THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD (Part 5)
MEMORY VERSE: - “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassion fails not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentation 3:22-23)
INTRODUCTION: - God’s compassion, mercy, grace, kindness and forgiveness are united with His truth, holiness and justice. The fact that God is gracious and compassionate shows that His final act will not be punishment for any person unless they spitefully and continually reject His patient love and mercy.
LESSON OUTLINES
God Is Patient And Slow To Anger
(Ex.34:6; Num.14:18; Rm.2:4; 1Tim.1:16). God first demonstrated this character trait in the garden of Eden after Adam and Eve defied his direct command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God chose not to destroy the human race as He had a right to do (Gen.2:16-17). Instead, He continued forward in the plan He had already laid out to restore His relationship with humankind (1Pet.1:20; Rev.13:8). God was also patient in Noah’s time, while the ark was being built (1Pet.3:20) and the rest of humanity (outside of Noah’s family) was living in total rebellion against God. And God is still patient with the sinful human race. The reason God is now holding back His judgment on the world is because He is patiently giving everyone the opportunity to repent and saved (2Pet.3:9)
2) God Is truth
(Deut32:4; Ps.31:15; Isa.65:16; Jh.3:33). Jesus called Himself “the Truth” (Jh.14:6), and the Holy Spirit is known as the spirit “the Spirit of Truth” (Jh.14:7). Because God is completely trustworthy and true in all He says and does; His Word is also described as truth (2Sam.7:28; Ps.119:43; Isa.45:19; Jh.17:17). It reveals things as they are and shows us the right way to do things. Therefore, the Bible teaches that God does not tolerate lies, dishonesty or deception of any kind (Num.23:19; Tit.1:2; Heb.6:18). God’s character is the basis of all that is true and right. There is no other “truth” outside of God. There is no other “truth” outside of god. There is no other “right way” apart from what God determined is right. In fact, there is no other way to God the Father but through His Son, Jesus – the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jh.14:6).
Is Faithful
(Ex.34:6; Deut.7:9; Isa.49:7; Lam.3:23; Heb.10:23). We can trust God completely, He will do everything He has revealed in His Word, fulfilling both His promises and His warnings (Num.14:32-35; 2Sam.7:28; Job 34:12; Acts 13:23; 32 – 33, 2Tim.2:13). He will never fail His people or the nature of His character. God’s faithfulness should being extraordinary comfort to those who trust Him. But it should bring great fear of judgment to all who do not accept Jesus as the forgiver of their sins and leader of their lives (Heb.6:4-8; 10:26-31).
God Is Just
(Duet.32:4; 1Jh.1:9). This means that God keeps in balance the moral order of the universe and is totally right in the way He treats and deals with human kind (Neh.9:33; Dan.9:14). God’s perfect justice is the reason He cannot look away and excuse sin. Sin is “lawlessness” toward God (1Jh.3:4) and so completely opposed to His perfect nature that it requires the most extreme penalty; death (Rm.5:12). It is a penalty that human kind has earned, and it must be paid. But God Himself mercifully chose to provide the perfect payment for that penalty through His Son Jesus. Jesus now provides forgiveness and spiritual freedom for those who trust Him (Rm.6:23). Still god is angry of sin because of His love for righteousness (Rm.5:3-6). In the end He will also show His wrath against every form of wickedness (Rm.1:18), especially idolatry (1kgs.14:9,15,22), unbelief (Ps.78:21-22; Jh.3:36) and unjust treatment to other people (Isa.10:1-4; Amos 2:6-7). Jesus Christ who is called the “Righteous One” (Acts 7:52; 22:14) also loves righteousness and hates evil (Mk.3:5).
However, God’s justice does not contradict His love. Infact, it was to satisfy His perfect justice that He sent Jesus into the world as His perfect gift of love (Jh.3:16; 1Jh.4:9-10) and His sacrifice for sin on our behalf (Isa.53:5-6; Rm.4:25; 1Pet.3:18). His acts of justice and love, working together, provided the only way to restore us to a right relationship with God (2Cotint.5:18-21).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
God’s final and complete revelation of Himself is through His son Jesus Christ (Jh.1:18; Heb.1:1-4), and His word (Jh.1:14). That is to say, if we want to fully understand the “personality”, character and nature of God, we must look at what the Word of God reveals about Jesus because “in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily’ (Col.2:9).
QUESTIONS
Does God’s justice negate his love? How can we know God more?