Core Beliefs; Who is God?

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MW Editor’s note. If you’ve followed Mentoring Warriors, you will notice we focus a lot on the practical living out of one’s faith. Having a holistic view of God impacts every aspect of our manhood journeys. All of this is undergirded by a biblical foundation of core beliefs. As we mature, we need to be challenged anew in what we believe.  Your worldview greatly impacts how you behave.  Over the next few months, we will sprinkle in a few posts that look at the core beliefs essential for life. These are taken from Mentoring Warriors’ Statement of Faith. It can be found at https://mentoring-warriors.com/statement-of-faith/

God

We believe there is one living true God, the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of all people, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 61:1; Matthew 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 1:35; John 5:21-23; 14:10, 16; Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 8:6;  Hebrews 1:8-10; James 2:19

Let’s talk about the God who is. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Deuteronomy 6:4.  

God is infinite and eternal. God’s existence is constant. In this verse God speaks to Israel, His chosen people, He is LORD. He is one. Some religions are pantheistic; many gods. God says He is the only one. There is no other.

God is Spirit.  We live in a multi-faceted world. There is the physical. Our intake of the world is through our five senses. When God says He is Spirit, He relates to us by His Spirit. 

Isaiah 61:1 says

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

    because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound

The Spirit of the Lord descends upon people. We relate to God on a spiritual level. Some live life with very little sense of God’s Spirit. Others are deeply moved by His Spirit. The goal in life is to come into a living relationship with God through His Spirit connected to yours. You have a spirit that is wired for the Spirit of God.

God is one. He is also three. One what (God) and three whos: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Each is equally God and is what we call the Trinity. Cults and other religions do not recognize the tri-equal authority and unity of the three as one God. Some churches claim to be Christian. The proof is always in whether they recognize Jesus as God. If they claim Jesus is from God in the sense he is a created being and not an eternal part of the Trinity, then that person or group is not truly Christian. 

In Matthew 28:18, when Jesus says “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me” he is claiming equal authority and power as God. Why? Jesus is God. 

The next verse, Matthew 28:19 follows through with the weight of Jesus’ authority.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Faith in God is not a static, private experience. It is to be communicated to people of all nations. All people need to know Jesus, where you live. Rhetorically speaking will you be the last generation to have a relationship with Jesus?  Will the Gospel stop with you?

Here’s another aspect of who God is. God the Father speaks pleasure over Jesus. 

Here is what we read in Mark 1:9-11

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;with you I am well pleased.”

God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all present in this baptism. There is no other human on the planet whom God the Father has stated to be His only true Son, who has equal power and authority as He does.

Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit.  We know how the human reproduction process works. Jesus is conceived by miraculous semen from the Holy Spirit in the womb of a woman, Mary.  Here is what an angel told Mary. Luke 1:35 says. 

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Here’s a passage that adds an interesting perspective to the relationship between God the Father and God the Son, Jesus. John 5:21-23.

21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 for the Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Honor Jesus and you honor God. Trash the name of Jesus and you trash the name of God. God has given all judgment to the Son, Jesus. In other words, to be in a right relationship with God the Father be in a right relationship with Jesus.

There are several other passages referenced above. We will look at one more. On your own, take time to dig into these passages, and others, for yourself.  Our aim here is not to tell you what to think but to teach you how to think.

Romans 8:9-11.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Ok, let’s slow down and unpack this passage in Romans. Without a saving faith in Christ, you and I live in our flesh (our worldly self-consuming passions). In the flesh, we think of ourselves first. We gorge ourselves on the things of this world. Living by the flesh we are out of control.

When you repent of sin (flesh), trusting in Christ, you get 100% of the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Christ). If you don’t have the Spirit, you do not belong to God.  You can attend all the church activities you want, have perfect attendance, even lead a group at church, and not have the Spirit. Religious activity is not the same as salvation. 

We’ll cover this in another post, but at the crux of salvation is Christ living His life through you. This guarantees that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, will also bring life to your mortal bodies.  

I’ve heard it said this way; you can perform all you want for God and gain no saving standing with Him. Or, you can trust Him, what He’s already done for you through His Son Jesus.  Trust in who He says He is. 

Jesus, in my finiteness, I’ll never come to know everything about you. You are infinite, eternal, powerful, and all-knowing. Yet, despite my brokenness, my sin utter failings, You set your life upon me, demonstrating it most clearly in your Son, Jesus.

I choose to repent of all things me and trust fully in you and your Son.  Anchor my soul in you, Jesus.

Warrior On!