Doctrine of God Essay

‘Write an essay showing the Church’s historical perception and contemporary understanding of any one of the following doctrines, Doctrine of God’

 

 

To attempt to define God using finite terms and words is foolishness although very important if we are to cross from the unknown God to the personal Savior.  For that very reason alone the value of such study is immeasurable and of greatest import in this day and age.

 

With no clear vision of God, people tend to lower Him to a more humanistic level. God’s greatness, sovereignty and holiness are reduced to the point where instead of God occupying the throne of Heaven it is man and all things are done for our good pleasure not His.

           

The concept of Deity which prevails most widely today, even among those who profess to give heed to the scriptures, is a miserable caricature, a pathetic travesty of the truth.  The God of the twentieth century is a helpless, effeminate being who commands the respect of no really thoughtful man.  The God of the popular mind is the creation of a maudlin sentimentality.[1]

 

 

This image of God as a weakness in man’s mind created to comfort us, as a child reaches for their favorite stuffed teddy bear to soothe them is a prolific example of western society’s perception of religion.  They would even classify God as the figment of a weak and insecure mind.  It is not that we dare to defend God to such people but we are responsible for the truth as revealed by God to our hearts.

 

These opinions held by the secular world attack from the outside and are further reinforced by ‘believers’ who perpetuate a familiar God persona.  This teaching also dethrones God and instead of a great throne He now resides on the couch in the corner.  Both of these are troubling but especially the latter, as it is harder to correct a generation which shuns judgment even righteous judgment.

 

Our perception of God directly influences and has a direct bearing upon what sort of a relationship we have with God and how much we will trust Him.  This isn’t just true for Christians but also our society, a lot of what we see on the news, and being dealt with in ‘fire fighting legislation’ is due in part to society’s perception of God and these are just the symptoms.  It was when God was sovereign in the minds of the people of that the Empire was great and our accomplishments were truly global.  Other nations who had a lesser understanding of God or perception achieved less as their god was so much smaller and limited.

 

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.[2]

 

 

Since our knowledge of God is defined by our understanding of Scripture it is logical that there can be so many varying representations of Him.  From the very first page of the Bible we have a bold and unashamed affirmation ‘In the beginning God

created the heavens and the earth.’ [3]  In this one majestic and awe-inspiring phrase the reality that God created all is declared and His existence is presupposed.[4] Here the Hebrew word used is El or Elohim which ‘expresses the might of the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.’[5]  The Bible doesn’t stop there with a vague or ethereal revelation of God who created everything and sustains it but goes on to develop our understanding. 

 

 

 

Through biographical information recounting the lives of the Children of Israel we are introduced to God as Yahweh or Jehovah, this is the covenant creating and keeping God who abides faithful.[6]  Our appreciation of God as Jehovah is further expanded and heightened through various biblical stories which develop along this reality.[i]

 

 

When reading through the Old Testament, God is seen very much as the God of the nation , to the exclusion of everyone else.  This is borne out when we read the books of the prophets, there we hear God calling out to the heart of the nation to repent and return to Him.  There is a marked difference when we come to the New Testament.  God is no longer seen as exclusive and somewhat ethereal, Jesus the incarnate Christ arrives on the scene of time.  God was tabernacled in flesh and dwelt among us.  This personal Saviour desired to have a personal relationship with the individual.  The Son of God had stepped out of eternity and had taken on human form[7], was humiliated and suffered but was exalted in our sight.  No longer was God seen as distant and careless of our feelings but now He was clothed as we are, physically, mentally and emotionally.  No longer was He just speaking to the Hebrew but now to all who would listen and harken to His voice.<span class="MsoFootnoteReferenc

e”>[8]

 

 

These names of God are not names that man has applied to God or developed, but rather something of the character of God as revealed through His attributes and interaction with mankind.

 

 

It should be borne in mind that they are not man’s invention, and do not testify with the assurance that they contain in a measure a revelation of the Divine Being.[9]

 

 

Clearly through the simple communication of God’s names we develop an understanding of God that is progressive and unfolding, God is a continually self disclosing God who reveals more and more of Himself to the sons of men. 

 

 

When reading the Old Testament as a whole you see clearly; a God who interacts with His people, a God who ‘cuts’ a covenant with them and honours it, a God who even suspends the law which He gave them for their benefit.  With all this in mind it would be easy to comprehend the message of Jesus and the truth that He embodied.  However, the Jews they failed to grasp this larger picture and instead became obsessed with the details of the text thus missing the spirit of God’s word.[10]  Therefore when the New Covenant was ‘cut’ and Gentiles included, although they brought their own pagan baggage and tendencies, their introduction to God was different.  First we/they were made aware of their sin before a Holy God and then introduced to Jesus the Son of God who makes atonement for our/their sin.  So through these steps their understanding, in some ways, exceeded that of the Jews based upon their experience alone.[11]

 

 

For the Jewish people Jesus brought about a revolutionary change not only to their understanding of God and all He entailed but also in their approach to God.  At first this change was welcome by both the common and religious, but, with the inclusion of the Gentiles there came about an animosity and a spirit of elitism which had seen the earlier success of Christianity among Jews wax and wane.  This animosity is seen clearly in Paul’s letters to the churches in
Asia
who were experiencing frequent visits from Christians who preached conversion to Judaism with Christianity as its fulfillment.[12]   

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The Church in and
Corinth
struggled with their approach to God for two very different reasons.  Galatia, probably due to the proximity of the city to Israel, endured the visits of many zealous believers who had seen the inclusion of Gentiles into the People of God as a difficult pill to swallow, to cope with this, they brought their own brand of Christianity or as Paul says ‘another gospel.’[13]  Therefore, Paul’s letter is a reminder to the believer that regardless of their background prior to Christ they had been saved through faith and the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ[14], Jesus is the one who has redeemed us from the curse of the law.  The problem confronted in
Corinth
was not one of a Judaistic theology but rather their approach to God not as Elohim but as they would their pagan deities.  The reality was that they abused the freedom that Christ symbolized taking it to places that even ‘normal pagans’ would cringe at.[15]  Both Corinthian epistles illustrate that God is the sanctifier of those who are totally His.  Over and over again we see throughout the Epistles a grappling with the Doctrine of God, Paul and the other Apostles break down the mystery of who God is and makes communion with Him more and more accessible.

 

Throughout the Bible we have the Holy Spirit peeling back the clouds that surround the throne of Heaven to expose our loving heavenly Father.  In the book of Revelation we find John revealing God as the Lord God Almighty or ho pantokratōr .[16]  Despite all the persecution that was threatening the future of the

church
of
Christ

, with confidence John could still call Him pantokratōr, the God who is in absolute and total control.  This reaffirmation at the end of the Bible is greatest comfort to us today, however, to the early church to which it was originally written it must have been a shining beacon amidst the pagan onslaught that was looming on the horizon.

 

 

God has not finished with disclosing Himself to us and as such there is still a lot to learn and appreciate.  Our knowledge of God is strengthened through our knowledge of Him through scripture and relationship.  Just as knowledge alone was not enough to sustain the early church in the face of Roman Persecution nor assist its motivation in spreading to the four corners of the world, so too, we must have more than just a head knowledge of God but possess the same vibrant and living relationship, abiding and moving in the Holy Spirit that our first century brothers and sisters had.

 

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