1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Here we are, new series that we're beginning entitled "Getting to Know you, God" 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,000 "Getting to know you God." And this is the first 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,740 lesson in this short series that we're doing entitled 4 00:00:12,740 --> 00:00:17,000 "Is God a He, She or an It?" 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:22,000 And I do mention that the beginning of this series, I want to recommend a great book 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:28,000 that has a lot of this material in it, a lot of good reference material 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:33,000 entitled "One Holy Hunger" by Mike Cope. A great book 8 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:38,000 that gives a lot of insight and information about knowing God more deeply 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:43,000 and personally. OK let me ask a question To start our lesson with, 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,000 when you're by yourself and you're praying to God 11 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:52,000 do you really know who you're praying to? You know are you 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,000 even sure that someone is there. 13 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:59,000 I've had people say that to me you know when their faith is weak at times or people who are new Christians 14 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:04,000 or people who are not even Christians, they're saying, "well when I'm praying I 15 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:09,000 am not even sure that somebody is listening to me." Do you find that 16 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:15,000 you're doing all the talking and when you stop there's a kind of a dead silence there? Wouldn't it be nice if 17 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:21,120 God would say, "OK I hear you, keep talking." But you don't hear that. 18 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,000 Some people that disturbs them the idea that 19 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,000 they're you know praying to God and then there's just silence. 20 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:28,900 They don't hear anything. 21 00:01:28,900 --> 00:01:33,000 They have to by faith understand that He's hearing them 22 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,600 and He understands what they're saying. 23 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,520 Some people think that they're just talking to themselves. 24 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:45,000 I've heard people say that even about prayer, "ah prayer, that's just you talking to yourself 25 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:50,000 or talking to somebody you hope that's their." Well of course 26 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:55,000 we know that children don't have these types of faith issues about knowing 27 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:00,000 if God is there or not they don't have this problem when they pray because their 28 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:06,000 faith is so simple it's so straightforward that they don't have these kinds of doubts. 29 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:11,000 I would imagine this is one of the reasons why Jesus said that our faith has to be like like 30 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,980 children we have to become like children, not immature like small children but 31 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,000 immature in evil of course but also simple in our faith and our 32 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,000 trust that God is there and He hears. 33 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:29,000 There have been some books published that provide examples of children's prayer that 34 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,000 demonstrate how simple they are and how basic their 35 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:38,000 trust in that God is is really listening and so this fellow 36 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:43,000 published a book of prayers that were sent in by 37 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:44,740 parents so I have a couple here. 38 00:02:44,740 --> 00:02:49,000 One of them says this: Dear God thank you for my baby brother but what I 39 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,900 prayed for was a puppy, signed Joyce. 40 00:02:53,900 --> 00:02:57,000 Another great example of a child's prayer: 41 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:02,000 Dear God I would like to know why all the things you said are printed in red, 42 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,000 signed Joanne. 43 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:10,000 One more it says: Dear God maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much 44 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,000 if they had their own rooms. 45 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,000 It works for me and my brother, signed Larry. 46 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,000 So a couple of examples of children and their simple 47 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:27,000 trust in God, knowing that He's there and He's listening to what they say. 48 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:32,000 Because children see God as father and they see Him as good 49 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:37,000 and they're content to approach Him in a simple and confident manner. So it's sad that as we grow 50 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:42,000 older and here's my point it's sad that as we grow older our view of God 51 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:47,000 changes and we begin to have false ideas about Him and those false 52 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,000 ideas about Him interfere, 53 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,000 well among other things, interfere with our with our prayer life. 54 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:59,000 So in this and the next few 55 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:03,000 lessons that I'm going to do, I want us to kind of get a 56 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:08,000 grip on who God really is. In other words I want us to have a better 57 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:13,000 understanding of who He is and what Ge desires from us. 58 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:17,000 Hence the title, "Getting to Know you God." Hopefully we're going to be able 59 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:22,000 to destroy false images that we have of Him and know Him more 60 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:27,000 