God is ...

372 god isIf you could ask God a question; which one would it be? Perhaps a "big one": according to your destiny? Why do people have to suffer? Or a small but urgent one: What happened to my dog ​​that ran away from me when I was ten? What if I had married my childhood sweetheart? Why did God make the sky blue? Or maybe you just wanted to ask him: Who are you? or what are you or what do you want The answer to that would probably answer most of the other questions. Who and what God is and what he wants are basic questions about his being, his nature. Everything else is determined by it: why the universe is the way it is; who we are as humans; why our life is the way it is and how we should shape it. Original riddle that everyone has thought about. We can get an answer to that, at least in part. We can begin to understand the nature of God. Indeed, as incredible as it sounds, we can partake of the divine nature. Through which? Through God's self-revelation.

Thinkers of all times have made the most varied of images of God. But God reveals himself to us through his creation, through his word and through his Son Jesus Christ. He shows us who he is, what he is, what he does, even, to some extent, why he does it. He also tells us what relationship we should have with him and what form this relationship will take in the end. A basic prerequisite for any knowledge of God is a receptive, humble spirit. We have to respect God's word. Then God reveals himself to us (Isaiah 66,2), and we will learn to love God and his ways. "Whoever loves me," says Jesus, "will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and live with him" (John 14,23). God wants to take up residence with us. If he does that, we will always get clearer answers to our questions.

1. In search of the Eternal

Since time immemorial man struggles to clarify his origin, his being and his sense of life. This struggle usually leads him to the question of whether there is a God and which being is his own. At the same time, man came to the most varied images and ideas.

Meandering paths back to Eden

The ancient human desire for an interpretation of being is reflected in the diverse buildings of religious ideas that exist. From many directions one sought to get closer to the origin of human existence and thus to the presumed guide of human life. Unfortunately, man's inability to fully grasp spiritual reality has only led to controversy and further questions:

  • Pantheists see God as all the forces and laws behind the cosmos. They do not believe in a personal God and interpret the good as the evil as divine.
  • Polytheists believe in many divine beings. Each of these gods can help or hurt, but no one has absolute power. Therefore, everyone must be worshiped. Polytheistic were or are many Middle Eastern and Greco-Roman beliefs as well as the spirit and ancestor cult of many tribal cultures.
  • Theists believe in a personal God as the origin, sustainer and center of all things. If the existence of other gods is fundamentally excluded, it is monotheism, as it shows itself in pure form in the faith of the patriarch Abraham. Abraham invokes three world religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Is there a god?

Every culture in history has developed a more or less strong sense of God's existence. The skeptic who denies God has always had a hard time. Atheism, nihilism, existentialism - all these are attempts at world interpretation without an all-powerful, personally-acting Creator who determines what is good and what is evil. These and similar philosophies ultimately do not provide a satisfactory answer. In a sense, they bypass the core issue. What we really want to realize is what kind of being the Creator has, what he's up to and what needs to happen so that we can live in harmony with God.

2. How does God reveal himself to us?

Put yourself hypothetically in God's place. They made all things, including humans. You made man in your own image (1. Mose 1,26-27) and given him the ability to develop a special relationship with you. Wouldn't you then also tell people something about yourself? Tell him what you want from him? Show him how to get into the God relationship you want? Anyone who assumes that God is unknowable presupposes that God is hiding from his creature for some reason. But God reveals himself to us: in his creation, in history, in the Bible and through his Son Jesus Christ. Let us consider what God shows us through his acts of self-revelation.

Creation reveals God

Can one admire the great cosmos and not want to admit that God exists, that he holds all power in his hands, that he allows order and harmony to prevail? Romans 1,20: "For God's invisible being, that is his eternal power and divinity, has been seen from his works since the creation of the world, if one perceives them." The sight of the sky made King David astonished that God deals with something as insignificant as man: "When I see the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have prepared: what is man that that you think of him, and the child of man, that you take care of him? " (Psalm 8,4-5).

The great controversy between the doubting Job and God is also famous. God shows him his miracles, proof of his limitless authority and wisdom. This encounter fills Job with humility. The speeches of God can be read in the Book of Job in the 38th to 4th centuries1. Chapter. I see, Job confesses, that you can do everything, and nothing that you set out to do is too difficult for you. That is why I spoke unwise, what is too high for me and I do not understand ... I only heard from you from hearsay; but now my eye has seen you "(Job 42,2-3,5). From creation we not only see that God exists, but we also see traits of his being from it. The result is that planning in the universe presupposes a planner, natural law presupposes a legislator, the preservation of all beings presupposes a sustainer and the existence of physical life presupposes a life giver.

God's plan for man

What did God intend when he created all things and gave us life? Paul explained to the Athenians, "... he made the whole human race out of one man, that they should dwell in all the earth, and he stipulated how long they should exist and within what limits they should dwell so that they should seek God. whether they can feel and find him; and indeed he is not far from each of us, for in him we live, weave, and are; as some poets also said among you: We are of his generation "(Acts 17: 26-28). Or simply, as Johannes writes, that we "love because he loved us first" (1. John 4,19).

History reveals God

Skeptics ask, "If there is God, why does he not show himself to the world?" And "If he is truly omnipotent, why does he allow evil?" The first question assumes that God has never shown himself to mankind. And the second, that he is numb to human distress or at least does nothing about it. Historically and the Bible contains numerous historical records, both assumptions are not tenable. Since the days of the first human family, God has often come into direct contact with people. But people usually don't want to know anything about them!

Isaiah writes: "Indeed, you are a hidden God ..." (Isaiah 45,15). Often God "hides" when people show him through their thoughts and actions that they want nothing to do with him or with his ways. Isaiah later adds: "Behold, the arm of the Lord is not too short that he cannot help, and his ears have not become hard so that he cannot hear, but your debts separate you from a God and hide your sins his face before you, so that you will not be heard "(Isaiah 59,1-2).

It all started with Adam and Eve. God created them and put them in a blooming garden. And then he spoke to her directly. You knew he was there. He showed them how to relate to him. He did not leave them to their own devices. Adam and Eve had to make a choice. They had to decide whether they wanted to worship God (symbolically: eat from the tree of life) or disregard God (symbolically: eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). You chose the wrong tree (1. Moses 2 and 3). Often overlooked, however, is that Adam and Eve knew they had disobeyed God. They felt guilty. The next time the Creator came to speak with them, they heard, “The Lord God walking in the garden when the day had grown cool. And Adam and his wife hid under the trees from the sight of the Lord God in the garden" (1. Mose 3,8).

