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Who is God?

Who is God?. God and Reason so far…. It is reasonable to conclude there is a God (cause and origin argument, o bjective m oral argument, and design argument)

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Who is God?

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  1. Who is God? Alexander Moens

  2. God and Reason so far… • It is reasonable to conclude there is a God (cause and origin argument, objective moral argument, and design argument) • It is reasonable to conclude that science has not shown Christian truth to be false. Science is (only) a method to understand a certain amount of empirical things in a specific (anthropocentric) realm. It cannot exclude or negate the knowledge of God. • Thus, it is reasonable to ask: what do we know about God, or who is this God? Alexander Moens

  3. Sources of knowledge 1. Empirical Investigation/Science (Objective and horizontal) 2. Contemplation (Subjective/imagination) 3. Revelation (Objective and hierarchical) Alexander Moens

  4. What is God? • Wrong but understandable question • “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) Alexander Moens

  5. Who is God? • God is not a characteristic or personalized virtue or vice as the Greeks and Romans imagined many gods: Atlas and Mars. • God is not a cause or a force between the spiritual (good) and the material (evil) as in Gnosticism or (Taoism) Yin and Yang or Hindu/Sikh/Buddhist versions of Karma to explain good and evil as rivals or equals or forces of cause and effect. • God is God alone: no Polytheism. • God is revealed. God is not (1) scientifically observed or (2) philosophically deduced or (3) subjectively imagined, or (4) psychologically derived, but revealed by his word • A supernatural, personal Being: “I am the Lord Your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. I visit iniquity and I show mercy. (Exodus. 20) Alexander Moens

  6. The Creator God • God is before time, before matter, and before space. • “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1) In other words, God calls time, matter and space into being. Alexander Moens

  7. The Timeless God • ”And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers has sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, I AM has sent me unto you.” (Exodus 3) Alexander Moens

  8. God is not fully known • God gives us many of His names but each of them highlights an aspect of who he is e.g., Elohim (plural form of El meaning the One who is strong Gen. 1: 1). Or Yaweh the One who Is (Gen 2.) none capture his essence in full. • It is logical that God is not fully or completely describable or explainable. • More knowledge of God is to come, is promised. Alexander Moens

  9. The Logic and Authority of God • Because God is perfect and reveals himself in the Bible, therefore, the Bible has God’s authority, including inerrancy. • The knowledge of God is objective and top down (God-human). • The Bible is ‘falsifiable’ by its own evidence: There is a long record of prophecies fulfilled: e.g., predicted exile, 70-year stay, and return of Judean Jews from Babylon. Corroborated by Cyrus Cylinder of 6th Century BC. Alexander Moens

  10. What is the essence of God? • A God of holiness. • “…and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. …Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4) • Many to add: righteousness, love, mercy… Alexander Moens

  11. A God of Relationships • In the trinity--one God revealing himself in three persons--the father, son (Jesus Christ), and holy spirit love one another and fellowship with one another eternally. • The love and fellowship flows over and that is the reason for creation. • The love and fellowship flows over to wash away human sin and that is the reason for salvation. ( it is called grace) Alexander Moens

  12. A God of Miracles • Creation is a miracle • Miracles are instances of God overriding creation laws that we as creatures cannot override. • Reconciling a holy God and a sinful human is a miracle • Resurrection is the crowning miracle Alexander Moens

  13. This God is my God • My creator, my provider, my saviour • How? By repentance and faith. • And you? Alexander Moens

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