The Work of Christ By: Charles T. Buntin

He preaches well who lives well. That’s all
the divinity I know.
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES

Part 1:
The Christ of the Cross

Galatians 6:14 “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (NIV)

In the above passage in Galatians, Paul was opposing false teachers who had perverted the gospel by leaving out the essential message of the Cross and substituting a return to the Jewish ceremonial laws. They gloried in the flesh, in man’s religion, and not in the faith of the Scriptures, not in the Cross of Christ. Paul says they did it out of love for the world and out of the fear of men.

So today, the false teachers of the new heresies have ignored, denied, diverted and perverted the message of the Cross, and have done so for the same reasons. A crucified Savior, dying for the real sins of real people is not popular. He makes us face our sin, and admit to its ugliness. He brings us face-to-face with our spiritual inability, and with the depth of the darkness of our souls. He requires of us to take up our own cross, to deny our selfish desires and live for Him as He died for us. This is not the gospel of ease and enjoyment that people seek to soothe their bruised egos. For believers today, we must glory in the Cross--in the true, biblical act, fact, doctrine, and way of life that emanates from the Cross, and we must live with reference to the world in the way that Paul describes here--the world is crucified to us, and we to the world. We must ask a series of provocative, searching questions about our faith:

• What is the essential Act, Fact, Message, Meaning and Power of the Christian faith?
• What is far more important than therapy, miracles, health, wealth, good self-esteem, or correct politics?
• What event is the one fulcrum, the single pivot point of the history of the universe?
• What event was the most important battle ever fought and won in the entire history of time?
• What deed far surpasses all the deeds ever done, even creation itself?
• What glorious act demonstrates the wrath, justice, sovereignty, truth, love, mercy, and power of God all at once?
• What supreme, mysterious, glorious, awesome, Act of God is the only reason His people stand today, whole, saved, and testifying of God’s greatness?

This act, fact, message, meaning and power of our faith is this (and we must personalize these statements to give them the full impact of their Biblical basis):

• The Almighty Creator, Jehovah God Himself, God the Son, became flesh for me.
• This God-Man lived a perfect life for me.
• This Perfect Lamb of God demonstrated His own power over nature, sin, Satan, disease, and death for me.
• This Ruler of the Universe Incarnate was arrested, beaten, tortured, convicted in a kangaroo court, and hung on a cross for me.
• This Sinless Substitute took my sin upon Himself, suffered the equivalent of eternal Hell, and laid down His own life for me.
• This Fountain of Life arose from the dead for me.
• This is the message of the Work of our Saviour on the Cross--THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY IS THE CROSS OF CHRIST.

Human Sinfulness

Our text in Galatians says, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ.” Before we can plunge into the beauty of the divine sacrifice for us, we have to ask--”Why?” What made the Cross necessary? The answer is, “our sins made it necessary.” In this feel-good age of “psycho-babble” with its avoidance of blame, guilt, and personal responsibility, when the usual response to any investigation is the limp “Mistakes were made,” Sin is not a popular concept. In fact, even in many church circles, the Sinfulness of mankind is one of the great neglected truths. We need “healing,” we need “counseling,” we need all kinds of therapeutic remedies, but far too many preachers and teachers avoid the first thing we need to do--face up to the fact of our sinfulness. The Bible is plain about the universal nature of sin’s effect on the human race, as per these examples:

Romans 3:10-11, 23 there is none righteous, no, not one . . .there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. . . . All have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. (KJV)

Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (KJV)

And, it was this sinfulness that made the Cross necessary. Our first parents were created holy and sinless, but with an ability to choose. In the Garden of Eden, our first parents chose to rebel against God’s rules. The Bible teaches that Adam, as the representative head of that first family, passed two things on to us, his children.

• First, we have an inherited sin nature. We begin sinning as soon as we are born (Psa 58:3)--any parent can tell you that you do not have to teach a child to sin, they come by it naturally.
• Secondly, we inherit guilt from the sin of our representative head, Adam (Rom 5:12). This alone condemns us, and we add to that guilt by our own actions as soon as we enter the world. What is more, our sin nature renders us powerless to change our own situation! Because of our innate depravity, we are spiritually blind (2 Cor. 4:3-4; 1 Cor. 2:14); we are spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1-5); we cannot come to God on His terms, (John. 6:44, 65), and we will not come--in our human nature, we want no part of God and his ways (John. 5:40).

The bottom line--because of our sin, WE ARE HOPELESSLY LOST WITHOUT CHRIST! By the standards of God’s law, only the righteous will see heaven, and we are not righteous, for God’s definition of righteous is perfection! What a helpless and hopeless state we are in without the Cross!

The Nature of the Cross

The nature of the Cross is that Christ died as a Substitute, a Satisfaction, and a Propitiation--He turns God’s wrath away from those who deserve to be consumed by that wrath. The Christ of the Cross is our Substitute. The theological term for this is Substitutionary Atonement, and it is one of the most important aspects of the doctrine of the Cross. Christ actually died in the place of sinners--He specifically took the punishment that should have been theirs (2 Cor. 5:21; Isa 53:5; 1 Pet 3:18).

How can this be possible, for the death of One to accomplish this? It is possible because He is infinite--He is God, and His blood sacrifice is of infinite worth. His hours of agony began in the garden the night before the crucifixion, and culminated in His death on the cross, when God the Father turned His back on God the Son as the Son bore our sins. His sacrifice for us as our substitute was the equivalent of all who would ever believe in Him (or who ever had believed in His promised coming ) suffering eternal punishment. He endured all that in our place. The Christ of the Cross is our Satisfaction (of the Law’s demands). The law of God demands perfect obedience to the law--Christ is the only One who ever lived who fulfilled that demand. The law demands just punishment for those who sin--He fulfilled that demand as well. The law has been upheld--it is satisfied.

Unlike the “gods” of the world’s religions, who either disregard sin or forgive it capriciously, the God of the Bible can state that all the demands of His law have been met. (Gal 3:13; Rom 3:31; Col. 2: 13-14,). The Christ of the Cross is our Propitiation. This $50 theological term is a very important word. It means that Christ turns away God’s righteous wrath against our sin and rebellion. (Rom 1:17; 3:25-6, Rom 5:6-9). Christ has done it all by His sacrifice on our behalf--as the old hymn writers have said:

What can wash away my sin?--Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What can make me whole again?--Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins,
and sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains!

And, can it be that I should gain, an interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me who caused His pain, for me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be, that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Yes, believers, as the text in Galatians 6 says, we Glory in the Cross!!! BUT THAT IS ONLY HALF OF OUR TEXT!

The other half of our text says “ . . . BY WHOM THE WORLD IS CRUCIFIED UNTO ME AND I UNTO THE WORLD.” For the apostle Paul, and for any consistent believer, the Cross of Christ is the thing that rules the life. Our feelings about the world, our relationship with it, our walk in it, and our increasing detachment from its rule are all determined by the Cross. As far as Paul was concerned, the world was dead--the praise, advancements, approval of the world were not important . For the Apostle, as for every believer, the world was not his real home--but unlike many of us, he knew it, and he lived like it. Paul proved his allegiance to the rule of the cross. He had made choices in his life; he had chosen the Gospel’s Truth over family background, tradition, and riches.