So who was hiding? Not god! But people before God. They wanted distance, separation between himself and him. And that's how it has remained since then. The Bible is full of examples of God extending a helping hand to mankind and mankind turning out that hand. Noah, a "preacher of righteousness" (2. Peter 2: 5), spent a full century warning the world of God's coming judgment. The world did not hear and was drowned in the flood. The sinful Sodom and Gomorrah God destroyed by a firestorm, the smoke of which rose as a beacon "like the smoke from an oven" (1. Moses 19,28). Even this supernatural correction did not make the world better. Most of the Old Testament describes God's actions towards the chosen people of Israel. Israel did not want to listen to God either. "... don't let God talk to us," shouted the people (2. Moses 20,19).

God also intervened in the fortunes of great powers such as Egypt, Nineveh, Babyion and Persia. He often spoke directly to the highest rulers. But the world as a whole remained obdurate. Worse still, many servants of God were cruelly murdered by those whom they wanted to bring God's message to. Hebrews 1: 1-2 finally tells us: "After God spoke to the fathers many times and in many ways through the prophets, in these last days he spoke to us through the Son ..." Jesus Christ came into the world to preach the gospel of salvation and the kingdom of God. Result? "He was in the world, and the world was made through him; but the world did not know him" (John 1,10). His encounter with the world brought him death.

Jesus, God incarnate, expressed God's love and compassion for his creation: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone those sent to you! How often have I wanted to gather your children together like a hen gathers her chicks under their wings; and you did not want! " (Matthew 23,37). No, God doesn't stay away. He revealed himself in history. But most people have closed their eyes to him.

The biblical witness

The Bible shows us God in the following ways:

  • Self-statements of God about his nature
    So he reveals in 2. Mose 3,14 his name to Moses: "I will be who I will be." Moses saw a burning bush that was not consumed by the fire. In this name he reveals himself to be a being and a living being of himself. Further aspects of his being are revealed in his other biblical names. God commanded the Israelites: "Therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy" (3. Mose 11,45). God is holy. In Isaiah 55: 8 God clearly tells us: "... my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways ..." God lives and acts on a higher plane than we do. Jesus Christ was God in human form. He describes himself as "the light of the world" (John es 8:12), as the "I am" who lived before Abraham (verse 58), as "the door" (John 10,9), as "the good shepherd" (verse 11) and as the "way and the truth and the life" (John 14,6).
  • Self-statements of God about his work
    Doing belongs to essence, or rather it arises from it. Statements about doing therefore complement statements about being. I make "the light ... and create the darkness," says God about himself in Isaiah 45,7; I give "Peace ... and create calamity. I am the Lord who does all of this." God created everything that is. And he masters what is created. God also predicts the future: "I am God, and no one else anymore, a God who is nothing like. From the beginning I have proclaimed what is to come afterwards, and before that what has not yet happened. I say: What I do decided to happen, and whatever I set out to do, I will "(Isaiah 46,9-10). God loves the world and sent his Son to bring salvation to it. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that all who believe in him might not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3,16). God brings children into his family through Jesus. In Revelation 21,7 we read: "He who overcomes will inherit it all, and I will be his God and he will be my son". Regarding the future, Jesus says: "Behold, I come soon, and my reward with me, to give each one as his works are" (Revelation 2 Cor2,12).
  • Statements of people about God's nature
    God has always been in contact with people whom he has chosen to carry out his will. Many of these servants have left us with details of God's nature in the Bible. "... the Lord is our God, the Lord alone," says Moses (5. Mose 6,4). There is only one God. The Bible advocates monotheism. (See the third chapter for more details). Of the many statements of the psalmist about God, only this: "For who is God if not the Lord, or a rock if not our God?" (Psalm 18,32). Only God is due to worship, and he strengthens those who worship him. There is an abundance of insights into God's nature in the Psalms. One of the most comforting verses in Scripture is 1. John 4,16: "God is love ..." An important insight into God's love and his high will for people can be found in 2. Peter 3: 9: "The Lord ... does not want anyone to be lost, but that everyone should find repentance." What is God's greatest wish for us, his creatures, his children? That we will be saved. And God's Word does not return to him empty - it will accomplish what it was intended to do (Isaiah 55,11). Knowing that God's purpose is and is capable of saving us should give us great hope.
  • The Bible contains statements of people about God's actions
    God "hangs the earth above nothing", says Job 26,7 the end. He directs the forces that determine the orbit and rotation of the earth. In his hand are life and death for the inhabitants of the earth: "If you hide your face, they are frightened; if you take away their breath, they pass away and become dust again. You send out of your breath, they are created and you create new ones the shape of the earth "(Psalm 104,29-30). Nevertheless, God, although almighty, as the loving Creator made man in his own image and gave him dominion over the earth (1. Mose 1,26). When he saw that wickedness had spread on the earth, "he regretted that he had made men on earth, and he was grieved in his heart" (1. Mose 6,6). He responded to the wickedness of the world by sending the deluge that devoured all humanity except Noah and his family (1. Mose 7,23). God later called the patriarch Abraham and made a covenant with him by which "all the families of the earth" should be blessed (1. Moses 12,1-3) a reference already to Jesus Christ, a descendant of Abraham. When he formed the people of Israel, God miraculously led them through the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army: "... horse and man he has thrown into the sea" (2. Moses 15,1). Israel broke its agreement with God and allowed violence and injustice to break down. Therefore, God allowed the nation to be attacked by foreign peoples and eventually led out of the Promised Land into slavery (Ezekiel 22,23-31). However, the merciful God promised to send a Savior to the world to make an everlasting covenant of righteousness with all those who repent of their sins, Israelites and non-Israelites9,20-21). And finally God actually sent his Son Jesus Christ. Jesus declared: "For this is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40). God assured: "... whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10,13).
  • Today God authorizes his church to preach the gospel of the kingdom "in all the world for the testimony of all peoples."4,14). On the day of Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God sent the Holy Spirit to: to unite the church into the body of Christ and to reveal the mysteries of God to Christians (Acts of the Apostles 2,1-4).

