The Nature of God

We will say the computers happened to produce a computer. Dr. Tony Evans is truly appreciating who God is only begins once we realize nothing can occur apart from God created the visible world of nonexistent material celebrating 40 years of faithfulness. This is the alternative Dr. Tony Evans authored speaker, pastor of hopeless Bible Fellowship in Dallas Texas and president of the alternative, trying to contain the idea of an infinite God and of finite brain is like trying to pour a swimming pool into a sippy cup is just not going to fit with the Bible does give us important insights into God's nature and Dr. Evans will help us explore them today.

Let's join him. God is totally perfect uncreated Creator and sustainer of all things was comprised of three coequal persons father-son Holy Spirit. While one in essence, while remaining distinct impersonality, meaning the father is not the son. The son is not the spirit but they all comprise the one being of God, the Bible never tries to convince people about the existence of God. Psalm 41 says the fool has said in his heart there is no God, so to be in.

Yes, you must also be a fool, you have to become educated in the atheism because that's not natural not natural because we created the image of God is not natural because Psalm 119 says that the heavens and earth declare the glory of God the existence of God is he is cool and immaterial material be John four versus 23 and 24 God is a spirit work from his horse whispers to you the spirit he's not being in his and his Courtney became a man, man, because that's not in his eternal state.

He's not a man. He is a spirit okay which is why we must be able to relate to him spiritually because he is a spirit who became a man in Christ. But his essence is cool is that his natural habitat. He is a spirit. The Bible makes it clear that there is never a time when God did not exist from everlasting to everlasting dialogue God somebody would ask you where did God come from. That is a question that has no answer but I haven't answered the answer is even come from anywhere because it was never time he didn't exist. Okay now even evolutionist have a problem because you still got to come up with first call to come up with when the first things come from that started the creation so everybody has to come up with with something what the Christian worldview yesterday God worldview is that our first cause God has never not been. He is greater than the sum total of his creation.

We can think about God created the heavens and all the galaxies all all realms, all the stars all you know you read Genesis 1: in the beginning God so God created everything that exists.

So if God just by his words can create everything that exists, then he must be greater than what he created. Okay God will exist exist in person. He is not an impersonal force for you Star Wars fans is not before he is he is a person that is he has intellect. He thinks he has emotion he feels about being God being glad God be angry. You know God being disappointedabout his feelings, emotion, intellect and will. He can choose to act or not act clear choice, intellect, emotion will mid consciousness, God bear self-consciousness you have self-consciousness because nobody doesn't know that you're here, but the reason that you know that you here you have self-consciousness you conscious of your own reality. Okay, so what God gave us was what he himself possesses that infinite level but he possesses self-consciousness so he is a person because he is a person even though he is a spirit person.

He can be related to communicated with interacted with because he bears the same thing. We have a lower level we have it, but he is a person so therefore, as we go through the Lord's prayer we can talk to him as father because he bears personhood. Therefore, we can relate to him but we gotta do it spiritually because at his court at the nucleus, if you will, of his being. God is spirit, now the problem here with this being we called God is the transcendent nature of his being. We say he is transcendent with saying he sits outside of time and space K in the beginning God.

God preceded the beginning and created the beginning so before that was the beginning there was God. So how can you have being to exist before there was a beginning to exist. So God sits outside of time, which helps us understand something that because he is transcendent.

That is, he is not limited to time and space can operate outside of it, then that should help us to understand why his ways are not our ways his thoughts about our thoughts as high as the heavens are above the earth. That's that's the continuing that he gives the distance from where we are, where he is so this is why Revelation God disclosing himself is so important because you would never be able to figure him out on your own because he transcended his whole number so but while these transcendent way out there beyond time and space. He is simultaneously imminent transcendent way out.

Time and space imminent means close and involving his creation. So he is way out there and wait out here, both at the same time Jake is both transcendent and immanent. Let's look at Exodus 3 we look at God's nature which want to just identify his essential being Exodus 3 God's commissioning Moses. Then Moses said to God. Verse 13 behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, God of your fathers has sent me to you.

Now they may say to me what is his name what shall I say, God said to Moses, I am.

I said thus you shall say to the sons of Israel. I am has sent me to you. Moses says go tell these folks up in the middle think I've lost you? Who who commissions you who commissions you to do this. He says you tell them I am that I am has sent you. Let me break down this designation in this. This designation is important because it's God telling you who use so God is telling Moses, who years. What is my name. I am that I there are number of features in this self designation that God makes about his own identity.

First of all, God establishes in this phrase is any tonality because I am is an eternal present tense God lives in the present tense which means he has no past. His name is I am.

It also means he has no future because I am is present tense I am right now.

God has no yesterday, and he has no tomorrow. Now he can't talk like that because we have yesterday and we are moving to tomorrow so yes to talk to us in the language of our historical realities.

Remember he's transcended voices outside of history so he says you tell them I am the present. So what this the implications of his he tonality in Psalm 90 verses one into a quote ago from everlasting to everlasting you are God. He always lives in the current state of reality independent of time. He sits above time and he sees everything as one hole was like looking at a parade from the Goodyear blimp versus looking at it from one group to another.

Passing you bond with the man in the different floats and stuff we see and progressively recall that linearly we see it moving in time. The Goodyear blimp can see the whole parade because it's sitting way up here God lives in the eternal now so whatever God says about the future future to be future for us not for him is in his reality right now.

Now when you get the habit and time is no more words about us. It would be no night there will be no son be no no sleep. I noticed depressing.

