THE SECOND FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLE of Christ is faith toward God.
God is the most awesome and majestic being in the universe. He made us, and he’s the reason we’re alive. Apart from God we have nothing, but in God we have everything. True joy and satisfaction can only come from God.
Knowing God starts with seeing him as he actually is. God is independent of our perceptions of him. He’s an objective reality, not a subjective reality. There is not one god for you, a different god for me, and a different god for a remote tribe halfway around the world. There is only one true God who made the entire world.
God is not whoever someone says that he is. God is who he actually is. This means that not all religions are right. In fact, all religions are wrong except the one that accurately represents God.
People are often wrong about God. Some say God is a rock. Some say he’s an alien who lives on a flying saucer. Others believe God is a white person who wants to kill all black people. There are many false conceptions of God in the world.
Just as humans cannot define God, so human faith does not create God. God exists independently of whether we believe in him or not. Even if no one believed in God, he would still exist.
In order to understand God accurately, our perceptions of God must align with who he actually is. God must reveal himself to us if we are to know him, and that’s why he wrote the Bible.
One and Three
The Bible reveals that there is one God. “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deut. 6:4).
This one Almighty God is revealed eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three persons are one God.
“For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one” (1 John 5:7).
Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all have one name. This common name points to the fact that these three are one God.
The Father is God. He is “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:6).
Jesus is God. We are “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13).
The Holy Spirit is God. “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word Elohim refers to Almighty God. This is a plural word. The use of this plural word refers to God’s unique nature – three in one.
When God made man, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit communicated with each other.
“God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image’” (Gen. 1:26).
There was a discussion within the Godhead about the creation of mankind. In this discussion, God referred to himself with the plural pronoun us.
When God decided to judge humanity at the Tower of Babel, there was a similar discussion within the Godhead. God said, “Go to, let Us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Gen. 11:7). Again, God used the plural pronoun us to describe himself.
One God in three persons may sound like a contradiction, but it’s a fact revealed by the Bible. It’s hard for us to understand, but it shows that God is bigger than we are, and we cannot completely comprehend him.
Quantum physics is hard to understand. It postulates the apparently contradictory notion that one particle can be in two places at once. That doesn’t make sense to our minds, but it’s apparently proven by mathematical formulas. If we can believe apparently contradictory things about a tiny particle, then surely we can believe some of the amazing things that God says about himself.
God is the Creator
This awesome God, who is beyond the limitations of our own minds, is the one who created the world.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).
God created the universe. He made the plants and animals, the molecules and atoms. He created the world by speaking into nothing. The word of God spun all galaxies into existence. Recent research suggests there are over 2 trillion galaxies in the universe – more than grains of sand on the earth. Within each of these galaxies, there are hundreds of billions of stars. “God said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light’” (Gen. 1:3). God spoke, and light came in awesome, majestic measure. There is power in the word of God.
God created invisible spiritual beings like angels. He also created invisible spiritual places like heaven. Everything was created through the power of God’s word.
The world didn’t just happen. Everything didn’t just explode out of nothing at a Big Bang. The theory of the Big Bang not only contradicts the Bible, but it lacks scientific evidence.
All the life-forms we see today were created by God in 4 days after he made the stars, planets, water and land. Life did not spontaneously arise out of some kind of primordial soup. This is scientifically impossible. Evolution is a lie which not only contradicts the Bible, but it also contradicts scientific facts. It takes a lot of faith to believe in the theory of evolution.
Reams of complex information are contained in each living cell. Information does not just randomly appear. It must be created by someone. All this complex information was created by God.
Evidence for God’s Existence
God not only created the universe, but he created the laws of physics and chemistry that govern the universe. These intricate laws regulate the interactions of the tiniest particles and the largest stars. Many of these laws are so complex that chemists and physicists are only now beginning to understand them. Laws don’t just appear. They must be written by someone. God wrote all natural laws, and he enforces them.
The beauty of the creation, from a flower to a mountain sunset, testifies to the reality of God. The evidence for God surrounds us on all sides.
