another "church," a denomination, or other religion. Even as God’s physical laws are the same anywhere and everywhere you go in this world, His spiritual laws are the same. The law of gravity and other laws of nature are the same the world over. We can’t change them. Therefore, since God’s spiritual laws likewise are one and unchangeable, we should be "endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3), practicing the unity of God’s one plan (and earnestly contending for the faith, Jude 3).
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    God Is A Moral Being
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    It is clear from the very first pages of the Bible that God is a Moral Being. And man created in God’s image and likeness is expected to be moral, too. Incorporated into the Old Testament Law were the words, "Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy" (Leviticus 19:2). These very words are brought over into the New Testament, when Peter admonishes, "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation [behavior, the way you live]; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15,16). God is a Being of Moral Perfection and His Character is the law of the universe. How unlike the "gods" of Greek mythology who supposedly lived on Mt. Olympus. The Greek gods were even more immoral than the people. It is no wonder that Paul usually found a cluster of Gentile proselytes in connection with the Jewish synagogues (Acts 13:16,42,43; 17:1-4). They saw that the God of the Jews, the God of the Bible, was superior in every way to their mythological concepts of deity.
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    Since God is the Ultimate Moral Being, and we are created in His image, we are expected to practice morality and are held accountable for wrongs committed. We will face God in judgment. With this in mind, after Peter quoted the Old Testament command to be holy as God is holy, he further admonished, "And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear" (1 Peter 1:17). With similar thoughts in mind, and in view of the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews said, "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:28,29).
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    So God is not just a moral pushover, indifferent to what we do. "…It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27; Romans 6:23). "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10). In view of this, let us be right with God and live accordingly.
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    God Is Almighty,
    God Is All-Knowing
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    The apostle Paul strongly affirms in Romans 1:20, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead [Godhood]…" We see evidence of Almighty Power and Supreme Intelligence in the creation all about us. God identified Himself as "the Almighty God" to Abraham (Genesis 17:1). Appeal is made by the early church in prayer to God’s Almighty Power and Omniscience in Acts 4:23-31. Peter and John, after being threatened by the authorities in Jerusalem, were released and returned to their own company. Carefully notice the account as we highlight it.
    "And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ…For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done…"
    As we said, appeal is made to God emphasizing His Power and Omniscience in anticipation of having their prayer answered in what they were about to ask. First, as they addressed God as the One who created everything, appeal is made to His power. And in addressing Him in this connection, they call Him "Lord." In the language of the New Testament this is not the common word used for Lord (Kurios). Rather, it is Despota. This word makes its way into the English language as "despot" with a bad connotation. However, in the New Testament it is not necessarily bad, simply meaning an absolute ruler. So God, absolute, Almighty, with all things in His hand, is the One who can answer their prayer. Second, God, All-Knowing, is implied in the quotation from David and in the foreknowledge of what would happen to Christ. It was believed that such a Being could answer their prayer, and He did! 
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    And He is there to hear our prayers, too. Paul directs the Ephesians to this thought when he said, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20). With the Power and the Omniscience coupled in Romans 8:26-31, Paul wrote, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself [Himself] maketh intercession for us…And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose…" And the next verse emphasizes God’s foreknowledge of everything, even our salvation. God knows all about us. With such knowledge and blessed assurance we can approach the throne of grace.
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    God Is Love
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    The simple statement, "God is love" is found in 1 John 4:8 (and 16). Following this statement, we read, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (4:9,10). God’s love is wonderfully evident, even before John 3:16 and this marvelous passage, in just the simple and basic things of life. God makes the "sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). But His love manifested in Christ dying for us and bearing our sins, is the greatest of all. From the human perspective, Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). But from the viewpoint of God becoming flesh and doing this, it is even more wonderful. We are saved from the wrath of God through the love of God.
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    How are we to respond to this Divine Love? "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). We respond in kind. Then Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Earlier he had said, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34, 35). John in his epistles repeatedly refers to this. He also said, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also" (1 John 4:20,21).
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    This love is manifested in forgiveness, kindness and deeds of benevolence. Paul wrote, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children" (Ephesians 4:31,32; 5:1). And going a step further, John asks, "But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:17,18).
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    Beloved, let us be the embodiment of love.
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    Concluding Words
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    We could say many other things under the theme and headings of this article. What has been said has simply been selective, not exhaustive. It is awesome and mind-boggling to think about God. As we learn about Him, we become believers. Then believing, genuine faith produces trust and obedience. And the only way that we can acceptably respond to such a Being who is Almighty, All-Knowing, etc. is with our all. He must be the Lord of all in our lives, or He is not Lord at all. As we trust Him, yielding our all, we find "that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). Our lives will then be complete, as we were made by Him and for Him in His image and likeness. With a sense of security and well being we will live with eternity in view. Praise be to His Name!
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