Exodus Teaching - 16 - A God To Know

Exodus Teaching Series #16

TITLE: A God To Know

TEXT: Genesis 1:1

[Editor's Note: As stated elsewhere in this study, some of the messages related to the Exodus come from books other than the Book of Exodus, as this message illustrates.]

Introduction

It all starts with God. Without God there is no beginning. Without God there is nothing, there never has and there could never be. Atheists embrace evolution to one degree or another, but without God there would have been nothing to evolve. Without God there would be no one to talk about God or anything else. Without God there would be no laws, but of course there would be no one to obey them. With the Ten Commandments as a background I would like for us to take a look at the One who issued those commandments.

We have taken a close look at the Ten Commandments and we have affirmed what most Christians have known all along, and that is that they are both adequate and applicable for any people of any age. The Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, were handed down directly from God, who identified Himself as Yahweh, to Moses to give to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. We have discovered that the Ten Commandments cover a multitude of sins. They are a guide for human behavior, for men and women as they relate both to God and to other people. The first four commandments deal specifically with our relationship with the Lord, while the last six deal with out relationship with other people. The Ten Commandments have never been amended and they have never been amended. Jesus, however, grouped all ten of those commandments under two laws:

“He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (38) This is the greatest and most important commandment. (39) The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. (40) All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matt 22:37-40, HCSB)

In other words, Jesus taught that the First Great Commandment covers the first four of the Ten Commandments. If you love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, you will never worship a false god and you will never take the name of the name of God in vain, and you will remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. In the same manner, if you love your neighbor as you love yourself you will not steal from others, you will not lie about others, you will not lust after your neighbor’s wife, daughter, or sister. You will not covet that which belongs to your neighbor if you love him as you love your self.

Yahweh, on His own authority, gave us the Ten Commandments. He did not offer proof that He had the authority to do so. At no point did He give us permission to look elsewhere for another set of laws and adopt them as a guide for godly living. God simply gave them to Moses. “When He finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.” (Ex 31:18, HCSB)

I have a question: how do we know God had, or has, the authority to give Moses those Ten Commandments. Was He overstepping His authority? Did He have the authority to give he entire human race a set of laws and expect them to follow those rules? I believe the best way to answer that question is to consider just who this God is. We are going to take a close look at the God of Creation, the God of the Exodus, the sovereign God of the Ten Commandments today to see if He had a right to impose His will on us. First, we will ask, does God really exist, and if we agree that He does we may ask whether or not He had the authority to hand down a set of laws for all people of al ages.

A man who seemed young and well educated called the host of a secular radio talk-show and launched a militant attack on Christianity. Suddenly he exclaimed, “Man was not made by God; God was the invention of man.” What do you think?

I believe you hold one of three views of God: (1) You either believe he exists, (2) you believe He does not exist or, (3) you do not know if He exists. Your conclusion will have eternal ramifications.

I. I BELIEVE GOD DOES EXIST.

PROPOSITION: Either you believe God exists (theism), you believe He does not exist (atheism), or you do not know if He exists (agnosticism).

A. Atheism Is an Indefensible Position, Both From the Standpoint of Scripture and Logic.

1. Atheism will not stand the test of logic.

I exist. Since I do not exist of myself, I must conclude that Someone is responsible for my existence. Things around me exist. Someone is responsible for their existence. The world exists, so there must be a world maker. Scientists tell us the very first cell contained over a million bits of information, as well as a very complex arrangement of amino acids. If they suddenly appear in the right combination with exactly the right information, we may conclude that there is intelligence behind creation. Sir Fred Hoyle, a former agnostic scientist, calculated the probability of life evolving from random chance to be less than one in 10 to the 40th power. That’s 1 followed by 40 zeroes, or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Assuming he was right, how much credence do you give random chance? It takes a lot of faith in nothing to believe it all came from nothing, doesn’t it?

2. Atheism will not stand the test of Scripture.

The late Adrian Rogers was one of the most amazing men I have ever met. I grew up listening to R. G. Lee preach and there was a temptation for a long time to judge all preachers by the man W. A. Criswell called “the prince of preachers.” In fact, I heard Dr. Criswell and Dr. Lee both preach at an Evangelism Conference in Clarksdale, Mississippi one night. Young pastors today may not be able to imagine listening to the two most respected preachers of the Gospel in America at that time, especially among conservative Christians. At one point, Dr. Criswell said, “The best thing I can do for you is shut up and let you listen to the prince of preachers. Years later, when my mother was suffering from the effects of a brain tumor I would drive from Bastrop, Louisiana to Sledge, Mississippi, or to Baptist Hospital in Memphis once a week to visit my mother and father. Often, when I would sit by Mother’s bed side she would tell me what Adrian Rogers had preached the previous Sunday. I had no idea who Adrian Rogers was at first, but then I discovered that he was a great preacher and that he must have had the greatest voice in America. I discovered later that in person he was one of the most gracious men one would ever meet.

