15 Nov It is What It Is (Discovering the true character of God…because He is not a car-wrecking, cancer causing Creator, but a loving, life giving Lord!) part 16
For the past few months we have been in our series, let’s us take this week to review…
As you remember our series is based in Hebrews 11:6 which says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
There are three very important takeaways I want you to gather from this powerful verse:
- Notice the word “cometh”. The Greek tense for the word “cometh” is in the continual tense, meaning it is discussing those who continually come to God. It could read “those that cometh and cometh and cometh to God”. It describes a continual, communicative relationship.
- When we continually come to God, we must believe that “He IS”…not He was or He will be. That describes a vast majority of the Body of Christ. “God did a miracle in Biblical days” or “One day when we all get to Heaven, He will heal then.” God is not the Great I was or the Great I will be…He IS the Great I AM!
- He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Now we’ve left behind three quarters of the Body of Christ. Most don’t believe He is a rewarder…most believe He is a taker!
Understanding God’s true nature and character is absolutely vital if we are to continually “cometh” to Him! Remember this: You always return to a place of pleasure. Let me illustrate.
As I said, understanding the true nature and character of God is imperative. How you view Him is vital. Please allow me to give you “4 Vital View Verifications”:
- How you view Him will determine how much you come to Him.
- How you view Him is how you will treat others. In other words, if you think He’s mad at you, it will be very difficult for you to treat others kindly.
- How you view Him will determine your outlook on life.
- How you view Him will determine your destiny.
Clearly, you can see we must discover the true nature and character of God…so much in life is riding on it!
Let’s now delve into “11 Characteristics concerning the Character of God”:
- You can’t create God in your own image (Rom. 1:25).
Here the Bible tells us, “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator…”. In other words, as we jump into this powerful subject matter, it is vital we don’t recreate God in our image as He clearly made us in His (Gen. 1:20). We can’t let American culture or even television preachers determine His image for us.
We must take an honest look at Scripture and let God define His character for us through the pages of His Word!
The Bible tells us in John 1:16-17, “And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Notice the phrase “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” If you don’t believe both grace and truth, you will never understand the true nature and character of God! God is both grace and truth, both love and holy, both lion and Lamb…same God, two Biblically balanced sides of the same coin!
2. Heaven Yes…Hell No!
In 31 years of ministry, I have heard a question brought up over and over again: “Why would a loving God send someone to Hell?” This is a huge character question that must be answered Biblically. Let’s delve into it with “3 Hell Happenings”:
- Hell was not originally created for man (Matt. 25:41). “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Here this verse tells us directly that Hell was originally created for the devil and his angels…not for mankind.
- God will respect your will all the way to Hell (Matt. 25:34, 41). Here the Bible says, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;” and verse 41 says, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”
In these two verses, you can plainly see those going to Heaven are “blessed of my Father”. However those going to Hell are not “cursed of my Father” they are simply cursed. How? They are cursed of their own choices. God created mankind as free-will moral agents (see Genesis 1:26-28). Therefore He will respect our choices all the way to Hell.
3. It’s not sins that send one to Hell, it is a sin that sends one to hell (John 16:7-9). Here it says, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me.”
Notice in these powerful verses the Holy Spirit is sent to reprove the world (people who don’t know Jesus) of sin. Not sins plural, but sin singular. So it is not sins plural that send people to Hell! Right now think in your mind of your favorite three sins (ok, maybe don’t do that…lol!). But it is not sins plural like adultery or fornication or drunkenness or homosexuality that send people to Hell. Jesus died on the cross for all those sins and more (see I Peter 2:24, Rom. 4:24-25, II Cor. 5:17-21).
That is why it is one sin (singular) that sends a person to Hell! Wouldn’t you like to know what it is so you don’t commit it?
Jesus tells us specifically what it is in verse nine, “Of sin, because they believe not on me.” In other words, it s not what we do with sins (plural) that send us to Hell. Jesus bore our sins and the punishment thereof on the cross. It’s what we do with Jesus that sends us to Hell or not. That’s why the Bible tells us in Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Notice to get saved we don’t confess our sins (plural), but our confession is that Jesus is Lord! I’m watching so many people in the Body of Christ walk away from the Biblical truths of a literal Hell. Heaven forbid! There is a real Heaven to gain and a real Hell to shun, but the real question is what are you going to do with Jesus? Will you accept or reject His sacrifice on the cross!
3. Sin ruins the view.
Please allow me to share with you “Three Sinless Scenarios”:
- The Garden of Eden before sin
- The life of Jesus
While certainly sin surrounded Him in His earthly ministry, there was no sin in His life (see Hebrews 4:15).
3. Heaven
If you look at these three sinless scenarios, you will be able to ascertain the true will and nature of God more clearly. Was there sickness, pain, tragedy and calamity? Of course not! It wasn’t until sin entered into mankind and upon the earth that those things began to materialize.
4. Will the real God please stand up? (John 10:10)
If we can put aside our Sunday school and church answers for just a moment and answer honestly…if you look back at the Old Testament, God looks a little cranky! He dealt with mankind in what appears to be a pretty harsh fashion. I’ve had a number of people come to me over this issue in confusion. “Pastor, which is it…the tough God of the Old Covenant or the tender God of the New?” Please allow me to explain:
6 Nice Nature Necessities:
- In the Old Covenant, sin had not yet been dealt with.
God could not gently deal with mankind from the inside out like He can do with His children in the New Covenant. Now we can be led by the Spirit (see Romans 8:17). In the Old Covenant, mankind still had the nature of the devil (see John 8:44) and therefore harsh outward discipline was necessary.
2. In the Old Covenant, God only acted harshly in judgment.
In the Old Covenant, God did respond quite harshly towards mankind. However, He did this only in judgment with those who directly opposed the plan of God (see Genesis 6 in the account of Noah) or the people of God (Pharaoh for example). I liken this to chemotherapy or amputation. While it certainly may seem harsh at the time, it is designed to save the rest of the body. Extreme measures are taken but the foundation of both is love.
Continue to join us each week as we share more from this series…