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Faith: Complete 
confidence or trust.
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Tangible: Perceptible
to the senses, 
touchable.
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Omnipresent: 
present everywhere 
at  once..
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Omnipotent: 
Unlimited in power
or authority..
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Emanation:
Issuing forth from
a source.
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Elohim: 
Representatives of 
God;  Angels.
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Utopian: Any place of
ideal perfection..

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Potentate: a leader
wielding great power.
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Trinity: A primarily
Western religion
belief that God,
Jesus and the
Holy spirit are one
physical being..
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As children we are most often taught strong religious beliefs, whether those are Christian, pagan or others, but little actual faith in God. There is a distinction between belief in a set of propositions and a faith which enables us to put our trust in them. As children it is easier for us to believe in tangible things. These are a more potent reality than God because they are something that we can grasp physically or imaginatively. God, on the other hand, is a somewhat shadowy figure, defined in intellectual abstractions rather than imagery. To define God as we know Him is a daunting task. But with careful examination of the Bible and general understanding of the history as presented in the Bible, we can gain valuable insight as to the character and essence of God. But it is only through faith that we can truly begin to understand.

According to the Bible, There is only one God. He predates the Earth and everything on it. He is immortal, eternal, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. God dwells in Heaven, from where His Spirit or Power radiates and fills the heavens and Earth. The Spirit or power of God is inseparable from God much as the sun rays are inseparable from the sun itself. It is an emanation.

Man was created by the angels (Elohim) at the command of God. We were created in the image of the Elohim and not in the image of God, as God has no image. This is why the Bible states "let us make man in our image" Gen 2:26. In the next verse we see that the text has been added to in the Bible. This was often done by scribes to clarify a statement by the original authors. In the King James version of the Bible, these additions are in italicized text to separate them from the original material. The texts reads "So God created man in his image". The word "own" was added at a later date.

In the beginning, we were closer to God. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve had a personal relationship with God. They spoke directly to him, and He, through various angels, spoke directly to them. We had an understanding and a fear or awe of God. Adam and Eve knew the rules and were expected to follow them. In turn they were granted life in the Garden. This was a utopian existence for Adam and Eve. No work, no personal commitments, no struggle to survive. They were handed everything they needed for survival. Through sin, man has fallen away from that personal relationship with God. When Adam and Eve were cast from the Garden because of sin, this was the start of our turning away from God and the Truth. Thus, this was the day death entered the Human race. Left to our own devices, we are nothing more than common animals, desiring to fulfill only our own needs. And outside the Garden this is what man did, fulfilled his own needs and desires.

Even one generation after Adam the Bible gives us evidence that we had fallen away from God to the point that we no longer knew what was acceptable to Him. The story of Cain and Able, which we will discuss in greater detail in further lessons, tells us that Cain's sacrifice was unacceptable to the Lord. Just one generation from the Garden and already God's will is unknown to him. Ten generations later, we find Noah, who was perfect in his generations and walked with God. But the rest of the world seemed not to. In later chapters we find Abraham whose father was a worshiper of the god Baal. Through his fathers, Abraham also had been in danger of forgetting the Face of God. When God first appeared to Moses, He was forced to explain himself several times. Assuring him that He was the God of his fathers. And so on through history, we kept falling further and further from God even though He periodically reminded us of His plan and our purpose with the likes of floods, prophets, and even Christ Himself.

And isn't it sad that we, who have the Bible, God's own word, have fallen furthest from Him. Most scholars agree a written language did not appear until roughly the time of Moses. This coincides with the consensus that the first five books of the Bible were written by his hand. Throughout our existence God has not changed. Only our perception of Him has changed. As we said in the previous lesson, the Bible is the only manifestation we have of the Word of God. Therefore we must look to it to help explain the nature of God.

What does the Bible say about God?

God dwells in Heaven, from where His Spirit or Power radiates and fills the heavens and Earth, even as the sun's rays shine forth. He is immortal, eternal, the Creator, Sustainer and Father, as well as being omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.

I Timothy 1:17 "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever".

I Timothy 6:15-16 "He (Jesus) shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings and the Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting".

Because He is righteous, He forgives and shows goodness, grace, and mercy to those who repent and love Him, but He will punish those who refuse to obey Him.

Exodus 34:5-7 "And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him (Moses) there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving inequity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the inequity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and to the fourth generation".

Romans 11:22 "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also shall be cut off".

God is one, therefore the doctrine of the "Trinity" is not Biblically founded.

Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord".

Ephesians 4:4-6 "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all".

I Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and Men: the man Christ Jesus".

I Corinthians 15:28 "And when all things shall be subdued unto Him (Christ), then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all".

Because God is one, He is consistent in all His ways which are in accordance with His character. As there is only one God, we must love him with all of our heart.

Matthew 22:36-40 "Master, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself".

God has physically revealed Himself to man in many ways, including the use of angels, clouds, dreams, visions, natural phenomena, and through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Genesis 19:1 "And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground".

Exodus 16:10 "And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the Glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud".

Genesis 20:3 "But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou has taken; for she is a man's wife".

Genesis 15:1 "After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying Fear not Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward".

Exodus 3:4 "And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the {Burning} bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I".

John 14:9 " Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

According to the Bible, God is kind, yet inflexible in the requirements of His law. He is loving and compassionate, yet as terrible as a destroying fire against the rebellious and the guilty. He is forgiving towards our offenses, yet jealous of the dignity, the glory and supremacy of His name. He is holy, and cannot look upon sin. He is wise and cannot tolerate fools. He is true and faithful, and will destroy all that is false and perfidious. He is just and true and perfect - at once the fountain of love and vengeance, the author of life and death; the source of reviving mercy and consuming fire. He is eternal, unchangeable, infinite, and glorious in His power and majesty. He is the King immortal, the possessor of Heaven and Earth, to whom glory is due.

Along with your daily readings, please read the following passages of the Bible:

Exodus 20:6, Exodus 34:6, Psalm 103:8-18, Hebrews 12:29,
Habakkuk 1:13, Psalm 5:5-6, Revelations 15:3, Jeremiah 10:10-13, Deuteronomy 32:4, I John 4:7-16, Hebrews 10:30-31,
Deuteronomy 32:39, Hosea 14:4-6, Deuteronomy 32: 21-23,
I Timothy 1:17, Malachi 3:6, Psalm 145:5, Genesis 14:19, Psalm 115:1

Through these Bible passages, taken in context we see the nature of God as He has been revealed to us. This is not to say that we know all about God, only that we have the knowledge that has been revealed to us. Only those who are raised to judgment and found acceptable will, in the end of the beginning, be revealed the full Truth and understanding.