Reviewer-Lessons-1-4 PDF

I. Christian Monotheism A. De&initions 1. Monotheism: belief in one God. 2. Atheism: denial of the existence of God. 3. Agnosticism: the assertion that the existence of God is unknown or unknowable. 4. Pantheism: a belief that God is nature or the...

I. Christian Monotheism A. De&initions 1. Monotheism: belief in one God. 2. Atheism: denial of the existence of God. 3. Agnosticism: the assertion that the existence of God is unknown or unknowable. 4. Pantheism: a belief that God is nature or the forces of the universe. 5. Polytheism: belief in more than one God. a. Ditheism: belief in two Gods b. Tritheism: belief in three Gods. 6. Beliefs in Christendom. a. Trinitarianism: belief in three distinct persons “in” the Godhead. b. Binitarianism: belief in two persons. c. Strict monotheism (excluding multiple persons) with a denial of the full deity of Jesus Christ. Examples: Arianism, dynamic monarchianism. d. Strict monotheism (excluding multiple persons) with an af&irmation of the full deity of Jesus Christ. Examples: modalistic monarchianism (modalism); Oneness. B. Old Testament Emphasis 1. Deuteronomy 6:4 teaches absolute monotheism. a. It is the historic Jewish confession of faith, called the Shema. b. It is important to teach continually (Deuteronomy 6:5-9). c. It is the &irst and greatest commandment (Mark 12:28-31). 2. God declared His absolute oneness in Isaiah: “alone, by myself, no God beside me, none else, no God else, none like me.” (See Isaiah 37:16; 42:8; 43:10-11; 44:6, 8, 24; 45:5-6, 21-23; 46:5, 9; 52:6.) 3. Over &ifty times the Bible calls God “the Holy One,” but never the holy two or three. (See Isaiah 54:5.) 4. Old Testament saints had no trinitarian concept. C. New Testament Emphasis 1. It af&irms Old Testament monotheism (Romans 3:30; Galatians 3:20; I Corinthians 8:4, 6; James 2:19.) 2. There is one God, and one mediator (John 17:3; I Timothy 2:5). a. The mediator is the sinless man Jesus, in whom God was manifested. He reconciles the holy God and sinful humanity. b. If there were a second, co-equal divine person, he could not be the mediator; he also would need a man to mediate between him and sinful humanity. 3. Jesus endorsed the Jewish concept of God (Mark 12:29; John 4:22).  II. The Nature of God A. Nonmoral Attributes 1. Life. 2. Individuality (personality). 3. Rationality. 4. Spirituality (John 4:24). a. Not material; not &lesh, blood, or bones. b. Not con&ined to a body. c. Since the Incarnation, God is fully revealed in Jesus; there is no visible God outside Him. 5. Invisibility (John 1:18; I Timothy 6:16). 6. Self-existence. 7. Eternity. 8. Omnipresence (being everywhere present) (Psalm 139). The description of God as being in heaven has these connotations: (a) God’s transcendence; (b) center of reasoning and activity (“headquarters”); (c) immediate presence and glory; (d) perhaps a visible manifestation of angels. 9. Omniscience (having all knowledge). 10. Omnipotence (having all power). 11. Immutability (unchanging nature). 12. Transcendence (beyond human comprehension, except by revelation). B. Moral Nature 1. Holiness. 2. Justice and righteousness. 3. Love. 4. Mercy and grace. 5. Faithfulness. 6. Truth. 7. Goodness. C. Anthropomorphism 1. Description of the nonhuman (God) in human terms (for the sake of our &inite understanding). 2. Speci&ically, speaking of God as having eyes, arms, heart, feet, nostrils, and so on. 3. These descriptions are &igurative; for example, God’s “feet” are not literally propped up on the earth. D. Theophany 1. De&inition: a visible manifestation of God, usually thought of as temporary. 2. The angel of the LORD was sometimes a theophany of the one God and sometimes simply an angelic agent of God. 3. Melchizedek was probably not a theophany, but he was a type of foreshadowing of Christ. 4. The fourth man in the &ire was probably not a theophany but an angel. 5. In the New Testament, Old Testament theophanies were superseded by the Incarnation (Jesus Christ). Jesus is more than a theophany; He is God incarnate. III. The Names and Titles of God A. Signi&icance of God’s Name 1. Character (Exodus 6:2-7). 2. Power (Exodus 9:16). 3. Authority (Exodus 23:20-21). 4. Presence (I Kings 8:27, 29, 43). B. Old Testament Names and Titles of God (See table)  1. God. a. El means “strength, mighty, almighty, deity.” b. Elohim is the plural form, denoting intensity; it is the most common Hebrew word meaning “God.” 2. Lord. a. Adon means “ruler, master.” b. Adonai is the emphatic form; it always refers to God. 3. LORD, or Jehovah. a. YHWH (Yahweh) is derived from the verb “to be.” b. It is related to “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). c. Its connotation is the “Self-Existent One, Eternal One.” d. It is the unique name by which God identi4ied Himself in the Old Testament (Exodus 6:3-8; Isaiah 42:8). C. Progressive Revelation of God’s Name 1. Compound names of Jehovah. (See table, OG, pp. 48-49.) 