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The
New Life in Christ
Course
1, Lesson 1 |
Dear Friend,
Have you ever thought about such questions as
these:
► Is there a God?
► What is God like?
► How can I learn about God?
These are very important questions. We are going
to find the answers to them in this lesson.
Is There a God?
Yes, there is a true and living God. He is the God who
made all things. He made this world in which we
live, and He made us.
Deep down in our hearts there is something that tells
us that there is a God and that He wants us to
know Him.
How can we learn about God?
We learn about God through a wonderful book called the
Bible. The Bible is God’s holy word. It is God’s
written message to us. The Bible is the most
important book in the world. It is a book made
up of sixty-six smaller books.
The first part of the Bible is called the Old
Testament. It contains thirty-nine books that
were written before Christ came to the earth. It
tells us about the beginning of the world, and
it tells us the history of God’s chosen people –
the nation of Israel.
The second part of the Bible is called the New
Testament, and it was written after Christ came
to the earth and went back to heaven. It tells
about Jesus Christ – who He is and what He did.
It also tells us about the beginning of His
church.
How did we get the Bible?
God Himself is the true Author of the Bible,
though He used many men to write it. The Bible
was written by more than forty different men
over a period of about sixteen hundred years.
The important thing to remember is that these
men wrote under the direct control of God.
The Bible says,
“For the prophecy (writings) came not in old
time by the will of man: but
holy men of God spake (or wrote) as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
2 PETER 1:21
The Bible does not just contain the word of God – it
is the Word of God! Every part of the Bible
is inspired, or God directed. The Bible says,
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God…”
2 TIMOTHY 3:16
The Bible is the only book that was
written in this way. It is the only book God
wrote of Himself for man. In the last chapter of
the Bible, God warns men against adding to the
Bible or taking away from it. (See Revelation
22:18, 19)
What is God Like?
God is so great and so wonderful that we can
never know everything about Him. However, God
has given us the Bible, and in this book, He has
told us many things about Himself.
 From
the Bible we learn that there is only one true
and living God. Many people do not know the true
God. Some have made their own gods out of wood
or stone or other things. They pray to these
gods, but such gods cannot hear them, see them,
or help them in any way. We want to know the
true and living God — the God who sees us, who
hears us, and who can help us.
There is only one true and living God; yet He is
three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy
Spirit is God; yet they are one God. Although we
cannot understand all about this, we know it is
true because we learn it from God’s holy Word,
the Bible.
The Bible tells us many other things that are
true of God. Let us think about some of them.
-- God is a Spirit-being
You may wonder why we cannot see God. The reason we
cannot see God is because God is a Spirit-being,
and we cannot see a spirit-being. The Bible
says,
“God is a Spirit (a Spirit-being): and they that
worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth.” JOHN 4: 24
You have a body that we can see. You also have a spirit
that we cannot see. Other people can see your
body, but no one can see your spirit.
God is all spirit. He does not have a body like
we have that can be seen, but He is a living
person who sees and hears us at all times.
-- God is Holy
This means that God is all light and glory, and He is
without sin. Many times in the Bible, darkness
stands for sin. The Bible says of God,
“…God is light, and in Him is no darkness (no
sin) at all.” 1 JOHN 1:5
God is all-glorious. This means that He is holy and
very bright. The glory of God is so bright that
no one can look at Him. We cannot look directly
at the sun when it is shining brightly, for it
would hurt our eyes. God’s glory is much greater
and brighter than the sun; therefore, no one can
look at Him. The Bible says, “No man has seen
God at any time….” John 1:18
God once spoke to the prophet Isaiah in a vision. A
vision is something like a dream. Before the
Bible was finished, God used dreams and visions
to talk to His people. Isaiah saw a vision of
God on His throne. Around the throne of God
there were many angels. The angels were praising
God, saying,
“…Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the
whole earth is full of His glory.”
ISAIAH 6:3
When Isaiah saw the vision, he was afraid, for
he saw that God is holy. Isaiah saw himself as
very sinful
before a holy God. He fell on his face and cried
out, “Woe is me! For I am undone…”
ISAIAH 6:5. He was telling God how helpless
he was.
We have said that no one can see God because we cannot
look at such brightness. But God’s holiness
means more than shining brightness. God is pure.
God is perfect. God is without any sin at all.
Because God is holy, He hates sin. Nothing
wicked or sinful can ever come near Him. His
holiness and glory would destroy it.
When we think of how sinful we are, and how pure and
holy God is, we realize that we could never come
into His presence as we are. But God loves us,
and He has made a way for us to be accepted by
Him.
---God is everywhere
God is present everywhere in His world. He has all
power. In the Bible, God says of Himself, “Do
not I fill heaven and earth? Says the Lord.”
JEREMIAH 23:24
No matter where we are or where we may go, God is
there. You and I live in bodies, and we can be
in only one place at a time. Because God is God
and because He is Spirit, He can be everywhere
at the same time.
This does not mean that God is in everything or
that everything is God; it simply means
that God is present everywhere in His world.
A little child who is afraid to be left alone in the
darkness can be told. “You do not have to be
afraid. God is here.”