The Bible is a book about God and mankind's relationship with him. Your message invites us to lifelong exploration, to learn more about God, what he is, what he does, what he wants, what he plans. But no one can grasp a perfect picture of God's reality. A little discouraged by his inability to grasp the fullness of God, John closes his account of the life of Jesus with the words: "There are many other things that Jesus did. But if one thing after the other should be written down, so, I believe, the world would not grasp the books to be written "(John 21,25).

In a nutshell, the Bible shows God as

• being of oneself

• bound to no time limits

• bound to no spatial boundaries

• almighty

• omniscient

• transcendent (standing above the universe)

• immanent (concerned with the universe).

But what is God exactly?

A religion professor once tried to give his audience a closer idea of ​​God. He asked the students to join hands in a large circle and close their eyes. "Now relax and introduce yourself to God," he said. "Try to imagine what he looks like, what his throne might look like, what his voice might sound like, what is going on around him." With their eyes closed, hand in hand, the students sat for a long time in their chairs and dreamed of images of God. "So?" asked the professor. "Do you see him? Each of you should have some picture in mind now. But," continued the professor, that is not God! No! he ripped her out of her thoughts. "That is not God! One cannot fully grasp him with our intellect! No one can grasp God completely, because God is God and we are only physical and limited beings." A very deep insight. Why is it so difficult to define who and what God is? The main obstacle lies in the limitation mentioned by that professor: Man makes all his experiences through his five senses, and our entire linguistic understanding is tailored to this. God, on the other hand, is eternal. He is infinite. He is invisible. Yet we can make meaningful statements about a God even though we are limited by our physical senses.

Spiritual reality, human language

God reveals himself indirectly in the creation. He has often intervened in world history. His Word, the Bible, tells us more about him. He also appeared to some people in the Bible in many ways. Nevertheless, God is spirit, his whole fullness can not be considered, touched, perceived by smell. The Bible gives us truths about a conception of God by means of concepts that physical beings can grasp in their physical world. But these words are incapable of fully rendering God.

For example, the Bible calls God "rock" and "castle" (Psalm 18,3), "Shield" (Psalm 144,2), "consuming fire" (Hebrews 12,29). We know that God does not literally correspond to these physical things. They are symbols that, based on what is humanly observable and understandable, bring us closer to important aspects of God.

The Bible even attributes a human form to God, which reveals aspects of his character and relationship with man. Passages describe God with a body (Philippians 3:21); one head and one hair (Revelation 1,14); a face (1. Moses 32,31; 2. Moses 33,23; Revelation 1:16); Eyes and ears (5. Mose 11,12; psalm 34,16; epiphany 1,14); Nose (1. Mose 8,21; 2. Moses 15,8); Mouth (Matthew 4,4; epiphany 1,16); Lips (Job 11,5); Voice (Psalm 68,34; epiphany 1,15); Tongue and breath (Isaiah 30,27: 28-4); Arms, hands and fingers (Psalm 4,3-twenty; 49,14; Hebrews 1,3; 2. Chronicle 18,18; 2. Moses 31,18; 5. Mose 9,10; Psalm 8: 4; epiphany 1,16); Shoulders (Isaiah 9,5); Breast (revelation 1,13); Move (2. Moses 33,23); Hips (Ezekiel 1,27); Feet (Psalm 18,10; epiphany 1,15).

When speaking of our relationship with God, the Bible often uses a language taken from human family life. Jesus teaches us to pray: "Our Father in Heaven!" (Matthew 6,9). God wants to comfort his people as a mother comforts her children (Isaiah 66,13). Jesus is not ashamed to call those chosen by God his brothers (Hebrews 2,11); he is her eldest brother, the firstborn (Romans 8,29). In Revelation 21,7 God promises: "He who overcomes will inherit everything, and I will be his God, and he will be my son." Yes, God calls Christians to a family bond with his children. The Bible describes this bond in an understanding that can be grasped by humans. She paints a picture of the highest spiritual reality that could be called impressionistic. This does not give us the full scope of future glorious spiritual reality. The joy and glory of ultimate relationship with God as His children is far greater than our limited vocabulary can express. So tell us 1. John 3,2: "Dear ones, we are already God's children; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. But we know: when it becomes apparent, we will be like him; for we will see him as he is." In the resurrection, when the fullness of salvation and the kingdom of God have come, we will finally get to know God "fully". "We now see a dark picture through a mirror," writes Paul, "but then face to face. Now I know piece by piece; but then I will see how I am known" (1. Corinthians 13,12).

"Who sees me, sees the father"

God's self-revelation, as we have seen, is through creation, history, and scripture. In addition, God revealed himself to man through the fact that he himself became man. He became like us and lived, served and taught among us. Jesus' coming was God's greatest act of self-revelation. "And the word was made flesh (John 1,14). Jesus gave up divine privileges and became a human being, fully human. He died for our sins, was raised from the dead, and organized His Church. Christ's coming came as a shock to the people of his day. Why? Because their image of God was not far enough, as we will see in the next two chapters. Nevertheless, Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever sees me sees the Father!" (John 14: 9). In short: God revealed himself in Jesus Christ.

3. There is no god but me

Judaism, Christianity, Islam. All three world religions refer to Abraham as father. Abraham differed from his contemporaries in one important way: He worshiped only one God - the true God. Monotheism that is the belief that there is only one God denotes the starting point of true religion.

Abraham Worshiped the True God Abraham was not born into a monotheistic culture. Centuries later God admonishes ancient Israel: "Your fathers lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, Terah, Abraham and Nahor's father, and served other gods. So I took your father Abraham from across the river and let him wander all over the land of Canaan and be more numerous Gender ... "(Joshua 24,2-3).

Before his calling by God, Abraham lived in Ur; his ancestors probably lived in Haran. Many gods were worshiped in both places. In Ur, for example, there was a large ziggurat dedicated to the Sumerian moon god Nanna. Other temples in Ur served the cults of An, Enlil, Enki and NingaL. God Abraham ran out of this polytheistic world of faith: "Go out of your fatherland and from your relatives and from your father's house to a country that I want to show you. And me want to make you a great people ... "(1. Moses 12,1-2).