Adrian Rogers had one thing in common with Dr. Lee, in addition to serving as pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis for over three decades. Dr. Lee had the sharpest answer for critics and skeptics of anyone I can think of, but Dr. Rogers had his own way of offering a kind and gracious answer to questions. When he was a young pastor in Florida he talked with a man who insisted that he was an agnostic. Dr. Rogers asked, “Are you an honest agnostic or a dishonest one?” The man asked what he meant and Adrian Rogers asked, “Do you know everything there is to know in the world?” The professed agnostic quickly denied any claim that he knew everything there was to know in the world, so Dr. Rogers asked, “Suppose you knew half of everything there is to know in the world, and then you learned that in the half you do not know there is proof that there is a God. Would you believe in God then?” The man assured him that he would. The more we discover about our solar system, and he more we learn about what lies beyond it, the more convincing is the information we now have that David could not have imagined.

Is it not interesting that what we have learned about DNA over the past few decades has helped to change a lot of things. DNA evidence has freed convicted criminals, and it has convicted others who thought they had gotten off scot free. God knew all about DNA from the beginning and He revealed something of he significance of it one thousand years before Jesus Christ walked on this earth. If that sounds too far fetched, please explain these words he Holy Spirit inspired David to write:

“For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

(14) I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made.

Your works are wonderful, and I know ⌊this⌋ very well.

(15) My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret,

when I was formed in the depths of the earth.

(16) Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all ⌊my⌋ days were written in
Your book and planned before a single one of them began.”
(Ps 139:13-16, HCSB)

The “book” of your life was written in you DNA before you began you first day. Wow, that is amazing! How could anyone know that and not believe in God, the Yahweh of the burning bush, who delivered Israel from a particularly cruel form of slavery, departed the waters of the Red Sea, led them across on dry land, and brought them to Himself at Sinai. He is the One who came down in smoke and revealed His presence to them from the top of Mt. Sinai. When it was all over the top of Mt. Sinai was black from the fire, while everything around it was a reddish sand color. Even in recent times explorers Bob Cornuke and Larry Williams broke open some of those black rocks on to of Sinai and discovered that the interior was the same reddish sand color they saw all around the mountain. Yahweh left evidence of His presence all around that area, and all around us today. David wrote, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Psalm 53:1).

According to Romans 1:18-21, God's revelation of Himself, both within and before each person, is so clear that He will accept no excuse from those who reject Him. Anyone who sees all the evidence for God and then says to his Creator, “I don’t want you,” will have his wish granted forever.

B. Theism Has the Support of Both Logic and Scripture.

1. There is nothing more logical than the existence of God.

If there is a design to the universe there must be a Designer. If there is a creation there must be a Creator. The law of cause and effect holds that every effect must have a cause. If we follow this through to a logical conclusion we discover this is true - with one exception. Behind it all there is an uncaused Cause. That uncaused Cause we call God.

2. The Bible tells us there is a God.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). There is no attempt to prove the existence of God. His existence is simply declared. No one can through intuition “find” God, He finds the individual. No one can through study or logic find God. No one through accident find God. No one through mysticism or religious rituals find God. God Almighty reveals Himself to us and that is the only way we can know Him. The Bible assures us that God reveals Himself to us through divine revelation, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. For all those who come up with various schemes, mysteries, and theories, let me assure you that the Lord reveals Himself through the inspired Word of God (Bible),the ministry of the Holy Spirit (conviction and revelation), He reveals Himself before us (creation), and He reveals Himself within us (divine illumination). Jesus promised to return to Heaven and send the Holy Spirit for this special ministry:

“Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. (8) When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: (9) about sin, because they do not believe in Me; (10) about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; (11) and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” (John 16:7-11, HCSB)

