Sermon Central
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Essence Of God #4 Series
Contributed by Clyde White on Aug 6, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: People will either respond to the Word or rebel against that Word. My prayer is that we will continue to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
(1) God is Sovereign
One that exercises supreme, permanent authority
(2) God is Justice
Moral rightness in action and attitude, especially in the administration and procedure of law
(3) God is Love
Non-egocentric tenderness, affection and kinship
(4) God is Omnipotence
Possession of all power, literally the source of all power
(5) God is Omniscience
Having total knowledge, literally the source of all knowledge
(6) God is Omnipresence
Present everywhere at all times
(7) God is Righteousness
Upright, Virtue, Without guilt
(8) God is Eternal Life
Always existed and always will. The ultimate source of all life
(9) God is Veracity
Accurate and true in motive, thought and action. The source of all truth
(10) God is Immutable
Not subject to change in His person
(11) God is Holy
The opposite of and apart from all that is evil or wrong
In our study of the essence of God, we have looked at an overview of both His justice and love.
God is not just because He acts justly, nor
Is God love because He acts in a loving manner.
God IS Justice!!
Therefore, all His actions are just.
God IS Love
Therefore, all His actions are loving.
Justice = A verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially; The virtue which consists in giving to every one what is his due; Vindictive retribution; Merited punishment
Vengeance = Infliction of punishment in return for a wrong committed
Yes, if God is justice (and He is) then He MUST, by vengeance, inflict punishment on all who have committed wrong against the commands of God. If God did not inflict punishment for breaking His commands, He would not be sovereign (more on sovereignty later in this study).
Romans 12:18If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place (get out of the way) to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.
Galatians 6:7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
We could look at verse after verse in both the Old and New Testament stating that it’s God’s will and purpose to "give to every one what is their due" If God is just (and He is) then every person MUST receive exactly what they deserve.
That scary fact does not bring much comfort to any one of us, when we look at our lives. Even when we look at our lives through the filter of our own ego, we know that we do not deserve to be children of God and have the privilege of spending eternity in the presence of God. Instead, based on our own behavior, we deserve, at best, to remain the children of "our father the devil" and spend eternity with him in the Lake of Fire.
John 8:42Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 "Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 "But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
These words were spoken by Christ to some of the most religious people the world will ever know. These were the religious leaders of the Jews in the time of Christ. They would, by any human standard, be considered fine upstanding moral people.
I’m sure that none of us, here today, could hold a candle to their religious fervor or their factual knowledge of the Old Testament. Yet, Christ stated that if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, then we must have righteousness that exceeds theirs.
Matthew 5:20"For I (Christ) say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
I’d say that if these extremely religious people were "of their father the Devil’.., then we, who do not hold a candle to their righteousness, would also be children of the Devil. Look at just a few passages that point to how far short we are from the standard of righteousness, which we must attain if we hope to avoid the justice of God, as He meets out, in vengeance, exactly what we deserve.
Isaiah 64:6But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
