Non-Negotiable: God
"Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time."
-Oswald Chambers
This is the tightrope we walk.
we are attempting to have a faith in God that we don’t entirely understand
In essence, to live a life of faith - there will be more days that you don’t understand everything than days that you do.
So here’s the question - Do you have room for the unknown in your life?
AG Official Position:
The one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent "I AM," the Creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind. He has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Trinity:
We are a Trinitarian Church - This means we have a triadic monotheistic view of God - specifically that there is ONE God who has revealed himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are co-equal, and co-eternal.
We use the term: TRINITY - not a New Testament word - Early church believers never sought to establish this idea, as it was already understood -
The concept however, is thrown around in both thought, practice, prayer and teaching.
Jesus taught to baptize in the Name of the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit
Paul's letters are saturated with statements referring to all three expressions of God.
In the moments Jesus was Baptized by John, all three persons of the Trinity are present
Jesus is Baptized
The Spirit descends in the form of a dove
The Father speaks from Heaven, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
I am not going to spend a great deal of time here - we ARE Trinitarian in our belief -
Why? New Testament language is filled with this idea, and this was a presupposed idea in the early church that had walked with Jesus. It was more part of the common vocabulary than something they taught
Scripture List Supporting The Trinity of God
Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mark 1:10–12
10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
John 16:13–15
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
John 17:21–24
21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
1 Corinthians 8:6
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
Hebrews 1:1–3
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
He is: "The eternally self-existent 'I AM' "
He is Eternal
God has one foot one each side of eternity!
I love what Peter said in 2 Peter 3:8
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (2 Peter 3:8). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
We measure everything in seconds, minutes, days, and years
God looks at your life through the lens of eternity
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared;
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 John 3:2). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
The things that are going on in your life right now are the things that God is using to shape you into the eternal citizen that he has called you to be.
Thats why we learn to worship
We learn to love Jesus
We learn to pray
We learn to internalize scripture
He is eternal - he's seen it before - there is nothing new!
You are not a unique case that he has no experience with - He's an eternal God!
When He moves - it shapes eternity
When He speaks - nothing can remain the same!
He is Self-Existent
He is an uncreated-creator
God is not lacking anything - He is in need of nothing else to supply his limitlessness!
We say these things about God:
Omniscient - He knows all things, past, present, future, seen & unseen
Omnipresent - He is everywhere - there is not height to go above him, or deep depth that you can escape him
Omnipotent - there is no limit to his power
He is the "I AM"
This actually comes from the story of Moses in the wilderness at the call of God:
Who do I tell them sent me?
Exodus 3:14
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Exodus 3:14). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
Who is God to you? If you asked these Biblical figures, here’s who they’d tell you that God was to them.
Our Bible is the revelation of who God is to us:
Abraham said that God was his "Jehovah-Jireh" - God was his provider
Gideon would say that God was Jehovah-Shalom" - God is my peace
Moses: Jehovah-Nissi: He is my banner
Meshach, Shadrach, Abednigo - The 4th man in the flame
Daniel - He's the one who shuts the lion's mouth
David - He is my song
Ruth - He's my kinsman redeemer
Isaiah - He's Immanuel - God with us
Mary Magdalene - He's my deliverer
Lazarus - He's the resurrection
He is everything that we need!