The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. (Rom. 1:20)
The Bible says God is clearly seen through the creation. Atheists have no excuse for not believing in God, and agnostics have no excuse for not knowing if God exists. The creation renders every person alive inexcusable for disbelieving in God. The creation itself shouts out that God is there – that he made the world and that he upholds it until today. The existence of God ought to be an obvious fact for everyone.
Origin of Evil and Satan
The Bible says that everything in heaven and earth was created in 6 days, including the angels.
“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them” (Ex. 20:11a).
On day 6, God said that everything was very good (Gen. 1:31). Up to the 6th day, there was no evil anywhere. Angels had not yet rebelled, and Satan did not yet exist.
Sometime after day 6, one of the most powerful angels in heaven rebelled against God and turned into Satan. He slithered into the Garden of Eden like a snake and convinced Adam and Eve to sin. Sin separated humanity from God and unleashed evil and pain throughout the earth. Satan took over the world.
Blinded by Satan
Many people today don’t believe in God because they are spiritually blinded. “Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:4). The “god of this age” is Satan, and he blinds people to the truth of God.
The co-discoverer of DNA, Francis Crick, was amazed by the complex information contained within its strands. He knew DNA couldn’t have evolved from a primordial soup, and he refused to admit that DNA came from God because he was spiritually blind. So he said that an alien civilization must have sent DNA to earth on a spaceship!
We don’t need to believe in aliens. We need to believe the word of God. Then we can be both spiritually and scientifically accurate.
Characteristics of God
The creation tells us that God is there. The Bible tells us what God is like.
God is a spirit (John 4:24). Spirits are invisible and immaterial. They cannot be seen, touched, or measured. Angels are spirits. Demons are spirits. God created many things, both seen and unseen. He made material places like earth and spiritual places like heaven. Our souls are invisible parts of this spiritual realm too.
God is a Spirit, which means he can’t be discovered with our five senses or measured in a laboratory. But this doesn’t mean God is not real. God is very real, he’s just not comprised of matter. Science can teach us about the material realm, but it can’t teach us about the spiritual realm. In order to understand spiritual things, we need God to teach us.
This is why we need the Bible.
The Bible says that God is perfect. God has no sin, darkness or flaw. “As for God, his way is perfect” (Ps. 18:30).
“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5b).
“God is love” (1 John 4:8b). God’s very nature is love. He is kind and good.
God is omnipotent. He can do all things. “With God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26)
God is omnipresent. He is everywhere.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. (Ps. 139:7-10)
God is omniscient. He sees and knows everything. No secret can be hidden from him.
“For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps” (Job 34:21).
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Prov 15:3).
“Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding is infinite” (Ps 147:5).
God is eternal. “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col. 1:17).
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God” (Ps. 90:2).
God’s Name
God’s name is Yahweh (see Ex. 3:14). Yahweh means I am that I am. God’s name shows that he is the always existing one. He himself is the reason for his existence. He always has existed, and he will always exist. He is, because he is Almighty God.
There are other names for God. The name Adonai means Lord. El Shaddai means Almighty God.
The Son of God
The Father is the first person of the Trinity.
The second person of the Trinity is the Son. The Son of God is named Jesus which means God saves in Hebrew. The name Jesus is the same name as Joshua, the Old Testament leader who brought the Israelites into the Promised Land. Jesus is the one who brings us to heaven, our Promised Land.
Jesus is eternal. From eternity past Jesus was glorified with the Father in the highest heaven. “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col. 1:17).
Jesus is the Word of God. Someone’s word is their communication; it’s what they want to say. Jesus is the communication of God. Through Jesus, God speaks.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2).
Jesus made the world. The Father spoke the world into existence through the Son. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3).
Jesus made the world, and he upholds the universe – “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power…” (Heb. 1:3).
Jesus is God. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).
Jesus is a man. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
2,000 years ago, Jesus came to the world as a man.
“[Jesus] made Himself of no reputation [emptied himself], taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7).
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Jesus left his bright glory behind in heaven and came to earth as a baby. He was conceived by the power of God in the womb of a virgin named Mary.