for who He really is. So if we succeed it'll accomplish a 61 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:32,000 couple of things for us. First of all we will increase our 62 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:38,000 personal joy and peace because knowing God better 63 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:43,920 is the essence of the experience of eternal life. 64 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:48,000 What did Jesus say? "And this is eternal life that you 65 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:54,900 shall know God and His Son Jesus Christ ." (John 17:3) 66 00:04:54,900 --> 00:04:57,000 The idea that eternal life, the 67 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:02,000 experience of eternal life, is the ongoing process 68 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:07,000 of knowing God intimately and we don't have to wait till we get 69 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:12,000 to heaven to begin that process we begin that process here on earth. 70 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:17,000 Also if we get to know God better, we will have greater confidence 71 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,000 in facing death and all of the complications and difficulties that 72 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:26,000 surround dying. The more I know my God the less 73 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:32,000 I am afraid of what the world can do to me. 74 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,000 If we read in Romans Chapter 8 what Paul 75 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:41,000 says this type of confidence that he has and he writes with this type of 76 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:46,000 confidence because Paul was a man who knew God intimately so he writes in 77 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:52,000 Romans Chapter 8 verse 38 and 39 he says, For I am convinced 78 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:57,000 that neither death nor life nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor 79 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:02,000 things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing 80 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:06,000 will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in 81 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,800 Christ Jesus our Lord." 82 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:16,000 This is a man who has a lot of confidence in God. A man who 83 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:21,000 truly knows God and because of that can write these type of 84 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:26,000 words to those who are many 85 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:31,000 times fearing death, to those who don't know God very well. 86 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:36,000 We have to you know get to know God more intimately to have this kind of 87 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:41,000 confidence and then one other thing in knowing God more perfectly, 88 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:48,000 We will have a more effective prayer life, 89 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:53,000 as we grow in the knowledge of the One that we pray to, 90 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:58,000 our boldness and prayer will increase and our faith that He hears and 91 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,000 responds will increase as well. And the outcome will increase. 92 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:07,000 Right. What does James say? "The prayer offered in faith 93 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:13,000 will restore the one who is sick." - James 5:50. 94 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:18,000 A strong faith is required for strong results. 95 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,200 So the way to build faith is to get to know God more perfectly. 96 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:27,000 The God of the Bible. So the prayer and faith is the prayer offered in belief that God is 97 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:33,840 there and that God hears and God is able to answer and has answered in the past. 98 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:38,000 And this faith comes as we grow in our knowledge of the One 99 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,000 that we pray to. All right one of the more recent 100 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:48,000 questions about God and who He is, is the following: 101 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:54,000 Is God a He or a She or an It? I don't think we asked that question here. 102 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:58,000 Now I know I'm kind of preaching to the faithful, 103 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:03,000 but this is a question that comes up with individuals who are 104 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:11,000 not as familiar with the Bible as perhaps this particular class is familiar. 105 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,000 We know that recently there have been efforts to eliminate all the gender related 106 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:20,000 references to God in the Bible. This was a reaction to 107 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:27,360 the seemingly patriarchal nature of the Bible and male dominated imagery. 108 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,000 Some feminists and other groups went 109 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,000 even as far as to suggest that we should refer to God as a she in order to 110 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:40,000 redress the imbalance of the last 2000 years. And so you have 111 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:44,000 Bibles that don't refer to God as a he refer to God isn't 112 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:49,000 It or to a power or even they mix 113 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:54,000 it sometimes they refer to God as He is sometimes they refer to God as She, 114 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,000 sometimes used the term Mother God, Father God, to 115 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:03,000 try to blend together you know a homogeneous God 116 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:09,000 that includes maleness and femaleness and so on and so forth. 