What we believe about God really matters because God is uniquely above all else and is uniquely present with us...

This week we are looking at the first statement that comprises our doctrinal statement as a church. This first statement addresses the starting point when it comes to what we believe as a church when it comes to the nature and character of God. This statement summarizes the answer to the question “Is there a God? And if, there is a God then who is God and how is God?”

So far this week, we have discovered there are not many gods. Instead there is only one God who is the Creator who created all that has been created.

We also talked about the reality is that God is distinctly different in His character and conduct from any other being. There is the Creator and there is the creation. God is set apart and separate from everything else that exists. In addition, God always has been and always will be perfect. There never has been, or never will be, a flaw in God or a mistake made by God.

Then Wednesday, we talked about the reality that God the Father is God, Jesus Christ is God and the Holy Spirit is God. God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparably related. In other words, God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are distinct when it comes to their personhood, but inseparably related when it comes to their nature or essence as God. The distinction between members of the Trinity is based upon their roles, function, and administration, not their nature or essence.

In addition, we discovered that God is not an interpreter of the future; God is the sovereign shaper of the future. And as the sovereign shaper of the future, as a church we believe that God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory. In other words, from before there was time, God had a purpose and plan.

And that purpose and plan was to rescue people whom He had created to worship Him but had rejected Him from their selfishness and rebellion. A purpose and plan designed to bring rebellious humanity back to relationship with Him in a way that would bring Him maximum glory. A plan that Isaiah reveals in Isaiah 42:5: 

Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it, "I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison. "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.

In Isaiah 42:5-7, we see Isaiah proclaim to the Jewish people God’s plan for the future of all humanity. Isaiah proclaimed that God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, the One who is right and just, the One who gives life to all of humanity, would send and rescuer, a deliverer, a Messiah, who would come to provide all humanity the opportunity for rescue and deliverance from the darkness and prison of the worship of false gods so that they could experience the forgiveness and the relationship with the One True God that they were created for.

And some 600 years after making this proclamation, God put His plan into action by sending His Son Jesus to enter into humanity so as to live the life we were created to live but refused to live and to willingly allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful life so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

Then, in verse 8 Isaiah reveals the reason behind God’s plan of sending Jesus as our rescuer and Messiah. God proclaimed through Isaiah that, as the Lord who is large and in charge over all things, He will not allow the honor and worship that belongs to Him to be given to another. You see God is all about His glory. God is all about His glory and His glory is most clearly seen by His activity in History to rescue rebellious humanity through Jesus Christ.

God recues rebellious humanity for His names sake and to reinforce the reality that He alone is God. But while God is all about His glory, God is not aloof in His glory. While God is high above His creation, God is actively engaged with His creation. We see Isaiah reveal this reality for us in Isaiah 57:15:

For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Now, occasionally I will hear a criticism that my preaching is not deep. However, when I hear that criticism, what that usually means is that a person views deep as being confusing. What “Oh that was a deep sermon” in many cases means “I have no idea what he just said, it was confusing.”

So, for those who want to hear something deep, what Isaiah is communicating here is that God is transcendent in His immanence and immanent in His transcendence. Now isn’t that deep? God is transcendent in His immanence and immanent in His transcendence. God is transcendent, which means that He is uniquely other than everything else. And God is imminent, which means He is uniquely present and active in the world.

If God was only transcendent, we would be consumed by His holiness and greatness. If God was only transcendent, He would be distant and disengaged from us. However, if God is only immanent, then He would only be viewed by us as our spiritual Santa Claus. If God was only immanent, we would miss His greatness, His power, and His glory.

Now this leads us back to the question that will run throughout this series, which is “Dave what we believe about the nature and character of God really matter?” And the answer to that question leads us to this timeless truth about why it really matters. And that timeless truth is this: What we believe about God really matters because God is uniquely above all else and is uniquely present with us. What we really believe about God really matters because God is uniquely above all else.

God is uniquely above all else because there is only one God who is the Creator who created all that has been created.  God is uniquely above all else because there never has been, or never will be, a flaw in God or a mistake made by God. God is uniquely above all else because God’s knowledge cannot be exhausted. God is uniquely above all else because God is not an interpreter of the future; God is the sovereign shaper of the future. God is uniquely above all else because God is all about His glory and His glory is most clearly seen by His activity in History to rescue rebellious humanity through Jesus Christ.

And what we believe about God really matters because God is uniquely present with us. God is uniquely present with us because God has a purpose and plan designed to bring flawed, fallen, broken, and rebellious humanity back to relationship with Him. God is uniquely present with us because God is not distant and disinterested in us. God is uniquely present with us because God is actively at work in the world to reveal Himself to us.

And because of that reality, what we believe about God really matters because God is uniquely above all else and is uniquely present with us.