C. The Agnostic Can Find Help in the Bible.

An honest agnostic is not saying there is no God. What he is saying is that he does not know if there is a God. If he is honest he is willing to be convinced when evidence is presented. The Bible does not give a definition of God, for the simple reason that no one can fully comprehend God. Rather than offer a definition of Himself, He reveals many of His attributes: He is all powerful (omnipotent), everywhere present at the same time (omnipresent), and all knowing (omniscient). That just begins to tell us a little about our Lord. He is changeless, He is holy, and He is love. In Isaiah, the Lord simply tells us,

(8) “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” ⌊This is⌋ the Lord’s declaration. (9) “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Is 55:8-9)

The agnostic would do well to read the Book of Job, and spend enough time with it to understand the structure of the book. Job may have been he earliest book written. He lived in the age of the patriarchs, which placed him roughly in the time of Abraham (2000 B. C.), about whom Moses was inspired to write in Genesis, beginning in chapter 12. Moses wrote the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible some time after the Exodus, the beginning of which has been dated around 1447 B. C. (or a little later).

In the Book of Job, Satan challenges the Lord concerning His servant Job and God permitted the devil to put Job to the test. In the midst of his grief, suffering, and pain, his wife urged him to curse God and die and his and three friends, Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad tried to persuade Job to confess some horrible sin for which he was being punished, but Job denied having committed such sin. There is an exchange between Job and his thee friends, as they go through three cycles of debate. At times Job shows that his faith is still in Yahweh, but at time his faith wavers. Finally, Yahweh challenges Job with a series of questions that left Job speechless. After assuring Job that He wanted Job to answer Him, the Lord asked some amazing questions:

(1) “Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:

(2) Who is this who obscures ⌊My⌋ counsel with ignorant words?

(3) Get ready to answer Me like a man; when I question you, you will inform Me.

(4) Where were you when I established the earth? Tell ⌊Me⌋, if you have understanding.

(5) Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?

(6) What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone

(7) while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

(8) Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst from the womb,

(9) when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,

(10) when I determined its boundaries and put ⌊its⌋ bars and doors in place,

(11) when I declared: “You may come this far, but no farther; your proud waves stop here.”?

(12) Have you ever in your life commanded the morning...

(16) Have you traveled to the sources of the sea or walked in the depths of the oceans?

(17) Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

(18) Have you comprehended the extent of the earth? Tell ⌊Me⌋, if you know all this.

(24) What road leads to ⌊the place⌋ where light is dispersed? ⌊Where is the source of⌋ the east wind that spreads across the earth?

(31) Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?
(Job 38:1-38, HCSB)

II. SOME WONDER HOW MANY GODS THERE ARE.

PROPOSITION: If you believe there is a God, you either believe there is one God (monotheism) or you believe there are many gods (polytheism).

A. Polytheism Is an Illogical Concept.

The polytheist believes there are innumerable finite gods in the universe, but deny that there is one infinite God beyond the universe. Polytheism presents its adherents with one dilemma after another. It is diametrically opposed to monotheism, which has the support of both Scripture and logic. It offers no absolutes in terms of human morality, but raises many questions about the origin of these gods, their nature and character, and the realm of their authority.

B. The Bible Clearly Rejects Polytheism.

The Lord was very clear in addressing His people: “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3). God also said, “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6). The worship of false gods is so abhorrent to God that He calls it prostitution, and for such sins He had the northern ten tribes of Israel destroyed in 722 B.C. When Judah refused to learn from Israel’s idolatry He brought in the Babylonians to destroy the city and the temple and take the people into captivity for seventy years. When they returned from the Babylonian Captivity the returned without idols and while they were often guilty of other sins, they would not pronounce the name of false gods. At the time of the first invasion of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar he took some of princes of Judah back to Babylon to train for his service. He gave Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael names that would glorify the gods of Babylon. My good friend, Dr. Bill Cooper explains how Daniel altered the name given him by Nebuchadnezzar so that he name of Nebuchadnezzar’s god would not be glorified in the prophetic book of Daniel. Dr. Cooper writes:

“Now, the names of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego we will consider in the following chapter. For the moment, we must concentrate all our attention on that of Belteshazzar. “But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god....” (Daniel 4:8) These are the words of King Nebuchadnezzar and they are most meaningful for our enquiry. They state emphatically that which we have already known, that in his given name, Daniel was made to bear the name of Babylon’s chief god, Bel. It is important to bear that in mind, because most scholars depart from both the clear text and from common sense at this point. They are troubled by the letter teth in Daniel’s Hebrew rendering of the name, and so have to resort to some extraordinary guesswork when trying to make sense of it. Over the years, though, it has settled down to this. The ‘-shazzar’ element of the name is easily explained. It is a Hebrew transcription of the Akkadian (Babylonian) phrase, ‘- shar-usur’, meaning ‘- protect the king,’ equivalent to our ‘God save the king’ when prefixed with the name of a god. Thus, Belshazzar, or Belshar- usur would mean ‘Bel save the king’ in their parlance.

