Re: ASSIGNMENT 5

Omnipotent

Although salvation is given only to those who have faith (Rom. 1:16-17), everyone sees the awesome power of God at work. We all see it because we all perceive God’s incredible universe (Rom. 1:20). The universe in which we live was made with such unified order that the conditions for life are perfect – so perfect, in fact, that the existence of life “defies explanation by conventional physical laws.” (Gerald Schroeder, Ph.D.). No one knows how God made and sustains the universe (See Job ch. 38-39) because his power is incomprehensible to our finite, created minds. Yet, we have access to that power in Christ (Rom. 8:37-38).

Astonishingly, many have seen God’s mighty works and concluded, “Some things are too great, even for God.” They have answered God, “Yes, your hand is ‘shortened.’” (Num. 11:23). We can become so amazed and overwhelmed by finite circumstances that we neglect this principle: the source is more powerful than the things emanating from it (Tozer). God warned us: “beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted…” So we must remember that all things are subject to God’s power and sovereignty (see Heb. 2:8, Rom. 8:38-39).

Transcendent

A relationship with God is unlike any other because Jesus is unlike anyone else we will ever meet. He did refer to his followers as his “friends,” (Joh. 15:14), and he was known as a friend of sinners. (Luk. 7:34). However, when one sinner realized who Jesus was, her reaction was inappropriate for someone who was encountering only a friend (even her best friend). It was appropriate only for someone who was in the presence of God, and it was not unlike the reactions of the prophets and heavenly creatures (Isa. 6:3-4, Dan 10:8-9, Rev. 4:8). She bowed down before him, and she kissed and anointed his feet. (Luk. 7:36-38).

The woman mentioned in the Gospel of Luke realized something important – that Jesus is Lord (Rom. 10:9). We belong to him and he transcends all things (Eph. 1:17-22). This is why he can authoritatively say things like “your sins are forgiven,” (Luk. 5:23) “do what I command,” (Joh 15:14) and “sin no more” (Joh. 5:14, 8:11), despite calling us “friends.”

Omnipresent

God is not some mischievous spirit who wants to play hide-and-seek with us without ever letting us find him. Nor is he the benevolent watch-maker of deism who left the universe to sustain itself. Like the newborn’s instinct to search for its mother’s milk, man’s desire to find God was placed inside of him for a reason (Ecc. 3:11, Act. 17:26-27) – God is not beyond man's grasp. Rather, he can be found as he is much closer than we might have guessed (Act. 17:27). He is not only “the Most High,” but he is also “the Most Nigh.” God is closer to us than the air we breathe; he's nearer to the fish than the sea (See Act. 17:28). God is continually present and personally involved in every aspect of life and the universe (See Job ch. 38-39).

Furthermore, God's involvement is not limited to upholding us physically. Both physical and spiritual life depend on the sustaining power of “the word,” which is near us (Rom. 10:8, Joh. 1:1-5). Although God’s righteousness is far from us in one sense, (Isa. 64:6 – man’s righteousness is like filthy rags), it is not far away at all in another sense. Romans 10:6-9 tell us that God’s righteousness is very accessible through faith in Christ. We can have it by believing in “the word.”

ASSIGNMENT 5

1.  Read chapters 12-14.

2. In no less than 50 words, provide extra insight into Romans 1:20, concerning the power of God. 

3.  In no less than 50 words, Respond to the levity of such modern Christians sayings as "Jesus is my home-boy" and "Jesus is the dude."  Use one verse of your choosing from either Tozer's citations or one you have located.

4. In recent Christian circles, it has been said that "the Most High is the Most Nigh."  In no less than 50 words, describe the blessedness of God being "nigh" according to Acts 17:27  & Romans 10:6-9.

Week 4 Assignment

Sorry this is late.

God asks questions to benefit the people he is talking with. An obvious benefit is that this allows people to feel involved and maintain a interactive relationship with God. God also asks questions as a teacher. Our teachers and professors use this same method today by asking students questions that the profs already know the answers to. If God wants someone to learn one of the best ways is to ask questions. God can also ask questions to help people confess sins(Genesis 3), rethink their actions(1 Samuel 16:1), and come to a better understanding of Him(Luke 9:20). It is easy to see that the whole purpose of an all knowing being is to help the people he is talking to because he already has all the answers. Let us praise this all knowing God for interacting with us in this way.


