Lesson 16 – Which God Is Our God?

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1. HOW DOES GOD IDENTIFY HIMSELF?

Exodus 3:14 — This is what you are to say to the Israelites, “I AM has sent me to you.”

He is the “I AM” God, the God who really exists. (Jehovah or Yahweh)

Isaiah 45:5 — I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 — Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

There is only one real God.

John 1:1 — In the beginning was the Word [Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Romans 9:5 — From them [the fathers of the Jewish race] is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all.

Jesus is God.

1 Corinthians 3:16 — Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

The Holy Spirit is God.

Matthew 28:19 — Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

This one God is three distinct Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus God identifies himself as the triune God.

2. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO BELIEVE IN A THREE-IN-ONE GOD?

1 Corinthians 2:14 — The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

To the non-Christian the idea of a triune God is foolishness.

Romans 11:33 — Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

Christians don’t understand the trinity either, but for them this is evidence that God is so much greater than they are.

3. HOW DOES A CHRISTIAN USE THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY?

John 17:11 — Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name.

Luke 19:10 — For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

John 14:26 — But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

The Christian enjoys the loving care of all three Persons of the trinity.

Psalm 96:5 — For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

John 5:23 — He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

The Christian is able to recognize his God among all the other meaningless gods that man has invented.

SUMMARY: There is only one true God. This God has revealed himself as three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each Person himself is God, and yet each one is distinct from the other. No one has ever figured out how three separate Persons can be one God, but then, as mere creatures, we do not expect to understand the nature of our Creator. Rather the triune nature of our God inspires our humble praise.

In our daily life of faith we frequently seek and receive the blessing of all three Persons, and we avoid giving praise to any god who is not identified as the three-in-one God.

We cannot know the true God unless we know the triune God. We also know and believe that this God provided forgiveness and life through the sacrifice that God the Son offered on the cross. We are saved only because he died for our sins.

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QUICKIE QUIZ (T or F)

  1. ___ If there were no people, there would be no God.
  2. ___ The true God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  3. ___ The Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God are the same Person.
  4. ___ God did not become triune until Jesus was born.
  5. ___ Only God the Son has a visible body.
  6. ___ The Father is older than the Son and the Spirit.
  7. ___ Jesus created the universe.
  8. ___ Only Christians can understand the Trinity.
  9. ___ A religion that ignores Jesus Christ is serving a false god.
  10. ___ Essentially all people believe in the same God. They only worship him in different ways.

WHERE DOES THE BIBLE SAY

  1. that Jesus is God?

    Romans 9:5 — From them [the fathers of the Jewish race] is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all.

  2. that the Holy Spirit is God?

    1 Corinthians 3:16 — Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

  3. that there is only one God?

    Deuteronomy 6:4 — Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

  4. that God is beyond our understanding?

    Romans 11:33 — Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

  5. that God is not honored if Jesus’ divinity is denied?

    John 5:23 — He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

For more information you can watch this lesson presented as a Bible study HERE.  Please click HERE to find the complete series of Bible studies.

Previous Lesson – #15 God Is The Source of Everything

Next Lesson – #17 Which Church Is Our Church?