---God has all knowledge
This means that God knows all things. He knows
everything that has happened, and he knows
everything that is going to happen. God knows
things that we cannot know. He knows how many
stars are in the sky, and He calls them by their
names. He knows our names also. He knows us
better than we know ourselves. He even knows the
number of hairs on our heads! People often do
evil things because they think that no one sees
them, but God sees us at all times. He knows all
that we say and do. He even knows what we think.
God knows every secret. Nothing can be hidden
from Him. The Bible says,
“All things are naked and opened unto the eyes
of Him with whom we have to do.”
HEBREWS 4:13
Because God has all knowledge, He never makes a
mistake. God’s ways are perfect. The Bible says,
“As for God, His way is perfect…” PSALM 18:30
---God is all-powerful
There is no limit to God’s power. He is “the Almighty
God.” The word “almighty” means “all powerful.”
God has all power in Heaven and in earth. He can
do whatever He chooses to do. The Bible says,
“Our God is in the heavens: He has done
whatsoever He has pleased.” PSALM 115:3
God holds all things in His hand. He rules over all
kings, all leaders, and all nations of the
earth. The most powerful men of the world are as
nothing compared to God. The Bible says,
“…He does according to His will in the army of
Heaven, and among the
inhabitants (people) of the earth: and none can
stay His hand, or say unto Him,
‘What doest Thou?” DANIEL 4:35
-- God is righteous and just
This means that God always does what is right.
He is the great Judge of the world, and one day
every person will stand before Him to be judged.
The Bible says, “…He shall judge the world
with righteousness.” PSALM 96:13
Because God is righteous (right) and just (fair), He
must punish all sin and evil. He cannot
overlook our sins or pretend that He does not
know about them. He can never do
anything that is unrighteous (not right). The
Bible says, “The Lord is righteous in all His
ways, and holy in all His works.” PSALM 145:17
-- God is faithful
This means that God always keeps His
word. He always does what He says
He will do. Do you ever make promises? Do you
always keep your promises? I am afraid we would
have to admit that we do not always keep our
promises. Sometimes we forget. And sometimes we
make promises that we cannot keep. But God
never forgets! God always
keeps His promises. The Bible says, “…He is
faithful that promised.” HEBREWS 10:23
Because God is faithful, we can put our trust in Him.
We know that He will keep His word. The Bible
says, “They that know Thy name will put their
trust in Thee...” PSALM 9:10
-- God is merciful
God is not only righteous and just, but He is also
merciful. This means that He does not give us
what we deserve. He is kind and gracious to all
people. God said of Himself,
“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, and abundant
in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands. Forgiving iniquity
(dishonesty) and transgression (rebellion) and
sin...” EXODUS 34:6-7
---God is good
The Bible says, “The Lord is good to all.” God is
gracious and generous to all people, even to His
enemies. The Bible says that He makes His sun to
shine on evil people as well as good people, and
He sends His rain on the unjust (unfair) as well
as the just (fair). Though God is good to all,
He takes special pleasure in those who love Him
and trust in Him. The Bible says,
“Oh how great is thy goodness, which Thou has
laid up (kept) for them that
fear (have greatest respect for) thee; which
Thou has wrought (made) for
them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!”
PSALM 31:19
--- God is love
The Bible says, “God is love.” This means that God
loves us and wants only what is best for us.
Though He is the all-powerful Ruler of the
world, God loves us and is friendly towards us.
He wants us to love Him and to be His children.
Many people think that God hates them because of their
sins. It is true that God hates wickedness
and sin, but He does not hate us.
Because He is holy and just, God must punish
sin. Because He is love, He made a way for us to
be forgiven for our sins. God loved us so much
that He sent His Son, The Lord Jesus, into the
world to die as a sacrifice (in payment) for our
sins. The Bible says,
“For God so loved the world (people), that He
gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believes in Him should not perish
(die and go to hell), but
have everlasting life (in heaven).” JOHN 3:16
This verse tells us that we are very precious, or
valuable to God. God is great enough to know
each of us individually and to love each of us
as a person. You are important to God. God loves
you, and He sent his Son, the Lord
Jesus, to die on the cross to pay the price for
your sin.
--God is unchangeable.
This means that God has never changed, and He never
will change. He is always the same in His nature
and character. God is always holy.
He is always righteous. He is
always just. He is always
merciful. He is always faithful.
He is always good. He is
always loving. What God is now, He has
always been and always will
be. He never changes! God said of Himself, “I am
the LORD, I change not...” MALACHI 3:6
When we read about how great God is and how much He
loves us, it makes us want to worship Him.
But we cannot worship Him according to our
own ideas. In His word, God tells us how
we are to worship Him. We are to worship Him
“in spirit and in truth.”
Jesus said in JOHN 14:6,
“I am the way, the truth and the
life, no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me.”
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Discovered Truth
Though He is the Ruler of the world, God
knows and loves each of us personally
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I PETER
5:7
“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth
for you.”
Nohwich’î’ nadaagont£’ogíí, dawa
Bik’ehgo’ihi’naç baa daidenoh’aah; éç zhä nohwaa
bi£ goyáá.
Copyright 8 2001 The Mailbox Club7 International
Inc.
All rights reserved
Used by permission
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