117 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:13,000 Of course this is politically correct thinking and this 118 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:18,000 politically correct posturing doesn't take into account that 119 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:23,000 references to God in the Bible are metaphors. I mean they refer 120 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:27,000 to Peter as he. That's not a metaphor. The 121 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:32,000 Bible refers to Peter as he because Peter was a man. 122 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:37,000 But when the Bible refers to God as "He," that's a metaphor. 123 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:42,000 Whether you're male or female references makes no difference, they're still metaphors that only 124 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:47,000 describe through imagery part of God's character. 125 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:52,580 So the simple truth is that God is neither male nor female. 126 00:09:52,580 --> 00:09:57,000 God is pure spirit and is thus 127 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,000 not human let alone man human or woman human. 128 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:06,000 John 4:24 says God is Spirit. Jesus himself says this, 129 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:12,940 God is Spirit. And therein lies the problem of knowing God. 130 00:10:12,940 --> 00:10:22,040 You see, if He were human, well then we could more easily relate to Him. 131 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:25,000 But because His nature is completely different 132 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:30,000 from ours, we have difficulty in knowing Him. The Greeks, they 133 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:35,000 had their gods, they had their panoply of gods but their gods were like half 134 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:40,000 human and half divine and they had human characteristics, they wept, they were jealous, 135 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:45,000 they got married, they cheated, that type of thing but the 136 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:51,000 God of the Bible is not human in any way. 137 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:57,000 And so we can't attribute to the God of the Bible 138 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:02,000 human characteristics. He's not like us. 139 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:08,000 We may be like Him in many ways but He's not like us. You see what I'm saying? 140 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:13,000 So because we have this problem in relating to a spirit 141 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:18,000 that is completely different than ourselves, God solves this 142 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:23,000 problem by revealing Himself in terms and images that are 143 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:27,000 taken from our frame of reference and not His frame of reference or not 144 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:32,000 exclusively His frame of reference For example, it wouldn't help 145 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:37,000 us to know God more deeply if He said, "Well 146 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:42,000 in many ways He's like the angels." But if that's the only information we had about God, 147 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:46,000 "well if you want to know what God is like, well He's like the angels." 148 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:52,560 Well Angels are spirits also but they're different in many ways from God. 149 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:56,000 However we can't relate to angels either because they are 150 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:01,000 spirit beings and we're human beings. And so using them 151 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:06,000 and only them as a reference would not be very helpful to us. 152 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:11,000 So what God does is He selects people and things that belong to our 153 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:16,000 world and our nature to try and describe what exists 154 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:20,500 in another world, in another dimension, in another nature. 155 00:12:20,500 --> 00:12:22,000 OK? 156 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:27,000 Now the danger from man has always been that he worshiped and served the 157 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:32,920 creature rather than the Creator. That's what Paul says in Romans 1:25. 158 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:36,000 So we have to be careful of that. 159 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:41,000 In other words man has made a god out of the things that 160 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:46,000 represent or give us insight into God's nature. 161 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:51,000 So in today's society we are doing the reverse. We're trying to eliminate or replace 162 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:56,000 these things are images that the Bible uses to describe God and 163 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:01,000 we're replacing them or trying to replace them with symbols that suit us 164 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:07,000 better or fulfill our political or humanistic agenda. 165 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:12,000 In other words, we're not using what the Bible gives us to describe 166 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:17,000 God, we (not we you and I) but in the world we're trying to 167 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,000 do away with these type of symbols and metaphors and we want to use our own symbols and 168 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:26,000 metaphors to describe God, so that He'll fit 169 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:30,000 more with my politically correct thinking. So I'm going to 170 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,000 call God a She half the time and then I'm going to call God 171 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:40,000 He half the time contrary to what the Bible does. Because calling God a 172 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:45,000 God "He" has the time in calling him a she half the time, that fits more with 173 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,000 my thinking about fairness between the sexes. 174 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,000 See what I'm saying? 