OAIM Christian Essentials Course Essential 3

So far in our studies, we have looked at the reliability and authority of the Bible and the Nature of the God of that Bible. As we progress in our studies, notice how each new concept builds on all of the previous concepts.

For example, if the Bible is not reliable, then we cannot depend on it to tell us about the Nature of God. When we have examined the evidence and come to the logical conclusion that the Bible is the authoritative written word of God, we can then use it to give us more information about this God.

When we speak of the Nature of God, we are giving a basic concept of what we mean by the very word "God." It is important to be aware that although this might be your concept of what you mean when you use the word "God," it's wise to remember that when you talk to others, they might understand God as one of the other three concepts. This is why it is essential to ask those with whom you talk to clarify their definition of God.

Now that you have clarified in your own mind what you mean when you say, "God," it is time to learn more about what God is like. It has been said that character is who you are when no one is watching. As we learn about the character of God, we will find out what God is like deep down, at His core.

Assignment 1:

Have you ever wanted to find out what the Bible says about a particular topic? Think about some of the resources you might use to help you find verses in the Bible on a specific topic. How familiar are you with Bible study tools?

One basic tool that is very useful is a concordance. A concordance is a listing of various verses that use a particular word. Most study Bibles have a limited concordance in them, usually found at the end of the biblical text, after Revelation. There are also concordances you can buy that are often much more complete than the ones included in the Bibles themselves. You can also purchase many excellent Bible programs that allow you to search for words or topics quickly and efficiently.

Since we are working online, many Christian sites offer online Bible search engines for different versions. The KJV is the most popular Bible you can find online because it is in the public domain and anyone can reproduce it freely. The NIV is much more limited because its copyright is still held by Zondervan so the entire text of the Bible can only be used by special agreement with the original publisher. The availability of other versions vary according to whether they are public domain or not.

To begin this lesson, you will need to learn how to use the Bible search engines at Crosswalk.com and Bible Gateway. These two links below will open up in another browser window so you can move easily between them and this page.

Let's start with Crosswalk.com. As we mentioned in a previous lesson under research helps, in order to get the most out of search engines online, it's worth the time to read their help page and find out the best way of forming searches for their site. If you click on the above link, it will take you directly to Crosswalk's Bible search page. Next to the box where you put in your search term, you will see a link to their Help page. It is a very short page, so take a few minutes to read it.

The search we are going to do is to help us find information about the character of God or who God is. If you read the Help page, you saw that if you are searching for a specific phrase, you need to enclose that phrase in quotation marks " (that's the double quotes) so the search engine understands that you want to find only those results that have that exact phrase. We're going to search for the phrase, "God is". Type this into the search box and then choose which version you would like to see it in. While some of the items you are given from this search are not really telling you about God's character, the majority of them will be. How many results are returned will depend on which version you have chosen.

Now go to Bible Gateway to try the same search. This link is for Bible Gateway's Advanced Search. This time the help link is up in the top navigation bar, under the phrase, "Advanced Search." Take a couple of minutes to read through this help so you can use their search engine effectively. There are some significant differences between this one and Crosswalk's.

At Bible Gateway, we do not need to use the quotation marks because they allow us to search for the exact phrase by using the pull-down menu under the search bar. There are also other options there that are explained on the help page. Do a search for "God is" here at Bible Gateway. Choose one or more versions and examine the results.

When you have tried both search engines, choose the one you like the best (or if you have your own preference of another site or your own Bible search software, feel free to use it instead) and begin the gathering stage of your assignment.

GATHER information about God's character from the verses that result from your search. Read a verse and ask yourself if it tells you something about who God is. In this section we'd like for you to use a graphic organizer to help you organize these verses about God's character.

If you've never used a graphic organizer before, it is a way you can give a visual representation of the information you are finding (if you are really wanting to learn more about graphic organizers for your own purposes, here's a page you can check out to explain them better). It's rather like brainstorming on paper. Here's an example of how to do it: Take a blank piece of paper and in a small circle in the middle of it, write the word God. Then, as you find a verse that tells you, for instance, God is love, draw a line out from the center circle and write LOVE on it (or draw a heart or other picture to illustrate it if you are an artistic type), making a note there of the verse that tells you that. In this way, you can visually list the characteristics of God.

You will not turn in the graphic organizer to us. It is merely a way for you personally to organize what you are learning about God. Notice that sometimes a verse might not specifically say "God is…" and then some characteristic, but from the verse you can see more of who God is.

For instance, in Numbers 23:19, we read: "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" In this verse, we see several things about God. The first we see is that God is not the same as we are. Therefore, we can conclude that God's character is going to be different from Man's character. What characteristic is this verse specifically dealing with? If God does not lie, what does that say about His character? We can conclude that if God does not lie, then He is truthful. As we continue on with reading the verse, we can also see that God does not change His mind so He is constant. When we read, "Does he speak and not act?" we can conclude that God is not just someone who talks about doing things. He follows through with what He says He's going to do. "Does he promise and not fulfill?" tells us that God is trustworthy.