2. Longings to know God’s name. 3. Culmination in the name Jesus (Zechariah 14:9). D. The Name of Jesus 1. It means Jehovah-Savior or Jehovah Is Salvation. a. It incorporates everything the Old Testament reveals about God (Jehovah). b. It reveals that Jehovah has come in &lesh to be our Savior (Matthew 1:21, 23). 2. Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the only one who actually personi&ies and ful&ills that name. His name reveals: a. God’s character (example: love) (Colossians 2:9). b. God’s power (example: miracles) (John 14:14; Acts 3:6). c. God’s authority (example: teaching) (Matthew 28:18; John 5:43). d. God’s presence (fullness of the Spirit) (Matthew 18:20). 3. It is the highest name (Acts 4:10, 12; Ephesians 1:21; Philippians 2:9-11; Colossians 3:17). 4. It is not a magical formula; we must have faith in Jesus Himself (Acts 3:16; 10:43; 19:13-17). 5. The early church preached, taught, prayed, performed miracles, healed the sick, cast out demons, baptized, suffered, and rejoiced in that name.  IV. Jesus Is God A. Old Testament Teaching Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; 35:4-6 (with Luke 7:22); Micah 5:2. B. New Testament Teaching 1. We must interpret the New Testament in the light of Old Testament context and culture. a. The original writers and readers were strict monotheists. b. When the writers called Jesus “Lord” and “God,” they used the Old Testament meaning of those words. 2. Colossians 2:9 teaches the absolute deity of Jesus. a. It is a foundational doctrine (verses 8, 10). b. Three different words emphasize this truth: “all, fulness, Godhead.” 3. Other passages teach that Jesus is God incarnate. (John 20:28-31; Acts 20:28; Romans 9:5; II Cor- inthians 4:4; 5:19; Colossians 1:15, 19; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:3; II Peter 1:1; I John 5:20). C. Jesus Is the Word Made Flesh (John 1:1, 14). 1. Old Testament meaning of word (Hebrew, dabhar): God speaking. 2. New Testament meaning of word (Greek, logos): unexpressed word (thought, reason, plan) or expressed word (speech, action). 3. The Word is God’s mind, thought, reason, plan, which is God Himself. The Word was “with” God in the sense of “pertaining to” God. 4. The Word is also God’s self-revelation; God’s self-disclosure; God uttering Himself. The eternal Word, or God Himself, came in &lesh as the Son. D. The Incarnation Occurred at Christ’s Conception 1. Jesus was God at conception (Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:35). 2. The baby Jesus received worship from angels, Simeon, Anna, and the wise men. 3. God caused a virgin to conceive. Jesus thereby received the divine nature at conception, instead of the nature of an earthly father. E. The Mystery of Godliness 1. The absolute oneness of God is no mystery; it is clearly stated throughout Scripture. 2. The mystery is that God came in &lesh (I Timothy 3:16), and it has been revealed to us. F. Jesus Is the Father Incarnate 1. The Bible so teaches (Isaiah 9:6; 63:16; John 10:30, 33, 38; 12:45; 14:6-11, 18; I John 3:1-5; Revelation 21:6-7). a. Jesus said, “I and my Father are one, “instead of “I am the Father,” because He was both Father and Son, both invisible Spirit and visible &lesh. b. Jesus said, “I am in the Father,” because, unlike any other man, His humanity was inseparably united and joined with the Spirit by the Incarnation. 2. Scripture attributes many unique acts both to the Father and to Jesus: raising Christ’s body, sending of the Comforter, drawing people to God, raising believers from death, answering prayer, sanctifying believers. G. Jesus Is Jehovah Incarnate 1. The Bible so teaches (Isaiah 40:3, 5; Isaiah 45:23 with Philippians 2:9-11; Isaiah 52:6; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Zechariah 11:12; 12:10; Malachi 3:1; Acts 9:5; Revelation 22:6 with 16). 2. Scripture gives many unique titles of Jehovah to Jesus, such as Almighty, Rock, Horn of Salvation, Shepherd, Light, Savior, Lord, Holy One, Judge, First and Last, King of Israel, Creator, and Redeemer. (See tables, OG, pp. 73-75.) 3. Jesus is the I AM (John 8:56-69; 10:38-39). H. Jesus Is the One on the Throne 1. The description of the One on the throne (Revelation 4:2, 8) is identical to the description of Jesus (Revelation 1:7-8, 11, 17-18). 2. Jesus is “in the midst of the throne,” or literally “is (seated) on the center of the throne” (Revelation 5:6; 7:17). 3. “God and the Lamb” is one personage seated on one throne. He has one name and one face (Revelation 22:3-4). a. Only Jesus is both God and Lamb, deity and humanity, sovereign and sacri&ice for sin. b. The name of Jesus is the supreme name (Philippians 2:9-11). c. The face of Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3).