175 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:56,000 The answer of course is to realize that God, He's the one that not 176 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:00,000 only chose to reveal Himself to man but 177 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:06,000 also the manner in which He would do so. 178 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:12,000 So let's read Hebrews 1 verses 1 and 2 and 179 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:17,000 think of this. These verses now in the context of what we're talking about this 180 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:22,000 morning. So it says, "God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the 181 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,000 prophets and in many portions and in many ways." So let's stop there 182 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,000 for a second. So what is the Hebrew writer here saying? That God did reveal 183 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:37,000 himself spoke to the fathers who are the fathers of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, these people 184 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:42,000 the fathers and He spoke to the prophets 185 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:46,000 but he says in many portions and in many ways. He revealed himself in a 186 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:51,000 variety of ways, to Moses in the burning bush, to Isaiah 187 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:56,000 the voice, the inspiration 188 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:01,000 to others with images, to the Israelites 189 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:05,000 fire/thunder/lightning on the mountain. He revealed 190 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:11,000 Himself in the ways that He chose to reveal Himself 191 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,000 to man selecting the way and the manner and the portion that was 192 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:20,000 suitable for the individuals of the time and suitable to the thing that 193 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:25,000 He wanted to share with them. When He reveals Himself to 194 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:30,000 Moses as the burning bush, the Bush that's burning but doesn't 195 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:35,300 burn away, if you know what I'm saying. Trying to get across to Moses that He is the eternal One. 196 00:15:35,300 --> 00:15:39,000 "I Am the bush that doesn't 197 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:44,000 burn up, always constant." That's the 198 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:49,000 image, that's the way that He reveals Himself to Moses. Why? 199 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:53,000 For the purpose of teaching Moses more about who He is. That's why He didn't reveal Himself to 200 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:58,000 Moses in a dream. So that Moses wouldn't be saying to himself, "Well maybe that 201 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:03,000 was just a dream." See what I'm saying? So God chooses the way to reveal 202 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:08,000 Himself to different individuals in order to teach them something about 203 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:13,000 Himself. So that's why many ways, many portions. So the writer says, 204 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:18,000 "In these last days has spoken to us in His 205 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:23,320 Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world." 206 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:28,000 So now, not through signs in the skies, not through dividing 207 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:33,480 the sea and so on and so forth, this is not how God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. 208 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:38,000 Now He says in these last days, we're in the last days, 209 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:42,580 He's chosen to reveal Himself through Jesus Christ. 210 00:16:42,580 --> 00:16:48,000 That's how he wants us to know Him through Jesus Christ. 211 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:49,000 OK? 212 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:54,000 So we don't have, the point I'm going to make here is this, we don't have a right to 213 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:59,000 change even the images. Because the Bible 214 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:04,000 says God is the one that chooses to reveal Himself in various ways, metaphors, 215 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:08,000 miracles, Jesus Christ. 216 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:13,000 He has a right to change the way that He reveals himself for his own purposes. 217 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:18,000 But we don't have a right to change the images and the ways, 218 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:23,000 that's the point I'm making here. So from the burning bush and Moses 219 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,000 time to the person of Jesus in the New Testament, 220 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:32,000 God has revealed Himself using many different forms. 221 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:37,000 Our task is not to elevate one form over the other but 222 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:44,200 to bring all of these forms together so that we can better know the spirit we call God. 223 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:52,000 That's how we get to know God. Let's look at the ways in the Bible, let's look at the ways He's 224 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:57,000 revealed Himself and see from the ways He's revealed Himself, how we can 225 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:02,000 better know Him and that's what this short series is about. 226 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:08,000 So let's talk about God as a thing. 227 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:13,000 Remember we said is that a he or she you are in it. So let's start with it. 228 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:18,000 From the beginning God has used a variety of 229 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:23,000 inanimate objects, "It's" if you wish, to demonstrate 230 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:28,000 facets of His character. For example, in Exodus chapter 3:2 231 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:34,000 as I mentioned before, a burning bush that that was not destroyed. 232 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:38,000 Why? Why this way to reveal Himself? Well to 233 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:43,000 demonstrate the internal and powerful nature of God to Moses. 234 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:47,000 Because in Moses's ministry, God would 235 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:52,000 eventually send him to do other great miracles. 