Philippians 3:3-10 “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he have whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But, what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;”

As John Brown of Edinburgh said, it is that “. . . we view the world system as crucified, cursed, useless, of no influence, of no matter, of no importance to us at all. The world is not to be desired, listened to, followed, or worshipped.”

1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

The second half of the text at the head of this chapter said, “ . . . And I to the world.” What does it mean to be crucified to the world? Does it mean to hide in a desert, to leave humanity behind, or to become a recluse of some type? No, it is a matter of your state of mind and way of life as you live in human society. Again, as John Brown of Edinburgh says, “ . . .if I am following the way of the Cross, and preaching the Cross, and if the Cross of Christ and the ways of the Lord are first in my life, then I am crucified to the world. It is that they view me as accursed, dead, useless, of no influence, of no importance, etc.” It may be that not all the world will view us this way, but as they come into full awareness of what makes us tick, they will either come under the awe of the Cross and be attracted to Christ, or they will account us to be fools.

Men who preach the Cross with words, and in the way they live their daily lives will not be loved by many of the people of this world or this world’s system. Women who order their home, their own priorities, their associations, and who raise their young ones in accordance with the teachings of the Scripture will not win the praise of their worldly neighbors. Young people who live for Christ, who speak of Christ, who listen to what the Bible has to say about Truth, and who reject the worldly philosophy taught in the public schools and colleges will be thought odd, and will be rejected by the worldly arbiters of taste and “coolness.” A preacher who preaches what the Bible has to say, and who cares not for the opinion of the masses, or of civil or religious authorities, will not be hailed and toasted by the princes of this earth. A Church that is valiant for Truth and fervent in its preaching of the Gospel and ministry to the lost will not be popular with the enemies of the Cross, even if those enemies claim to be friends. People of God, Christ calls us to live for Him, if necessary to die for Him, and to follow Him in every way.

Part 2:
The Resurrected Christ

The prophets and founders of the world’s religions are dead--often, their tombs are shrines. The great but twisted minds that conceived the great humanistic philosophies that have dominated the 20th century are also dead. Most of the scientists and inventors who laid the foundations for our miracles of 20th century technology are dead. Death is the way of the human race, as the Bible says, “It is appointed unto men once to die . . .” All must leave this life, never to return--all, that is, except One. The joyous victory shout of the Christian church is, “Christ is risen!” The equally joyous answer to that shout of victory, “He is risen indeed!” So have believers greeted each other on Resurrection Sunday for nearly 2,000 years, and so we shall greet one another until He returns!

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the other side of His death on the Cross--as Paul said in Romans 4:25, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” Jesus Christ was crucified in our place--He bore our penalty, took our sins upon Himself, and laid down His life for us. In the resurrection, however, is the proof of God’s acceptance of His Son’s sacrifice. “ . . . and who through the Spirit of Holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 1:4) As Paul makes plain in his beautiful and powerful defense of the doctrine of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians, “ . . . if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. “ (1 Cor 15:17) Without the resurrected Savior, Christianity is useless and foolish.

Have pity on those liberal theologians who either do not believe in a literal resurrection, or who use existential philosophy to say it is not important whether or not the resurrection was literal--it is a pointless exercise to have a “Christianity” without a risen Christ.

The Bible teaches that His resurrection was a literal bodily resurrection. He was not a phantom; His resurrection was not “spiritual” only; His resurrection is not an allegory in celebration of life, or any other such nonsense. He literally rose from the grave in a body that was real and physical. You could touch Him, He was recognizable to those who had known Him before the crucifixion and He still bore the scars of His torment Luke 24:36-42 tells how He appeared to two of His followers; indeed, each of the Gospels has several factual incidents about His resurrection and His appearances afterward. The resurrection is mentioned and stressed throughout the New Testament, but as we quoted above, the most important passage in understanding its meaning for us is in 1 Corinthians 15--the whole chapter. The heart of the chapter, however are verses 12-25:

1 Corinthians 15:12-25 “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.(NIV)

Christian, you “serve a risen Savior,” as one favorite hymn says, and as another song exalts, “Because He lives,” you can live your life with confidence that His sacrifice on your behalf has been accepted, and He is always there to help you in time of need. Yes, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Part 3:
The Returning Christ

The night was late as the seminary library closed. A stocky young man about 27 years old gathered up his notes and books, stuffed them in an old beat-up case, and trudged out the door. The young man, let’s call him Mike, was in his third year of seminary, and was completely confused for the first time in his Christian life. A required course, “Eschatology” (the study of last things, or the end times) was beating him to death. As he studied the conflicting opinions of great Bible scholars, he was completely amazed how these men who agreed on so many other things could be so different on this topic. As he slowly walked down the hallway, he spied Old John. Old John was the janitor in this building, a distinguished-looking old black man with a reputation as a very strong believer. John had rigged up a stool on his cleaning cart, and when it came time for a break, he would just park the cart wherever he was, sit in the stool, break out his coffee thermos and Bible, and read. Mike liked to talk to John, as did many of the students. With his many years of walking with the Lord, he was a great counselor about the practical problems of life. As Mike and he greeted one another, the young man saw that John was reading the book of Revelation--currently the great headache of Mike’s life. “John, I see you are reading Revelation. That book is driving me crazy! All the great Bible teachers teach so many different things on it, and it just isn’t clear to me at all. John, tell me, what in the world do you think the book is talking about.” Old John turned to the back of the book, read the last chapter aloud, then looked up and grinned at the young student. “Young preacher, the meaning of the Book of Revelation is that Jesus Wins!”

No topic is more confusing to a believer than the End Times. My friend, “Mike,” in the story above, was not alone in his confusion. In this century, possibly more ink has been spilled about the meaning of the Book of Revelation and the theology of the end times than on any other topic of the Faith. Many great Bible teachers who agree on just about everything else disagree greatly on this doctrine--many teachers speak about the end times as if there was no doubt as to the exact scenario, but their scenarios do not agree in the least. This book will not address the controversies; we will not even define the controversies, for there are plenty of books that do that. What we will do is to define the basic orthodox requirements for a beautiful and vital doctrine that gets lost in the arguments over particulars. We will define the absolute minimums of the orthodox doctrine, but no more.

Christ is Returning

The second coming of Christ is a cornerstone of Biblical doctrine. It is not possible to be considered orthodox and evangelical unless you believe Jesus is coming back. Our Lord promised it, the apostles confirmed it, and the entire book of Revelation celebrates it. Below are just a few examples of the verses that establish this fact.

John 14:1-3 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (NIV)

Matthew 26:64 “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (NIV)

Luke 21:27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. (NIV)

The return of Christ will be visible. He will not come in secret; He will not come “mystically,” or only to those with eyes to see Him. All humanity will witness His coming, and those who do not belong to Him will be terrified.

Acts 1:11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (NIV)

Matthew 24:29-30 “Immediately after the distress of those days “`the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. (NIV)

The Second Coming of Christ will be Bodily. He will not come “spiritually,” He will return in His Body. He has a body now, a glorious body, witnessed by the apostle John (Rev 1:12-16), and when He comes in clouds of glory, it will be in that glorious body.