“The name Belshazzar thus meant something. But Belteshazzar would merely be gobbledygook to a Babylonian. It meant nothing. There is, however, one Babylonian word, belit, which is no god’s name but is the Babylonian word for ‘lady’ (being the feminine form of bel or lord). Now some have suggested that the name of Bel’s theological ‘wife’ Beltis was intended here, but this would have required Daniel inserting two letters into his given name, teth and samekh. But Daniel could not (nor would not) have meant Beltis, for that would still have involved writing the name of a god, albeit a female. Besides, Nebuchadnezzar was very clear that Daniel had been renamed after his (Nebuchadnezzar’s) chief god, not his wife. Perhaps by inserting the letter teth, Daniel knowingly introduced a very subtle pun which insulted both king and god in one. Such a pun would emasculate both - Nebuchadnezzar having to be protected by a lady - and do honour to neither. However, intended pun or not, Daniel’s introducing the single Hebrew letter teth into his given name certainly did spoil the name and its meaning.

“In his official capacities, Daniel would have been known under his new name in its uncorrupted form, Belshazzar, and that is how we find him referred to in the official records. Which means, of course, that in the course of time there came to be two men in Babylon who went by the name of Belshazzar. Daniel was one, and the other was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar who was later to be made regent under his father Nabonidus (Nabu-na’idu). The royal Belshazzar wasn’t even born or thought of when Daniel began his captivity, so there was no awkwardness in Daniel bearing the same name as a royal heir. That heir did not yet exist. Any awkwardness would only emerge later at a certain feast, as we shall see.

“But do the Babylonian records themselves really speak of two Belshazzars? They certainly do, and they also differentiate between the two so that their readers would know which of them was being referred to. The records concerning Daniel are as follows: The first inscription to consider is that known as YBC 3765, a clay tablet held in the Yale Babylonian Collection, and whose text was published by Dougherty in 1929.1 The second inscription is numbered 135, and is held at the Archaeological Museum of Florence. This was published by Oberhuber in 1960.2 Both tablets refer to Daniel under his given name, Belshazzar. The Yale inscription (YBC 3765) says this:

“(As to) one mina (and) seventeen shekels of silver, which are in one shekel pieces, belonging to Belshazzar (Bel-sar-usur), the chief officer of the king (amelshaqu sharri), (charged) against Rimut, the son of Enlil-kidinnu....”3

“The important thing to notice here is the title which accompanies the name of this Belshazzar. It is that of shaqu sharri, the chief officer of the king. That is not a title that was ever held by Belshazzar the royal prince. Moreover, the Belshazzar in this inscription is not identified by a patronym as a Babylonian noble or prince would have been. The name of Rimut has a patronym, “....the son of Enlil-kidinnu...”, and Nergal-dannu who appears later in the inscription, also has a patronym, “...the son of Mukin-zer...”, but not Belshazzar. Had this Belshazzar been synonymous with the royal prince Belshazzar, who was a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, he would certainly have been identified by his royal patronym. But not this Belshazzar who only has his job-title recorded. This Belshazzar is our Daniel. (The Authenticity of the Book of Daniel, by Dr. Bill Cooper - posted as an E-Book on Amazon.Com.)

This is an amazing work and it compliments his very informative books on Genesis, Jonah, Esther, and two volumes on the New Testament (the second one is a work in progress). Dr. Cooper has invested forty years in research into records not readily available to most American Bible scholars.

III. WE SHOULD KNOW HOW GOD RELATES TO HIS CREATION.

PROPOSITION: If you believe there is one God (and only one God), you either believe that He is separate from (transcends) creation, or that He is inseparable from it (pantheism, monism).

