What do the scriptures make known of God?
The scriptures make known what God is, the persons in the Godhead, his decrees and the execution of his decrees.
There is no better and more important topic in all the universe than to consider He who has created everything which exists. The words we use are made possible because of the God who has created minds (reasonable souls) to consider them. In the next several questions we will consider much that the scripture reveals but it will in no way exhaust this topic.
“Still, none who have the use of their eyes can be ignorant of the divine skill manifested so conspicuously in the endless variety, yet distinct and well ordered array, of the heavenly host; and, therefore, it is plain that the Lord has furnished every man with abundant proofs of his wisdom.”
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, chapter 5
It is important to organize in our minds with a few important concepts; guides to refer to when considering God, His persons and His being. What follows can be generally understood under (4) headings: God’s Infinity, His Immutability, His Independence and His Unity.
Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that “… without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” We gather from this verse that our right posture when approaching this topic is one of faith. We are not determining who God is, we are receiving from God’s word His testimony of who He says He IS. This can only be done in faith.
Logic has its place in this process but it is not superior to faith, Logic doesn’t rule over faith. Faith is essential and without it man is in a horrible condition; he will never arrive at the wonders of God on his own. This becomes quite apparent in those who reject God. It should not be surprising that a mind, designed to know God, will unravel when God is absent from it. If it doesn’t, it is His grace alone that preserves it intact. On this Calvin observes,
“This far, indeed, we differ from each other, in that every one appropriates to himself some peculiar error; but we are all alike in this, that we substitute monstrous fictions for the one living and true God—a disease not confined to obtuse and vulgar minds, but affecting the noblest, and those who, in other respects, are singularly acute.”
Institutes of the Christian Religion, chapter 5
God is one being, and the only one, who exists in three persons. John 5:7 says, “For there are three that testify.” We can benefit from more elaboration at this point and the Westminster Confession of Faith provides such elaboration:
WCF 2.3 “In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost: the Father is of none, neither begotten, not proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.”
We have no earthly or physical example of a being who is both one being and three persons. God is the only One of His Kind. Attempting to make analogies to explain Him will inevitably run into problems and this is why the first and second commandments prohibit such activities and attempts to figure God in some tangible and physical way.
Scripture gives us clear evidence that God does as He pleases with EVERYTHING and in EVERYONE He has created. We see this in passages like, Acts 15:14–15, 18, where it says,
“14 Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. 15 With this, the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written: 18 Says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.”
God both tells of His plans and then executes those plans. God does as He pleases, always.
This independence or sovereignty of God becomes specifically important as we consider the circumstances around God in flesh – the person of Jesus Christ. His life, death and resurrection are of specific interest when in Acts 4:27–28 Luke addresses the circumstances around Jesus’ death. None of it was accidental or unintentional.
“27 For truly in this city, there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.”
From these scriptures about God we can be confident that whatever He has revealed concerning Himself is true, yet, He is still more. A lifetime is not sufficient to fully understand or appreciate this unique being we know as Father and His Son whom He has given to redeem us from our sins. His Holy Spirit gives and is given to each of His redeemed. For each particular soul the Father has given to His Son, the Son has merited, by His work, for Himself their redemption.
Victory over death. Life in abundance. Hope which does not fail. He is coming again.
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