And the angel answered and said to [Mary], “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of man. He is both God and man at the same time – a perfect union of humanity and divinity.
Jesus is the Messiah. Back in the Garden of Eden, God promised that someday the Seed of the woman would crush Satan’s head.
“And I will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15).
Throughout history, ancient cultures remembered this primeval prophecy and longed for a great king who would someday destroy the terrible snake.
Jesus is that King. He is the Messiah (Christ in Greek) who came to crush the head of Satan, throw him out of the world, and eliminate evil from the earth.
Jesus never sinned. Jesus “committed no sin” (1 Pet. 2:22).
If someone never sins, they don’t need to die. Because Jesus never sinned, he could have lived on the earth forever.
Jesus died on the cross. Even though Jesus never sinned, he died anyway. He died in our place.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).
On the cross, all sins that had ever been committed by anyone from the beginning of the world to the end of time were laid on Jesus. With all these sins on him, Jesus was separated from his Father. That’s why he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46).
God’s wrath came on Jesus because of our sins.
“It pleased the Lord to bruise him” (Isa. 53:10).
Jesus took our place in death. He became a sacrifice to pay our debt to God. We were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:19).
The blood of Christ is eternal. Jesus is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).
The blood of Christ is so powerful that it stands outside of time. It can impact all points of history. All the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were effective because of the eternal effects of the blood of Christ. These sacrifices symbolized Christ’s blood, and they drew their spiritual effectiveness from his blood.
Jesus came to set the creation free from sin and all its evil effects. He came to rescue each one of us personally from sin and restore us back to God.
Jesus resurrected. After dying on the cross and paying the penalty for sin, Christ rose up again. The resurrection proved that Jesus was stronger than all the sins, curses, Satanic power, demons, depression, sorrow, sickness, disease, and death that the world has ever seen or ever will see. The resurrection proves that Jesus defeated all evil.
Faith Connects Us to God
Faith applies the victory of Christ to our lives. It sprinkles the blood of Jesus over us and causes us to experience salvation.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).
Faith connects us to God. When we believe that Jesus sets us free from sin, we are set free. When we believe that Jesus’ blood cleanses us, we are cleansed. When we believe that Jesus died in our place, we are spiritually crucified with Christ. And when we believe that Jesus rose up again to give us victory over sin, we rise up spiritually to live a new life. Faith makes Jesus’ work on the cross effective for us personally.
Righteousness
Through faith in Jesus, we are made righteous. Being made righteous means that we are in right standing with God. We measure up to him. We are clean like he is, and we are accepted by him.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (1 Cor. 5:21).
Jesus took our place in death, so we can take his place in life. He took our sins, so we can take his righteousness. He took our death, so we can take his life.
Born Again
Before trusting in Christ, we were spiritually dead, separated from God. But when we heard the gospel, the good news about how Jesus died in our place, we repented of our sins, believed in Jesus, and were born again.
We have “been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Pet. 1:23).
The power of the word of God makes us spiritually alive to God.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:6-7).
When we were born the first time, we were born physically from our mothers. When we are born a second time, our dead spirits are made alive to God. The Holy Spirit comes inside us, and we have a spiritual heart transplant.
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezek. 36:26).
After we’re born again, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us.
“Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own” (1 Cor. 6:19).
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Pet. 1:3)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
Growing by Faith
When we are born again, we become spiritual babies. At this time it is important for us to stay close to the Father, be in fellowship with mature believers, and keep reading the Bible.
“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2).
We assimilate the word of God as we believe it and obey it.
“The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:17b).
We grow in our spiritual life through faith. All our spiritual progress in the Lord is made by faith as we increasingly believe God’s word. As we keep growing in God, the life of Jesus increasingly replaces our own life.
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)
Part of God’s Family
When we are born again, we get a new family. God becomes our Father, and other Christians becomes our spiritual brothers and sisters. The family of God is a huge spiritual family all over the earth, comprised of everyone who believes in Jesus.
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26).
