Teachinghearts		 God

"Explore the Word. Change the World" 		Statistics:
Time: 45 minutes
Print: 12 pages

Pray Pray First
Resources
> Lessons
> Glossary
> Doctrines
Study Help
> The Color of God
> The Messiah
> The 2300 Days

The Divine Nature
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6: 4-5)
There is only one God. However, the Bible describes Him as three persons. It often uses a plural word to describe God. For example, Elohim. The Bible states that all three were involved in creation. Although the Bible says God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4) it does not attempt to solve the puzzle of how three can be one. We know the distinction exists not only because of the use of plural words but because Jesus addresses the Father and the Holy Spirit as separate beings. Jesus stated that the Holy Spirit could not come until He left. As He was dying He cried out to the father "why have You forsaken me". In the Lord's Prayer He addresses the Father.

To understand this relationship, there are several possibilities, none of which might be the real one. Neither can we properly define Him, since this knowledge is beyond our comprehension. Are they three physically, mentally or spiritually? Are they one physically, mentally or spiritually? Do we have words or familiar concepts to even attempt to understand this? In our realm of possibilities, these are possible explanations:

  1. A Reference for Us. God uses pictures familiar to us to define His nature based on roles familiar to us. A loving father, a devoted son, a family and a comforter. The physical reality may be quite different.
  2. A Mental and Spiritual Oneness. They are three in one by the nature of their unique close relationship. They agree on all things and support each other. A committee. We find a similar picture in the marriage of two people who God says must become "one flesh".
  3. A Physical Oneness. There is a physical reality we cannot understand because we rarely see examples of it in nature. Some species e.g. worms are two creatures in one body and conjoined twins share one body but have their own thoughts and personalities.
  4. A Supernatural Oneness. Their relationship and physical structure is far removed from the mental, physical and spiritual realities we know. Conjoined triplets who can separate and unite themselves physically at will, and who have all other dimensions of their relationship in agreement and harmony. Or separate beings who share their mental thoughts. They have mental, spiritual, psychological and social oneness.
  5. None of the Above. We have no experience in the current reality that could attempt to describe God. He is too complex.
    So what is important is how we respond to God, not how we think He is constructed.

Characteristics of God
Lacking a physical description and understanding of the nature of God, we are left with describing God through what He does. Through His actions, God received many names and titles.

Fruit Nature. The nature of God is loving and powerful.

Fruit Power. The power of God is able to overcome all the physical, mental and spiritual laws of nature.

Fruit Actions. The actions of God are to give life.

Fruit Roles. The roles of God among humans are:

Father God - The Father
The Father is the creator, sovereign ruler, He maintains life, He is immortal, He is just, He is holy He loves and cares deeply for His creation and is daily interested in speaking to us and hearing from us. He has never abandoned us, but in fact has come searching for us when we abandoned Him. He is jealous for our love and He draws us back to him not through fear or force but by gently pleading with us.

He is holy and law abiding, but in His grace and mercy has extended a great gift to us at enormous cost to Himself. His role seems to be the administrative works of God. He does what is necessary for God to reconcile us with His character and with the rest of the universe.

Crucifixion Jesus Christ - The Messiah (The Son of God)
The Prayers of Jesus
Jesus said many beautiful prayers. Here are a few of the most notable.

Before He came to Earth
(Hebrews 10: 5-7)
Therefore, when He comes into the world He says, sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. Then I said, look I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God.
The Lord's Prayer
(Matthew 6: 9-13)
Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name
Your kingdom come,
Your will be be done, on earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.
Amen.
The Unity Prayer
(John 17)
After the last supper, He prayed for the unity of the church. It is also a confirmation of the completion of the mission stated in His prayer before He came to earth. (Hebrews 10: 5-7) Now the world can be reconciled to God in a unity that is as strong as the unity between Him and the Father. Mission accomplished!
In the Garden of Gethsemane
(Matthew 26: 39)
In agony, sweating blood instead of water, He surrendered His will to God for our sake.
My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as You will
During the Crucifixion
He prayed for His enemies.
Father, forgive then for they do not know what they are doing .

He grieved over the separation from God.
'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani' which is translated, My God, My God why have You forsaken Me? (Mark 15: 34).
His Eternal Intercession
(Hebrews 7: 25)
Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Jesus is God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
Jesus is the Creator. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that came into being.
Jesus became a Man. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1: 1-3,14)
He called himself God - equal to the Father. "I and the Father are one". He is not merely a good man or another great prophet. He existed before the world. While all the members of the Godhead were present at the creation, John refers to Him as the one who actively created the earth. Jesus spoke the world into existence. He is our savior and recreator. He is our advocate and our judge.

He is God's Gift to us. Through His death God is able to satisfy the legal claims of the law and bring us back to him. He was crucified for our sins. We are all guilty of his death. He conquered death and will share His victory with anyone who wants it. He is Michael, the Archangel (Chief of Angels).