A. Both Pantheism and Monism Fail the Test of Reason and Scripture.

1. Pantheism can be disproved logically and scripturally.

Pantheism is the doctrine that God and nature are identical. For the pantheist there is no God, or Creator, beyond the universe. God is the universe and the universe is God. For the pantheist there is just one reality. The Creator and creation are two ways of looking at one reality. “Many religions are identified with pantheism, including many forms of Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, and Christian Science (along with other modern-day mind-science cults)” (Geisler, Norman, FALSE GODS OF OUR TIME, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon, 1985, p. 27). In addition, many people have been influenced by pantheism who are not identified with any religion. “Pantheism is one of the fundamental beliefs of the New Age Movement groups, and it underlies the world view of the ever-popular Star Wars saga” (IBID, p. 27). At the center of Star Wars was the emphasis on the “Force” which creator George Lucas identified with God.

Geisler rightly observes that “the most fundamental criticism of a strictly pantheist world view is that it is actually unaffirmable by man, for no finite individual really exists as an entity really different from God or the absolute” (Geisler, Norman L., CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1976 - paperback, 1988 - p. 187). Other problems with pantheism have to do with creation, the personality of man, and the inability to address the subject of good and evil. Francis Shaeffer points out that we must choose between God and gods. He concludes, “The difficulty with gods instead of God is that limited gods are not big enough” (Shaeffer, same as above, p. 286).

2. Inherent in Monism are most of the same errors found in pantheism.

Monism is the belief that all reality is ultimately unified - all is one and one is all. Monism is closely related to pantheism and fails the test of truth for basically the same reasons.

B. God Is Superior to and Distinct from Creation.

1. Logic demands that the Creator be separate from creation.

He had to pre-exist creation, be distinct from it, and superior to it. “Since Darwin the concept of natural selection has dominated evolutionary thought, providing a ‘naturalistic’ explanation for the origin of the species, and thus (as Julian Huxley used to say) “eliminating the need for God” (Morris, Henry, “Pantheistic Evolution,” IMPACT, No.234, Institute of Creation Research, El Cajon, CA, Dec., 1992). But a growing number of scientists have been rejecting Darwin’s theory, primarily because they recognized the fact that the design of the universe required intelligence. They are rejecting the atheistic evolution of Darwin in favor of pre- Darwinian pantheistic evolution. “In fact, this is the pseudo-scientific rationale underlying the so-called New Age Movement which is sweeping over the world today” (IMPACT- IBID). It should be emphasized here that the New ‘Age Movements of the 1980s and 1990s are not dead, they have continued under different names or movements.

Some serious scientists, however, recognized that pantheistic gods could not have created the world because they could not exist apart from it, nor could they pre-exist it. Creation required a pre-existent God who was omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.

2. The God of the Bible is transcendent, and sovereign over all He created.

His sovereignty is predicated upon creation. He created to world, therefore it is His. “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psalms 24:1; See also,
Psalm 90:2).

IV. GOD INVOLVES HIMSELF IN OUR LIVES.

PROPOSITION: If you believe there is one God Who is separate from creation, you either believe He involves Himself with His creation so as to reveal His existence, or you believe He does not (deism).

A. Deism Is Refuted By Both Logic and Scripture.

1. Deism is an illogical world-view.

The direct opposite of pantheism, it holds that God created the world but denies any supernatural intervention on the grounds that “the world operates by natural and self-sustaining laws of the Creator” (Geisler, CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS, p. 151). In deism God is distinct from the world, but in pantheism God is identical to it (God is the world).

Deism contradicts itself. Toward what end would God have created the world if He could not interact with His creation? In particular, why would He create man in His own image if He could not, or would not, relate to him? It denies the supernatural while professing faith in God. God, however, is supernatural.

2. In the Bible God reveals Himself as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer.

In either capacity He interacts with creation. He Created, Genesis 1; He judged the world, Genesis 6-8; He delivered His chosen people, Exodus. The New Testament accounts of miracles abound, including the incarnation and the Resurrection. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is God’s supernatural
intervention in human affairs.

B. God’s Involvement with Creation Is Verifiable.

1. His involvement with the world is consistent with Creation.

Failure to involve Himself with that which He has created would be illogical. If God cared enough about man to create Him in His image, it is reasonable that He would intervene in his behalf.

2. The Lord claims sovereignty over all He created (Psalms 24:1).

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork” (Psalms 19:1). “He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

V. WE MAY KNOW THE TRUE GOD FROM FALSE GODS.

PROPOSITION: Those who believe there is one God either believe the God of the Bible is the
true God, or they believe some other god is the true God.

A. One Who Believes There Is but One God Can Believe in the Wrong God.

1. We must believe in the right God.

Christians, Jews, and Muslims all believe in one God. Since more than one religious group claims to believe in one God, how do I know which is the right God?

