What do you know about God? 
Do you have a biblical understanding of God or some fallacy perpetuated by Hollywood or a concoction of your own mind? You cannot be saved without a proper view of God, just as you cannot come to a proper view of God without a proper view of man. I was saved when God’s word revealed His truth.
Psalm 18:31-36 For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great, You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip.
In the summer of 2009 we took a marriage course that our church was offering; I was excited hoping my marriage could be improved or maybe God would straighten out my wife as I’m sure she was hoping God would straighten out me. I had no idea the plans God had for my life. I had been a church going guy for quite a few years. I grew up in a church going family. My parents saw to it that we heard God’s word every Sunday. Most people would say I’m a “good” guy or a nice guy. “Surely God would not send you to hell”, but hell is where I was headed.
Why?
I had an improper view of God that told me God loved me and wanted to have a relationship with me. He had a plan for my life…. Jeremiah 29:11. Have you ever heard that before? If you haven’t you’ve had your head stuck in the sand. This is the message that is so popular today that is condemning people to hell and eternal torment. God may have a plan for you but you may not like that plan.
Most everyone has heard “God loves you” or “Jesus loves you”. God is “love” right? Of course He is scripture affirms this (1 John 4:8). But does this mean He will overlook sin and not punish the unrighteous? This is a rhetorical question. If you have read any of the Bible it would not take you long to find out the answer, if God doesn’t punish sin, why the cross? Why would God pour out His wrath on His Son? It makes no sense. Without a proper view of God it honestly makes no sense.
Jen and I are currently in our fifth marriage course. Yes, I agree with you, whatever you are thinking…
The incredible thing is God continues pour out His grace on our lives as we pursue to honor Him in marriage. He saved us both in the first course and continues to refine us in every subsequent course. Sometimes it has been very painful and sometimes very joyful but through it all He has been faithful.
Below I’m once again quoting from the Exemplary Husband by Dr. Stuart Scott. (Pages 17-28) The companion book is the Excellent Wife by Martha Peace. I cannot recommend these books enough. They may shake you to the core but I promise it will yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness if you will allow yourself to be trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)
We must bring our view of God in line with His Word. The following is not a complete study of the nature and character of God, but it should serve as a clear and brief biblical overview of who God is.1. God is the sovereign, all-powerful Lord of all creation.
“Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’”. Isaiah 46:9-10
God is Holy.
Who is like you among the gods, O Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonder? Exodus 15:11
The word holy generally means “set apart.” Wayne Grudem, in his Systematic Theology, says that “God’s holiness means that He is separated from sin and devoted to seeking His own honor.” There is absolutely no sin or evil in Him.
God is a just judge.
Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity. Psalm 98:8-9
God righteously hates sin because it is an affront to who He is and His Kingdom, and because of what it does. He must judge sin and He must judge every person. All of God’s judgments are right and just. He is the perfect judge.
God is merciful and gracious.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. Lamentations 3:22
God is full of compassion.
He has made His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. Psalm 111:4
God cares for His own as the Good Shepherd and the perfect Father.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23:1
God is love.
The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8
God’s Judicial and Parental Aspects Reconciled
… God does indeed relate differently to two groups of people described in the Bible. If this distinction is not made between the saved and the unsaved, confusion about one’s relationship with God can result. Every husband needs to determine the group to which he belongs before He can have a right relationship with God.
God is angry at the wicked.
Due to the sin nature we possess through Adam, we all begin life under the wrath and condemnation of God.
God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day. Psalm 7:11
God will remain angry at the wicked unless they repent and will punish them in hell. Even their good deeds are described as filthy rags by God… (Isaiah 64:6)
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him (Christ). For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:9-10
God is faithful to His own.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
We must have a correct view of God before we can exemplify Him. A.W. Tozer wrote:
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The greatest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most {important} fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.
By faith every man must line up his thinking with each aspect of God’s person. If one does not see God rightly, he cannot see himself rightly either.
I have barely scratched the surface of what scripture tells us about God. If you are struggling today with an improper view of God or wondering about your salvation I ask that you commit yourself to the task of knowing Him. You could begin with a study of these verses. God’s Word is what saves. It saved me.
Romans 11:35-36, Isaiah 46:9-10, Lamentations 3:31-33, Psalm 145:8-9, Isaiah 46:11, Psalm 50:21, Psalm 7:11, Psalm 103:9-11, Psalm 10:15, 1 John 3:1-3, Romans 8:1-4, Ephesians 1:5-6, Matthew 16:24, Luke 6:46.
Kevin
Uncommon Faith 