Westville - South Africa / www.coptrust.org.za
The objective of this section is to learn about God, our Heavenly Father, and to consider the origin of the Lord Jesus Christ and why this is of importance to us.
We will start this section by identifying who the Master Planner really is. We will find out more about His nature and even His name. We will look at how the planner has become a Father and how His power helps make sure the plan is realised.
Who is the Planner?
This seems like a fair enough question. We have been spending some time on this Master Plan, but what about the actual Master Planner? Back in Numbers 14v21 we learnt that the plan belongs to the God of Israel who was talking to Moses on Mount Sinai. The planner is therefore the God of Israel who is also the creator of heaven and earth Isaiah 45v12.
What is His Name?
Now that we know that God is the Master Planner, we will want to get to know the Planner better. The best place to go to find out more about the Master Planner is to go to His Word. The Bible gives us plenty of information about God and even tells us about His name.
In Exodus 3v13-15 Moses asks God what his name is. It is here that the name of God is specifically revealed as 'YHWH' although most versions of the bible translate this name into the common noun 'LORD'. When God revealed His glory to Moses in Exodus 34v5-7, we understood that he described his character to Moses. A closer look at the verses reveals that he was actually not only describing his character but his name, YHWH.
What is the purpose of the name?
God's name, YHWH, is in fact a family name. That is, God intends many people to bear his name, much like a surname in our modern day culture. It is a name which is given to God's saints, those who choose to reveal God's glory in their lives; "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name" Acts 15v14.
From this we see three closely related concepts which all provide different views of God's Master Plan. We have God's glory revealed through his name, which encapsulates his character. From this we can see that one day the earth will be full of people bearing the name of God Revelation 3v12, Zechariah 14v9. Zechariah 14v9 clearly states that God's name will one day be the only name. All people will be bearers of His name and His glory will fill the earth.
What is the Nature of God?
God is Eternal
God's life has neither beginning nor end, He is eternal 1 Timothy 1v17 "who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see" 1 Timothy 6v16. He says of Himself "It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshalled their starry hosts" Isaiah 45v12.
God is Spirit
God is described as being a 'Spirit' or 'Power'. "God is spirit and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth," John 4v24.
God is all powerful
God claims to be the only power. God claims to rule in the kingdoms of men Daniel 4v17 and also proclaims that he is the one and only God (Isaiah 45v5-7). This implies that there is only one real power in the Universe (the word 'God' actually means power). God is responsible for everything that happens both good and "bad" Isaiah 45 v7.
God is everywhere
This means there is nowhere we can go to hide from God Psalm 139v7-12. God is all knowing This simply means there is no thought, nor desire, that is hidden from God. He knows all things including what is going to happen in the future, Isaiah 46v9-10, Matthew 10v30.
Then those who feared YHVH spoke to one another, And YHVH listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who feared YHVH And who meditate on His name. Mal 3:16
God is love
All of the aspects of God come down to one prevailing characteristic, and that is that God is love. This encompasses his character, and everything he is, and is central to His relationship with us. Quite simply the sum of all the aspects of God, his Mercy, Grace, Long Suffering, Loving Kindness and Truth is Love. 1 John 4v16.
God's path to salvation is revealed in His NamE His name YHVH consists of four letters, and each of these letters reveals a step in the divine process to being reconciled to God. Yod - The first letter is a Yod, and it represents in Hebrew an open hand. This is the first step in coming to God. It begins with us opening our hand and letting go of ourselves - what we can achieve by ourselves and what we think we know.
Hey - The second letter is Hey. It is a breathing letter. Just say "hey" and you get a sense of what it is about. This part of the journey is about breathing out our lives. When you breathe out all your air you die. This step is about us dying. Vav - The third letter, Vav, is called the nail letter in Hebrew. It represents Jesus who is the only way whereby we can be joined to God. So once we have died we enter into God's grace by associating with Jesus. Hey - The fourth letter is also a "hey", because God's name is a living name. It has breathing out and breathing in. Once we have died and come to Jesus we now breathe in deeply of God's breath/spirit and thereby we become a new person. 1 Cor 6:19, Rom 8:14
The four steps to salvation, as embedded in God's name, are that we must: Believe (Yod - faith to let go of self and come to God), Repent (Hey - breathe out, die to your old life), be Baptised (Vav - in Jesus we are joined to God), and then Live (Hey, live a life in God's power and grace). This will be discussed in more detail in the next section.