In 1 Corinthians 1:21 Paul is talking about the death of Christ on a cross. This does not seem like folly to us but it was to the people at that time. It is inconceivable that a god would be killed by human beings if you are following the wisdom of this world instead of the wisdom of God. God's wisdom is "the ability to devise perfect ends by the most perfect means." God's wisdom is Christ on the cross. This is folly according to man but perfect wisdom according to God. God sees the entire picture while we only see a small snapshot. This is why things that will look pointless and foolish to us in that moment can actually have far greater meaning when looking at the big picture. As C S Lewis pointed out, there was a deeper magic that the world did not know about taking place on that cross. It was the perfect wisdom of God.

Response

Part 2

…”Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” (Exod. 4:11)

…How can I let myself be defamed?... (Isa. 48:11)

“O house of Israel,  can I not do with you as this potter does?...” (Jer. 18:6)

…”Have you any right to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4)

The above questions are asked by God to give light to his authority. It is not that He does not know about His own authority, but He is asking these rhetorical-like questions to show us our ‘place.’ God employs this technique to both show the lowliness of man and the loftiness of Himself, as God “wins” these questions no matter what the answer.  It is like a father asking an unruly child “who was it that raised you from nothing?”

…”Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” (Gen 3:11)

“…Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Isreal?’ (1 Sam. 2:29)

…”Son of Man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol?... (Ezek. 8:12)

Then the lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord?...” (Gen. 18:13)

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? (Gen. 4:6)

In the above questions, God is asking humans questions that point out their separateness from God. He is asking them if they have done wrong things not because He has no knowledge of them, but to allow the perpetrators to see what they have done wrong. E.g. “Was it you who colored all over the wall in crayons?”

…”Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?... (Isa. 6:8)

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” (Matt. 16:15)

In these verses, God is testing the faith of the hearers. Although God knows what they are going to say, He is asking them to step forward in faith. This is like at a wedding, when the groom is asked, “do you take this woman to be your wife?” The answer is (most likely) known before the question is asked, but the groom must now step forward and answer it.

Part 3

The wisdom of God is unreachable to humans, and even the wisest human cannot fully comprehend even the simplest attributes of God. If God were to reach humans by means of wisdom, it would not be possible, for humans would not understand. In 1 Cor. 1:21 the world did not know God through wisdom, rather the world was saved through belief in the Gospel. This looked like ‘folly’ to some men, but this pleased God, as it was not man’s attainment, not something men could work to understand, but simply Christ crucified.

Part 4

The Jews demand signs and the Greeks seek wisdom (1 Cor. 1:22), shows the methods that the Jews and Greeks were seeking for deliverance of wisdom from God. What they got, was much different: Christ crucified. In 1 Cor. 1:25 the reaction of Jews and Greeks to Christ is addressed, where it’s stated the foolishness of God is wiser than men. Not that God is foolish, but that even the least wisest parts of God are wiser than man. The ‘folly’ of Christ crucified has a lot more to it than man can begin to comprehend.

Re: Assignment 4

Part Two

God does not ask questions to gain knowledge, but to induce us to reach a greater understanding of Him. In Job 38-41, God asks Job a barrage of questions. God is not seeking to learn something from Job, nor does He believe Job can answer even one of the questions. Instead, God’s aim is force Job to think of His glory and power, and thus come to a greater understanding of God. Similarly, Christ asks Saul, “Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4) Certainly, Christ is not asking out of confusion. He knows the heart of Saul better than Saul himself. Instead, the question presents an opportunity for reflection and repentance. Saul is not simply instructed to cease his persecution, but instead given a chance to examine his actions and atone for them.

Part Three

In 1 Corinthians, Paul draws a distinction between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of men. Of course, God’s wisdom is perfect and full, without blemish and free from reproach. It stems from his infinite knowledge, understanding, and power. Man’s wisdom, on the other hand, is weak, faulty, and lacking. It arises from our lack of knowledge and understanding, and is our attempt to understand the things of God and his creation through our own reasoning. God, in his infinite wisdom made it such that our wisdom would never reach a full understanding. God did not want that we could come to full understanding of Him through the power of our own thoughts and reasoning, but instead through faith and sincere belief. Therefore, God is pleased with our foolish preaching because it abandons the pretext of abstract reasoning and useless wisdom for the simple purity of faith and earnest desire for the gospel.