Abraham obeyed God and left (v. 4). In a sense, God's relationship with Israel began at this point: when he revealed himself to Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham. He later renewed the covenant with Abraham's son Isaac and later still with Isaac's son Jacob. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worshiped the one true God. This also made them different from their close relatives. Laban, a grandson of Nahor, Abraham's brother, still knew household gods (idols) (1. Moses 31,30-35).

God saves Israel from Egyptian idolatry

Decades later, Jacob (renamed Israel) settled in Egypt with his children. The children of Israel stayed in Egypt for several centuries. In Egypt, too, there was pronounced polytheism. The Lexicon of the Bible (Eltville 1990) writes: "The religion [of Egypt] is a conglomerate of the individual nomos religions, to which numerous deities introduced from abroad (Baal, Astarte, the grumpy Bes) appear, regardless of the contradictions between the various ideas that came into being ... On earth the gods incorporate themselves in animals recognizable by certain signs "(p. 17-18).

In Egypt the children of Israel grew in number but fell into the bondage of the Egyptians. God revealed Himself in a series of acts that led to Israel's deliverance from Egypt. Then he made a covenant with the nation of Israel. As these events show, God's self-revelation to man has always been monotheistic. He reveals himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The name he gives himself ("I will be" or "I am", 2. Mose 3,14), suggests that other gods do not exist the way God does. God is. You are not!

Because Pharaoh does not want to release the Israelites, God humiliates Egypt with ten plagues. Many of these plagues immediately show the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods. For example, one of the Egyptian gods has a frog's head. God's frog plague makes the cult of this god ridiculous.

Even after seeing the dire consequences of the ten plagues, Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelites go. Then God destroys the Egyptian army in the sea (2. Moses 14,27). This act demonstrates the powerlessness of the Egyptian god of the sea. Singing triumphant songs (2. Moses 15,1-21), the children of Israel praise their Almighty God.

The true God is found and lost again

From Egypt, God leads the Israelites to Sinai, where they seal a covenant. In the first of the ten commandments, God emphasizes that he alone deserves worship: "You shall have no other gods besides me" (2. Moses 20,3: 4). In the second commandment he forbids image and idolatry (verses 5). Again and again Moses admonishes the Israelites not to succumb to idolatry (5. Mose 4,23-26; 7,5; 12,2-twenty; 39,15-20). He knows that the Israelites will be tempted to follow the Canaanite gods when they come to the promised land.

The prayer name Sh'ma (Hebrew, "Hear!", After the first word of this prayer) expresses Israel's commitment to God. It begins like this: "Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might" (5. Mose 6,4-5). However, Israel repeatedly falls for the Canaanite gods, including EI (a standard name that can also be applied to the true God), Baal, Dagon and Asthoreth (another name for the goddess Astarte or Ishtar). The cult of Baal in particular has a seductive attraction for the Israelites. When they colonized the land of Canaan, they depend on good harvests. Baal, the storm god, is worshiped in fertility rites. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: "Because it focuses on the fertility of land and animals, the fertility cult must have always had an attractive effect on societies like ancient Israel, whose economy was predominantly rural" (Volume 4, p. 101) .

God's prophets admonish the Israelites to repent from their apostasy. Elijah asks the people: "How long do you limp on both sides? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if it is Baal, follow him" (1. Kings 18,21). God answers Elijah's prayer to prove that he is God alone. The people recognize: "The Lord is God, the Lord is God!" (Verse 39).

God does not just reveal himself as the greatest of all gods, but as the only God: "I am the Lord, and no one else, no god is outside" (Isaiah 45,5). And: "No God is made before me, so there will be no one after me either. I, I am the Lord, and apart from me there is no Savior" (Isaiah 43,10-11).

Judaism - strictly monotheistic

The Jewish religion of Jesus' time was neither henotheistic (assuming many gods, but considering one to be the greatest) nor monoiatric (only allowing the cult of one god, but considering others to exist), but strictly monotheistic (believing that there is only one God ). According to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, the Jews were united in no other than their belief in one God (Volume 3, p. 98).

To this day, saying the Sh'ma is an integral part of the Jewish religion. Rabbi Akiba (died a martyr in 2. Century AD), who is said to have been executed while praying the Sh'ma, is said to have continued in his torments 5. Mose 6,4 said and took the last breath at the word "alone".

Jesus to monotheism

When a scribe asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded with a quote from the Shema: “Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is the Lord alone, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:29-30). The scribe agrees, "Teacher, verily you have spoken rightly! He is only one, and there is no other besides him..." (verse 32).

In the next chapter we will see that Jesus' coming deepens and broadens the New Testament church's image of God. Jesus claims to be God's Son and at the same time one with the Father. Jesus affirms monotheism. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament emphasizes: "Through [New Testament] Christology, early Christian monotheism is consolidated, not shaken ... According to the Gospels, Jesus even intensifies the monotheistic creed" (Volume 3, p. 102).

Even Christ's enemies attest to him: "Master, we know that you are truthful and do not ask about anyone; for you do not respect the reputation of men, but you teach the way of God right" (verse 14). As the Scriptures show, Jesus is "the Christ of God" (Luke 9,20), "the Christ, God's chosen one" (Luke 23:35). He is "God's Lamb" (John 1,29) and "God's bread" (Johannes 6,33). Jesus, the Word, was God (John 1,1). Perhaps the clearest monotheistic statement of Jesus can be found in Mark 10,17-18. When someone addresses him with "good master", Jesus replies: "What do you call me good? Nobody is good but God alone."

What the early church preached

Jesus commissioned his church to preach the gospel and to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28,18-20). Therefore, she soon preached to people who were influenced by polytheistic culture. When Paul and Barnabas preached and worked miracles in Lystra, the reaction of the inhabitants betrayed their strictly polytheistic thinking: "But when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices and shouted in Lycaon: The gods have become like men and came down to us. And they called Barnabas Zeus and Paulus Hermes ... "(Acts 14,11-12). Hermes and Zeus were two gods from the Greek pantheon. Both the Greek and Roman pantheons were well known in the New Testament world, and the cult of Greco-Roman gods flourished. Paul and Barnabas replied passionately monotheistic: "We are also mortal people like you and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these false gods to the living God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything that is in them hat "(verse 15). Even so, they could hardly keep people from sacrificing to them.