Philippians 3:21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (NIV)

Zechariah 14:3 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. (NIV)

He will come in Power and Glory--unlike His first coming, His true nature will not be concealed. He will come at the head of a heavenly army, as the conquering Sovereign that He is.

Titus 2:13 while we wait for the blessed hope-- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, (NIV)

Matthew 24:30 They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

See Appendix 7 for study questions and projects for Chapter 5.

The Person of Christ By: Charles T. Buntin

There is nothing that will not reveal its secrets
if you love it enough.
GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER

There are only a few things that make the Christian faith truly distinct from the world’s religions. The three most prominent differences are the nature of the Absolute Triune God, the Person and Work of the founder of the faith and the way of salvation. We’ve already looked at the nature of God; in Chapters 6 and 7, we will outline the drastic difference between the Faith and the world’s religions as to the doctrine of what Christians call salvation, but here we will talk about the Founder. The founders of the world’s religions made various claims. “I have found the way,” says one, “I have seen the way, says another.” Perhaps the message was, “God has shown me the way,” or “I can tell you the way.”

In Christ, however, we have One who says, “I Am the way.” In fact, Christ made the most remarkable statement any man could make--coming from a mere man, it would be a boast of fantastic proportions. He made a claim which makes Him the most narrow-minded Person who ever breathed. He said , “I Am the Way the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” It was statements like this one and many others which led C. S. Lewis to propose the “trilemma” about Jesus Christ. He said that for those who want to say Jesus is not who He claims to be, but is still a good teacher, etc., statements like John 14:6 pose an insurmountable problem. Because of what He said, He was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord of Glory. The greatest heresies of the history of the church were about the Person of Christ, and the greatest heresies of today are no different. In fact, they are not really new heresies, just old lies in a new outfit.

We looked at the Godhood of Christ in the last chapter, so in this one, we will look at the other aspects of His Person as our Lord and Redeemer.

Part 1:
The Pre-Existent Christ

The One theologians call “the divine Logos (Word),” the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, our Savior Jesus Christ, did not come into existence when He was born of the virgin Mary. That was His Incarnation (coming in flesh). He was, as the prophet Micah said, “. . .The One to be ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting . . .” (Mic. 5:2, NKJV) He was pre-existent.

Christ’s pre-existence is obvious from His Godhood. As God, He is Eternal and Immutable (Isa 9:6-7; Rev 1:8; Heb 13:8; Heb 1:12; Psa 102:27), so He always existed. There was never a time when He was not. “ . . .In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. “ (John 1:1) Christ’s pre-existence is amply testified by Scripture-- John 8:58; 17:5; 17:24; Col. 1:17; Heb 7:3; Rev 22:13; Phil. 2:5-11--the Bible continually emphasizes it. We also see Him in the Old Testament, as His pre-existence is demonstrated by theophany, or Christophany . These two words, one applying to God generally speaking, and the other to the Son in particular, refer to a visible appearance of God in the Old Testament.

Since it is a Bible teaching that no one has seen, or can see the Father Himself, (Ex 33; John 1:18; 1 Tim 1:17), most evangelical teachers ascribe all visible appearances of God in human or angelic form to the Son manifesting Himself prior to His incarnation. Judges 13:15-22; Zechariah 3:1-5; Exodus 3:16; and Genesis 18:1-33, are among many passages that Bible scholars believe are Christophanies. How do we tell from the Scriptures if a particular angelic manifestation is merely an angel, or if it is an appearance of the pre-existent Son? The following passage is a classic one that illustrates this.

Joshua 5:13-15 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. (NIV)

The underlined portion of the verse is the key to understanding this passage as an appearance of Christ before the Incarnation. The Commander of the LORD’s army uses the same words that Jehovah uses when Moses came before the burning bush. That, and the Person’s acceptance of worship, which is reserved for God alone, (Ex 20:1-3) prove this to be a Christophany. There are many Christophanies in the Old Testament. Christ has always been--our Savior did not come into existence on the day of His birth--He came into flesh on that day.

Part 2:
God Incarnate--The Man Christ Jesus

The Incarnation (Christ the Son of God coming into flesh) and the Virgin Birth (the way He came into flesh) are doctrines which cannot be understood logically or scientifically. They involve God acting outside the realm of natural law and intervening in human history in the most direct and personal way possible, by becoming part of it. The Incarnation and the Virgin Birth were part of the ancient promise given to the race about the release from the bondage of the race to Satan (who was the serpent depicted in Gen 3:14-15). The promise was reiterated to Abraham that from his seed “all the families of the earth,” would be blessed (Gen 12:3). Job revealed his faith that “. . . I know my Redeemer liveth, and in the latter days shall stand upon the earth.” The Purpose of His coming was the redemption of His people--all those who would ever believe in Him.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

Hebrews 2:14-18 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-- that is, the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (NIV)

Galatians 4:4-5 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. (NIV)

Romans 8:3-4 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (NIV)

The Fulfillment of the promises and prophecies came when the angel Gabriel announced His coming birth to the Virgin Mary. The doctrine of the Virgin Birth has been attacked by critics inside and outside the church. Sometimes the critics try to slyly suggest that the words translated “virgin” in the Bible can mean something other than “virgin.” However, the words of Mary herself “I know not a man,” (KJV) or in 20th century common language, “I have never had sexual relations with a man,” make plain that she was a virgin, and that the Incarnation and birth of the Savior was a miracle of God.

Luke 1:34-35 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” [Literally, “since I know not a man”] The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (NIV)

Paul and the apostle John both had profound comments on the mystery of the incarnation itself:

1 Timothy 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. (NIV)

John 1:14-18 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, `He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. (NIV)

And, it is very mysterious--how could the Holy, Immutable, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God become a man? The answer to the question “How?” is not given except in the equally mysterious words of Gabriel to Mary, quoted above--but it is true. Our inability to understand the Incarnation does not change the fact of it, any more than our inability to fully fathom all the forces of life and the universe changes them. Finally, the doctrine of the Incarnation was protected by some of the strongest warnings found in the New Testament--a person may be mistaken about a lot of things and still be a Christian, but a mistake in this area exposes false profession--if you do not believe that Jesus Christ is God in Flesh, you cannot be a Christian.

1 John 4:2-3 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. (NIV)

2 John 7-11 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the Antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work. (NIV)

Jude 3-4 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (NIV)

The humanity of Christ, the incarnate God-man, was Real Humanity--He was not a phantom; He was not a new type of being. He was “very God of very God,” as the old statements of faith say, but He was fully and completely man as well. He went through the common experiences of manhood, He suffered the common discomforts, pains, and griefs of manhood, He suffered temptation, and He died a common criminal’s death. He was in every way a man. (For examples, see Matt 1:1; 12:23; 15:22; 21:9; 26:37; Mark 10:48; 12:35; Luke 2:40; 4:2; 8:23; 9:58; John 4:6; 7:42; Rev 5:5.)