Part Four

The people of Corinth believed that the idea of salvation through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ was foolish. Similarly, the idea that God would humble himself to die was a mark of weakness in their eyes. Yet in this verse, Paul is saying that even if that is such, God’s greatest foolishness far exceeds the best path to God that men could possibly think up. Similarly, even if there is any weakness in Christ humbling himself, such an act showed far greater strength and power than anything that man could do by his own hand.

Re: Week 4 Assignment

Omniscience

God questions men, not to learn, but to carry out his will. We speak "without knowledge” (Job 38:2). But he never lacks knowledge: e.g. where Cain’s murdered brother Abel was (Gen. 4:9); how many righteous men he’d find in Sodom (Gen. 18); and where Job was during creation (Job 38). God interacts with people because he wants to reveal himself and work on us. He declines to “hide” his ways (Gen. 18:17) forever. Rather, he wants us to “see” him (Job. 42:5) and “learn from [him]” (Mat. 11:29); and knowing the very best way to deal with people (e.g. Gen. 4:13-15, Job 1:12), God chooses to interact with us in a personal way.

Wisdom

Men utterly fail when trying to know God through their own wisdom (1 Cor. 1:21). So God chooses ways that are so far from what we’d choose that we must lean on him instead of on “[our] own understanding” (Pro. 3:5). Even in doing something apparently silly in men’s eyes, i.e. using a bunch of nobodies (1 Cor. 1:26-27) to preach “Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23), God’s wisdom remains perfect and unchallenged. Thus, Paul says the “folly” of the gospel (1 Cor. 1:21) is the power of God [to believers] (v.18). Logically, man’s wisdom cannot improve God's power one bit (v. 17).

1 Cor. 1:25

God’s “foolishness” and “weakness” are wiser and stronger than men (v. 25). Of course he’s never foolish or weak. Rivaling God is like showing up to work earlier than your coworkers, but on the wrong day, or more realistically, in the wrong century. The point is that we can never outdo God.

WEEK 4 ASSIGNMENT

1.  Read chapters 10-11.

2.  Based upon chapter 10, we see that God is omniscient.  In 100 words, give examples of God asking questions and explain why He does it.  Hint:  You can employ some of the logic I used on Sunday in the Job message, but expand on the idea.  Use verse references (other than just in Job), and employ good logic.

3.  Based upon chapter 11, we learn about the wisdom of God.  Seems easy enough, right?  But go to the discussion in 1 Corinthians 1:21 and in 100 words, explain what is meant there. 

4.  NOT REQUIRED:  If you're really feeling game and have the extra energy, tackle 1 Cor. 1:25 and explain it in 50 words. 

 

RE: Assignment 3

1. God’s view of time is separate from time itself. In Romans 8:30 God’s glorification is spoken of by Paul in the past tense, although we ourselves have not been glorified. Here, He is giving light to God’s perspective, where we have already been glorified. Similar in Revelation 20, where John sees the defeat of Satan, it is in the past tense that he is able to describe God’s perspective of this event.

 

2. Although there are things we may not know about God, the Bible has presented us with at least some view of God. As in 1 Corinthians 13:12 where we know part of God’s attributes, and will know them fully later. We are presented with enough to see at least dim view of God’s entirety.

3. God is immutable, but His existence is not restricted to one formation. The Bible says in John 1:14 that God became human, and again in 1 Cor. 15:45 that Christ became spirit.  These actions are not mutations of God, but rather forms of the same God existing at once.

Week 3

Eternity

God is not bound by time. Where we look at events in an order or succession God sees everything at the same time. This is why Paul and John, in Romans and Revelation, can speak of future events as if they have already happened. They have already happened in God's eyes.

Infinitude

Of course there are things that we do not know about God. This will always be true. But that does not mean that we come up with outlandish claims about who God might be. We must accept what God HAS revealed about himself while we wait for the full revelation in the future. (1 Cor 13:12)

Immutability

"God is spirit" (John 4:24). God always has been and always will be the same. When God "becomes" a man that does not change who he is. Jesus is fully God and fully man. He is the perfect unity between God(spirit) and man(flesh). This unity does not mean that God has changed.

Re: Week 3 Assignment

Eternity

Any event may be spoken of in past tense because God is eternal. He is Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8). He knows about everything even before time runs its course. As Tozer wrote, “[God] has already lived all our tomorrows.” From God’s perspective, “everything that will happen has already happened.”