There are many things in Islam that Christians may affirm, beginning with their concept of God as one. The Koran, the Islamic holy book, teaches that God is one, the creator, and absolute monarch of all He created. The Koran teaches that God is not three persons, and that the Christian concept of the Trinity is heresy. The Koran also teaches that Jesus, though born of the virgin Mary, was not God, nor the Son of God. Islam also denies the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. These beliefs contradict the claim that we all worship the same God, Christians through their prophet, Jesus, and Muslims through their prophet, Mohammed. A close comparison of the Bible and the Koran provides irrefutable evidence that the god of the Koran is not the God of the Bible. The nature, character, program, and methods of Allah are not those of the God of the Bible. Who could conceivably ascribe to Yahweh the loathsome bloody jihad of the god of the Koran? When you hear that a terrorist or a group of terrorists have killed a group of innocent people, do you immediately think, “They are Christians”, or do you think, “They are Muslims?”

2. Christians and Jews are monotheistic.

Both look to the God of the Bible as the one and only God. Both accept the Old Testament Scripture, and both subscribe to an ethic based on the Mosaic Law. There are, however, some major differences in doctrine. A Jewish rabbi invited students at a Baptist college to visit his temple for a special service. He said, “You believe all we believe. We just don’t believe all you believe.” Christians accept the Old Testament as the Word of God. Orthodox Jews, however, reject the New Testament.

Christians believe that Jesus Christ is Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Judaism rejects Jesus as Messiah. The question is, who is right? Christians believe that Jesus Christ was God in human form. This belief is essential to Christianity, but can Christians verify this claim? The answer is yes. The New Testament is accepted by millions of Christians as the Word of God. It provides an accurate account of the life, teachings, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also affirms the deity of Christ. In addition, Jesus makes numerous claims for Himself:

1. He is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament.
2. He identifies Himself as one with the Father (John 1:1-3; 5:23; 8:58; 10:30.
3. He was the agent of creation, John 1:1ff.
4. He had the authority to forgive sin, Mark 2:10.

VI. CHRISTIANS WORSHIP ONE GOD, NOT THREE.

PROPOSITION: Christians worship one God Who manifests Himself Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit (The Trinity).

A. Christians Believe in a Triune God.

Christians believe in one God who manifests Himself as three in Person. The Scripture is very clear - there are three Persons, but one God (God in three Persons). Francis Shaeffer once said, “I would still be an agnostic if there was no Trinity, because there would be no answers. Without the high order of personal unity and diversity as given in the Trinity, there would be no answers” (Shaeffer, Francis, HE IS THERE AND HE IS NOT SILENT, The Complete Works of Francis Shaeffer, Vol. I, Crossway Books, Westchester, ILL., 1982, p. 201).

In the Godhead there are three Persons existing in perfect harmony, loving each other and communicating with each other prior to creation. “If this were not so, we would have a God who needed to create in order to love and communicate. In such case, God would have needed the universe as much as the universe needed God” (Shaeffer, p. 289).

B. God Is One in Essence, and He Relates to Us as Three in Personality.

1. He is the heavenly FATHER (Matthew 6:1).
2. He is the SON (Jesus Christ, Mark 1:1).
3. He is the HOLY SPIRIT (Spirit of God, Acts 2).

At the Baptism of Jesus the Son was baptized, the Spirit descended in a visible form, and the Father spoke (Matthew 3:16f). Paul was ever conscious of the ministry of the Father, Son, and Spirit on behalf of believers: “But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord (Jesus), because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (II Thessalonians 2:13).

VII. YOU CAN KNOW GOD.

PROPOSITION: If you believe in one God Who acts in human history so as to reveal His existence, you either believe He is knowable, or you believe He is not knowable.

A. The Evidence Proves We Can Know God.

1. He actively reveals Himself to human beings.

The first three books Francis Shaeffer authored formed a trilogy which have been called Shaeffer’s apologetics. The titles are - THE GOD WHO IS THERE, ESCAPE FROM REASON, and HE IS THERE AND HE IS NOT SILENT. The thesis of the first book is that He is there. In the third book, he shows that He is there and He is not silent. In other words the God who is there adequately and sufficiently reveals Himself to human beings.

