16 Aug 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 3

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“It is what it is.”  This statement is a very over-used phrase that is presently permeating our culture.  Similar to the phrase, “At the end of the day…”.  I discovered a long time ago that “at the end of the day”…it’s night!

Our new series this month is not derived from the popular cultural statement, but rather from 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.”

To review…there are three very important takeaways I want you to gather from this powerful verse:

  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!

We went over that 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.  

We went on to learn that how you view Him is vital as we went over “4 Vital 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.

Let’s now delve into “11 Characteristics concerning the Character of God”:

  1. 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!  

Join us next week as we continue our series!