In Athens Paul found altars of many different gods - even an altar with the dedication "To the unknown God" (Acts 17,23). He used this altar as a "hook" for his sermon on monotheism to the Athenians. In Ephesus, the Artemis (Diana) cult was accompanied by a lively trade in idols. After Paul preached the only true God, that trade subsided. The goldsmith Demetrius, who suffered losses as a result, complained that "this Paul aborts, persuades and says: What is made with hands are not gods" (Acts 19:26). Once again a servant of God preaches the futility of man-made idols. Like the old, the New Testament proclaims only one true God. The other gods are not.

No other god

Clearly, Paul tells the Christians of Corinth that he knows "that there is no idol in the world and no god but the one" (1. Corinthians 8,4).

Monotheism determines both the Old and the New Testament. Abraham, the father of believers, called God out of a polytheistic society. God revealed himself to Moses and Israel and founded the old covenant on self-worship alone. He sent prophets to emphasize the message of monotheism. And finally, Jesus himself also confirmed monotheism. The New Testament Church he founded constantly fought against beliefs that did not represent pure monotheism. Since the days of the New Testament, the church has consistently preached what God revealed a long time ago: Only one is God, "the Lord alone".

4. God revealed in Jesus Christ

The Bible teaches, "There is only one God." Not two, three or a thousand. Only God alone exists. Christianity is a monotheistic religion, as we saw in the third chapter. That is why the coming of Christ caused such a stir at the time.

A nuisance to the Jews

Through Jesus Christ, through the "splendor of his glory and the likeness of his being", God revealed himself to man (Hebrews 1,3). Jesus called God his Father (Matthew 10,32-33; Luke 23,34; John 10,15) and said: "Whoever sees me sees the father!" (John 14: 9). He made the bold claim: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). After his resurrection, Thomas addressed him with "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). Jesus Christ was God.

Judaism could not accept this. "The Lord is our God, the Lord alone" (5. Mose 6,4); this sentence from the Sh'ma has long formed the foundation of the Jewish faith. But here came a man with a deep understanding of scriptures and miraculous powers who claimed to be the Son of God. Some Jewish leaders recognized him as a teacher coming from God (John 3,2).

But God's son? How could the one, only God be father and son at the same time? "That is why the Jews tried even more to kill him," says Johannes 5,18, "because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God is his Father". In the end, the Jews condemned him to death because in their eyes he had blasphemed: "Then the high priest asked him again and said to him: Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? But Jesus said, It is I; and you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "Why do we need more witnesses?" You have heard the blasphemy. What's your verdict? But they all condemned him as guilty of death" (Mark 14,61-64).

Folly to the Greeks

But even the Greeks of the time of Jesus could not accept the claim that Jesus made. Nothing, was their conviction, can bridge the gap between the eternal-unchangeable and the ephemeral-material. And so the Greeks mocked the following profound statement of John: "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and God was the word ... And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory , a glory as the only begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and truth "(John 1,1, 14). That’s not enough of the unbelievable for the unbeliever. Not only did God become man and die, he was raised from the dead and regained his former glory7,5). The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians that God "raised Christ from the dead and instituted him at his right hand in heaven" (Ephesians 1:20).

Paul clearly speaks of the consternation that Jesus Christ caused in Jews and Greeks: "Because the world, surrounded by the wisdom of God, did not recognize God through its wisdom, it pleased God, through the folly of preaching, to save those believe in it, for the Jews demand signs and the Greeks ask for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, an offense to the Jews and folly to the Greeks "(1. Corinthians 1,21-23). Only those who are called can understand and embrace the wonderful news of the gospel, says Paul; "To those ... who are called, Jews and Greeks, we preach Christ as God's power and God's wisdom. For the folly of God is wiser than human beings, and God's weakness is stronger than human beings" (v. 24 -25). And in Romans 1,16 exclaims Paul: "... I am not ashamed of the gospel; for it is a power of God that saves all who believe in it, the Jews first and also the Greeks."

"I am the door"

During his earthly life, Jesus, the Incarnate God, blew up many old, cherished - but false - ideas about what God is, how God lives and what God wants. He shed light on truths that the Old Testament had only hinted at. And he just announced, by
He is salvation possible.

"I am the way, the truth and the life", he proclaimed, "no one comes to the Father but through me" (John 14,6). And: "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever stays in me and I in him, brings a lot of flight; because without me you can do nothing. Whoever does not stay in me will be thrown away like a branch and withers, and they are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they must burn "(John 15,5-6). Earlier he said: "I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he will be saved ..." (John 10,9).

Jesus is God

Jesus has the monotheistic imperative that consists of 5. Mose 6,4 speaks and which echoes everywhere in the Old Testament, is not overridden. On the contrary, just as he does not abolish the law, but rather expands it (Matthew 5, 17, 21-22, 27-28), he now expands the concept of the "one" God in a completely unexpected way. He explains: There is only one and only God, but the word has been with God for eternity (John 1,1-2). The word became flesh - completely human and at the same time completely God - and of its own accord renounced all divine privileges. Jesus, "who was in divine form, did not consider it a robbery to be equal to God, but emptied himself and assumed the form of a servant, became like men and he
Appearance recognized as human. He humbled himself and was obedient to death, even to death on the cross "(Philippians 2,6-8).

Jesus was fully human and fully God. He commanded over all power and authority of God, but submitted to the limitations of human existence for our sake. During this incarnation time he, the son, remained "one" with the father. "Whoever sees me sees the father!" said Jesus (John 14,9). "I cannot do anything of my own accord. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just; for I do not seek my will, but the will of him who sent me" (John 5,30). He said that he was not doing anything about himself, but that he was speaking as his father had taught him (John 8,28).

Shortly before his crucifixion he explained to his disciples: "I went out from the Father and came into the world; I am leaving the world again and go to the Father" (John 16,28). Jesus came to earth to die for our sins. He came to start his church. He came to initiate the worldwide preaching of the gospel. And he also came to reveal God to people. In particular, he made people aware of the father-son relationship that exists in the deity.

The Gospel of John, for example, largely traces how Jesus reveals the Father to mankind. Jesus' Passover conversations (John 13-17) are particularly interesting in this regard. What an amazing insight into the nature of God! Jesus' further revelation about the God-willed relationship between God and man is even more astonishing. Man can participate in the divine nature! Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. But whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him" (John 14,21). God wants to unite man with himself through a relationship of love - a love of the kind that exists between Father and Son. God reveals himself to the people in whom this love works. Jesus continues: "Whoever loves me will keep my word; and my father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. But anyone who does not love me will not keep my words. And the word, what you hear is not my word, but that of the Father who sent me
has "(verses 23-24).

