21 Feb 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 27

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Over the last number of months we shared with you our key verse found in Hebrews 11:6, “For 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.”

From there we shared three very important takeaways:

  1. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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!

Then we gave you 4 View Verifications:

  1. How you view Him will determine how much you come to Him.
  2. 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.
  3. How you view Him will determine your outlook on life.
  4. How you view Him will determine your destiny.

This month we jump back into our 11 Characteristics concerning the Character of God:

#1. You can’t create God in your own image (Rom. 1:25).  

#2. Heaven yes…Hell no!  

3 Hell Happenings:

1)  Hell was not originally created for man (Matt. 25:41)

2)  God will respect your will all the way to Hell (Matt. 25:34,41)

3)  It’s not sins that send one to Hell, it is a sin that sends one to hell (John 16:7-9)

#3. Sin ruins the view

In this section we looked at “Three Sinless Scenarios”:

    1. The Garden of Eden before sin
    2. The life of Jesus – while certainly sin surrounded Him in His earthly ministry, there was no sin in His life (see Heb. 4:15)
    3. Heaven

#4. Will the real God please stand up?  (John 10:10)

#5.  The weather outside is frightful (Rom. 8:19-23, Matt. 24:1-8)

Today, let us continue with…

#6.  Who’s in charge here?  (II Cor. 4:4, Luke 4:6)

Here the Bible tells us in II Corinthians 4:4, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”  Notice the devil is the god (lower case) of this world.  The Greek word translated “world” is kosmos.  “Kosmos” means “world system”.  Therefore this eye-opening verse clearly tells us the devil is in charge of this world’s system.  

The Bible also tells us in Luke 4:6, “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me: and to whomsoever I will give it.”  This verse tells us how the devil got this kind of authority.  It was relinquished to him by Adam when Adam committed spiritual high treason and sinned.  

This week we continue with three sincere but silly sovereignty statements.  Now let me warn you, some of these statements may be your favorites.  Before you get mad at me, let me reiterate that these statements came from very sincere hearts!  However, sincere and Biblical can be two different things:

  1. “God is in control.”  This is a statement that many Christians utter when their life is spinning out of control.  If we are honest and not looking at life through Sunday school glasses, if God is in control of everything…He is doing a pretty lousy job!  Again, I submit to you that He is not in control of everything that occurs in every apartment complex unit!
  2. “Everything happens for a reason.”  While I certainly agree that “everything happens for a reason”, I also believe that reason must be qualified.  Not everything that happens comes from God.  Yes there is a good God, but there is also a bad devil, a cursed world and stupid people!  Therefore the reason so many bad things happen to good people is because of a bad devil, a cursed world and stupid people.  (I truly believe the devil could retire and leave us to our own decisions…and still do very well!)

Join me next week as we continue with our series..