Jesus revealed the importance of the family of God.
While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matt. 12:46-50)
We need to value the family of God as Jesus values it, and recognize its importance for our own spiritual health. Only together, as a spiritual family, will we be able to fulfill our individual divine purposes.
Faith Accesses God
Faith is the way we access the invisible, spiritual things of God. Faith sees the invisible things of God and believes in those things. It believes in spiritual realities more than visible things, and it turns heavenly reality into earthly reality.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).
Faith is a substantiation of spiritual things. It is the evidence of such things.
“Faith comes by hearing” (Rom. 10:17).
When we hear God speak, faith arises within us to believe that God will do what he said.
Faith is not just an empty hope that something might happen. A desperate quarterback might say, “I’ll just heave the football down the field in faith and hope someone catches it.” But this is not faith. Faith does not try to conjure up something that doesn’t exist, like a Ferrari for example. Biblical faith does not create reality. True faith is based on the already-existing spiritual reality of the word of God. It doesn’t try to bend reality to human desire. It submits the human will to God.
Faith Produces Obedience
Faith steps out on the basis of God’s real word and responds. If we believe God, then we’re going to obey him. We will trust him to bring his word to pass, and we will also trust him with the results of our obedience. In many ways, faith and obedience are synonymous.
Through faith, we become spiritually alive. And through faith we walk with God on the new road that he has laid out before us in his word. As we go forward with God, we take a series of steps in obedience. Each forward step is taken through faith in response to the word of God.
~ Prayer ~
Heavenly Father, I praise you for how awesome you are. There is none like you in heaven or in earth. Thank you for sending your Son to the earth to die for my sins. Jesus paid the penalty for my sins and took them all away. Thank you for the free gift of eternal life! I am now your child! Help me to know you better, and to see you as you truly are. Deliver me from all wrong thoughts about you. Increase my faith so I can become spiritually mature. Whenever I encounter your word, help me believe it and do what it says. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Victory Over False Teachings
- Jesus is Not God. Some churches teach that Jesus is not God – that he is only a man. But the Bible says that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16).
- No Trinity. Some churches believe only the Father is God, some believe only the Son is God, and some believe only the Holy Spirit is God. But the Bible says that each of these three Persons is together one God.
- Theistic Evolution. Some churches believe that God guided evolution over billions of years. But the Bible says death entered into the world through Adam. Therefore all fossils are post-Adam, and billions of years of dying creatures before Adam was impossible.
- Pre-faith Conversion. Some churches believe that Christians are born again before they have faith in Jesus. But the Bible says that we must believe in Jesus in order to be born again. We are saved through faith (Eph. 2:8), not apart from faith.
- New Age Faith. Some churches believe that we just need to believe hard enough and strong enough, keep dreaming and thinking of the future we want, and then whatever we desire will happen. But the Bible says faith must be based on the word of God, not on human desires.
- Word Faith. Some churches teach that we can define reality with our words, and whatever we speak will happen if we just have enough faith. But the Bible says God’s words define the future, not our own words.
- Salvation Without Faith. Some churches believe that people can be saved without the gospel. Some believe that good people will be saved, while others believe that remote tribes who never heard about Jesus will be saved. Others believe that Jews who never believed in Jesus will be saved, or that children of believers will automatically be saved. But the Bible says that apart from faith in Jesus Christ, there is no salvation for anyone.
- Humans are gods. Some churches believe that humans are gods or can become gods. But the Bible says there is only one God, and we are not him.
Foundations Study 2: Faith Towards God
Deuteronomy 6:4
According to this verse, is God singular or plural?
1 John 5:7 (KJV or NKJV), Matthew 28:19, Genesis 1:26, Genesis 11:7
- According to these verses is God singular or plural?
- Does the Bible ever contradict itself?
- How should apparent discrepancies in the Bible be resolved?
The Father is God. (Ephesians 4:6)
Jesus is God. (Titus 2:13)
The Holy Spirit is God. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
- Is it possible for us to understand everything about God?
- Does our inability to understand something in the Bible mean it is not true?
