God is the ultimate Being of beings, self-existent, eternal and unchangeable. He spans from before the beginning of time and after the end of all that is known. It is impossible for us to understand who God is, simply because His existence goes so far beyond what we can comprehend. Our comprehension was created by God, and we can understand so much about Him but still only know so little. Our understanding of who God is will completely change who we are. As one brilliant thinker put it, “what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us” (Tozer).
God came to us in three complete parts. He is the Father. The Father of life, the Father of Jesus and the Father of us. He is the source and originator of everything that we know, as well as of all that we do not know. “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The outward expression of this love, that is His very being, is Jesus. Jesus is how God chose to enter into our lives on a personal level. He is both the Son of God as well as God Himself. God, through Jesus, displayed just how much He loves man through His sacrifice and self-sacrifice. The death and resurrection of Jesus is what allows there to be direct access between God and man (Ephesians 2:18). Jesus is how God chose for us to understand who He and the Spirit are. The Holy Spirit, the third person of God, might be the most difficult to understand. “As Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised to send the Holy Spirit—the Helper—so that we could be true and living witnesses for Christ” (Forgotten God). The Holy Spirit is the power of God living inside of us. The Spirit is our teacher and also our access to God’s Words over us (John 14:26). The Spirit of God is a gift to believers. The Spirit is our Helper in hard times as well as our Intercessor to God (Romans 8:26). Without the Holy Spirit in our lives we are simply people, created by God, with the influence of the past works of Jesus. The Spirit is what creates relationship between God and man. Relationship is not possible without communication. Communication is not possible without the Holy Spirit. A relationship with God is the only hope for mankind.
Man is created by God with an overwhelming need to be reunited to God. “God created mankind in His own image” (Genesis 1:27). A likeness to God in mere personality… comes far short of answering the demands of the scriptures.
Men are creators. God sent man with the mission to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). This God-given mission made man, through God, fellow creators of life. The purpose of man was for relationship with God. That relationship was broken when Adam and Eve first partook in sin. Without that relationship there was no purpose for man. There was no hope for restitution or reconciliation with God. Then Jesus stepped into the picture. Man was then given the opportunity to reunite with God. The purpose of man is now to bring other people into that unity with God. Believers have been called to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Man has been given the mission to pursue God in Christ-likeness in both actions and in relationship with God.
Sin is the cause of the separation of God and man. Sin includes a failure to do what is right. But sin also offends people; it is violence and lovelessness toward other people, and ultimately, rebellion against God. The problem with defining sin is that it originates in the heart, and cannot always be seen or even known by other men. We know from the Word that sin is in the heart of men. In fact, it even says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it” (Jer 17:9)? In the beginning, God’s plan was for man to dwell in relationship with Him. However, man was not able to abide in this love relationship without allowing free will to bring death. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, sin is at the heart of all men. Every child of Adam enters a race marked by sin, condemnation, and death. God’s Word tells us that “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned” (Romans 5:12 NLT). This message is not always easy to teach. People don’t find that messages about how bad they are make them feel very good. Nevertheless, “the message of human sinfulness is integral to the apostolic message… leaving out that message or ignoring it is not an option if we wish to be faithful to Scripture” (Robbins 269). Without the knowledge and understanding of sin man cannot understand the forgiveness of Christ. Therefore, the message of love is lost without the message of sin.
The knowledge of God, man and sin leads to a deep-seeded need for the knowledge of salvation. Salvation is hope. It is the only hope that mankind has. The word salvation is first used to describe the deliverance of God’s people, the Israelites, out of their captivity in Egypt. The most common Hebrew word used for this action can be defined as “to save, help in distress, rescue, deliver, set free” (Bakers). This Hebrew translation helps to define what salvation means for mankind. Jesus literally rescued us from our own path towards death and destruction. He set us free from our sin so that we could be reconciled to God. In the Old Testament we learn about how only the high priest had the ability to enter the Holy of Holies and be in the presence of God. Even this was done with washing and great ceremony. “But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance” (Hebrews 9:7). At the very moment that Jesus breathed his last breath on the cross, the veil that separated the people of God from the Holy of Holies was ripped in two pieces, from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). His death meant that man would no longer be separated from God. For man is one with God. His plan from the beginning remains intact. He made man for Himself, and we are still for Him. Salvation is the restoration He hopes of for us. “The total work of God by which He seeks to rescue man from the ruin, doom, and power of sin and bestows upon him the wealth of His grace encompassing eternal life, provision for abundant life now, and eternal glory” (Keathley III).
Scripture is God-breathed. As the Word tells us, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Scripture is the written representation of God Himself, and has been from the beginning. To love the Lord is to love His Word. The Word of God is a gift given to us as a guiding light to our path. Prior to the Bible, man only had verbal stories of what Jesus did. The scrolls of the Old Testament were often only read by those who grew up in religious faith. The Bible we know today gives each person the opportunity to read for himself what God did throughout the history of mankind. It is an account of the works of God throughout the days prior to Jesus, and prophecies of the coming Messiah. It is also our account of Jesus’ time here on Earth and the impact He began to make then. Finally, it is a documentation of His crucifixion and resurrection. The aftermath of His sacrifice also lead to letters that we have at our disposal to read for assurance, encouragement, instruction, structure, and discipline. The Word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12). It gives us what we need when we need it. It offers peace, comfort and the knowledge to the Way of salvation. It can be difficult to stress the importance of the Word of God. However, the practical application is a habit that will bring us into a place of peace and immense growth in life. It is imperative in a Christian walk that the Bible be studied, followed and respected. People sometimes find it difficult to put stock in anything other than what other people think about them. Francis Chan describes why the Bible is needed like this, “it is where we find truth. It is what God say about Himself. Everyone has an opinion about what is right and what is wrong… we all think differently… what scripture says, is the grass is going to wither and the flowers fade but the Word of our God will stand forever. At the end of the day we are not going to be judged by people we are going to be judged by God Himself ... when this is all over it is going to be about God’s word and His authority is the only authority” (Chan). This is the truth about the Scriptures.
God’s love for mankind is breathtaking. His plan for relationship and the reconciliation of that broken relationship is displayed to us in the person of Jesus, the work of Salvation, and the very Words of God. Sin separates man from God. However, the most important thing for each and every person to know is that love always wins. God created a Way to bridge the divide that Man made between himself and God. That Way is Jesus. The understanding of who God is and what He did for us is what leads people from death to life.
