Please read chapter 2 of Know What you Believe by Paul Little. This is the chapter on God. It will cover attributes of God, the Trinity, Providence, and free will. Next week should be a lively discussion.
Here are some questions for you after you read the chapter and based on our study of the Bible this week:
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What would be the REASON WHY someone would teach something other than the Bible as truth? What motive would you have to teach something else? Does the bible teach anything that does not cooincide with what we know of God?
In addition (not replacement or supplemental need) to the Bible, what evidence do we have that God exists?
How would you reconcile the incoprehensibility of God and the fact that we can know God truly?
Differentiate between incommunicable attributes of God and communicable attributes of God.
Define God's "independence." How can the two parts of this definition be reconcidled?
Do most people today believe in the existence of God? Has this been true throughout history? If they believe that God exists, why have they not worshipped Him rightly? Why do some people deny the existence of God? Does Romans 1:8 suggest there is often a moral factor influencing their intellectual denial of God's existence (compare Ps. 14:1-3)?
Why do you think God decided to reveal Himself to us? Do you learn more about God from His revelation in nature, or His revelation in Scripture? Why do think it is that God's thoughts are "precious" to us (Ps 139:17)? Would you call your present relationship to God a personal relationship? How is it similar to your relationships with other people, and how is it different? What would make your relationship with God better?
As you think of God's independence, unchangeableness, eternity, omnipresence, and unity, can you see some faint reflections of these five incommunicable attributes in yourself as God created you to be? At what point would it be wrong to even want to be like God in each of these areas because it would be attempting to usurp His unique role as Creator and Lord?
Explain how God's immutability or unchangableness helps to answer the following questions: Will we be able to do a good job of bringing up children in such an evil world as we have today? Is it possible to have hte same close fellowship with God that people had during biblical times? What can we think or do in order to make Bible stories seem more real and less removed from our present life? Do you think that God is less willing to answer prayer today that He was in Bible times?
If you sin against God today, when would it start bringing sorrow to God's heart? When would it stop bringing sorrow to God's heart? Does this reflection help you understand why God's charactre requires that He punish sin? Why did God have to send His Son to bear the punishment for sin, instead of simply forgetting about sin and welcoming sinners into heaven without having given the punishment for sin to anyone? Does God now think of your sins as forgiven or unforgiven sins? Why?
Read Psalm 102:25-27
Why is God so strongly displeased at carved idols, even thouse that are intended to represent Him? How then shall we picture God or think of God in our minds when we pray to Him?
With regard to the circumstances in your life, will God ever make a mistake, or fail to plan ahead, or fail to take into account all the eventualities that occur? How is the answer to this question a blessing in YOUR life? Tell your spouse...
Do you really believe that God is working wisely in your life today? In the world? If you find this difficult to believe at times, what might you do to change your attitude?
Is it possible to decide to love someone and then to act on that decision, or does love between human beings simply depend on spontaneous emotional feelings? IN what ways could you imitate God's love specifically TODAY?
If you were to reflect God's mercy more fully, for whom among those you know would you show special care during the next week?
Are there activities or relationships in your present pattern of life that are hindering your growth in holiness because they make it difficult for you to be separated from sin and devoted to seeking God's honor?
Do you ever find yourself wishing that some of God's laws were different than they are? If so, does such a wish reflect a dislike for some aspect of God's moral character? What passages of SCripture migh you read to convince yourself more fully that God's character and His laws are right in these areas?
Do you reflect God's jealousy for His own honor instinctively when you hear Him dishonored in conversation or on television or in other contexts? What can we do to deepen our jealousy for God's honor?
Are you happy with the way God created you - with the physical, emotional, mental, and relational traites He gave you? In what ways is it reight to be happy or pleased with our own personalities, physical characteristics, abilities, etc? In what ways is it wrong to be pleased or happy about these things? Will we ever be fully "blessed" or happy? When will that be and why?
Why are people in our society, sometimes even Christians, quite careless with regard to truthfullness in speech? Do you need to ask God's help to more fully reflect His truthfullness in speech in any of hte following areas: promising to pray for someone; saying that you will be some place at a certain time; exaggerating events in order to make a more exciting story; taking care to remember and then be faithful to what you have said in business commitments; reporting what other people have said or what you think someone else is thinking; fairly representing your opponents viewpoint in an argument?
Read Exodus 34:6-7
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