Whoever comes to God through faith in Jesus Christ and faithfully submits his life to God, God lives in him. Peter preached: "Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts of the Apostles 2,38). The Holy Spirit is God too, as we shall see in the next chapter. Paul knew that God lived in him: "I was crucified with Christ. I live, but now not I, but Christ lives in me. For what I now live in the flesh, I live in faith in the Son of God, who makes me." loved and gave himself up for me "(Galatians 2,20).

The life of God in man is like a "new birth," as Jesus explains in John 3: 3. With this spiritual birth one begins a new life in God, becomes a citizen of the saints and household members of God (Ephesians 2:19). Paul writes that God "saved us from the power of darkness" and "transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in which we have redemption, namely the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1,13-14). The Christian is a citizen of the kingdom of God. "Dear ones, we are already God's children" (1. John 3: 2). In Jesus Christ, God was fully revealed. "For in him the whole fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily" (Colossians 2: 9). What does this revelation mean for us? We can become partakers of the divine nature!

Peter draws the conclusion: "Everything that serves life and godliness has been given to us by his divine power through the knowledge of him who called us by his glory and power. Through her we have been given the dearest and greatest promises, so that you may thereby share in the divine nature, having escaped the corrupting lusts of the world" (2. Petrus 1,3-4).

Christ - the perfect revelation of God

In what way has God revealed himself concretely in Jesus Christ? In all that he thought and executed, Jesus revealed the character of God. Jesus died and was raised from the dead, so that man could be saved and reconciled to God and gain eternal life. Roman 5: 10-11 tells us, "For if we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, when we were enemies, how much more will we be saved by his life, now that we are reconciled, but not alone that, but we also glorify God through our Henn Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the atonement. "

Jesus revealed God's plan to establish a new cross-ethnic and national spiritual community - the Church (Ephesians 2,14-22). Jesus revealed God as the Father of all born again in Christ. Jesus revealed the glorious destiny God promised His people. The presence of the Spirit of God within us already gives us a taste of that future glory. The Spirit is "the pledge of our inheritance" (Ephesians 1,14).

Jesus also testified to the existence of the Father and the Son as one God, and thus to the fact that in the one, eternal deity different essentials are expressed. The New Testament authors used again and again the Old Testament God names for Christ. In doing so they not only testified to us as Christ is, but also as God is, for Jesus is the revelation of the Father, and he and the Father are one. We learn more about God when we examine how Christ is.

5. One in three and three in one

As we have seen, the Bible represents the doctrine of one God uncompromisingly. Jesus' incarnation and work have given us a deeper insight into the "how" of God's oneness. The New Testament testifies that Jesus Christ is God and that the Father is God. But, as we shall see, it also represents the Holy Spirit as God - as divine, as eternal. That means: The Bible reveals a God who exists forever as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For this reason, the Christian should be baptized "in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28,19).

Over the centuries, many explanatory models have emerged that may make these biblical facts more tangible at first sight. But we must be wary of accepting explanations that are "out the back door" against biblical teachings. For many explanations may simplify matters insofar as they give us a grander and more vivid image of God. But first and foremost, it depends on whether an explanation is consistent with the Bible, not whether it is self-contained and consistent. The Bible shows that there is one - and only one - God, yet at the same time presents us Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, all eternally existing and doing all things as only God can do them.

"One in three", "three in one", these are ideas that resist human logic. It would be relatively easy to imagine, for example, a Goth being "of one piece", without "splitting" into Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But that is not the God of the Bible. Another simple image is the "God family", which consists of more than one member. But the God of the Bible is very different from anything we could open up with our own thinking and without any revelation.

God reveals many things about Him, and we believe them even though we can not explain them all. For example, we can not satisfactorily explain how God can be without beginning. Such an idea goes beyond our limited horizon. We can not explain them, but know that it is true that God had no beginning. Similarly, the Bible reveals that God is one and only one, but at the same time also Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God

Acts of the Apostles 5,3-4 calls the Holy Spirit "God": "But Peter said: Ananias, why did Satan fill your heart that you lied to the Holy Spirit and kept some of the money for the field? If you could not have kept the field when you had it? And could you not still do what you wanted when it was sold? Why did you plan this in your heart? You did not lie to people, but to God. " Ananias' lie before the Holy Spirit was, according to Peter, a lie before God. The New Testament attributes properties to the Holy Spirit that only God can possess. For example, the Holy Spirit is omniscient. "But God revealed it to us through his spirit; for the spirit searches all things, including the depths of Godhead" (1. Corinthians 2,10).

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, not bound to any spatial limits. "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you and which you have from God, and that you do not belong to yourselves?" (1. Corinthians 6,19). The Holy Spirit dwells in all believers, so it is not restricted to one place. The Holy Spirit renews Christians. "Unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit ... The wind blows Wherever he wants, and you can hear his rustling, but you do not know where he comes from or where he is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit "(John 3,5-6, 8). He predicts the future. "But the Spirit clearly says that in the latter days some will fall away from the faith and cling to seductive spirits and diabolical doctrines" (1. Timothy 4,1). In the baptismal formula the Holy Spirit is placed on the same level as Father and Son: The Christian is to be baptized "in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28,19). The spirit can create from nothing (Psalm 104,30). Only God has such creative gifts. Hebrews 9,14 gives the epithet "eternal" to the spirit. Only God is eternal.

Jesus promised the apostles that after his departure he would send a "Comforter" (Assistant) to abide with them "forever", the "Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, for it neither sees nor knows not. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you" (John 14:16-17). Jesus specifically identifies this "Comforter as the Holy Spirit: "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom my Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything, and will remind you everything that I have said to you" (verse 26). The Comforter shows the world its sins and guides us into all truth; all actions that only God can do. Paul confirms this: "We also speak of this, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in , taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual by spiritual" (1. Corinthians 2,13, Elberfeld Bible).

