chapters 1-3    chapters 4-5    chapters 6-7

What You Should Know About GOD

by J. W. Jepson, D.Min.

Contents

Chapter 9: Our Obligation To God

God’s Relationship To His Creation

God is not a static force, or a closed system--passive, inactive, non- communicative. God is a Person in the fullest sense. He loves. He thinks. He purposes. He chooses. He acts. He feels. He communicates.

God has a grand design, and all of His works and administrations are part of that design.

God is supremely active. He is the Great Initiator. What He has begun He will accomplish, and He will do so according to His eternal purpose.

"Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts which are toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered" (Psalm 40:5 NKJV).

God's works are the most visible demonstration of the magnitude of His power and greatness. It is by "the things that are made" that God's "eternal power and Godhead" is clearly revealed to all humanity in all places and in every age (see Romans 1:18-32).

God Is The Creator

By His spoken word God created the physical universe out of nothing. The Scriptures begin with this sublime statement: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1 NASB). No statement of the origin of things can come close to this majestic declaration. It is simple, yet complete and totally satisfactory. Nothing else is. It is categorical because it is authoritative. It is authoritative because it is true. Reject it, and one moves immediately toward the absurd.

Exodus 20:11 likewise declares simply and plainly, "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them" (NASB).

Job was not a scientist as we define a scientist today, and he lived in what is called a pre-scientific age. But in Job 26:7 we have his amazing statement: "He stretches out the north over the empty place and hangs the earth upon nothing." This was written long before Copernicus and Galileo. Where did such information come from? There is only one answer--God.

God created everything by His unaided word (Psalm 33:6). He laid the foundations of the earth (Psalm 104:5). The entire physical universe is the product of His command and is subject to it.

"I have made the earth and created man upon it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded" (Isaiah 45:12).

"Surely My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand together" (Isaiah 48:13 NASB).

That God is the Creator of all things is a fundamental of our faith and testimony. It was so for the early Church. On one occasion of persecution the early disciples prayed, "Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is" (Acts 4:24). They were praying Exodus 20:11 back to God as a confession of faith.

This clear confession stands out in total contrast to pagan polytheism. Greek and Roman mythologies are completely absent here. So also are the speculations of modern evolutionism. The God of the Bible is also the God of fact.

When the people of Lystra went about to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas, thinking that they were gods, the apostles cried out, "We also are men of like passions with you, and preach to you that you should turn from these vanities to the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein" (Acts 14:15). A correct cosmogony is essential to the gospel.

To the speculative thinkers of Athens, who by implication admitted to the failure of unaided human reason to know God, Paul confidently introduced Him as the God who "made the world and all things therein" (Acts 17:27).

The question of origins is unanswerable except by Divine revelation. The event itself is beyond scientific demonstration. True science must limit itself to observation and experimentation, and the conclusions and hypotheses that result therefrom. The origin of the physical universe was an event that was not observed by human beings and of course cannot be reproduced. For this reason science can truly say little or nothing about it. Science can guess, but then it ceases to be science in the strictest sense. How the material universe could come into existence out of nothing is beyond finite reason, and therefore is beyond philosophy as well as science. It is a matter for Divine revelation only. Every honest mind should be grateful that God has given us that revelation. The faith that accepts that revelation will find the knowable data, when truly and fully known, to be in harmony with that revelation. Such a faith is not blind. On the contrary, it is truly enlightened.

"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Hebrews 11:3).

Long ago a thinking man wrote: "When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? and the son of man that Thou dost care for him?" (Psalm 8:3,4 NASB).

A correct cosmogony is essential also to a correct anthropology. A proper regard for God as Creator is necessary for a proper view of man. Without it man inevitably thinks wrongly about himself. Paradoxically, at the same time man both exalts and demeans himself. In his view of himself he becomes either the "supreme animal," or, as is so common in current "new age" pseudo-spirituality, a potential or actual "god." Either way, man becomes a self-contradiction.

Long ago a chastened wise man wrote that God "has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts..." (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NKJV).

We should never lose the sense of wonder at the greatness of God displayed in His creation. Every advance in scientific knowledge should increase our sense of humility and awe before the Almighty God.

God Is Owner And Sole Proprietor

As Creator, God is the owner and sole proprietor of His creation. His title reads: "All the earth is mine" (Exodus 19:5). Psalm 24:1 affirms, "The earth is the LORD's and the fulness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein."