All these roles tend to demonstrate that He is the executive arm of God, as far as the plan of salvation is concerned. He gets the job done. He does what is necessary for God to help us.

He was fully God and fully man, to be the Messiah Jesus voluntarily "emptied himself" of His divine powers while He was a human. This means He chose not to exercise them. To demonstrate the magnitude of His sacrifice you would have to conceive of Superman voluntarily becoming a quadriplegic, homeless and with severe memory loss.

Very Human. Although many say that Jesus was human and "tempted like us" I believe many do not really believe it. Because they do not believe that we can overcome sin. Most people think He had some special help which we cannot access. Either through His hidden powers, or extra favor from God or a superior mental capacity. Be He had something special. This gives us an excuse to sin. An excuse to deny victory over sin.

But His own birth demonstrated that God did not want to have any special favors. He was born with every conceivable limitation stacked against Him.

Disadvantaged. He was dirt poor. He was born under the cloud of illegitimacy. Historical records indicate that the Jews said that Mary was a prostitute. In His adult life, the people taunted Him about not knowing who His father was. The Old Testament indicates that He was not handsome. So that people would not come to Him because of His beauty. He had to win the hearts and minds of people through the Word of God because that Word is the only tangible testimony that we will always have about God. What Jesus had was a good mother who taught Him early that He was special. He was the Son of God. With that the little boy must have tried in human ways to communicate with His Father. And God responded. Psalms indicates that God woke Him up every morning - to teach Him. And Jesus responded. This is also what we also have access to.

See our section on the Messianic prophecies.

Christ the Paradox. Christ presents a paradox that proved that everything is possible with God. He is God, yet He became a man. God is immortal, yet He died. He is the only image that can be worshipped without breaking the second commandment. God can create Himself and resurrect Himself from the dead.
The Creator. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1: 15)

Since He is the creator, He is the one who introduced Himself as God in the ten commandments. It also means that He is the one who liberated Israel from Egypt and followed them in the desert for forty years.
The Law Giver. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. ... But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. ... For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth. (Exodus 20: 2,3,10-11)

King of Kings
For He must reign until He had put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He must put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says "All things are put in subjection", it is evident that He expected to put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15: 25-28)
Jesus rules as King over all principalities and powers from His resurrection until death is destroyed after the millennium.

The Rock. For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10: 1-4)
Spiritual means from God. Since the spiritual food was real, then the Rock was real.

Creator and Recreator. Jesus was the creator in the beginning. As the Messiah, He takes the role to recreate us into new creatures according to the plan of salvation.
The Creative Roles The Humble God Became Human. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God has highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.
He will be Worshipped as God. So that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth. and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2: 5-8)
Day Creation Salvation
1 Light He is the Light of the World (John 8: 12)
2 Heaven, Waters He gives living waters (John 4: 10, 14)
3 Earth, Sea, Trees He is the Bread of Life (John 6: 35).
He is the vine (John 15: 1,5)
4 Sun, moon, stars He is the bright morning star (Revelation 22: 16).
He holds the stars (church) (Revelation 1: 16,20)
5 Fish and birds He makes us fishers of men (Mark 1: 17)
6 Man and Animals He is the Lamb of God (John 1: 29)
He is the Son of Man (Matthew 20: 28).
7 Sabbath He gives rest from sin (Matthew 11: 28)
The Father Sends the Son. Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. (John 14: 10)

Brother and Son. Jesus was the son of Mary and brother to several half brothers and sisters. Some want to believe that these were older children of Joseph from a different marriage, but the bible does not support that. There is more evidence in favor of the fact that these were Mary's children.

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, The Comforter
The Son Sends the Spirit. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. (John 16: 7)

Teacher and Guide. But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears He will speak. And He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. (John 16: 13,14)
Was at the Creation. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1: 2)
He was present at creation. His function on earth is to bring us back to a point where we can make a free informed decision about God. He leads us to truth. He is our constant companion, who accompanies us everywhere. He helps people by teaching them about God, He gives the church gifts to help us in this work of teaching mankind about God. He gently speaks to everybody's conscience. He prays for us and with us, interpreting our prayers to a heart felt, gut wrenching, agonizing cry that we cannot express. He expresses our wishes and emotions in ways that we are too tired and beaten to express. Sometimes we are so worn out and confused and at a loss for words He transforms our prayers into words, feelings, actions because He knows our minds and thoughts and motives.

He seems to be the teacher, guide and public relations arm of God. He is Jehovah's Witness. He is the rod and staff of God in the hands of the Good Shepherd. He does what is necessary for us to know God.