Father, Son and Holy Spirit: a god

When we realize that there is only one God and that the Holy Spirit is God, just as the Father is God and the Son is God, it is not difficult for us to find passages like Acts 13,2 to understand: "But when they were serving and fasting the Lord, the Holy Spirit said: Separate me from Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them." According to Luke the Holy Spirit said: "Separate me from Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called her. "In the work of the Holy Spirit, Luke sees directly the work of God.

When we take the biblical revelation of the essence of God at our word, it is great. When the Holy Spirit speaks, sends, inspires, guides, sanctifies, empowers, or gives gifts, it is God who does so. But since God is one and not three separate beings, the Holy Spirit is not an independent God, acting on his own accord.

God has a will, the will of the Father, who is equally the will of the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is not about two or three separate divine beings who decide independently to be in perfect harmony with each other. It is rather a god
and a will. The Son Expresses the Will of the Father Accordingly, it is the nature and work of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the will of the Father on earth.

According to Paul, the "Lord is ... the Spirit" and he writes of the "Lord who is the Spirit" (2. Corinthians 3,17-18). In verse 6 it even says, "the Spirit gives life", and that is something that only God can. We only know the Father because the Spirit enables us to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus and the Father dwell in us, but only because the Spirit dwells in us (John 14,16-17; Romans 8,9-11). Since God is one, the Father and the Son are also in us when the Spirit is in us.

In 1. Corinthians 12,4-11 Paul equates the Spirit, the Lord and God. There is "one God who works in all", he writes in verse 6. But a few verses further it says: "All this is done by the same one spirit", namely "as he [the spirit] wants". How can the mind want something? By being God. And since there is only one God, the will of the Father is also the will of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

To worship God is to worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for they are the one and only God. We must not expose the Holy Spirit and worship as an independent being. Not the Holy Spirit as such, but God, the Father, Son and Saint
If there is spirit in one, our worship should be. God in us (the Holy Spirit) moves us to worship God. The Comforter (like the Son) does not speak "of himself" (John 16,13), but says what the father tells him. He does not refer us to himself, but to the Father through the Son. Nor do we pray to the Holy Spirit as such - it is the Spirit within us that helps us pray and even intercedes for us (Romans 8,26).

If God himself were not in us, we would never be converted to God. If God himself were not in us, we would not know either God or the Son (he). That is why we owe salvation to God alone, not to us. The fruit we bear is the fruit of the Spirit-God's fruit, not ours. Nevertheless, if we want to, we enjoy the great privilege of being able to collaborate in God's work.

The Father is the creator and the source of all things. The Son is the Redeemer, the Savior, the executive organ through whom God created everything. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter and Advocate. The Holy Spirit is God in us, who leads us through the Son to the Father. Through the Son we are purified and saved so that we can have fellowship with him and the Father. The Holy Spirit works on our hearts and minds and leads us to faith in Jesus Christ, who is the way and the gate. The Spirit gives us gifts, the gifts of God, among which faith, hope, and love are not the least.

All this is the work of the one God revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is no other god than the God of the Old Testament, but more is revealed about him in the New Testament: He sent his Son as a man to die for our sins and be raised to glory, and he sent us his Spirit - the Comforter - who dwell in us, guiding us into all truth, giving us gifts, and conforming to the likeness of Christ.

When we pray, our goal is to have God answer our prayers; but God must lead us to this goal, and he is even the path on which we are led to this goal. In other words, to God (the Father) we pray; It is God in us (the Holy Spirit) who moves us to pray; and God is also the way (the Son) by which we are led to that goal.

The father starts the plan of salvation. The Son embodies the reconciliation and salvation plan for mankind and carries it out himself. The Holy Spirit brings about the blessings - the gifts - of salvation, which then bring about the salvation of faithful believers. All this is the work of the one God, the God of the Bible.

Paul closes the second letter to the Corinthians with the blessing: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all!" (2. Corinthians 13,13). Paul focuses on the love of God, which is bestowed on us through the grace that God gives through Jesus Christ, and the unity and communion with God and with one another that he gives through the Holy Spirit.

How many "persons" is God?

Many people have only a vague idea of ​​what the Bible says about the unity of God. Most do not think deeper about it. Some imagine three independent beings; some a being with three heads; others one that can turn at will into the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This only as a small selection of popular images.

Many try to summarize the biblical teaching about God in the terms "trinity", "trinity" or "trinity". However, if you ask them more about what the bible says about it, they usually have to give no explanation. In other words: Many people's image of the Trinity has shaky biblical foundations, and an important reason for the lack of clarity lies in the use of the term "person".

The word "person" used in most German definitions of the Trinity suggests three beings. Examples: "The one God is in three persons ... who are one divine nature ... These three persons are (real) different from one another" (Rahner / Vorgrimler, IQ eines Theologisches Wörterbuch, Freiburg 1961, p. 79). In relation to God, the common meaning of the word "person" conveys a skewed picture: namely, the impression that God is limited and that his trinity results from the fact that he consists of three independent beings. That's not the case.

The German term "person" comes from the Latin persona. In the Latin theologian language persona was used as a name for father, son and Holy Spirit, but in a different sense, as it is the German word "person" today. The basic meaning of persona was "mask". In the figurative sense, it described a role in a play. At that time, an actor performed in one piece in several roles, and for each role he wore a particular mask. But even this term, although it does not give rise to the misconception of three beings, is still weak and misleading in relation to God. Misleading because Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are more than just roles that God takes on, and because an actor can only play one role at a time, while God is always Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time. It may be that a Latin theologian meant the right thing when he used the word persona. That a layman would have understood him correctly, is unlikely. Even today, the word "person", in relation to God, easily leads the average person on the wrong track, if it is not accompanied by the explanation that one has to imagine "person" in the deity something quite different than under "person" in the human sense.

Anyone who speaks in our language of a God in three people, can really do otherwise than imagine three independent Gods. In other words, he will not distinguish between the terms "person" and "being." But that's not how God is revealed in the Bible. There is only one God, not three. The Bible reveals that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, interpenetrating, is to be understood as a single, eternal way of being of the one true God of the Bible.