Genesis 14:19 records the blessing that Melchizedek pronounced upon Abraham: "Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth."

Moses declared to Israel, "Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD's your God, the earth also, with all that therein is" (Deuteronomy 10:14).

God said to Job, "Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine" (Job 41:11). And in Psalm 50:10 God says, "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." (See also Leviticus 25:23; 1 Chronicles 29:14; Psalm 95:5; Haggai 2:8).

Consider the tragic failure of humanity's efforts to rule this planet without proper regard for God's jurisdiction over it. How beautiful things would be if the human race would acknowledge with the psalmist, "The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fulness, You have founded them" (Psalm 89:11 NKJV).

God Is the Creator Of Man

To find the masterpiece of God's creation, we look not at the stars but at that marvelous creature that was created in God's own image--the human being. We are the product of special creation. After the animal kingdom had been brought into existence, God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). Verse 27 continues, "So God created man in his own image." Genesis 2:7 gives the specifics: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (See also Genesis 5:1 and 9:6).

Many centuries ago a devout person was inspired to write, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works" (Psalm 139:14). In the psalmist's day comparatively little was known about human anatomy and physiology. Today, in the light of modern medical science, this passage takes on new significance, and each advance in man's knowledge of himself adds fresh grandeur to this truth. How great is our Creator!

Man is made in the image of God. We are the expression of our Maker. We human beings can never erase the indelible conviction that we are tied to eternity. God is a Trinity in unity; man is a tri-unity (spirit, soul, and body). God is a free moral agent; so is man. Our moral powers, redeemed and sanctified, are the demonstration of our everlasting resemblance to our Creator.

God Is The Owner And Governor Of The Human Race

In Ezekiel 18:4 God says, "All souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine...." We belong to God not only by right of creation, but also by right of redemption. So Paul affirms in Romans 14:8--"We are the Lord's." This is a fact that the proud, impenitent heart refuses to acknowledge, but it must be acknowledged if there is to be true repentance, humility and peace.

God governs, or has a right to govern, man not only because He is our Creator but also because we need His moral rule. It is necessary to our well-being. For this reason God has a clear right to govern us morally and we have a clear obligation to support His moral authority by our obedience. Declaring ourselves independent of God's moral authority is as contrary to reason as declaring ourselves independent of the traffic laws while driving the freeways. The only difference is the greater amount of havoc and ruin that results from disobedience to God.

God Reveals Himself.

The infinite intelligence of God is demonstrated in the complexity and design of His creation. And behind the intelligent act is an intelligent purpose. God created us for a purpose, and He intends for us to know Him and His purpose. This requires Divine revelation.

Sometimes people are spoken of as "searching for God." The truth of the matter is not that people are searching for a "lost" God, but that God is reaching out to lost people. The Bible is not the record of man's struggle to develop a concept of God; rather, it is the record of God's progressive self-revelation to man. God is the self-revealing God. He did not stop at a general revelation of Himself in nature. God is a Person and He purposes to make Himself and His will known. God desires to have a personal relationship with us.

Throughout Biblical history God made Himself known to individuals on various occasions. God communicated directly and personally to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:9 and 13). Enoch walked with God (Genesis 5:22-24). So did Noah (Genesis 6:9). The Bible records that God "appeared" to Abraham on a number of occasions (see Genesis 12:7; 17:1; 18:1). In fact, Abraham was called "the friend of God" (James 2:23).

God "appeared" to Isaac (Genesis 26:2). He "appeared" to Jacob in a dream (Genesis 28:13). And when Jacob came out of Padanaram, God appeared to him again (Genesis 35:9).

God communicated with Job in a powerful revelation of His sovereignty that straightened out Job's thinking immediately and completely. (Job chapters 38-41).

One of God's most dramatic appearances to a human being in the Old Testament was when He met with Moses at the burning bush (Exodus chapter three). During that interview God specifically commanded Moses to declare categorically to the people that God had appeared to him (verse 16). Later, God appeared to Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel (Exodus 24:9,10). God told Moses that He would meet with him at the mercy seat (Exodus 25:22). And Exodus 33:11 says that "the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Moses caught a glimpse of the "afterglow of God" on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 33:23), and his face shone as a result of that encounter with the Almighty (Exodus 34:29).

God appeared to king David at the threshing floor of Ornan (Araunah) the Jebusite. This was on what was known as Mt. Moriah. Later, "Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared to David his father..." (2 Chronicles 3:1).