He is God because it is possible to commit blasphemy against Him.
Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. (Matthew 12: 31)

He Prays for Us. In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8: 26-27)

Angel Michael, the Archangel
Christ has many names and titles. He is the Son of God and the Son of man. He is the Prince of peace, the Rock, the Lamb of God, the lion of Judah, the Messiah, the Anointed One, God - the Son, the Creator, the Redeemer, the First born of the dead, the vine, the Light of the World, the Bread of Life, king of kings, and He is Michael the chief of angels.
He has taken a title among everything created. He has earned all these titles.

Since Michael is the Old Testament name for Jesus Christ, that means that Michael is not a created being. He is the eternal Son of God.
But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall He come out to me, to be ruler in Israel; whose going out have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5: 2)

Key point Jesus Christ = The Prince = Eternal God = Michael = The Archangel (Ruler of the Angels)

The key point is that the Jesus was active in the Old Testament times with His people as He is in New Testament times.
Michael is the Old Testament manifestation of Jesus Christ!

The Physical Appearance of God
Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. (Ezekiel 1: 26-28).

God on fire Vision of God
Ezekiel's Vision of the Throne of God

God is the Fire
If we look at the elements of God in the vision of Ezekiel 1 we find the following description in which God describes His physical appearance in terms of His abilities and what originates from Him.

Atmospheric Science. Notice the accurate portrayal of His throne with what we know about atmospheric science. Rainbows exist only where there is light and water. He uses all the symbols of a gigantic weather system to describe His majesty. Thunder, lightning, clouds, storm, whirlwind and rainbow.

Every picture of God shows that He lives in the middle of fire. And, He is able to keep His loving creatures alive in His fire.

It is the wicked who cannot exist in the fiery presence of God. All the evidence shows that God is a consuming fire by His nature, not just that He will become one simply to destroy the wicked.

Covering Cherubim Cherubim
Covering CherubCherubim

The Creature
Under His throne are four creatures with four faces accompanied by interconnecting wheels with eyes. This clearly represents the omniscient and omnipresent nature of God. It could also represent the fact that He uses angels as His messengers. However, God describes Himself as His own messenger. This is the archangel Michael. The four faces of the creatures represents animals that God used to describe Himself. They represent the many phases of His work with humans; king, executioner, warrior and human like us.

» Covering Cherub. They have the highest position of covering the glory of God at the throne. There are at least two of them. They have two wings that cover their bodies and two wings that arch over the top and touch the wings of the other cherub. (Ezekiel 28: 12-19)
Ezekiel describes them in another vision. But he described other cherubs who walk among the stones of fire below the throne.

» Cherub. These creatures are described as being among the fires. God describes similar creatures as those that He sends on the earth to execute judgment (Joel 2: 1-4; Zechariah 6). The description in Ezekiel is of a creature with four faces (Ezekiel 1: 5-11).

  1. Man. The Son of man. Intelligence.
  2. Lion. The King of Kings. Majestic King. Fierceness. Revelation 5: 5 describes Christ as the "lion of the tribe of Judah".
  3. Ox. The Warrior. Strength and God's ability to conquer our enemies. Numbers 24: 8 and Deuteronomy 3: 17.
  4. Eagle. The Executioner. Swift flight, sight, judgment and carnage. Job 9: 26.

Creator
The Second Day of Creation

God at Creation (Water)
At creation there was a mysterious description of waters above and below the expanse called heaven. From the picture we can see that the waters above the expanse came from the throne of God. It is not merely the clouds in the sky. The expanse itself was created as a copy of the expanse on which God's throne sits. The waters below were the waters on the face of the earth after He separated water from Himself.

Ezekiel and Revelation describe the elements around God as being similar to the elements of the sky. Therefore, it is easy to think of the elements of creation as being part of the created earth. There are two theories about "the deep" that existed during the creation.

  1. Nothing. Nothing existed in the location of the creation called "the deep".
  2. Undeveloped property. The deep was the physical earth that never had life. It was covered with water. It existed in a dark place in the universe.

If we examine the physical structure of God, then it is possible to see how the account of creation from nothingness is possible. God was the source of the surface of the waters where the Spirit moved, not a primordial earth. God simply carved out a space within the waters that were part of Himself and placed the heavens and the earth there.
No wonder He could say, "Heaven is My throne and earth is My foot stool".

Day 1 (Fire: Light was Created). The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Day 2 (Water: God made an expanse in the middle of His waters). Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Day 3 (Earth: Land Created). Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1: 10)

Day 6 (Air: Man Created). Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2: 7)

Hell
The Fire From God

God in Hell Fire
Hell is not a separate place that is always burning. Hell is an event in a particular time and place. After the judgment, fire comes out of God and destroys the wicked who are surrounding the city of the New Jerusalem. Then Isaiah 33: 14-17 will be fulfilled. While the fires from God are burning, the righteous people of God and the city are in the middle of the fire. Only the wicked and the earth are burned up.

