Scriptural Background
What is God like? How can we presume to answer this question? Our God is incomprehensible—he can never be fully understood. In fact, as believers we anticipate an eternity of discovering new things about him.
David said of him, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3), and “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all” (1 Chronicles 29:11). We can’t say it any better than the Apostle Paul, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways” (Romans 11:33)! The glimpses of God we observe from his Word are far from complete.
Question 4 of the historic Westminster Shorter Catechism, penned in the 1640s asks, “What is God?” The answer? God is a Spirit (John 4:24), infinite (Jeremiah 23:24), eternal (Psalm 90:2), and unchangeable (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17) in his being,
wisdom (Psalm 147:5), power (Revelation 19:6), holiness (1 Samuel 2:2), justice (Psalm 7:11), goodness (Psalm 107:8), and truth (Deuteronomy 32:4). When the Lord descended in the cloud to speak with Moses, he gave testimony to his very character—he proclaimed himself as merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness, always truthful, forgiving, and at the same time, just—not clearing the guilty (Exodus 34:6–7). Knowing God and knowing that he is perfect in every one of his attributes is imperative to maturing in the Christian faith. That is why we have incorporated teaching these attributes as part of this Bible curriculum, so the next generation will know, love, honor, revere, and fear the God of all creation!
Historical/Apologetics Background
Because there is no way to comprehend the vast depth of our holy God, we are at risk of conjuring up in our minds what we want him to be. This is not acceptable. We can only begin to know who God is by the revelation of his Word.
One attribute of God is all-loving (1 John 4:7–21). But this attribute has been skewed by many Christians and non-Christians alike. The tendency of many is to make God a type of butler—one who waits at our beck and call and exists in order to answer our demands for blessing and comfort. In our world today, we seldom witness the awe and wonder his very name deserves.
This attitude reeks of misunderstanding the holiness of God. His holiness demands that he despise each and every sin committed. Knowing his frightful hatred for sin should bring us to a reverent and godly fear of the one who is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28–29). Only true fear of the Lord will bring knowledge (Proverbs 1:7).
It is not until we fear God for who he is that we will humbly begin to understand the depths of his love—which is beyond all love. It is amazing that he would love us so much to send his only Son to die a horrible death in order to provide forgiveness to all who would believe (John3:16). Because of the depth of his love, he was willing to offer the life of Jesus, who committed no sin yet was made sin for us, so that we could be made the righteousness of God (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
God is love, yes. But his definition of love goes way beyond the scope of ours. His love is demonstrated in the gospel—that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, and he rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
The gospel through Jesus Christ was God’s plan from the very beginning. When God created Adam and Eve in the very good world, they saw God clearly. But when they disobeyed God, they were no longer welcome to walk with him (Genesis 3:23–24). They were thrown out of the garden because God cannot dwell with evil or wickedness (Psalm 5:4). But even then, God revealed his plan—his love—to redeem a people to himself through the Seed of the woman
(Genesis 3:15). Everyone who would repent of their sins and turn to the Savior would be forgiven and given an inheritance with Christ.
Others have wanted to see God as Adam and Eve did. We read that Moses was once bold enough to ask to see more of God (Exodus 33:18). And we know that Moses would die if he saw the face of God. However, Moses did get a glimpse of God’s glory passing by as he hid in the cleft of the rock (Exodus 33:22–23).
Jesus came to reveal God to sinners. The Bible tells us that in Jesus we know of God yet have not seen him: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (John 1:18). And Paul wrote to Timothy, describing God as the one “who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen” (1 Timothy 6:16).
God keeps himself in unapproachable light. We cannot see him as Adam and Eve once did. But he promises one day we will. And what a day that will be when his children will be like him, for they will see him as he is (1 John 3:2)! How we long for the day we will once again see God, talk with him, and enjoy the fellowship that was originally intended but broken because of sin. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
Studying God’s Word
Introduction
In our last lesson we talked about the importance of understanding our worldview. Everyone looks at the world around them through a set of “glasses” that influence how they understand what they see. While some people might claim to be unbiased or neutral, everyone has a bias. Thequestion is, which bias is the best bias to be biased by?
? What set of “glasses” should we be looking through to understand the
world around us? We should be using the Bible as a lens through which we look
at the world. God’s Word should be our starting point as we examine every idea,
question, and situation we encounter as we seek to take every thought captive to
the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
So, why is the Bible the best bias? It is the Word of the God who
created everything in the universe. As the Creator, we can only rightly
understand the world by starting from what God has revealed to us.