God appeared to Solomon in a dream (1 Kings 3:5). He appeared to him again after the temple was completed (1 Kings 9:2).

The prophet Isaiah records, "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple" (Isaiah 6:1). The impact of this encounter with God changed his life and prophetic ministry.

No mortal has ever seen or ever could see God in His fulness, that is, His unmodified essence. This is stated categorically in John 1:18--"No man has seen God at any time." Our mortal bodies could not stand such a total revelation. God said to Moses, "You cannot see my face, for there shall no man see me and live" (Exodus 33:20). So then, every "appearance" of God to man must be in a modified form, a mode that would be both possible and comprehensible to us in our present mortal state. But even that is tremendous! Here is how such a visible expression of God affected Job: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5,6). Isaiah felt the same sense of unworthiness when he saw the Lord "high and lifted up." "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts" (Isaiah 6:5).

Yes, God does love us, and it is His purpose to reveal Himself to us so that we will truly know Him and enjoy personal fellowship with Him. Such is His joy--and ours.

God's Condescension

By condescension is meant reaching down from a position of superior rank and state of being, stooping to an inferior in order to do him or her good. God is so infinitely exalted above all His creatures in being, position and authority that for Him to reveal Himself to us in a personal, intimate way involves unlimited condescension on His part. The gap of being between God and man only God can span.

Psalm 113:5,6 declares, "Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwells on high, who humbles himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!" So then, even to look at what is going on in heaven is an act of condescension on the part of God! How high and lofty He must be. And yet, He "remembered us in our low estate" (Psalm 136:23). "Though the LORD be high, yet has he respect to the lowly; but the proud he knows afar off" (Psalm 138:6).

We see the full condescension of God in Jesus Christ. God in the flesh lived among us, experienced poverty, ate with publicans and sinners, washed the feet of His disciples, suffered the abuse of sinners and was crucified on a cross. Oh, the gracious condescension of God, that He, the Highest, would stoop to the lowest to redeem us and make us His very own.

God Is Near

Nearness to Himself--personal, intimate communion now and forever--this is the yearning of the great heart of God toward us. And in response it should also be the yearning of our hearts toward Him.

The notion that God is a detached, impersonal Being who made the world and then showed little or no concern for humanity is a gross impeachment of His character and a misrepresentation of His very nature. To assert that God acted in creation with no real and wise purpose is to accuse Him of creating us with a need and a longing for Him and then abandoning us. It is a denial that God is love. The charge is really a rejection of God's moral government by means of a denial of it.

Whether they will admit it or not, all human beings need God's providence, direction, forgiveness and fellowship. To say that God is not personally concerned about each one of us is to charge Him with the most cruel wickedness. The Scriptures do not reveal God to be such a being. On the contrary, the word of God everywhere assures us of His immediate involvement and care. God is not off somewhere playing "hide and seek" with us, daring us to find Him. He is near.

"For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones" (Isaiah 57:15).

God sees the sparrow when it falls, and knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:29,30). He is "not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:27). He said to Jacob, "I am with you" (Genesis 28:15). He assured both Moses and the nation of Israel, "My presence shall go with you and I will give you rest" (Exodus 33:14). We are assured in Psalm 34:18, "the LORD is nigh to them that are of a broken heart."

Time after time the human heart has trusted God in the hour of difficulty and thus has experienced the reality of Isaiah 43:2--"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you."

We are always in God's thoughts. His thoughts toward us are thoughts of love in all of its fulness. The psalmist exclaimed, "How precious also are thy thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand..." (Psalm 139:17,18).

Yes, the God of heaven and earth has focused the infinite resources and power of His thoughts upon the formulation and implementation of grand designs for our good. Climaxed by Calvary and the resurrection, and through that completed redemption extending to all time and eternity, unlimited benefits have been devised by the great heart and mind of God for all who will come in faith to His abundant grace through Jesus Christ. Only the miserable, blind selfishness of man drives him to reject it all and to turn instead to his beggarly trifles and eternal ruin. But the redeemed rejoice in the full blessings of His grace. No finite mind can begin to grasp the potential of the infinite mind of God to devise good things for His people. His grand design for our eternal happiness is at the forefront of His attention. And we shall experience its full development. All praise to the Lamb who has redeemed us and brought us into this inheritance!

