God-Doctrine
A good reference on the subject of the Doctrine of God is Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology pages 141 to 436.
We at ProJesus like to meditate on the character of God by what He did and what He said about Himself. What are His “authoritative principles”? The Bible, God’s handbook, is a perfect place to start. Right in the beginning of the Bible God tells us about Himself and what He can do. In Genesis 1:11 “Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.” We learn from this verse the power of God: He just speaks and creation came about in the way of grass, herbs and fruit trees.
In chapter 3 of Malachi, God (Jesus) states in the 2 nd verse: “…..who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire.” And Malachi 3:5-7 says: “I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien — Because they do not fear Me," Says the LORD of hosts. 6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change. The word “immutable is clearly verified by God in Malachi. Immutable is defined as : not subject or susceptible to change or variation in form or quality or nature.
There are no absolute securities if God changes His nature or His character.
What does God know? Let’s ask Job! In Job 38:4-5 God said to Job, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements?” Job 38:16 "Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths?” Job 38:31 "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion? Job 39:26-27 "Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, and spread its wings toward the south? 27 Does the eagle mount up at your command, and make its nest on high?” Job 40:9 “Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?” Job 40:15 "Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; he eats grass like an ox.” All four chapters, 38-41, could and should be quoted to emphasize the knowledge, glory and majesty of Jesus. Folks can discuss all they want philosophers such as Descartes, Locke and Hume on topics such as God’s created beings (humans) and what these philosophers they think of the world etc., however, the Bible gives us the Word of God and it’s the Truth.
How can we go to an all loving and knowing God and ask: why did you create the universe and, since you did, why not trillions of years before the actual beginning? As God asked Job: who do you think you are?
Then there is the question of evil: why doesn’t God do something about it? He did: Of course He would start with you and me. One sin is as bad as another to Jesus. We MUST be PERFECT to please Him, and of course we can not be perfect. That is why we received the precious gift of the Gospel. It states that Jesus (God the Son) was born of a virgin, suffered and died as payment for our sins then rose from the dead to allow those who accept Him to enjoy eternity with Him. If we accept Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection and repent of our sins, we will be with Him for all eternity. Jesus commanded us to preach this “simple” message to the entire world.
In the Bible, 2 Peter 3:9 says “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” In other words, so all men can understand, God says that He is not the God of disorder, for in 1 Cor 14:32-33 the Bible says “The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace”, in other words, the words of the Bible can be understood by all. Also 1 Cor 8:1 says “We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” Hence, the Bible’s most famous verse John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Further, knowledge without wisdom is futile, as seen in Acts 7:9-10 "And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh.”
If we consider transcendence relative to immanence. Whatever our conclusion is; what difference does it really make? Also, we are only capable of discussing metaphysical principals (i.e. explaining the world’s function) at the human level. I believe that when we see Jesus in heaven we will be in complete awe of His powers. I know I am in awe when I see the beauty that He has created here on earth; from the mountains to bugs to babies.
Jesus has already told us in the Scriptures that there are many mysteries. We are not expected to understand everything. God’s intellect is far above ours. See the verses from Job above.
Jesus is supreme and His knowledge and wisdom are so far beyond our ability to reason that we are not capable of determining His understanding or His Doctrine. All of this can be found in the Bible. Human knowledge is “the truth or facts of life that a person acquires either through experience or thought”. Humans are limited, God is not. God is Love, He is Wisdom, He is Knowledge etc. Doctrine is defined as “authoritative principles”. We as finite humans can in no way determine: what is the complete “Doctrine of God”? Consider what God said in Isaiah 55:7-9: “……return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. 8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways ," says the LORD. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” There it is, God is telling us, in His Book, how much greater He is than we are. By the way, Jesus also tells us how much more loving He is than we are: He died for us.