As you can see, the verse does not specifically say, "God is truthful" or "God is trustworthy." If you take time to read the verse and then ask yourself what that tells you about God, you will begin to see God's character emerging from your study.

THINK about what characteristics would seem to be most important to a person's understanding of God. DISCUSS your research with at least two other Christians and ask them which characteristics they see as most important to understanding God. Did you agree with them? Why or why not? WRITE a summary of your findings and tell of the characteristics you believe are most foundational in an understanding of who God is.

Send your written summary to: Christian Essentials Course .

Label your e-mail in the subject line: Essential 3a.

Assignment 2:

In studying God's character, we must remember that He is each of the things you listed in the last lesson and cannot sacrifice one part of His character for another part of His character. Each of these characteristics is in perfect balance with all the others. God does not cease being loving in order to be trustworthy nor does He stop being holy in order to be merciful.

Let's look at a couple of examples of this concept in action. Your son is playing in the backyard with a friend and they accidentally hit a baseball through the neighbor's window. The neighbor has a couple of options he can do. He can demand your son pay to replace the window or he can completely dismiss it. Which of these responses is just? Which is merciful? If the neighbor is just AND merciful, what reaction might he have?

A woman you know is raped. The police catch the assailant and he goes to trial. Would it be loving to allow the rapist to go free and most likely rape other women? Would it be just to allow him to go free? Would the rapist deserve mercy when he obviously did not show any mercy to the woman?

In the same way, when we think of God, we must consider these various characteristics. If God is all of these qualities at the same time and in balance, how are these characteristics applied in His relationship with Man?

Consider the follow questions. Think about them yourself and then discuss them with others to see how your responses match up:

Can God be loving without being just?
Can God be loving without being merciful?
Can God be holy without being just?
Can God be holy without being merciful?
Can God allow sin without payment and be a just God?
How can God, being just, merciful, holy and loving, allow people to sin?
How can God, being just, merciful, holy and loving, NOT allow people to sin?
Why does God demand justice?
How do you think God's love affects His desire for justice?

Write a summary in response to this question: Of these four characteristics of God (just, merciful, holy and loving), which one do you believe is the most pivotal that appears to hold all the others in balance? Give a well-thought out reason for your choice.

Also include your thoughts on how this study of the character of God might shed light on Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image."

Send your written summary to: Christian Essentials Course .

Label your e-mail in the subject line: Essential 3b.

Procedure:

Work on the research for Assignment 1 first and gather the information about the character of God. Remember to write up your summary for Assignment 1 before continuing on with Assignment 2.

When we ask you to consider questions, think through them in your own mind. Don't just read them and skip over them. Verbally put together what you would say to someone if they asked you that question. If you do not have someone to talk through these issues with, it can often be helpful to either think through them aloud (yes, we give you permission to talk to yourself...lol), or write out a short response of what you would say.

When you write up your summaries, ask another person to read it first and see if they can understand the point you are getting across. This will help to ensure the assignment we receive will be your best quality work.

Research TIPS:

Take a few minutes to read the HELP page on your favorite search engine. You might be surprised how they can help you narrow your search to the best ones for your purpose. (For example, using " marks around your topic will return only those pages that have the exact phrase.)

If you have a concordance in your own Bible, practice using it. If there are introductory notes to it, read them to find out the authors' ideas for getting the most out of it.

Whenever possible, discuss these issues with other Christians. If you can find a "study buddy," your discussions might spark more questions, research and answers than we've given you.

Research Helps:

Bible Gateway and Crosswalk.com are two good Bible search engines to bookmark (Netscape) or add to your favorites list (Internet Explorer) for future reference. If you get time, you might want to explore the many tools available on these two sites.

Bible Gateway
Crosswalk.com

Final Product:

When you are ready to turn in your conclusions, remember these basic things.

Please use a spell-checker and use good grammar. It is difficult to read communication that is grammatically lax. Chat spellings are fine for chat, but cul8r is just not as easy to read as "See you later." :o)
Instead of attaching your writing to an e-mail, it is much easier to read if it is inline text. This can easily be done by cutting and pasting your writing into the body of the e-mail.
Remember that we cannot read your minds. Don't assume we will know what you mean. Explain it to us as if we disagreed with you on the issue.
Be patient with turnaround time since we are just starting this and do not know what kind of volume we will have. If you believe it has taken too long and your work might have been lost in cyberspace, send a short follow-up e-mail asking us if we received it.
Keep a copy of your writing for yourself.

Send to:

Your final conclusions on the above questions should be sent to:

Christian Essentials Course

Click here to continue on to Essentials 4, The Nature of Salvation.