Infinitude

God is boundless, but we must be faithful to revealed truths about God, including those warning against pursuing man-made ideas (see Col. 2:8, 1 Cor. 3:19-21, Act. 17:21-31). Knowledge of the infinite God increases by faithfully staying in Christ (Col. 1), not by following unrevealed, unverifiable teachings. In Christ, we receive access to fully know (1 Cor. 13:12) what we’ve only partially known.

Immutability

God becoming a man who became spirit actually confirms God’s immutability, revealing his eternal plan (Col 1:26-27) and God as he always has been – a loving, triune God. Jesus indicates this, shortly before his betrayal and arrest, by speaking of his oneness with the father and the “glory [they shared] before [creation].” (Joh 17:5,10,11)

WEEK 3 ASSIGNMENT

1.  Read chapters 7-9.

2.  According to the logic of chapter 7, how would you explain the way the apostles used past tense verbs to speak of future events in Revelation 20:4-15 and in Romans 8:30?  Explain in 50 words or less.

3.  Devil's advocate statement from chapter 8:  "I knew it!  There are things about God that we don't know!  We'll probably find out at the end that He's an alien from another world!"  [Don't laugh.  People have all kinds of crazy notions that call into question whether the Bible relaibly presents God to us].  Answer this statement in 50 words. Hint:  You may want to use 1 Cor. 13:12.

4.  How do you deal with the idea of immutability in light of John 1:1 & 14, where God became human, and in 1 Cor. 15:45 where that humanity became spiritized?  [This is deep water, gentlemen.  Proceed carefully.  50 words].

5.  Complete this assignment before the start of the new week.

Self-Existence and Self- Sufficiency

Part 2

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) and Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created (Genesis 5:2). There is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God, (Romans 13:1b) as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. (Romans 4:17) Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? (Deuteronomy 32:6) You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker," He did not make me" ;or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"? (Isaiah 29:16). Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable (Isaiah 40:28). Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created. (Psalm 148:5) Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? (Isaiah 2:22) Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. (Deuteronomy 4:39) God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." "(Exodus 3:14b) I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:7) "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. (Job 38:4) For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things ,and by your will they existed and were created." (Revelation 4:11) and now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (John 17:5) yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. (1 Corinthians 8:6) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

Part 3

How can we fear someone who needs us? God does not need us, and we fear Him as did Abraham, Moses and David, among many. God would be lesser if He needed us, and the nature of God cannot allow Him to be lesser than anything. Approaching God with fear and respect is the correct approach to serving God, not selfishly assuming that you will better God by giving anything to Him. In fact, even the service we give to God is given to us in the first place by Him: whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies (1 Pet. 4:11b)

God's Self-Existence and the Necessity of Man

God Existed From the Beginning

In the beginning, [there was] God [and there] was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-3) That which was from the beginning…the word of life…the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us (1 John 1:1-2) Before the mountains were born, or [He] brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, [He was and is] God. (Psalm 90:2)

God Simply Is

And God said to Moses, ‘ I AM WHO I AM’ and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.’ (Exodus 3:14) Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, Truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’

God Has no Beginning or End

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’ (Revelation 1:8) Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am He; I am the first, and I am the last. (Isaiah 48:12) ‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I AM HE. Before Me no god was formed, nor will there be one after Me. I, even I, am the Lord and apart from Me there is no Savior.’ (Isaiah 43:10)

Of old [God has] laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of [His] hand. They will perish, but [He] will remain…they will pass away, but [He is] the same and [His] years have no end. (Psalm 102: 25-27) Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understand is inscrutable. (Isaiah 40:28) The twenty for elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever and will cast their crowns before the throne…(Revelation 4:10)

God is the Creator, the Source of All Things

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things [and] it was fitting for God, for Whom and through Whom everything exists. (Romans 11:36; Hebrews 2:10) [He asks Job] Where were you when I laid the foundation of the Earth (Job 38:4) For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and diving nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse [and they] have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images… (Romans 1:20, 23) He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. (Acts 17:25)