Some people think that the humanity of Christ necessitated that He have a sin nature and be innately sinful Himself. However, this is not the case at all. A sin nature is our inheritance if we are children of Adam, but it was not part of man’s original makeup--God did not create the sin nature. Our sinfulness was a reaction, it was a result of the sin our representative headman, the first man, Adam. We are born sinful because Adam became sinful. Christ was the “second Adam,” (1 Cor 15:45-49 ), not a son of Adam. Because of the Virgin Birth, He was “the seed of the woman,” (See Gen 3:14-15), and had no human father. As He had no human father, the sin of Adam and Adam’s sin nature was not passed on to Him. He lived a Sinless life in every way. In the formulation of the old puritans, “He had no sin, knew no sin, and did no sin.” Yet, as the next chapter tells us in detail, the beauty and mystery of The Faith is that this perfect God-man became sin and suffered its penalty for us.

Hebrews 4:14-15 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. (NIV)

See Appendix 8 for A Biblical and Theological Answer to the False Doctrine of Kenosis.

The Trinity By: Charles T. Buntin

A truly great man never puts away the simplicity
of a child.
CHINESE PROVERB

I was not looking forward to the next 45 days. As happens to military families everywhere, I was going away on Uncle Sam’s business for about six weeks, and with a young wife and three small children at home, that was no fun. There was one thing about this trip, however, that made it bearable--I was going to have a Christian roommate. I was looking forward to the opportunity to fellowship and study with another believer, and I was definitely not going to miss having to put up with the drunken carousing of former roomies.

After performing our duties and getting settled in the first day, my roommate, Bill, and I began our first nightly devotional study. About five minutes into the study, an amazing thing became apparent to me--Bill had been taught a false doctrine of the Trinity in his church. I was appalled--he went to a large, powerful, Baptist church that was renowned for Biblical preaching, missionary work, and evangelism. I knew that he attended Bible studies through the week as well as the normal Sunday morning and Sunday night preaching services and Sunday school. He had been converted in this church three years earlier--how could he not know the orthodox teaching on the Trinity?

Over the next few days, I showed him what the Bible taught about the nature of the Triune God, and he came to see the truth. I also found out how he had come to the odd view he’d had previously. In three years of intense fellowship and study in a large, conservative, dynamic Baptist church, he had never once heard the Trinity mentioned. His understanding had come from erroneous answers his Sunday School teacher had given him when Bill brought the topic up in private conversation. In our 45 days together, we shared many things, and I found out that the “renowned” church really only stressed John 3:16, tithing, behaving, and the second coming of Christ--important doctrines to be sure, but far from the whole truth.

Throughout the history of the church, the enemies of God have attacked the Biblical teaching concerning His Nature, particularly the Deity of the Son of God. The doctrine we touch upon in this chapter is one of the most attacked (and best and most consistently defended) of all the major teachings of the Faith: God is Triune, eternally existing as Father, Son, and Spirit (three persons or personalities that are personally distinct)--yet there is only one God. This has been called the doctrine of the TRINITY since the days of the early church, but the early church wars and the philosophical debates surrounding that doctrine, have obscured the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity is solidly supported by Holy Scripture, and is directly drawn from the Scriptures.

The simple statement we have made, stripped of the technically philosophical terms, expresses what the Bible everywhere teaches about the subject. I Frankly don’t understand it for one second. However, I recognize fully that the Bible teaches these truths, so I believe them and teach them whether I understand them or not. Therefore, the key presupposition we must have as we approach the doctrine of the Trinity is this: BELIEVE WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES, AND DON’T TRY TO UNDERSTAND IT. Think of it--this doctrine speaks of the very essential nature of God, how can we expect to understand it?

Indeed, nearly every cult that has departed from the evangelical Christian faith has either begun from someone trying to explain the Trinity or a perversion of that doctrine has been close to the center of the movement. Beginning with the Gnostics, who were around when the apostles were on earth, all the way through to the cults that have sprung up from the Jesus people of the 60’s and the tele-evangelists of today, denial of, or perversion of the doctrine of the Trinity has been the common factor in nearly all of them.

• Today, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and The Way deny the Godhood of Jesus and the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit.
• The Mormons and the Armstrong cults (the Worldwide Church of God and its offshoots) believe in a refined form of polytheism (belief in more than one God).
• Many Pentecostal groups believe in a perversion of the Trinity which has God “pretending” to be different persons at different times, called “oneness,” or “Jesus only.” (Historically this is called modalism, identical to the ancient 1500-year-old cult of Sabellianism).
• The view of the entire orthodox church, including evangelicals, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholics, has always been that denial of the doctrine of the Trinity constitutes departure from “the faith once delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3)

In discussing this important doctrine, I will try to avoid a dependence on technical theological language, but will instead concentrate on the simple statements of the Bible. Because of the vast importance of this doctrine, and the need to cover all the bases, I’ll give you a lot of verses to look up on your own.

The doctrine of the Trinity has these elements: (1) The is only One True God (monotheism); (2) There is a plurality of persons within God, and this plurality is not imaginary, pretended, or temporary; (3) The Father is God (4) The Son is God (5) The Holy Spirit is God. Being somewhat of an amateur mathematician, I have learned to express this as a mathematical formula that has no real meaning in human math: 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (3). That is, the sum of the three is still only one, yet there is a “threeness” that the Bible expresses clearly without ever attempting to explain.

Monotheism:
There is Only One True God

Many of the enemies of Christianity, including Muslims, Jews, and cults such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, have charged that the Trinity constitutes paganism, polytheism, the worship of more than one “god.” However, the foundation of the doctrine of God’s tri-unity is that there is only One God. It is emphatically taught in both the Old and New Testaments. The statement of faith of Israel was (and is) “hear oh, Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD.” (Deut 6:4). When asked, Jesus said more than once that this was the most important of all the commandments (Mark 12:28-34).

The absoluteness of this monism of God is stated again and again in the Old Testament: “. . . there is no god with me” (Deut 32:39); “. . . I am the LORD, and there is none else” (Isa 45:18) “. . . before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me” (Isa 43:10). Similarly, the New Testament expresses the oneness of God: “There is one God and one mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5); “. . . and this is eternal life, that they might know thee, the only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent . . .” (John 17:3).

In the Old Testament, God proclaimed Himself under many names, each expressing different attributes of Him, but the characteristic name He used with His covenant people was YHWH (or JHVH, depending on how you express the Hebrew letters in English), a word with no vowels. This has been transliterated into English as either Jehovah or Yahweh. The reliable English Bible translations universally translate it in English as either LORD or GOD, using all capital letters to indicate that it is the NAME. Jehovah defined His Name to Moses in Exodus 3:14: “ . . . I AM THAT I AM: and He said: Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me to you.” “I AM THAT I AM” . . . Jehovah owes His existence to no one or nothing--He is the self-existent One, The Only True God.