236 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:58,000 And so He begins by demonstrating His power, the burning bush. 237 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:04,000 if God can be the burning bush then God can divide the sea and so on and so forth. OK? 238 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:10,000 In Psalm 28:7, it says "The Lord is my strength and my shield." 239 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:15,000 Now here the Lord is depicted as a shield. In this and many other 240 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:21,340 passages God is seen as a shield to demonstrate His protective nature. 241 00:19:23,460 --> 00:19:29,000 In Deuteronomy 3:47 it says "the rock." His work is perfect. 242 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:34,000 The metaphor for God here is as a stone a rock not a little throwing stone 243 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:40,000 but a rock, a boulder. What does that say about God? 244 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:45,000 Well God is stable, foundational, unmoveable. 245 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,000 Of course these images have limitations but within context they 246 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:54,000 describe quite graphically certain dimensions of God so we can relate to 247 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:59,000 Him viscerally. Not just intellectually but 248 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:05,000 viscerally. I see the huge boulder. I see the huge rock 249 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:10,000 and I say, "God is my rock." I can feel the strength and the 250 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:15,000 power of that if I tap on it. I can't move it. 251 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:22,000 So I can relate to this image here viscerally, emotionally. 252 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:28,000 So this is one of the reasons that certain 253 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:34,000 metaphors use objects to describe God. 254 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:40,220 So knowing God is not just a head knowledge, it's gut knowledge as well. 255 00:20:40,220 --> 00:20:44,000 And these images help us to know God from the 256 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:51,160 guts from the inside. That helps us to know him emotionally as well as intellectually. 257 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,000 And of course these metaphors they 258 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:59,000 have limitations don't they? No one example, no one thing, no 259 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:06,000 one metaphor, can capture all of what God is, impossible. 260 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,000 Impossible but they do give us 261 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:15,000 ideas or insights into parts of 262 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:20,000 His character parts, of His personality. And it's left to us, 263 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:25,000 We have an intellect, we have a brain. It's up to us to put these things together 264 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:30,400 to begin to make a more complete image. 265 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:35,260 So that's God is a thing. Let's take a look at God as a women. 266 00:21:35,260 --> 00:21:39,000 The idea that God is represented as female in the Bible is 267 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:44,000 not unheard of. There are examples of it. So the idea of God as a 268 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:49,000 woman makes people feel uncomfortable because the majority of references to God 269 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:54,000 in the Bible speak of Him as male but not exclusive not all of them 270 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:59,000 refer to him as male. There are many references in the Bible to God 271 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:03,000 as a mother for example in Ezekiel 19:2 272 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:08,000 it says or Ezekiel says, "What was your 273 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:12,000 mother, a lioness among lions.?" 274 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:20,700 Here God is compared to a fierce and protective lioness in giving birth to Israel. 275 00:22:20,700 --> 00:22:27,000 And so the imagery of God here is female not male. 276 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:32,000 In Isaiah 66:7 it says, "Before she goes into labor, she gives birth." 277 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:38,320 Here God compared to a human female at the point of giving birth. 278 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:43,600 And it goes on to say in this passage that the child Israel was born. 279 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:48,760 In other words conceived and carried and delivered in a single day. 280 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,000 A kind of a super human woman if you wish. 281 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:56,000 But nevertheless the imagery of God is female. 282 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:01,000 In Matthew 23:37, what does Jesus say in reference to the people 283 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:06,000 and of Jerusalem? He says, "How often I wanted to gather your children together the 284 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:11,000 way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings." 285 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:16,000 Here the protective nature of a hen is compared to God's protective 286 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:21,000 nature towards his children. Again the imagery of God here 287 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:25,000 female in nature. So the use of female imagery is used 288 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:31,700 throughout the Bible to describe various aspects of God's character and nature. 289 00:23:31,700 --> 00:23:35,000 What better way to convey protectiveness and 290 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:40,000 tenderness and compassion then through the figure of a woman 291 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:45,000 and a mother. And so be careful when you make arguments, 292 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:50,000 "we can only refer to God as a man because it's 293 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:55,000 blasphemy." No. The Bible has many images 294 00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:00,800 referring to God not not necessarily as a quote woman but the feminine nature. 