God Does Not Need Man
If we state that ‘God needs us’ we must then ask why. What purpose do we serve? What can we give to God that he cannot find without us? The answer, of course, is nothing. There is nothing that we can give to God that he needs. As evidenced above, God exists, with or without us. My belief in Him does not justify His existence, nor does a non-Christian’s doubt negate it. I cannot form God out of my thoughts and someone else cannot wish him out of existence. Neither can I sustain God. My thoughts, prayers, songs of worship, and all other activities do nothing to further His existence or achieve a goal he is incapable of. Paul states, ‘He is not served by humans hands, as if He needed anything.’ Instead, ‘He himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.’ It is God who provides me with everything, not the other way around. When I worship, when I pray, when I profess my love and submission to God, it is not for His sake that I do it, but mine. God does not require that I worship him, he allows me to worship him. It is for my benefit that I worship Him(drawing closer and praising His holiness), my benefit that I read His holy scripture (to further understand and appreciate Him) and my benefit that I exist at all in the realm of a creator who does not need me.

What then shall we say regarding God’s purpose? Aren’t we necessary to God for the continuation of His work? Of course not, because in saying so, we are ignoring the fact that God could accomplish His purpose in any way he so chooses. He simply has chosen to allow us the honor and benefit of being a part of that purpose. To say that God works through us is fundamentally different than saying that I work through a tool. When I use a hammer, it can be said that I need that hammer to achieve a purpose that I could not otherwise achieve. Pushing a nail into a board would be a task of great strength if I did not have a hammer to do so for me. However, in that case, I need the hammer because I lack the capability. Of course, God does not lack any capability. How can a task be too great for the one who creates everything? It can’t. Therefore, unlike me, God does not have need of a tool in completing His will. His decision to use us in that will then, is out of His sovereign grace, not out of His necessity for us.

Re: Week 2 Assignment - Part 3 - Response to "God Needs Us"

God is completely sufficient in himself. To the Jews, who must have felt that God needed them (after all, weren't they God's chosen people?), Jesus said, "do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. (Luk 3:8).

God doesn't need us. It sounds like a terribly strange thing for a Christian to say. After all, doesn't the bible say we're the body of Christ? (1Co 12:27). That is true. But only because God chooses to make it so. The supreme God of the universe has chosen to have a relationship with lowly man.

We should not feel discouraged by this reality. If I am chosen because of someone's need, I might meet that person's need out of a sense of duty, but who likes to feel as if they are just being used? I might just say, "no thanks, I've got better things to do." But what an honor to be chosen by someone who has absolutely no need for you! And feelings aren't the end of the matter. The reality is that a God who needs lowly man can be no God at all. But a God who needs no one? That's the only God who can claim to be "the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, (Gen 14:22).

Week 2 Assignment

In the beginning was the Word...the Word was God and In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth(John 1 1, Gen 1 1). He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything(Acts 17 25) For from him and through him and to him are all things(Romans 11 36), for whom and by whom all things exist(Heb 2 10) and the builder of all things is God(Heb 3 4). You created all things, and by your will they existed and were created(Rev 4 11) For by him all things were created(Col 1 16) and He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride(Job 41 34). Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God(Psalm 90 2). Before Abraham was, I AM(John 8:58), I AM WHO I AM(Ex 3 14). I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End(Rev 22 13), I am the first and I am the last(Is 48 12) and Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me(Is 43 10) For the Father has life in himself(John 5 26), His ways are eternal(Hab 3 6), and the number of his years is unsearchable(Job 36 26). The eternal God is your dwelling place(Deut 33 27) because the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King(Jer 10 10).


God does not need us. God does not need any of us. He is already complete, perfect, unchanging, he already exists in perfect unity between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is nothing he lacks, nothing that would make him better, and this is a very good thing because there would be no reason to worship him if this was not so. There is no reason to worship anything that is NOT perfect. We can very easily tell what happens when we worship imperfect human beings. Just look at all of the "role models" that constantly fall off the very high pedestals that we place them on because they should never be there in the first place. They should never be in the place where only God should dwell.

God does not need us. With this in mind we can start to understand just how great God really is. We can see how great is love is for us. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly...But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5). God came to us even when we were powerless, powerless to fill a need of God, powerless to do something for him. How great is that love. That love that reaches out to people KNOWING that they cannot help him, they cannot do ANYTHING for him in return. It is perfect. Truly wonderful and absolutely perfect.

And could there be better news than this, that this God wants to work through us, the people that cant do anything for him, the people he does not need. That is the good news. That is the best news that is out there. The God that has absolutely no need for me wants to empower me with his energy, with his strength, with his life to do his perfect will. Now that is a God that is worthy of all praise, fit to be worshiped by all. Blessed be this God forever and ever. Amen.