2. The testimony of millions of Christians affirms the fact that man can know God.

Hundreds knew Him personally during His earthly ministry and scores of them embraced Him as Savior. Accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ were so convincing that the numbers of believers multiplied times after time. Millions today believe Jesus is the Son of God Who died for their sins, was resurrected, and ascended to the Father where He is making intercession for those who trust in Him.

B. The Bible teaches that God enables man to know Him.

1. You may know God through Jesus Christ.

You may know God only through Jesus Christ. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

2. An individual may know God - not through his own efforts - but by God’s grace.

First, God reveals Himself to each person, and then gives that individual the faith necessary for him to know Him (Matthew 16:15-17). Second, one may not only know about God; he may know Him
intimately. Paul wrote, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Man may come to a “saving knowledge” of God through Jesus Christ
(Acts 16:31; Acts 4:12).

3. God’s way of salvation is set forth in the Bible.

1) Romans 3:23 - all have sinned.
2) Romans 6:23 - the penalty for sin is death.
3) Romans 5:8 - Christ died for us.
4) Romans 10:8-13 - we may be saved through faith.
5) Ephesians 2:8-10 - we are saved by grace.
6) John 3:16 - God loves us and sent His Son to provide eternal life.
7) John 10:28 - we are secure in Jesus.
8) John 14:1-6 - He is preparing a place for us

VIII. YOU MAY LEARN MORE ABOUT GOD.

PROPOSITION: If you accept the reality of God and the fact that He seeks to reveal Himself to you, you either believe the Bible is the Word of God, or you will believe it is not the Word of God.

A. Internal Evidence Proves The Bible Is the Word of God.

1. The Scripture is Inspired by the Holy Spirit.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). If one accepts the God of the Bible as the true God, he should have no problem accepting the Word of God as His perfect Word. The Bible is the revelation of God's redemptive love for man as expressed in Jesus Christ (John 20:30f). See 2 Peter 1:21.

2. The content of the Bible verifies it.

First, The Word of God has provided spiritual and moral answers for millions throughout the centuries. Second, the propositional truth contained in the Bible has stood the test of time, attacks by enemies, and scrutiny by the faithful.

B. External Evidence Supports the Claim that the Bible Is the Word of God.

1. Christians see the Preservation of the Scripture as proof that God is protecting His Word.

It has survived the attacks of enemies as well as the apathy and misuse of those who profess to believe it. Historians, archaeologists, and language experts have often affirmed the Scripture by uncovering artifacts, inscriptions, and scrolls.

2. A comparison to other ancient writings affirms the accuracy of the New Testament.

Scholars report that around 5,000 Greek manuscripts survive from antiquity. This compares with 200 copies of the work of Demosthenes, 8 copies of Herodotus, 20 of Tacitus, and 643 of Homer. Accuracy of the New testament manuscripts, 99+%, is vastly superior to any other work from the
ancient world (Geisler, APOLOGETICS, p. 307).

C. Here Are Some Facts About God.

1. God is Omniscient ( All knowing) - Ps. 139:1-6. In the Scripture wisdom has a moral as well as an intellectual quality. “Wisdom is, in fact, the practical side of moral goodness” (Packer, J. I., Intervarsity Press, Donners Grove, IL, 1973, p. 80).

2. God is Omnipresent (Present everywhere at same time) - “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” (Psalm 139:7). “In His infinitude He surrounds the finite creation and contains it. There is no place beyond Him for anything to be. God is our environment...” (Tozer, A. W., THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY, Harper and Row, San Francisco, 1961, p. 74).

3. God is Omnipotent (All Powerful) - “Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite” (Psalms 147:5). See also, Ps. 139:13-16.

4. God is love - “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). See also, 1 John 4:8.

5. God is merciful - “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4).

6. God is Long suffering - “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth” (Psalms 86:15).

7. Cod is Holy - This points both to His character and his motive in judging sin. “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8b).

8. God is immutable. “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6a). (KJV)

CONCLUSION

There is a God. There is only one God. He exists beyond the World, He is sovereign over the world, but He intervenes in human affairs when He chooses to do so. Not only is He knowable, He enables us to know Him through His revelation of Himself. He reveals Himself through the Scripture, through the Holy Spirit, and He manifests His greatness through His creation (He is there and He is not silent). He permits us to know Him through Jesus Christ. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

As we continue with the Exodus Series, we should seek to glorify the God who glorifies Himself.

The Lord bless you and protect you;
the Lord make His face shine on you,
and be gracious to you;
the Lord look with favor on you
and give you peace.
[Num 6:24-26, HCSB]