God is a Father?
God reveals himself to us as a Father. This is a very special relationship that came about because of the sacrifice of Jesus and his work in our life now. We are now able to join in this special relationship with the Master Planner. His calling is for us to join His family and for Him to be our Father. God has extended his love for us to be His sons and daughters.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3v1. In Romans, Paul talks about God's desire to have us as His adopted children; "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' " Romans 8v15.
This all links back to God's Master Plan. If we become members of God's family, it is natural that we then bear His name. Like with any family, all members bear the same family name, which we call a surname.
God wants to fill the earth with His family, His own sons and daughters. Once this is achieved His name will fill the whole earth. If His name is the only name, then His glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea and the plan will be a reality! The prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, the Lord's prayer, is really the family's prayer which encapsulates all we have been saying: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" Matthew 6v9. The prayer starts by emphasising the fact that God is our Father - the family relationship we have been discussing. We have seen that because God is our Father and we are His children we become bearers of His name. Hence the next line focuses on the importance of God's name. How will God's name eventually be made holy in all the world? We have answered this before when we asked the question in Section 2, "How will the Master Plan be realised?" - Thy Kingdom come. The kingdom is the means by which God is realising his the Master Plan. In other words the kingdom is the means by which God's will or His glory spreads through the entire world. Ultimately when Christ returns as king over the whole earth there will then only be one Kingdom, one Name, one God, and one Father over all 1Cor 15:24-28, Zech 14:9. Let's keep praying this all-important prayer!
And YHVH shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be - "YHVH is one," And His NAME one. Zech 14:9
What is the Power of God?
The power of God is called his Holy Spirit. This is the power that did everything from creating the world Psalm 104v30, Genesis 1v2 to causing the divine birth of Jesus Luke 1v35 to driving men to write the Bible . "For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" 2 Peter 1v21. This means that the Holy Spirit, God's power, is vital to the fulfillment of his Master Plan. As we have already seen, "those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God" Rom 8:14. Our relationship with our Father is only possible through his divine power. It is the foundation of our faith, and hence our salvation.
"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power." 1 Cor 2:4-5
It is only in God's power that we can live a life that is acceptable, and that is why Paul's prayer for us is so important: "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph 3:16-21
Why is it important to know the master Planner?
As we have seen many times before God is intent on filling the earth with His character. A relationship with God is therefore critical for anyone who desires to participate in God's plan. God requires us to have a relationship with him so that we can be part of his family and be given eternal life. Jesus himself said "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" John 17v3. This is not an academic knowing, but a far deeper knowing, as a child would know their father. It is a knowing expressed in love. It is a knowing that is beyond understanding. It is a knowing that is experienced and born in faith.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews adds that "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" Hebrews 11v6. God has primarily revealed his character to us through Jesus. Jesus is the only person who has revealed the character of God, his Father. So much so that he was able to say "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" John 14v9, and the writer to the Hebrews says, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being" Hebrews 1v3.
There are many passages in the Bible that help us to understand more about God's character. In Romans Paul summarises God's character as being that of goodness and severity; "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God" Romans 11v22 God's most important and overriding characteristic, which speaks of his goodness, is His love. John confirms this for us in his first letter; "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him" 1 John 4v16. There is also a discipline aspect to God's character, and God will discipline us when we fail to obey him, as any loving and caring father would do.
"The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son…God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness" Heb 12:6,10
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" John 17v3
The following references provide additional support for the issues raised above: The Character of God Exodus 20v5-6, Numbers 23v19, 1 Kings 8v23, Psalm 139v1-12, Isaiah 40v25-26, Isaiah 45v5-13,18-19, Isaiah 46v9, Jeremiah 32v17-19, Mark 12v29, Ephesians 4v6, Hebrews 12v29. God creates Good and Evil Exodus 4v11, Deuteronomy 32v39, Job 2v10, Isaiah 45v7, Amos 3v6.
God is love. 1 John 4:8
God is light. 1 John 1:5
God is Spirit. John 4:24