Walking In Knowledge of God

(Ephesians 4:6)

INTRODUCTION:

1. Motivation for walking with God comes through understanding the nature of the God to whom Christians belong (1 Peter 2:9-10).

2. An age-old problem is man s inclination to think of God as if He was fashioned as a men.

a. Men need to know the true nature of God because "the worshipper is conformed in character to the being he worships."

b. Man s idea of God will influence the molding of man s spiritual nature.

c. It is important, therefore, for Christians to have a clear understanding of the true nature of God.

3. Since our text is from the book of Ephesians, we will draw thoughts about the nature of God from this book.

BODY:

I. GOD IS SELF-EXISTENT:

A. Everything was created by God (He was not created) through the Word (John 1:1-2).

B. He is one whose very essence is to exist (if He had not existed, then nothing would have existed).

1. Note: I am that I am (Exodus 3:14).

II THE SELF EXISTENT GOD IS A GOD OF POWER (Ephesians 1:19).

A. He is an Omnipotent Being (He is an all-powerful):

  1. I am the Almighty God (Genesis 17:1).
  2. The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth (Revelation 19:6).

B. God is Almighty in:

1. The created universe (Romans 1:20; Psalms 19:1). Every existent (except God) had a cause (It was never the case that God did not exist).

a. God not only created the physical universe, but also all animals, human beings and all that exists other than Himself (Revelation 10:6; Ecclesiastes 12:1).

b. The book of Genesis is an historical account of God's creation in six literal days (Genesis 1:1). Day is defined in the context: The evening and the morning were the were the first day (Genesis 1:5), so there is no room for millions of years in the days of the Genesis 1.

c. The creation account cannot be separated from the Bible without undermining its foundation concerning the whole Bible, the bed-rock of the plan of redemption, etc.

B. In bringing His Son from tomb of physical death (Ephesians 1:19-20).

C. In bringing the Ephesian saints from spiritual death to life in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5, (Paul called salvation from sin and deliverance into new life a "working of God" (Colossians 2:12).

D. In enabling the faithful Christian to withstand the devil and all kinds of evil (Ephesians 6:10-12).

III THE SELF EXISTENT GOD IS A GOD OF WISDOM (Ephesians 3:10-12).

A. God is an omniscient, all-wise God (Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 2:7).

1. Ephesians 3:10-11 the concept of an eternal plan clearly establishes that God knew that Adam and Eve would sin before He created them (Christ was a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, 1 Peter 1:18-20).

2. Recognizing man's need for an environment in which to develop moral and spiritual character and to have the means to return to Him, God created the most perfect world possible to assist man to this end. Hence, he planned man's life on earth to be a probationary period which ends at the moment of his physical death (2 Corinthians 5:10).

3. In this regard, the church reveals the wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:11). The plan of human redemption developed providentially through the centuries and brought to reality in Christ is marvelous to consider. (Romans 11:33).

IV THE SELF EXISTENT GOD IS A GOD OF GRACE (Ephesians 3:2, 7; 2:8-10)

A. "Grace" means that God has a "friendly disposition from which kindly acts proceed" and that He has toward man a "loving kindness and goodwill" (Vine).

B. Paul s preaching was a "dispensation of the grace of God" (Ephesians 3:2).

1. He was to make known the grace of God, to administer God s grace whereby men are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9).

2. God s "great love" for man prompted Him to show grace toward man, even sinful man (Ephesians 2:7).

V THE SELF EXISTENT GOD IS A GOD "OF WRATH" (Ephesians 5:6).

A. Some might imagine that a God of "great love" and "mercy" could not be a "God of Wrath," but the apostle says differently (Ephesians 5:6).

  1. Men cannot sin against God with impunity (Hebrews 10:26-31).
  2. God s wrath shall be revealed at Judgment day (Romans 2:5).
  3. Those who live and die in sin; those who do not obey the truth will experience the wrath of God (Romans 2:8-9).

4. God's wrath is judicial, not emotional, but it is real wrath!

VI THE SELF EXISTENT GOD IS A GOD OF MERCY (Ephesians 2:4).

A. "Mercy" denotes pity and compassion (Vine).

B. God is said to be the "Father of mercies" (2 Corinthians 1:3).

C. God s great love and His rich grace caused Him to save men through His mercy (Titus 3:5).

CONCLUSION:

1. J. B. Phillips said, "There are undoubtedly professing Christians with childish conceptions of God which could not stand up to the winds of real life for five minutes" (Your God Is too Small).

2. One may have a confused concept of God (as the blind men describing the elephant could perceive only one aspect of the elephant).

3. One needs to understand, as much as possible, all of God s attributes.

4. God is a God of power, love, wisdom, wrath, grace, and mercy.

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