Many of you don't review sleep is because it is night you get tired know that, but none of that that will be happening so so you will you will get tired will be dealing with earth to earth and sky, but everything in heaven is existing in this eternal marital status so so everything is now so if some God says something about the future it's the future for us. It's now for him because he exists in an eternal present. Everything is now Dr. Evans will have more on the nature of God when he continues her message just a moment but first I want to let you know about a brand-new book that can help you better understand God's character and qualities even as it helps you seek his guidance and support is called prayers for knowing God and into Dr. Evans provides a number of prayers that can be prayed Word for Word or used as a springboard for your own dialogue with God goes hand-in-hand with God's heart revealed the name of Tony's current teaching series that you been learning from today for a limited time will send you out 12 full-length messages from this series on CD and digital download as well as the prayers for knowing God book is her way of saying thanks when you make a contribution to support Tony's ministry here on the year. We are completely listener supported. So your faithfulness is the only way we can keep bringing you this broadcast each day so please let us hear from you right away. You can make all the arrangements@tonyevans.org or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 again that's 1-800-800-3222, or online at Tony Avenue and start or Dr. Evans will come back with more of today's lesson right after this. It's beyond the Sunday sermon a chance to really dig into the Bible and the kingdom in a new way anytime and anywhere because it's all online to Tony Avenue and's training center.

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Find out more@tonyevanstraining.org Tony Evans.org he goes on to state, and I bet he is self sufficient notice he says you tell them I am that I am so. He stated twice. You can say that I can say that number one you all because the Obama your daddy without your mom and your dad you you are dependent on something outside of you to be you.

God says I am simply because I am in other words, everything that I need for me is already intrinsic to me. He is the only truly independent, being in the universe. A great way to look at God self generating is to think about the sun it generates its own heat. You don't have to help it get hot like the stove. Okay, so God is self existent because he self generating food on the water because it's all built in the confusing part of God and the computer parts God with the computer but I God is this a try.

Human nature is Trinitarian nature. And that's what makes the Christian God, distinct from any other God. That's called God because God is a Trinityyou heard me give it a print like a pretzel with three holes first holds that the second hole.

The second hole is not the third hole. All three holes are tied together by the same no all bear the characteristics of deity about the characteristics of the divine nature and so the Bible declares that God is one. Deuteronomy 64 and yet the Bible declares that there are three that are called God, so God is is a try you being who is eternal, self-sufficient, self existent, he defines himself by himself so the idea is to come to know God as he reveals himself to be.

Have you ever had anybody in your life who tries to tell you who you are and you know they don't know what they talk about anybody you have the same you don't know me know what they thought they knew what you knew was not true about you but that's what a lot of people try to do about God. They want to take that humanity and define God in terms of so they were regular talk about what they think and how they feel about God. God wouldn't do this do that rather than letting God define who God is to us, which we call revelation God disclosing his reality to us now this God. This creates for who is not been create, but he was responsible for all the creation on foot. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. You cannot have a watch without a watchmaker. You cannot have a building without a builder. Things do not exist by chance or luck did not have a painting without a painter summoning theories of evolution that is exactly what they should be Theories. One of one of them is the Big Bang theory, Big Bang theory that there was this explosion of energy that spun off these different planets and all that so expensive. I tell you about the Big Bang. Some exploded, and out of that involve the universe as one of the last time they seen a bomb blow up and after the explosion, something orderly resulted good thing, but with some my place of the balmy blows up, you wind up with a house, you wind up with something orderly.

The necessary for you to have the cellular structure of your human body. Scientist Medical Center is still trying to figure the sales that have been intricately to producing life in the human body evolved by chance mutations that that for any intelligent person to believe that is the thinking of.

That's what the Bible calls fools that we have done this bow so a creation I need to creator with when the archaeologists go by. They find some in some foreign places.

They find tools that people constructed when they do they try to figure out who live.

I don't think that tool happened by itself that I know to go back to monkeys and apes in all I can. But if a human brain can design a computer and the question is who design the human brain will say the computers happened.

We said it was intellect to produce a computer web capacity and have intellect come from delectable to computability intellect.

The bill the brain about the computer. I know you will want to file an airplane is been locked together all mankind has learned to do is rearrange God's already existing creation to create new things what they cannot do is create out of nothing.

They got half of raw materials. The work which they can figure that makes me think of Hebrews 11 Hebrews 11 verse three by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen wasn't made out of things which are not visible. So God created theology. Another phrase is called X Lilo X Lilo means out of nothing, and what God created the visible world out of nonexistent material. You don't know anybody who's ever made any creation of something they didn't already exist except God does try to give you a feel for the greatness of God but because the transcendent God wanted to be intimate with his creation on he built himself a second home. He existed outside of time and space because he created time and space, but he wanted to hang out with his creation.

So he built himself a second home in the third heaven as the throne room of God in history. The third heaven. Jesus went. He rose, he went to his father in the third heaven where he seated now so so God has a house in creation, although he simultaneously exist outside of creation. Then he decided to get 1/3 home.

So what do we build a tabernacle on earth that was called a mobile home that moved along with the Israelites decided to make the mobile home permanent building temple then decided to make it personal. He becomes a man and dwelt among us John chapter 1 verses 14 verse 18 and even got more personal, for he is now's is in us by his Spirit, Dr. Tony Evans talking about how the creator of the universe chooses to be near to us. And if that's a gift you've never experienced. Dr. Evans would love to introduce you to the Lord. Just visit Tony Evans.org and follow the link that says Jesus there attorney will share how to accept God's life changing offer what it means to have a real relationship with Christ and how to be 100% sure about your eternal future.

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The Bible tells us God not only created heaven and earth, but that he fills them as well.

Tomorrow Dr. Evans will examine what he calls the all this of God and explain why there's no place we can go where God is not already present sure to join us, the alternative with Dr. Tony Avenue since 1990, celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you