Believers are God's personal treasure, made for His close companionship both here and now, and in the eternal ages. And so He has promised, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20 NASB). God is near, and His sufficient grace is ours in the time of need. He bears every burden. He feels every care. He is our Father!

God Leads His People

After many years of wilderness wandering, an aged Moses stood before a new generation of Israelites and solemnly exhorted them,

"And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not" (Deuteronomy 8:2 NASB).

So then, the purpose of God's leadership is the moral development of His people. God leads us as He does to build character in us. He does not drive us, but leads us gently, as a shepherd leads his flock, going before us, preparing our way, and choosing our pastures.

Again concerning Israel the psalmist said to God, "You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron" (Psalm 77:20). He led Israel also for the glory of His name, according to Isaiah 63:14--"so did you lead your people to make yourself a glorious name." The same purpose is expressed in the Twenty-third Psalm: "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake" (verse 3). So then, if we are going to glorify His name, we must follow His leadership.

The psalmist prayed, "lead me in a plain path because of my enemies" (Psalm 27:11).

There are times when we do not understand God's sovereign guidance, or are unaware of His directing influence. Yet we can rest assured that even in such times He is continuing to lead us, working out His purpose all the while and through it all. "Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?" (Proverbs 20:24).

God Protects and Defends

Moses reassured the nervous Israelites, "The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace" (Exodus 14:14). After God delivered the people from Egypt, Moses gave them a song that went in part: "The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is His name" (Exodus 15:3 NASB).

This fact bothers some people, but only because they do not yet have the full perspective of God's character. Let us keep in mind that "The LORD is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works" (Psalm 145:9). God does not start wars; people do. In James 4:1-3 the Bible tells us where wars come from. People choose passion and violence over reason and love. Nevertheless, once wars get started, God has at times directly assisted in the defense of the innocent and the cause of right, exercising a providential influence that assures an outcome that is in accordance with His righteous will. God can override the selfishness of tyrants and use their cruel aggression as an occasion to chastise disobedient nations, as was the case when the Chaldeans (Babylonians) violently overthrew the apostate kingdom of Judah, and God did not intervene to stop them. In a few very specific cases in the ancient past some wars were initiated at the direct command of God. Many do not understand this and are perplexed over the wars of judgment recorded in the Old Testament. Some have gone so far as to assert that God (as the Israelites then understood Him) was cruel. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God is always love and He is always wise. And justice is one of the qualities of that love. God mercifully tolerated the horrible iniquity of the inhabitants of Palestine for hundreds of years, particularly during the centuries when the Israelites were in Egypt. A study of the cultures of that time and region reveals how cruel and corrupt they were. In the light of the facts it is a marvel that the mercy of God waited as long as it did before society was cleansed of these hopelessly wicked cultures. Only God knows the evil and misery that would have resulted had they been allowed to remain to perpetuate and compound their abominations. One can only imagine the outcome if Adolf Hitler and the Axis powers had been allowed to prevail. For one thing, the horrors of the holocaust would have engulfed the whole world. In the case of ancient Palestine, the time came when God could not in wisdom and justice allow such a moral malignancy to continue. God did not delight in the pain and misery of those He had to judge, but He did take satisfaction in the fact that the highest good under the circumstances was secured by the administration of justice. The new nation of Israel was God's scalpel in performing moral major surgery on the Palestine of that day.

No, God's love is not short-sighted, although some people think it ought to be. God is not trifling with sin. Sin is the most destructive influence in the entire universe of moral beings. God is determined to restrain it and eventually put an end to it, even if though serious measures must be used to do so. And it is precisely because He is a God of love that He is so determined.

God opposes evil. He resists selfishness. He is determined to inhibit man's destructiveness, at times allowing the use of force, if necessary, to do so. God providentially uses human government as an agency to secure justice and to maintain moral order on earth.

"Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle" (Psalm 24:8). It is worthy of note that this psalm follows the Twenty-third Psalm. God is a Shepherd to all who love and obey Him, but He is awsome in His dealings with all who disregard Him and His just moral govenment of the universe.

It is important to keep in mind that God is also the only one who will make wars to cease (Psalm 46:9). Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). A person who is truly serious about peace will begin by making peace with God through genuine repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ.

God is our Deliverer. He announced to Moses, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them..." (Exodus 3:7,8).

David declared, "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold" (Psalm 18:2 NASB).

When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet to the kingdom of Judah, He encouraged the timid youth with these words; "Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD" (Jeremiah 1:8).