295 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:05,000 Know how you say a man you've got to get in touch with your feminine side. 296 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:10,000 And what's the feminine side usually when you talk about your own nature, men, you're talking about 297 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:15,000 well that side that's more tender more loving and I'm saying that's usually 298 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:20,000 that's the feminine side. Well the Bible is talking about God's 299 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:24,040 features of His character that reflect more of the feminine 300 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,940 nature if you will. And that's fine. 301 00:24:27,940 --> 00:24:32,300 Let's talk about God as a man. 302 00:24:32,300 --> 00:24:35,000 Even though there are more metaphors in the Bible 303 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:42,000 showing God as a man, we need to remember that this does not mean that he's human. 304 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:47,000 It does not prove or teach 305 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:52,000 that God is a male, human either. Because God 306 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:57,000 is neither male nor female. He's a spirit. 307 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:02,000 Some say that this use of male imagery was done because men are the one who wrote 308 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:07,000 the Bible and they were prejudice and this of course is not so. 309 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:13,000 In second Peter 1:20, 310 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:18,640 Peter writes, "No prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own as a man." 311 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:22,000 In other words it's, 312 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:28,000 he goes on to say, "but men moved by the Spirit." 313 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:33,000 And so what's in the Bible is inspired, it's God breathed. God is the one that 314 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:38,540 gave to those who wrote the Bible the information to record. 315 00:25:38,540 --> 00:25:42,000 The images and the metaphor they belong 316 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:47,000 to God not man. A man is not the one who decided I'm never 317 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:52,000 going to use female imagery for God because I think God is more is 318 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:57,000 more like a man. No. Human beings did not make the 319 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:02,000 decision as to what would be contained in the Bible. 320 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:06,560 That's what Peter is saying here. Men were moved by the Spirit. 321 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:11,000 It's the spirit of God that gave to men what they were to write and when it comes to 322 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:16,000 metaphors, whatever metaphor they use, whether it was an it a she or a he 323 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:21,000 this was given to man by the Spirit of God. 324 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:28,000 Some say that this use of male imagery was done because as I say men wrote it. 325 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:37,000 But the images and the material come from God not man. 326 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:43,000 The major idea beginning in the Old Testament is that of God as Father actually. 327 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:48,000 And the term father used in the Old Testament means chief or source 328 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:53,000 or nourisher and in Hosea 11:1 it says, 329 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:58,000 "Out of Egypt I called my Son." Out of Egypt 330 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:03,000 I called my Son. There's the father. The Jews refer to God as 331 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:07,000 Father and Lord or Father and King, but it was Jesus who developed the 332 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:12,000 idea of God as Dad or Daddy. 333 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:20,820 In John (the Gospel of John), Jesus refers to God simply as Father or parent over 100 times. 334 00:27:20,820 --> 00:27:28,000 Paul the Apostle repeats this beautiful and comforting imagery in Romans 8:15-17, 335 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:32,000 where he refers to God as ABBA or father 336 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,600 or daddy actually, a more intimate term. 337 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:42,000 The metaphor of father suggests one who is chief but also one who is provider 338 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:48,000 and sustainer, leader, protector, comforter teacher and friend. 339 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:53,000 God is not a man but from the male nature God has 340 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,000 drawn some inherent characteristics in order to convey yet another 341 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:02,000 aspect of His complex person for us to know and to draw 342 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,000 comfort from. He's teaching us about 343 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:11,000 Himself using us, because we understand us. 344 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:16,000 We understand us as males, us as females, and we also understand that 345 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,000 it's in our surroundings. And so God 346 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:26,000 uses all of these sources in order to help us relate to Him 347 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:31,000 who is a pure spirit. We can refer to God as a He, 348 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:36,000 not because God is male or not because God prefers males 349 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:41,000 but because Jesus chose to confirm the Old Testament reference to God 350 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:46,000 as such and laid down for us a way of referring and interacting 351 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:52,000 with God which was proper and accurate according to God's will 352 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:57,000 If Jesus refers to God as Father 353 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:02,000 a hundred times and never one time as mother then 354 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:07,000 I can feel quite comfortable in referring to God as Father myself without 355 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:12,000 feeling guilty or insensitive to 356 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:16,000 my sisters in Christ's feelings and 357 