Who is God?
“See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him.”
— 1 John 3:1 NASB
Warm Up
- Really, who is God according to the bible? His nature, character and attributes? What does He like and dislike? Is He angry or in a good mood?
Lessons
Video coming soon
When we look at the image of God painted by the bible, we see one who lacks nothing, unique in all ways, and the essence of divine glory. The bible says he is unchanging, full of mercy and incomprehensible by the human mind. This section in itself is just an attempt at describing an indescribable God using the resources we have to observe in awe what we ultimately cannot fathom. He just is.
The bible says in John 17:24 that "before the foundation of the world." Father God was loving the Son. And In 1 John 4:16 it says ...God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. God can do nothing else other than love because it's not what He does but who He is. This is the nature of the Father's heart not only towards Jesus but towards us as His most favored creation.
God is love. To say God is love is the same as saying God is community.
By nature of love cannot be singular because It requires the relationship of two or more. This is the greatest argument we have for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as the triune God we worship. If God is love then God has never known solitude. God has always been in community and has extended his community of love to include you and I.
Some may argue that God is one as the Bible says in Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!" That word one is the Hebrew word echad. It's the same word used when God decrees that man and woman shall become ONE flesh. God is one. The Father, Son and Spirit are each members of one family that has always existed and all things they created reflect their nature.
Perichoresis—The relationship of the three persons of the triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) to one another. Scholars describe this intimate relationship as 'the divine dance.'
Perichoresis is a Greek word that means to go around. It is derived from the Greek word peri, meaning "around" and chorein which means to move. It is the word we get choreography from. Perichoresis is the divine dance of the three is one. It describes the interchanging affection shared within the triune nature of God. It has always existed and it is the image we were created in. It is the relationship we have been invited into.
The Trinity is proof that God is Love.
This is our starting point with understanding who God is. From this place we see how God can humble himself so low to manifest the ultimate expression of love through Jesus on the cross. This understanding destroys the idea that Father God is some Zeus like character who is far away. And Jesus is His lamb that took the weight of His anger. Then Holy Spirit is a mysterious floating energy that comforts us from Father God's punishment when we sin. We cannot hold this view of God along with the foundation that God is love.
“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
— Romans 8:37-39- Think about the "perichoresis" relationship of Father, Son and Spirit. Have you ever experienced a relationship that exemplifies true union and authentic community? Explain your desire for this kind of union.
- Is there anything scary about this kind of intimate union or are you comfortable with complete vulnerability? Explain why.