Plurality:
Within the One True God Exists a Plurality of Persons

In light of the strong declarations the Bible makes on monotheism, this is a perplexing assertion. However, the Bible is just as plain on this point. There is most definitely only One God, however, there is also a plurality, a “threeness” about God that the Bible expresses, which we cannot define in human terms in light of His one-ness. First, there are plural terms and names applied to God. The most prevalent in the Bible is the Hebrew Elohim. The Cults have invented all sorts of spurious reasons why the Bible might use such a plural term to describe the One God, but a few words from that old saint John Gill should put them to rest:

“Now Moses might have made use of other names of God, in his account of the creation; as his name Jehovah, by which he made himself known to him, and to the people of Israel; or Eloah, the singular of Elohim, which is used by him (Deut. 32:15-16) and in the book of Job so frequently; so that it was not want of singular names of God, nor the barrenness of the Hebrew language which obliged him to use a plural word; it was no doubt of choice, and with design . . .” (Body of Divinity, vol. 1, pp. 187-88).

Other plural terms used for God in the Old Testament include panim (equivalent to the Greek prosopa, for “faces,” “persons,” or “presence,”) which is found in Exodus 33:14-15, Psalm 27:8-9, and Deuteronomy 4:37; the literal Hebrew for Maker in Job 35:10, Psalm 149:2, and Isaiah 54:5, is the plural, Makers; for creator in Ecclesiastes 12:1, the literal Hebrew is Creators. God also is described with plural pronouns, as in “. . . Let us make man in our image.” (Gen 1:25), see also Genesis 11:6-8 and Isaiah 6:8. Finally, in Isaiah 48:16-17 is a statement that, read in the light of the New Testament, is as plain a statement of the Trinity as anywhere in the Bible, as the Lord GOD (Adonai Jehovah) the Spirit, and the Redeemer are mentioned in the same context as separate persons.

Of course, there are many Scriptures in the New Testament which speak of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the same context, and with an obvious view to distinction between them. In John chapters 14-16, there are repeated references to this distinction. The most striking is the Baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:16-17, where we hear the Father’s voice, see the Spirit descend in the form of a dove, and see also the Son standing there in the water.

The Father is God

This should go without saying, but for those modalists who reject the permanence of the first person of the Trinity, we say (a) Jesus is repeatedly called the Son of God, therefore God is a Father, and the Father is God. (b) There is no Scripture that even hints that the Father ever ceases to be a separate person. (c) There are many Scriptures which establish that there is a distinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The problem here, as pointed out decisively by Gregory A. Boyd in his book, Oneness Pentecostals and the Trinity, is that when people approach Scripture with a preconceived idea (such as the false doctrine that there is no distinction between Father and Son), they find things in the Bible which are not there!

Another difficulty (prominent among Arian-type cults--those who deny that Jesus is God) is that many people misunderstand the relationship of the Father to Jesus Christ. The reason for the confusion among some is that they concentrate on statements made by and about Jesus during His period of humiliation on earth. The eternal relationship between Father and Son is one between equals (John 17:1-5, see how He talks to the Father, and Heb 1:1-14, where the Father orders the angels to worship Him. Such statements as “. . . my Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28) must be understood in the light of Jesus’ purpose in His earthly ministry. In Hebrews, after beginning by expounding on the exalted and absolute divinity of the Son (1:1-14) the apostle states, “but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower (or, for a little while lower) than the angels for the suffering of death . . .” (see also Phil. 2:5-11). Jesus came to earth to accomplish eternal redemption. His essential Godhood was veiled, hidden, in flesh. But, as our next point states:

Jesus Christ is God

He is not just the Son of God, but He is God the Son. This is the foundation doctrine of Christianity--Jesus Himself said “. . . If you believe not that I AM he, you shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24) (Note: the word “he” is not in the original.) This is not just a speculative, philosophical teaching--unless God redeems us Himself, we cannot be redeemed (see Psa 49:7, 15)! First, we know He is God because He is called God. (John 1:1) Indeed, in John 20: 28, where Thomas calls Jesus “My Lord and my God , . . .” the literal Greek rendering is “. . .the Lord of me, and the God of me.” Hebrews 1:4-14 is a most remarkable Scripture passage, as Old Testament prophets are quoted to show (1) God calls Christ His Son, (b) He tells angels to worship Christ, an honor belonging to Jehovah alone (Isa 42:8), (c) He calls the Son, God. He declares that the kingdom of Christ is eternal.

The next reason we know that the Son is eternal God Himself, is that He is worshipped. Isaiah 42:8, Exodus 20:3, and many other Old Testament passages forbid the worship of anyone but Jehovah God Himself--yet we see in many passage that Christ is worshipped (examples--Phil. 2:9-10, Acts 7:59-60, Rev. 5:6-14, which is worship in heaven itself.

Another reason we know He is God is that the works of God are ascribed to Him. Creation (John 1:3, Heb 1:2) Preservation of the universe (Col. 1:17, Heb 1:2-3), the sending of the Spirit of God (John 16:7) the forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:30-31) and the giving of eternal life (John 17:2-3) are just a few examples of the divine works He did.

He demonstrated His power over nature, over disease, demon powers, even over death, and on two occasions, he let the veil of His humanity up a bit. On the mount of Transfiguration, He allowed the disciples with Him to see His Glorious being as it really was, and when the soldiers came to get Him in the Garden, He knocked them to the ground by saying . . . “I AM.” (The word he, which follows “I AM” in most translations is not in the original) (John 18:4-6). Truly He did the works of God.

Yet another reason we know that The Son is God is He possesses divine attributes. The Bible says He has Self existence (John 5:26), Eternity (John 1:2), Omniscience (John 1:48), Omnipresence (Matt 18:20--note that He was on earth, and in the flesh, and used the present tense, showing that He had this attribute even in His earthly ministry), Immutability (Heb 13:8), Sovereignty (Matt 11:27), and Omnipotence (Matt 28:18-20). There is a strong statement of the absolute Deity of Messiah in Jeremiah 23:5-6:

“. . . Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the Earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Here we have Jehovah God clearly speaking, and just as plainly speaking of Messiah, and the Name He gives Messiah is Jehovah-Tsidkenu-- the sovereign Jehovah calls the Messiah Jehovah!

The Holy Spirit is God

(Many of the notes for this part of the lesson come from the excellent book The Holy Spirit by A.W. Pink.)

Included in this statement is the assumption that the Holy Spirit is a Person, not a force, influence, etc. Many cults and sects deny His personality. He is turned into some kind of “divine electricity,” a sort of impersonal force for God and good in the world. This, of course, goes along with their denial of the Trinity. However, when we look at the Bible, we find that He has personal qualities ascribed to Him by Scripture--such as understanding and knowledge (1 Cor 2:10-11), will (1 Cor 12:11), love (Rom 15:30), and grief (Eph 4:30). Furthermore, He can be lied to (Acts 5:3); He can be tempted, put to the test (Acts 5:9). We also see personal actions ascribed to Him by Scripture: He speaks (1 Tim 4:1; Rev 2:7); He teaches (Luke 12:12; John 14:26); He commands (Acts 13:2); and, He intercedes (Rom 8:26).

The Bible applies personal characterizations to Him--He is called Comforter (John 14:16), Witness (Heb 10:15, Rom 8:16), Justifier and Sanctifier (1 Cor 6:11).

Finally, in many places in Scripture, personal pronouns are used of Him (John 14:26; John 16:7). Not only is the Holy Spirit a person, but the Holy Spirit is God, just as the Father is God, and the Son is God, in some way One True God, but also in a way unfathomable to our human minds, a separate person within the Trinity.