One god: three hypostases

If we want to express the biblical truth that God is "one" and "three" at the same time, we have to look for terms that do not give the impression that there are three gods or three independent god beings. The Bible calls for no compromise on the oneness of God. The problem is: In all words that refer to created things, parts of meaning that can be misleading resonate from the profane language. Most words, including the word "person," tend to relate God's nature to the created order. On the other hand, all of our words have some kind of relation to the created order. It is therefore important to clarify exactly what we mean and what we don't mean when we speak of God in human terms. A helpful word - a word picture in which Greek-speaking Christians grasped God's unity and trinity is found in Hebrews 1:3. This passage is instructive in several ways. It reads: "He [the Son] is the reflection of his [God's] glory and the likeness of his being and bears all things with his powerful word ..." From the phrase "reflection [or emanation] of his glory" we can make several insights deduce: The son is not a separate being from the father. The Son is no less divine than the Father. And the Son is eternal, just as the Father is. In other words, the son relates to the father as the reflection or the radiation relates to the glory: without a radiant source no radiation, without radiation no radiant source. Yet we must distinguish between God's glory and the emanation of that glory. They are different, but not separate. Equally instructive is the phrase "image [or imprint, imprint, image] of his being". The father is fully and completely expressed in the son.
Let us now turn to the gliechish word, which in the original text stands here behind "essence". It's hypostasis. It consists of hypo = "under" and stasis = "stand" and has the basic meaning of "standing under something". What it means is what, as we would say, is "behind" one thing, making it what it is. Hypostasis can be defined as "something without which another can not be". You could describe them as "essential reason", "reason of being".

God is personal

"Hypostasis" (plural: "hypostases") is a good word to denote the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is a biblical term and provides a sharper conceptual separation between God nature and the created order. However, "person" is also suitable, provided that the (indispensable) requirement is that the word is not understood in the human-personal sense.

One reason "person" is appropriate, properly understood, is that God relates to us in a personal way. Therefore it would be wrong to say that he is impersonal. We do not worship a rock or a plant, nor an impersonal power "beyond the cosmos", but a "living person". God is personal, but not a person in the sense that we are persons. "For I am God, and not man, and am the Holy One among you" (Hosea 11:9). God is Creator — and not part of created things. Human beings have beginnings, possess bodies, grow, vary individually, age and finally die.God is exalted above all this, and yet he is personal in his dealings with human beings.

God goes beyond all that language can reproduce infinitely; nevertheless he is personal and loves us dearly. He has a lot to be open about, but not everything that goes beyond the limits of human knowledge, he conceals. As finite beings, we can not grasp the infinite. Wu · can recognize God in the revelation, but we can not comprehend him exhaustively because we are finite and he is infinite. What God revealed to us about himself is real. It's true. It is important.

God calls us: "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2. Petrus 3,18). Jesus said: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, who you alone are true God, and whom you have sent, Jesus Christ" (John 17: 3). The more we know God, the clearer it becomes to us how small we are and how big he is.

6. The relationship of humanity to God

As an introduction to this brochure, we have tried to formulate basic questions that human beings may possibly ask God - dignity. What would we ask if we were free to ask such a question? Our groping question "Who are you?" replies the creator and ruler of the cosmos with: "I will be who I will be" (2. Mose 3,14) or "I am who I am" (crowd translator). God explains himself to us in creation (Psalm 19,2). Since the time that he made us, he has acted with and for us human beings. Sometimes like thunder and lightning, like storm, like earthquake and fire, sometimes like "a quiet, gentle whiz" (2. Moses 20,18; 1. Kings 19,11-12). He even laughs (Psalm 2: 4). In the biblical record, God speaks about himself and describes his impression on people whom he confronted directly. God reveals himself through Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.

Now we don't just want to know who God is. We also want to know what he created us for. We want to know what his plan is for us. We want to know what future is in store for us. What is our relationship with God? Which "should" we have? And which one will we have in the future? God made us in his own image (1. Mose 1,26-27). And for our future, the Bible reveals - sometimes very clearly - far higher things than we now as limited beings can dream of.

Where we are now

Hebrews 2,6-11 tells us that we are currently a little "lower" than the angels. But God "crowned us with praise and honor" and made all creation subject to us. For the future "he has not excluded anything that is not subject to him. But we do not yet see that everything is subject to him." God has prepared an eternal, glorious future for us. But something still stands in the way. We are in a state of guilt, our sins cut us off from God (Isaiah 59: 1-2). Sin has created an insurmountable hurdle between God and us, a barrier that we cannot overcome on our own.

Basically, however, the break is already healed. Jesus tasted death for us (Hebrews 2,9). He paid the death penalty incurred by our sins to "lead many sons to glory" (v. 10). According to Revelation 21: 7, God wants us to be with him in a father-child relationship. Because he loves us and has done everything for us - and still does as the author of our salvation - Jesus is not ashamed to call us pictures (Hebrews 2,10-11).

What is required of us now

Acts of the Apostles 2,38 calls us to repent of our sins and to be baptized, figuratively buried. God gives the Holy Spirit to those who believe that Jesus Christ is their Savior, Lord and King (Galatians 3,2-5). When we repent - having turned away from the selfish, worldly sinful ways we used to walk - we enter into a new relationship with him in faith. We are born again (Johannes 3,3), a new life in Christ has been given to us through the Holy Spirit, transformed by the Spirit through God's grace and mercy and through the redemptive work of Christ. And then? Then we grow "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2. Peter 3:18) until the end of life. We are destined to take part in the first resurrection, and after that we will "be with the Lord at all times" (1. Thessalonians 4,13-17).

Our immeasurable heritage

God has "born us again ... to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an imperishable and immaculate and imperishable inheritance", an inheritance that "by the power of God ... will be revealed in the last days" (1. Petrus 1,3-5). In the resurrection we become immortal (1. Corinthians 15:54) and attain a "spiritual body" (verse 44). "And as we have borne the image of the earthly [man-Adam]," says verse 49, "so shall we also bear the image of the heavenly." As "children of the resurrection" we are no longer subject to death (Luke 20,36).

Could anything be more glorious than what the Bible says about God and our future relationship with him? We shall be "like him [Jesus]; for we shall see him as he is" (1. John 3,2). Revelation 21: 3 promises for the era of the new heavens and the new earth: "Behold, the tabernacle of God with the people! And he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and he himself, God with them, will be be their god ... "

We will become one with God - in holiness, love, perfection, justice and spirit. As his immortal children, in the fullest sense we will form the family of God. We will share with Him a perfect communion in eternal joy. What a great and inspiring one
God has prepared the message of hope and eternal salvation for all who believe him!

Brochure of the WKG