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:21,000 faithful women of God can refer to God as Father without 358 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:27,000 feeling they're betraying their own sexuality. Why? Because their Lord and my Lord 359 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:33,000 has referred to God as Father numerous times. We can follow His lead. 360 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:38,000 I can call God my Father because Jesus called God His Father 361 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:44,000 and this is why I don't refer to God as "it" 362 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,000 or as "she." As I've demonstrated, there 363 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:53,000 are times where God is used as 364 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:58,000 metaphors using objects to describe His character, 365 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:03,000 using the female nature or women or mothers to describe part of 366 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:08,000 His character, so it's not unheard of in the Bible that 367 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:13,000 God uses a variety of ways to describe Himself. But I based 368 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:17,000 the way that I refer to God on the way that 369 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:22,000 Jesus my Lord refers to God. And He refers to 370 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:27,000 God as "Father" and so I follow in His 371 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:32,000 lead and I call God "Father." 372 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:37,000 This is the reason that I do it. This is the reason that we do it. This is the reason that the church 373 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:42,000 has done it from the very beginning. Of course 374 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:47,000 the most complete revelation of God comes not through an image or a 375 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:51,000 metaphor but rather through a person. 376 00:30:51,000 --> 00:31:00,000 In Colossians 1:15, Paul writes, 377 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:07,820 "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." 378 00:31:07,820 --> 00:31:15,000 And so in Jesus Christ of all the imagery of the Bible finds its 379 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:18,860 expression in a person. 380 00:31:18,860 --> 00:31:25,000 All the "it" and "he" and "she" images 381 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:31,000 in the Old Testament, all of these things come together in one person. 382 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:35,000 In the New Testament in Jesus Christ. 383 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:40,000 So the protectiveness of the lioness and the tenderness of a mother and the strength of a 384 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:45,000 father and the solidity of a rock and so on and so forth these and all other metaphors 385 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:50,000 are now expressed completely in Jesus Christ. It is 386 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:55,000 summarized in a male because a male was the first created 387 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:00,000 and the male will be the one through whom the second creation comes. 388 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:06,000 That's what part of Paul says in Romans 5:19 he says, 389 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:11,000 "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, 390 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:16,000 even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. 391 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:21,000 The first man Adam, he fell and then the 392 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:26,000 one like Adam, the first one, that was resurrected Jesus, 393 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:31,000 He's the one that raises up those who fail because of Adam's sin. 394 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:36,000 More importantly the full nature of God is represented in human form because 395 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,000 humans are made in the image and the likeness of God. 396 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:45,000 Animals are not, objects are not. 397 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:50,000 And so we come back to the original question. 398 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:56,000 Who are we praying to? A he, she or it? Who are we praying to? 399 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:01,000 And the answer is, you're praying to someone who is not human 400 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:06,000 but can relate to human need and human emotion because He took on a 401 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:11,000 human nature and experienced life as we know it 402 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:16,000 and then return to the spiritual dimension and position from which He came. 403 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:25,000 That's who God is. You see him in Jesus. So what does this mean for me? 404 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:30,000 Well first of all, it means that God can relate to me. 405 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:35,000 He can feel what I feel and thus understand all 406 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:39,000 of our concerns and joys and fears. We're not wasting our time 407 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:44,000 expressing ourselves. Because He can relate. It's hard for 408 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:50,000 us to relate to Him. He is so much more than we are. 409 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:55,000 We cannot you know take it all in but He can relate to 410 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:00,000 us because Jesus Christ took on 411 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:05,000 the limiting nature of a human being, the 412 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:09,000 limiting nature of a human being and 413 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:14,000 experienced the limiting nature of a 414 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:19,000 human of a human being unto death. 