In the Bible, the Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3-5; 1 Cor 3:16--Compare with 2 Cor 6:16). The Holy Spirit is also called Jehovah--It was Jehovah who spoke by the prophets (Luke 1:68-70) yet Peter says it was the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:20, also compare 2 Sam 23:2-3 with Acts 1:16). It was Jehovah that Israel rebelled against in the wilderness (Psa 78:4, 17-18), but Isaiah says it was the Holy Spirit (Isa 63:10). In Deuteronomy 32:12, Jehovah led Israel, but in Isaiah 63:14, It says the Holy Spirit led them. Jehovah commissioned Isaiah the prophet (Isa 6:6-8), but Paul says (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) that it was the Holy Spirit who commissioned the prophet (Acts 28:25-26).

Throughout the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit demonstrates the attributes of God in His actions, major and minor holiness (Rom 1:4; cf. Ex 15:11), Eternality (Heb 9:14), Omnipresence (Psa 139:7), Omniscience (1Cor 2:10-11) Omnipotence ( Luke 1:35; Mic. 3:8; Isa 40:28), and Sovereignty (Matt 4:1--He led Jesus!) (John 3:8; 1 Cor 12:11; Acts 13:2-4; 20:28). Finally, the Holy Spirit does the works of God.: He performed the works of Creation (Job 26:13; 33:4; Gen 1:2), Providence (Isa 40:13-15; Acts 16:6-7), Inspiration ( 2 Pet 1:20-21), Anointing the Savior (Isa 61:1; John 3:34), and Raising the Savior ( Rom 8:11).

The doctrine of the Trinity reveals to us a God that is vastly different from the “gods” of the pagans, but also very different from the traditional God of modern day Judaism, Islam, and of the Arian and Sabellian cults that flourish today. (The historic term for antitrinitarian monotheism is “Monarchian.” Whatever else the similarities between them and Christianity, at least two things are is missing from Monarchian religions--relationship and redemption.

1. Relationship--The austere, alone, “god” that these groups worship is really incapable of relationship. He has no peer to relate to, and there is no way he can relate to mankind except as judge, benefactor, or object of worship. The Triune God, on the other hand, has experienced fellowship within Himself eternally--relationship comes naturally to Him. Through the God-man, Christ Jesus, mankind actually enters in to fellowship and relationship with the Almighty God. The Father is our Father; Christ is our adopted Brother, and the Spirit is our Comforter. We are loved, we walk in fellowship with God, who is the expert in true fellowship.

2. Redemption--The Monarchian religions have no way to accomplish bona fide (real) redemption. Their god forgives or offers mercy arbitrarily, he bypasses judgment simply because he wants to, or because he has agreed to, based on a certain set of conditions. Sin is really not dealt with in this way--there is no payment for it, their god just disregards it. There is no justice in this type of system. In Biblical Christianity, however, every sin is paid for (see Chapter 6 ), because an infinite Being, the God-man, died as a substitute for sinners. All those who become His by faith partake in His price of redemption. Those who do not become His pay their own penalty--eternally. The mystery of the Cross (see Chapter 5) is that God (The Father) poured out His wrath on God (The Son), yet there is only one God. It is a paradox to our minds, but it is the only way redemption could be carried out with justice. Every wrong that has ever been done by anyone against God or people is avenged, justice is settled, and the accounts of the universe are balanced. No Trinity--no redemption.

Christian, we worship a Triune God. We cannot understand it; we marvel at it; there is no explanation for it--but it is the Truth. Anything less is not Christianity.

See Appendix 6 for study questions and projects for Chapter 4.

The Nature of God By: Charles T. Buntin

Only when we are brought to the end of
ourselves are we in a position to see more of
God than we have seen.

The Absolute God

In writing this chapter, I stand on the shoulders of giants indeed. I gratefully acknowledge the tremendous help and influence that the writings of A. W. Pink, J. I. Packer, and Stephen Charnock have been over the years in helping me come to know and understand the Absolute God.

The deacon shifted uneasily in his seat--this interview was not going well at all. He eyed the gentle, but (as far as the deacon was concerned) obstinate middle-aged man seated across from him. He’d been all for Reverend Dodd coming here as pastor two years ago, and the church had nearly doubled in size since his arrival, but he could not stand the preacher’s teachings about the nature of God. Bro. Dodd’s version of God was even a bit scary to Deacon Smith! “Now look here, Reverend, I just can’t believe what you are saying! You are telling me that God’s plans cannot be thwarted, and that He controls all of the events of human history for His own purposes--is that fair? I’ve always thought of God as a gentleman, the kind of fellow that presents His case to you, and lets you work things out. He lets human beings work out the world their own way, except when He decides to intervene in some special case.”

The preacher removed his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and sighed deeply. “Where do you find that in the Bible, Smitty? God never claims to be fair--only just. Fairness is a human standard that changes as often as our perceptions change--God never changes, and His decrees are never altered. God is not, and cannot be, judged by any standard manufactured by men!” The preacher opened his Bible and read several verses out loud that spoke of God’s ruling the affairs of nations, and of His plan for redemption through the sacrifice of the Cross. “Smitty, was it fair for God to send His Son to die for us? Did God ever promise anywhere to take our thoughts, whims, and petty human pride into account in His eternal councils? No! Smitty, God is either absolute, or He is not God!”

The deacon closed his own Bible nervously. “Reverend, I’ve got to go. I, uh, have a business appointment across town.” Without any hesitation, before the pastor could suggest they pray, Deacon Smith got up to leave. At the door, he hesitated, turned, and said, “I’ll say this--you and I don’t worship the same God.” Pastor Dodd never saw Deacon Smith in church again; Smith would not return his calls. He heard some time later that the Smiths had moved their membership to a liberal Protestant church across town.

The story above is true, though the characters are composites. Some of the circumstances, and of course the names, have been changed, but that interview really happened to a preacher in the southern United States in the late 1970s. A prominent layman in an evangelical Baptist church, who had been in the church for many years, had a concept of God which was far removed from the Bible’s picture of Him. This man thought of God as a kind of cosmic grandfather, a good Joe, a fair businessman who minded his own affairs unless some extraordinary circumstance came along. Why, “Smitty’s” God would have felt right at home at the businessman’s luncheon club and on the links at Smitty’s country club. In short, Smitty’s God was a lot like Smitty!

Psalm 50:16-23 But to the wicked, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers. You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face. “Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue: He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.” (NIV) (Emphasis Added)

What kind of God do you worship? Are you like “Smitty” in our story? Are you like Israel in the passage in Psalms--do you think God is like you? Do you think of God as an errand boy, a cosmic, doddering doting old Grandpa, a gentleman who wouldn’t hurt a flea. Does your God dismiss sin? Is your God at the mercy of Man or Nature? Is your God too small? Is he “Itsy-bitsy, teensy-weensy?”