Re: Week 2 Assignment - Prompt 2 - God's self-existence

God calls himself "I AM WHO I AM” – i.e. he says "I am eternally existing and self-existing." (Exo 3:13-14). Also, in verse 15, he identifies himself as “the LORD,” meaning, “Jehovah” or “the self-existent one.” This phrase occurs at least 70 times in the first five books of the bible alone (I stopped counting after 70) (see, e.g., Gen 15:7 and 17:1, Exo 6:2 and 7:5, Lev 20:8 and 22:2, Num 10:10 and 15:41, and Deu 1:42 and 4:1). God further identifies himself as “God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God….” (Deu 10:17). In Isaiah, he asks, “to whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him”? (Isa 40:18). He repeats, “To whom then will you liken me,” adding, “or to whom shall I be equal”? (Isa 40:25). And he declares, “[I am] the everlasting God.” These verses remove any doubt that all power and authority (including the power and authority to create) exist in God. His existence depends on no one. Therefore, no one could have ever created or appointed God.

In the New Testament, the Jews were bewildered and angry to hear Jesus, a man, refer to himself as the self-existing God. He said, “before Abraham was, I am." (Joh 8:58). He had just told the Pharisees, “I am from above . . . . I am not of this world.” (Joh 8:23). They might have mistakenly interpreted Jesus as saying that he was merely sent by God (in v. 23). But he was clearly making a much stronger claim by saying, “I am the self-existing one who existed even before Abraham.”

There is further support for God’s self-existence in his role in, and existence outside of, creation. Genesis 1:1 says, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The book of Isaiah adds, “it is he who sits above the circle of the earth . . . . who stretches out the heavens like a curtain.” In Revelation, God calls himself “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Rev 22:13). Finally, the gospel of John declares, “[i]n the beginning was the Word . . . . All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (Joh 1:1-3). Since God, the creator of all things, has existed since the beginning and absolutely nothing exists apart from him, the conclusion is inescapable- God must be self-existent.

[I thought I'd add more verses in case those verses in Genesis through Deuteronomy can't be counted more than once]

The gospel of John tells us that "the world was made through him. (Joh 1:10). So do the letters written by the apostles: "[A]ll things were created through him and for him," (Col 1:16) and "from him and through him and to him are all things," [so rhetorically,] Paul asks, "who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" (Rom 11:35-36). Even the angels refer to God as "him who lives forever and ever . . . ." (Rev 10:6).

The gospel of John also records Jesus as describing eternal life as knowing the father, "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom [the father has] sent. (Joh 17:3). In Jesus' prayer, he also speaks of "the glory that [he] had with [the father] before the world existed." (Joh 17:5).

1 John also has many examples, as the author writes about "that which was from the beginning" (1Jn 1:1); he "proclaim[s] to [us] the eternal life, which was with the Father" (1Jn 1:2); and he calls God "eternal life." (1Jn 5:20). Abraham declared our God to be "the LORD, the Everlasting God." (Gen 21:33).

WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT

1. Read chapters 5-6 (we will save chapter 4 for a later time).

2.  Remark upon the self-existence of God by stringing together 20 verses that speak of it in some way, shape, or form.  You may use the verses Tozer used.  Do not quote the entire verse, but use the important components of it to form your remark.  You may insert prepositions and some transitional words of your own, but that is all.  Everything else must be words from the verse.  Include verse references. 

3. In at least 100 words, respond to the statement that "God needs us."  Use your own words.

4.  Complete assignments by Friday, September 9.

--John

Review of Week 1

1.  Brothers, I was impressed with all your postings, however I noticed that for the most part you took the bait from the video and went after the idea of jealousy rather than that of attribute.  This is a typical rabbit trail--a side issue smaller than the main one (although related).  The challenge was to address the issue of attributes from a more transcendent angle; touching the larger point rather than becoming mired in a smaller one. 