415 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:24,000 So everything from our birth to our death that we 416 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,000 raise up to him in prayer, 417 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:32,000 He can relate to because He was born and He ultimately died. 418 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:37,000 And He can relate to every experience 419 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:41,000 between these two points in anyone's life. 420 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,000 So I'm not wasting my time 421 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:48,000 when I laid before Him my problems about finding a job or my 422 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:52,000 sore back or my mother's sick or I have to bury my husband or whatever 423 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:58,000 prayer goes up to Him, He can relate to all these things. 424 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:03,000 Secondly, it means that God does care 425 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:08,000 His intimate involvement with man throughout history even to 426 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:12,000 the point of becoming human Himself for a while demonstrates that He 427 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:19,000 does care and He does hear our prayer. Why would He do such a thing? 428 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:29,000 Why would He experience such a thing? Why would He change His nature 429 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:36,000 to experience human living? Why would He do that? 430 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,000 If He didn't care. 431 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:45,000 And so it teaches us that we have a sympathetic and eager ear 432 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,000 when we pray. 433 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:54,000 And then thirdly it means that God wants to help. 434 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:59,000 The Bible shows how God is zealous for His people. 435 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:04,000 How He is eager for sinners 436 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:08,000 to come back and anxious to punish the evil ones, 437 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:13,000 especially those who hurt Christians. So we have hope that our 438 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:20,000 prayers will be answered and not grudgingly. See what I'm saying? 439 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:24,000 You're not there praying, "Oh God please please" and (He's like) "I don't feel 440 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:29,000 like it now. OK fine. You can have it all right. I'll say I'll get you a new job." 441 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:35,000 That's not God. The Bible says that God loves 442 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:40,000 a cheerful giver. He loves a cheerful giver. Have you ever stopped to 443 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:45,000 think for a moment if God loves a cheerful giver, it must 444 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:50,000 mean that He Himself is a cheerful giver and He 445 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:55,520 loves when we're like that, why? Because that's how He is. He's not a cheapskate. 446 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:59,000 He doesn't give grudgingly. He's not upset if 447 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:04,000 we prosper. He is a cheerful giver. 448 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:09,000 He loves to give. He wants to give. He is anxious to give 449 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:14,000 us things and has prepared incredibly marvelous 450 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:19,720 and wonderful gifts for us in the spiritual dimension. 451 00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:24,000 So He's a cheerful giver and he wants to help. 452 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:29,000 When we make our invitation, when we talk to people during the 453 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:34,000 sermons or different times, we invite people to be baptized or be restored, 454 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:39,000 let's remember that this is the God that people are coming 455 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:45,000 to when they come forward. To confess their faith or to ask for restoration 456 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:52,000 they're not come into a "he" or a "she" or an "it" but a spirit, 457 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:57,000 a spirit who is able to understand as well as answer 458 00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:02,000 all of our prayers because He can relate and He does care 459 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:07,000 and He does want to help. So that's the first lesson 460 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:12,000 in our series, "Getting to Know you, God." Hopefully answering the 461 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:17,000 question is God a he or she or an it. Well He's none of those things. He's a spirit 462 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:23,000 but He uses metaphors and images from "he," "she" and "it" in order 463 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:28,000 to describe His nature and we use 464 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:34,000 the male pronoun "He" in referring to God 465 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:39,000 because Jesus uses that "He." He's given us that way to refer 466 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:44,000 to the Father to God. All right. And not because God is a male not because 467 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:48,000 God loves males more than He loves women but this is the way that 468 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:53,000 the Son Jesus, I mean God could have sent. Think about it. 469 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:58,000 God could have sent a woman I mean He could have chosen a woman to be the One but He 470 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:04,000 didn't. He chose the Son to come as a as a male. 471 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:09,000 All right. So we called God a He because Jesus called God a He in the Bible of 472 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:13,000 course supports that idea all the way through. We use that 473 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:18,000 metaphor and that imagery because that's the imagery that the Bible 474 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:23,000 gives us and the Bible uses that imagery because God is the One Who gave that 475 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:27,000 imagery to those who wrote the Bible because the Bible is inspired by God. 476 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:32,000 Just a little summary there of our first lesson. We'll move on with this 477 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:36,540 in the weeks to come. Thank you for your attention.