Or do you worship the God of the Bible? Is your God the God of Joseph, Who turns the evil intent of wicked men to His own use? (Gen. 50:20) Do you worship the God of Job, Whose greatness caused that patriarch to abhor himself and be silent? (Job 42:1-6) Do you fall down in worship of the Holy, Holy, Holy, God of Isaiah? (Isa. 6:1-5) Do you realize that your life is ruled by the Sovereign Ruler and Omniscient God of Daniel? (Dan. 2:20-23, 27-28; 4:34-35) Do you trust in the God of the Psalms, who does as He pleases? (Psa 115:3; 135:6) Do you pray to the God of Abraham, who calls those things that are not as though they were? (Rom 4:17) Have you met the God of Paul, who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords? (1 Tim. 6:14-16).

In this chapter, we look briefly at seven of the many attributes of God. They are certainly not His only attributes, but they are the ones this decadent age disregards the most. Not only are these attributes of God ignored in this era, they are hated and despised by many because of the vaunted independence and self-worship of modern man. The attributes of Sovereignty, Holiness, Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Immutability, Wrath, and Love, set God apart from the false Gods of pagans, and from the false Gods of “Christians” who as A.W. Pink has said, make up their own God out of their imaginations.

Attribute #1--God is Sovereign

God is Sovereign, that is, He is THE BOSS, period. God is subject to no one--no one can tell God what to do or judge His actions. (Rom 9:1-25; Psa 115:3; 135:6) The concept of a sovereign, that is, a ruler with absolute authority who answers to no one, is unfamiliar to most Americans. We may hear of a dictator or “strongman” who has sovereign-like powers, but that is a far cry from the classic definition of a sovereign. In history, a sovereign was a ruler who had absolute authority and who had the right to that authority, usually by heredity or conquest, but even the true sovereigns of history were only a pale reflection of the Sovereign Lord God.

A knife, a bullet, poison, a fever, or at last, time, unseated every sovereign that ever lived--except the eternal Sovereign who lives forever. Omnipotence, which we look at a few pages later, talks about God’s Power and Ability--Sovereignty expresses His authority by right. If we study in detail passages such as Isaiah 40 and Job 38-42, we find that God claims the right to rule based on His creatorship, His eternality, and His solitariness--there is no one like Him.

God defines what is right. If we do not like an action by God, or if we think God is not “fair,” that is irrelevant--whatever God says is right, is right--”Let God be true and every man a liar . . .” (Rom 3:4). Whatever God does, is, by definition, right. We do not have any basis upon which to challenge any action of His, because His is the only viewpoint that counts (Rom 9:11-21; Dan. 4:34-35).

God’s rulership is universal. It is not confined by time or place. God sovereignly rules the affairs of nations. He is not waiting to see what the latest political developments are going to be--he is arranging the circumstances of the universe to fit His purposes. He does not cause the sinful actions of men and nations in this, nor does He make people act like robots. Just how He rules is mysterious, but we know that He does it by intervention in history (Acts 17:26-27; Isa 46:9-11).

Psalm 115:3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. (NIV)

Psalm 135:6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. (NIV)

Attribute #2--God is Holy

Holy is a Bible term that means “set apart.” God is separate from all other things, and is 100% pure in everything. He is set apart because of who He is. His very nature and attributes set Him apart as unique from all else, and Holiness is, in a sense, His central attribute. Like the hub of a giant wheel, His Holiness defines the infinite degree of His other perfections. Is God sovereign? Yes, and He is perfectly so, infinitely so--He is set apart in the perfection of His sovereignty. Is God loving? Yes, and His love is perfect and completely surpasses any other love by any other creature. Is God omnipotent and omniscient? Yes, and His power and knowledge are infinite, again, setting Him apart from all His creatures. Revelation 15:4 says of God “. . . You alone are Holy.” Moses, in his song says “. . . Who among the ‘gods’ is like you, O LORD. . . majestic in Holiness.” Eternity will be a joyous celebration of the Holy God. We get a glimpse of the scene in heaven by the visions of Isaiah and the aged apostle John, as well as those of the book of Psalms:

Revelation 4:8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” (NIV)

Isaiah 6:1-3 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. (Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (NIV)

Psalm 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy. (NIV)

Psalm 33:21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. (NIV)

Psalm 77:13 Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? (NIV)

Psalm 89:18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel. (NIV)

Psalm 105:3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. (NIV)

Psalm 145:21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever. (NIV)

Attribute #3--God is Omnipotent

God is all-powerful. The wags and lovers of arguments have much fun with this one, asking ridiculous questions like “If God is Omnipotent, can he make a mountain so big that He can’t lift it? If He can, then He isn’t all powerful, because He can’t lift it, and if He can’t, then He isn’t all-powerful because He can’t make the mountain so big He can’t lift it.” Of course, the answer is that the all-powerful God is infinite, and there is no limit to His infinity! The armchair “philosopher’s” question tries to impose on God a set of circumstances based on human logic and reason, like the false human standard of “fairness.” The fact is, whatever God wants to accomplish, He can accomplish! There is no limit to His might! Divine Sovereignty expresses God’s RIGHT to do whatever He pleases, Omnipotence expresses His ABILITY.

Isaiah 43:13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” (NIV)

Job 42:2 I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. (NIV)

Attribute #4--God is Omniscient

God knows everything. Again, our little minds have difficulty even fathoming the breadth and depth of that statement. God knows things that we cannot even conceive--He knows our thoughts, our sins, our innermost desires (Heb 4:13), and He knows our destiny. God is, says the Psalmist, of “infinite understanding” (Psalm 147:4-5) Nothing can be hidden from Him (Job 34:21-23).

God also has foreknowledge, which is a concept with two aspects, prescience and preaquaintanceship. Prescience refers to God’s knowledge of events, situations, and persons in general, before they happen or come into being.

Isaiah 42:9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you. (NIV)

Daniel 2:19-23, 27-28 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. (NIV)

Preacquaintanceship refers to God’s personal foreknowledge of His People. He knows them in an intimate, personal sense--He does not just know about them He knows them.

Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. (NIV)

Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (NIV)

Romans 11:2-5 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah-- how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. (NIV)

1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. (NIV)

Attribute #5--God is Immutable

It is a constant with life--things change, people change. A man leaves the woman who has been his companion for many years--”people change,” he says. An executive who has worked faithfully for a company for 20 years is let go for no apparent reason, “times have changed,” says the person who fires her. Fashion changes, music changes, politics change--everything and everyone changes, except God. God does not change. He may differentiate His manifestations to men; He may reveal mysteries previously concealed (Eph 3:7-11); He may even speak anthropomorphically (that $100-dollar word means, “as if He were human,” when He speaks anthropomorphically, God uses human terms in order to be understood), but God does not change in His essence--He is eternally the same.

This also applies to the Son of God, the God-man Christ Jesus, and to the Spirit as well. But what about Christ becoming a man (see chapter 5)? Is this not a change? Not in the way that God defines a change (and His definition is the only one that counts). He did not change in His essence, only in the way He manifested Himself to mankind--He was the “lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” Job called God “my Redeemer,” many years before His incarnation (coming in the flesh).