2.  A few of you made good use of verses.  However, I noticed that others relied more on logic.  Try to use both.

Assignment 1 Response to Video

There is always a big issue with how someone misuses a definition of a word, just because the connotation of it is negative. Jealousy IS the love that you think of when you think of God. He yearns for us so much and wants us to only want Him, because He is that all powerful, all knowing being that you are told He is and He knows what is best for his creation. His character is to love us so much that He would provide for us the best, because that is all he knows. The only way for us to experience who God is isn’t to make up in our minds whatever we want Him to be, otherwise you do get a god that doesn’t fit the real God in the Bible. We have to seek the real God and all Him to reveal himself to us. If that is not the focus, we create a god that seems so human, so imperfect. It ends up becoming a story of the blind leading the blind. In that sense, you are sort of right that God did not send Jesus to create a religion, he came to bring us closer to the Father so we can experience that love that so many misunderstand. We simply have to want to know Him, not try to make up what we think He is incorrectly.

Response MG

It is difficult for someone to access or understand God, who is omniscient and omnipresent, which is by nature incomprehensible. It is much easier to formulate and worship a God from our own understandings.

Jealousy, for example, can only be comprehended by our own understanding of the concept. The way we understand jealousy is that it is sinful- as in Exodus 20:17, when we are commanded to not to covet a man’s possessions or wife. If we are jealous of something, it is not only wrong by modern views, but it is wrong to God. Naturally, when we read in Exodus 34 that God is a jealous God, there is confusion. Our concept that jealousy is sinful is challenged- if it is sinful, how can it be a name of God? So what do we do then? The unfortunate path that you have taken is simply to create a God that you can understand. ‘Love’ is a much prettier word than ‘jealous’ so why not remove jealous from a list of God’s attributes? This is easier than seeking out the truth of God. 

If you had taken another step in comprehension, you would have seen the reasoning behind God’s jealousy was love all along. God loves you so much that he is jealous of you worshiping another god. Not seeking this understanding, or any understanding of who God is, but rather formulating a new god to worship hampers the ability for you to see the true love from God that you are seeking.

A Rejection of God's Truth

(Though there are many points on contention in such a small interview, for the purposes of brevity, I will seek to address only one point in as exhaustive a fashion as I can. Also, I realize that in my discussion of the following verses I have removed them for their original context. However, I have tried in earnest to ensure that my application has not destroyed their original or intended meaning but has simply sought to expand their meaning for the assignment.)

19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
- Romans 1:19-25

Man, from his beginning, has had the opportunity to know God. As Paul points out, what can be known of God is readily evident through God’s creation. The problem man faces is that such knowledge illuminates our sin problem and highlights our inadequacies. When presented with the truth of God, man becomes uncomfortable because he must confront and deal with his faults. However, as the Gospel of John explains, when man is faced with the truth and light of God, rather than accept his own inferiority, man shuns and even hates God’s truth, rejecting what is good and embracing what is evil. (John 3:19-20) But still, even though man has rejected God’s truth, he must still deal with his inward sense of God’s presence. “Darkening his heart” man seeks to replace the image of God for a new one, one more comfortable and acceptable to him. In doing such, he exchanges the uncomfortable truth of the immortal God for the comfortable, enjoyable, and relatable lie.

When, you, and in truth all of humanity, say that you were uncomfortable with certain aspects and characteristics of God, what you’re admitting is that you saw your inadequacy before the holiness and righteousness of the immortal God. Unable, or simply unwilling, to deal with God’s truth, you decided to “take God out of the box.” But instead, what you’ve actually done is to remove God from the realm of his holiness and truth and placed him into the realm of fallen creation. You have not liberated the truth regarding God, but have instead rejected what is true in favor of the much more comfortable lie. Such an action is not an act of ‘opening one’s mind’ but instead an act of closing one’s mind to what is evident and true.

Re: Assignment 1

Oprah, I am both encouraged and concerned by what you say. Yes, God is huge- eternal and omnipresent; and he does want us to know him. However, saying that you don’t think Jesus came to start Christianity could be interpreted in different ways. It is true that Jesus did not come to raise up a bunch of religious people. He already had that in the Pharisees, who clearly did not please him. However, if you don’t think he wanted to establish Christians (i.e. followers of Christ), I disagree. The attributes you like about God are biblical, but so are the ones you don’t like.

God will not change himself to correspond to an individual’s ideas. One might say that Jesus works for him, but he doesn’t think Jesus should be the only way; or that God shouldn’t be jealous- i.e. a God who doesn’t want anyone or anything else to be worshiped. But you must admit that if God is truly eternal and sovereign, he should be jealous! We all belong to him! It would be meaningless to say that he loves us if he is not jealous when we worship something else.