- Is our inability to completely understand God evidence for him or against him?
- If someone doesn’t believe in the Trinity, can he or she be a Christian?
God is Creator. (Genesis 1:1-3)
- How did God create the world?
- Does science contradict the Bible?
- How does the theory of evolution contradict the Bible?
- How does the theory of the Big Bang contradict the Bible?
Romans 1:20
- What does the Creation reveal to everyone about God?
- What does it mean to be without excuse?
- Do you think remote tribes who never heard the gospel are inexcusable for rejecting God?
Psalm 53:1
Why are atheists fools?
2 Corinthians 4:4
- What does it mean that Satan is the god of this age?
- How has Satan blinded the minds of the unbelievers?
Genesis 1:31
- Did God create Satan?
- Did God create evil?
- What kind of beings are Molech, Baal, Ashtoreth, Shiva, Krishna, and Allah?
- Why is it important to understand God as he truly is?
- Is it possible to worship God if we misunderstand him?
- Is it possible to think that we’re worshiping God but not actually be worshiping him?
- What is pantheism? What is polytheism? What is monotheism? Which is right and which is wrong? How do we know?
God is a Spirit. (John 4:24)
- Can God be seen, touched, or measured?
- Is it possible for science to prove God? Why or why not?
God is perfect. (Psalm 18:30)
- Many people in the world worship imperfect gods. Why?
- How does worshiping a false god affect someone?
God is light. (1 John 1:5)
- Have you ever experienced spiritual light or spiritual darkness? What is the difference?
- Where does spiritual light come from?
- Where does spiritual darkness come from?
- How can spiritual darkness be dispelled?
God is love. (1 John 4:8)
- Would it be correct to say that love is God?
- What is different between the world’s conception of love and the love of God?
- Is love compatible with judgment?
God is omnipotent (all-powerful). (Matthew 19:26)
- Can you think of anything that God cannot do?
- Does God work miracles today?
- Have you ever experienced a miracle?
God is omnipresent (everywhere). (Psalm 139:7-10)
Have you ever felt that God left you? (See Hebrews 13:5.)
God is omniscient (knows everything). (Job 34:21, Proverbs 15:3, Psalm 147:5)
- Have you ever tried to keep a secret from God?
- How does confession of sin bring things into spiritual light?
God is eternal (without beginning or end). (Colossians 1:17, Psalm 90:2)
Is Jesus eternal?
Exodus 3:14
- What is God’s name?
- What does God’s name mean?
Jesus is God. (John 1:1-3, Acts 20:28, Colossians 2:9, Philippians 2:6)
Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons claim that Jesus is not God. Are these religions Christian?
What does the name Jesus mean?
Jesus is man. (Philippians 2:7, Luke 1:35, Genesis 3:15, 1 Timothy 2:5)
How does Jesus’ humanity encourage us?
Jesus never sinned. (1 Peter 2:22)
Has anyone else who ever lived been perfect?
Jesus died for our sins. (2 Corinthians 5:21, Matthew 27:46, Isaiah 53:10, 1 Peter 1:19, John 3:16)
Why did the Father forsake Jesus when he was on the cross?
Revelation 13:8
In what way was Jesus slain from before the foundation of the world?
Ephesians 2:8-9
How does faith save us?
Ezekiel 36:26, 1 Peter 1:3, 1 Peter 1:23, John 3:6-7
- Is it possible to be saved without being born again?
- What does it mean to be born again?
- How can a person be born again?
1 Peter 2:2
- How do spiritual babies grow?
- What is spiritual milk? How can someone drink this milk?
2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:20-22
Will Christians sin? Why or why not?
1 Corinthians 6:17, 1 Corinthians 6:19
- What is the function of a temple?
- What should a temple of the Holy Spirit be like?
Romans 1:17, Rom. 10:17, Hebrews 11:1, James 1:22
- What is the difference between the world’s conception of faith and the Bible’s conception of faith?
- How does faith help us grow in Christ after we are born again?
Have you been born again? If so, when?
Bethel Cornerstone 