Malachi 3:6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. (NIV)

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (NIV)

Hebrews 1:10-12 He also says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” (NIV)

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (NIV)

Deuteronomy 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, `Destroy him!’ (NIV)

Attribute #6--God is Wrathful

This is a solemn topic for discussion, but one which we cannot avoid. The idea of an all-powerful Being Who gets mad is scary. We know that we are fallible; we know that we do things that are contrary to righteousness. The notion that we may have to answer for those faults, and worse, for specific sins, to a God Who possesses wrath is the stuff of which nightmares are made. On this topic, the author can think of no better commentary on the Wrath of God than that written by A. W. Pink:

“. . . that the wrath of God is a Divine perfection is plainly demonstrated by what we read in Psa 95:11 ‘unto whom I swear in My wrath.’ There are two occasions of God’s ‘swearing’: in making promises (Gen 22:16); and in pronouncing judgments (Deut 1:34 ff.) In the former, He swears in mercy to His children; in the latter, He swears to deprive a wicked generation of its murmuring and unbelief. An oath is for solemn confirmation (Heb 6:16). In Gen 22:16, God says, ‘By myself have I sworn. . . .’ In Psa 89:35, He declares, ‘Once have I sworn by my holiness.’ While in Psa 95:11, He affirms ‘I swear in my wrath.” Thus the great Jehovah Himself appeals to His ‘wrath’ as a perfection equal to His ‘holiness’; He swears by the one as much as by the other! Again, as in Christ ‘dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily’ (Col. 2:9), and as all the Divine perfections are illustriously displayed by Him (John 1:18), therefore do we read of ‘the wrath of the Lamb.’ (Rev 6:19).” (The Attributes of God)

The people who populate Modern Western civilization hate the concept of a God who possesses wrath. All people want to know about God (if, indeed they want to know anything at all) is about His love. Men create in their minds the concept of a God who is all love and nothing else--they make an idol in their heads. The Bible, however, is absolute about the fact that God is a God of wrath. As we will see in chapters 4 and 6, God’s wrath is the reason for the necessity of the Gospel (Rom 1:16-18)--atonement and salvation by grace are required because of God’s righteous wrath against sin. For the believer, deliverance from wrath is our great hope (1 Thess. 1:10), and God’s wrath is turned aside (propitiated) for believers by the Blood of Christ (Rom 3:25-26; 5:8-9). God’s wrath against sin and sinners is so great that He sent His Son to die in the place of those who were to be redeemed--no lesser sacrifice would do. If we deny wrath, we essentially deny the gospel.

Attribute #7--God is Love

Having just written that God is a God of wrath, we turn to the other side of the coin, and speak of His love. For many, it is contradictory to speak of God being wrathful and yet being a God of love, but the Bible is full of both concepts about Him. Again, A.W. Pink:

There are many today who talk about the love of God, who are total strangers to the God of love. The Divine love is commonly regarded as a species of amiable weakness, a sort of good-natured indulgence; it is reduced to a mere sickly sentiment, patterned after human emotion. Now the truth is that on this, as on everything else, our thoughts need to be formed and regulated by what is revealed thereon in Holy Scripture. (The Attributes of God)

The love of God is really more than just an attribute; it is part of His essence. In a general sense, God loves everyone (and everything) He has created. In John 3:16 “for God so loved the world,” the word for “world” is the Greek word, kosmos, which in a general sense, refers to the whole universe. For instance, God sends His rain upon the just and the unjust (Matt 5:45). Some measure of caring and protection extends to the race, except where God chooses not to mollify and restrain the natural effects of our sin and rebellion. But there is a distinction between His universal care for all creation and His special love for His People.

1 Timothy 4:10 (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. (NIV)

Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God’s purpose in election might stand, not by works but by him who calls--she was told,

Romans 9:11-13 “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (NIV)

We do not deserve the love of God--it is unmerited and “uninfluenced”(Pink)--we cannot earn it. God exercises the expression of His love according to His sovereign will, not according to our actions, for as members of a rebel race, we really deserve nothing.

Deuteronomy 7:7-8 The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (NIV)

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us. (NIV)

The love of God is Eternal, like His immutability, it never wavers, changes, or dies. The supreme act of God’s great love was in sending His own Son to die in the place of condemned sinners. We cannot imagine the horror of Christ, the Son of God and God the Son, as He faced the cross--not the physical sufferings so much as the fact that He, the perfect, Holy, unblemished Son of God, would take the guilt of our sins upon His own shoulders and face the wrath of His own Father. Such love is unspeakable (see Chapter 5). Given this great sacrifice, this great love, this great condescension, nothing can separate a redeemed person from the love of God.

Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with lovingkindness. (NIV)

Ephesians 1:4-5 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- (NIV)

This is the doctrine of God’s Love--but there is more to it. I am not, by nature, an emotional man, but there is something about the love of God that raises passions from deep within my soul that defy description. I cannot conceive of One so loving that He would leave the glories of heaven, walk in my shoes for 30 years, and then die for me. I cannot imagine a Being so merciful that He would as the song says, “look beyond my fault and see my need.” The love of God is not some sickly sentimental thing that is like the cotton-candy love humans express to one another--it is not here today and gone tomorrow. If you grasp the scope and power of God’s Love, and know the eternal significance of His grace and mercy through the Cross (see Chapters 5 and 6), there is no force on earth, no tragedy of human life, and no sin in your own past that can take away the sweetness of His love or the joy of His fellowship. The love of God is a treasure beyond price for those who know Him. Many years ago, as a young believer, I wrote a lyric which describes the eternal, powerful Love of God;

Before the world was made, Jesus loved me.
Before creation’s day, He cared.
He knew my sin, He knew it all,
He knew that I would reject His call,
But He loved me, He saved me, He cared.

When I was lost in Sin, Jesus loved me.
When I profaned His name, He cared.
He bore my sin, He took my blame,
Wicked men brought him to shame (including me),
He loved me, He saved me, He cared.

When I refused to hear, Jesus loved me.
When I closed my ear, He cared.
He gently broke my wicked will,
His Spirit strove with me until
He found me He saved me, He cared.

These sentiments still pale beside the burning, passionate Light of His Presence--when the world has dealt us a blow, when all seems dark and we can see no light, it is then that the Lord Himself will impress on our minds and hearts the depth of His love. It is when we feel the utter joy of knowing that we are a soul set free by His sacrifice, and that nothing can keep us from His love that we can understand the utter awesome power of the words of Paul.

Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

Summary

This is the Absolute God of the Bible--He does as He pleases, he accomplishes what He sets out to do, no plan of His is thwarted by the whims and decisions of mankind. He is wrathful against our rebellion, yet loving beyond our imagination. In one of the most concise and profound statements ever written on the subject of The Absolute God, A W. Pink said:

“The ‘god’ of this twentieth century no more resembles the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ than does the dim flickering of a candle the glory of the midday sun. The ‘god’ who is now talked about in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-called Bible conferences, is the figment of human imagination, an invention of maudlin sentimentality. The heathen outside of the pale of Christendom form ‘gods’ out of wood and stone, while the millions of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a ‘god’ out of their own carnal mind. In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God, and no God at all. a ‘god’ whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits naught but contempt.” (Attributes of God)

See Appendix 5 for study questions and projects for Chapter 3.