And as we saw from the passages we looked at last week, God’s Word is
trustworthy and true in all it sets before us. It is a lamp to our feet and
the only sure source of guidance for our lives (Psalm 119:105).
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God Declared His Attributes to Moses
This lesson will focus on how God has revealed himself to us in Scripture
so that we can understand, at least in a small way, what he is like.
Exodus 34:4–8
? Who are the characters?
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? Where did this take place?
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? Are any phrases or words repeated?
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? What type of literature is this passage?
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? What actions are ascribed to Moses in this passage?
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? What actions are ascribed to God in this passage?
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? Are there any figures of speech in the text that need to be interpreted?
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? What is the biblical context of the passage? When and where are the events of this passage taking place?
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? What two responses do we see from Moses in this passage?
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? What does the passage tell us about God?
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? Do other passages in Scripture relate to this passage?
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Romans 5:8
Let’s consider a verse from the New Testament that relates.
? How does Romans 5:8 point to Christ/the gospel?
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Discover the Truth
The main idea of this passage is God’s revelation of his character to Moses—and to us as we have it recorded for our benefit. Since this lesson is about understanding what God is like, let’s make a list of the attributes that God has revealed in this passage. God’s character has so many facets that we often forget about some of them. We tend to focus on particular aspects that are our favorites, but it is important that we remember that God is infinite, and we should worship him for all that he is.
? Knowing that there are some 1,500 years between Moses’ writing and Paul’s writing, what other attribute is evident in the consistent description of his character?
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God Is Love
Let’s look at another revelation of God’s character.
1 John 4:7–21
? Who are the characters?
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? Who is the audience?
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? What actions are believers called to in this passage?
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? What type of literature is this passage?
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? Are there any figures of speech in the text?
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? What is the biblical context of the passage?
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It is clear that this is a rich passage, and we could glean many truths
from it, but there is clearly one overarching theme concerning God’s
character in this passage.
? Are any phrases or words repeated?
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? What is the main point of the passage?
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? What does the passage tell us about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit?
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? How does this passage point to Christ/the gospel?
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? If we looked at the natural world as it is today, would we easily conclude
from what we see that God is a God of love?
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? So, how do we reconcile a loving God with the fact of all of the suffering
in the world?
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Discover the Truth
? What attribute of God’s character can we clearly identify from this
passage?
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God Is Eternal
Now let’s go back to the Old Testament.
Psalm 90:1–6
? Who is the author of this psalm?
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? Who is the audience?
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? What is the context (biblical, historical, geographical, chronological) of
the passage?
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? What type of literature is this passage?
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? Are there any words that are repeated?
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? What are the similes used in verses 4–6 and what do they refer to?
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? What is the phrase “everlasting to everlasting” intended to
communicate?
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? What is the main point of the passage?
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? What does the passage tell us about God?
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? Do other passages in Scripture relate to this passage, especially as it
relates to the concept of time?
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? How does this passage point to Christ/the gospel?
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Discover the Truth
? What key truth about God can we understand based on this passage?
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Worshipping God through Prayer Activity
Examine the list of attributes discussed in this lesson. Write out a short prayer or meditation that you can use
throughout the next week to bring to remembrance those attributes you may
have failed to worship God for.
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Connect to the Truth
Meditating on or offering worshipful prayers to God can help us remember
how infinitely glorious God’s attributes are. We tend to get stuck in ruts,
praying the same things over and over. Looking to Scripture and recognizing
and worshipping God for all of his attributes can help us remember the
truths of God’s vastness. Praying through a passage like Isaiah 40 or Job
38–40 can remind us of the greatness of God and our own smallness.
Application
As we have looked at these three passages of Scripture, we have only scratched the surface of God’s attributes. He has revealed a portion of himself to us, but we must keep in mind that he alone is the eternal Creator whose attributes are infinite. As we will learn more about in a few weeks, God expresses these attributes in the three persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Like a precious gem we hold up to the sun to see how the light dances across each of the faces in a different way, we can examine the attributes God has revealed to us. Let us all take time to read God’s Word and meditate on his many glorious attributes. Encourage students to use the lists created in the activity to meditate
on and grow deeper in their relationship with the Lord.
? Why is it important to understand all that the Bible has to say about God’s attributes?
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? How can a study of God’s attributes lead you into a deeper understanding
of your salvation?
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? How do you see the attributes of God questioned by those in your school
or workplace? How can you respond to these questions?
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Prayer Time
• Praise God for his unchanging character.
• Thank God for how he has revealed himself to us.
• Ask God for grace, that everyone will come to a deeper understanding
of his character so that they might walk worthy of the calling they
have received