Examples:
Genesis 15: 17. When God appeared to Abraham as a smoking furnace.
Genesis 19: 24-28. God rained "fire and brimstone" (literally he rained "From" God, "out of" God)
Exodus 13: 21. God led the Israel in the Exodus in a cloud by day (smoke from a fire) and a pillar of fire by night.
Exodus 19: 18. God descended upon Mt. Zion as a smoking fiery furnace.
Exodus 24: 17. And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.

Ark
The Most Holy Place

God in The Sanctuary and the Ark of the Covenant
On earth, the Ark of the covenant represents the nature of God on a smaller scale.

This basic pattern of a Holy place is repeated even in prophecy, the experience of Jesus and the church and the exodus.

God in Prophecy
In many of Daniel's visions, the vision occurs by a river and God appears symbolically as a man sitting on top of a river with two angels on each bank of the river. This is a picture of the ark of the covenant.

Jesus on Earth

Government
Principalities and Powers
We know that God's government includes many powers who have an authoritative role. Even though God has all these powers, He appears to be very patient and democratic, willing to do what His creatures want - within the law. He probably does this to gain their trust. Because, if He always exercised His will immediately, then someone might not understand.

Angels
Angels are created beings who should not be worshipped. They are messengers of God.

Angels Are Involved in the Plan of Salvation. One interesting fact about angels should be explored. They were apparently the authors of the temporary plan that was followed by the Jews. This plan would be void when Christ came. God approved this plan because He must enforce it.

Why would they be involved in the Plan of Salvation in such an important way?
This is only a guess. But it was probably because sin originated among them. Just as God extends to us a very big role in the Plan of Salvation, He has also extended the same courtesy to the angels. It is a way of helping to put right some of the wrong that we have caused. It is a kinder and gentler plan than simply letting us stand by and watch.

Predestination
True predestination is what God knows about your future destiny because of His power, not because of His interference with your free choice. Some confuse the power of foreknowledge with the act of predestination.
Because God knows everything, some say that He has already determined what we will do. Therefore it does not matter what we do because God has made us do it. We cannot be saved if He does not want us to be saved. God is responsible for everything that happens because He programmed us this way.
What is the truth? Does foreknowledge mean predestination or causation? Does God's knowledge of the future mean that He is manipulating the players against their will?
No!

The truth is that from the beginning God has called everyone. Because of His foreknowledge, He knows who will respond and who will not. As a result of this call, He has placed everyone in the book of life. This is His desire. We are predestined for life.
However, our free choices will make Him remove our names at the end. Our response to His call determines if we will be lost or saved. The fact that He is aware of our choice does not mean that He has forced us to make this choice.

He Calls Everyone
All Names are in the Book of Life
He Calls Everyone
Accepts To be sealed Response Wicked Rejects
RighteousWicked
Mercy To be sealed Destiny WickedDestruction
Names kept in the Book of LifeNames removed from the Book of Life

He Has a Plan
He saw what He could do to make more people live and He made a plan. Jesus accepted this plan to die, He was not forced. In this plan we are predestined only in the sense that if, by our own free will, we choose to follow His plan He knows that we will be saved. The plan is like a map. If we follow it we will get to a certain destination. But we are always free to turn back or go off on another road.

Summary
This page contains many drawings that illustrate the description of God. The second commandment says that "we should not make a likeness of anything in heaven and earth. And we should not worship them".
God allowed the temple to be decorated with pictures of angels and palm trees, the ark had a sculpture of two angels, the laver in Solomon's temple was carried by four bulls. Therefore, the conclusion is that the pictures are not the problem, it is the appearance of worship and bowing before them that is wrong. Since our tendency is towards idolatry, it is best that we minimize or eliminate the images in the places where we worship. This is one reason why the ark was hidden and could only be seen by one person, one day each year.

I created these pictures to help me gain an understanding by looking at the colors, the background and the scenery.

Top   | International Home   | Contact   | Glossary   | Becoming a Christian   | Next Next Lesson
Study to show yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.   2 Timothy 2: 15
Copyright     Updated : May 23, 2005
Credits:
Author: Laverna Patterson. Editor: Patterson (January 2008)
Out of the blue, this image of God in the fire was posed to my mind by the Holy Spirit as the question, "Why is God in the fire"? The question was asked at a time when I was not studying anything or any situation related to that thought. I said, "there goes my wacky brain again with these strange questions". But I looked up all the references I could find. Within seven days, at a bible study on Wednesday night my pastor said, "Why is God in the fire?" This was the pivotal moment for me in believing that God was talking to me. I remember saying, "my pastor is a male, he does not have menopause, therefore these strange religious questions that have been plaguing me for about a year may not be due to a wacky brain. The same mind must be speaking to both of us! Eureka!" The same thing happened on three other occasions within the next month.
Images created by Laverna Patterson for teachinghearts.