God protects. When Jacob and his little family were surrounded by hostile neighbors, "the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob" (Genesis 35:5).

The entire Ninety-first Psalm is a grand and eloquent pledge of God's protection and deliverance. Verse seven says, "A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come nigh you."

Jesus promises His disciples, "But there shall not a hair of your head perish" (Luke 21:18).

God defends. "But let all those that put their trust in you rejoice; let them ever shout for joy, because you defend them" (Psalm 5:11).

God is our hiding place. "Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me under the shadow of your wings" (Psalm 17:8). "For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock" (Psalm 27:5). "You shall hide them in the secret of your presence from the pride of man. You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Psalm 31:20).

"You are my hiding place" (Psalm 32:7). This is the sweet experience and the personal testimony of all who walk by faith. Fleeing to God for refuge is not cowardly escapism. Rather, it is a natural thing to do for one who has a living relationship with God. It is people who do not have this relationship who become escapists in times of stress. They escape into alcohol and other drugs, pleasure, or some other unreality. The Christian who rests in God has found the spiritual resources to cope with life's realities. "The eternal God is your refuge" (Deuteronomy 33:27). "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1). "Be my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort" (Psalm 71:3). Unbelief and cynicism can make no valid statements of self-sufficiency. God is not a "crutch" for the believer any more than food is a crutch for the hungry or water for the thirsty. No, God is not an "escape mechanism." He is not the last resort; rather, He is our "continual resort." "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe" (Proverbs 18:10). Believers everywhere would enjoy much more victory and peace of spirit if only they had a fuller knowledge of God as "a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat" (Isaiah 25:4).

God is a shield of protection. God assured Abraham, "I am your shield" (Genesis 15:1). We possess the same assurance right now. "He is a shield to them that put their trust in him" (Proverbs 30:5).

It is important to remember that all of God's provisions for the believer are realized in our lives only by faith. We must believe. We must put our trust in God. As we exercise faith in God, the gap between His provision and our appropriation narrows. This is the way we move toward God and into His blessings.

God is our Rock (Deuteronomy 32:4). "He only is my rock" (Psalm 62:2). "My God is the rock of my refuge" (Psalm 94:22). A rock signifies strength, stability, permanence.

God keeps and preserves. At Bethel God said to Jacob, "I am with you and will keep you in all places where you go" (Genesis 28:15). Jesus prayed, "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me" (John 17:11). And in 1 Peter 1:5 we are assured that believers are "kept by the power of God." The power of God is committed to the defense of the integrity of each believer's confession and commitment. It is made operative by faith. No Christian need fall; our Father is greater than all (John 10:29). In Jude's epistle, verses 24 and 25 we read, "Now to him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."

God is our strength. It is written in the song of Moses, "The LORD is my strength and song" (Exodus 15:2). David declared, "God is my strength and power" (2 Samuel 22:33). And in Psalm 28:8 we read, "The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed."

God is our helper. Isaiah 41:10 has been a source of assurance to God's people for thousands of years: "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand" (NKJV). So also the promise of Hebrews 13:6 is ours today: "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me."

God Supplies Our Needs

As the forty years of wandering in the wilderness drew to a close, Moses reminded the new generation of Israelites, "Your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing" (Deuteronomy 2:7).

God used ravens to feed Elijah (1 Kings 17:6). He saw to it that the barrel of meal did not become empty and the cruise of oil did not run out (verse 16). Elijah ate "angel food cake" and drank water supplied by a miracle (19:6).

God did the same for Elisha. In the events recorded in 2 Kings chapter four, the only thing that stopped the miraculous flow of oil was the inability of the widow to find another container.

Jesus told us, "Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:32,33). Also, here is the clear promise of Philippians 4:19--"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

God brings peace

He is the God of peace. Paul wrote to the Roman church, "Now the God of peace be with you all" (Romans 15:33). "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly" (Romans 16:20). Paul admonished the Corinthian church, "live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you" (2 Corinthians 13:11). To the Philippians he said, "the God of peace shall be with you" (Philippians 4:9). And the Thessalonian believers received this message: "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Real peace comes only from God. Where God is loved and obeyed, where His will is done, where people walk humbly with Him in obedience to His word, there is peace.

God gives us light

"The LORD is my light" (Psalm 27:1). "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5).

"Light" is truth clearly perceived in its moral character and practical applications. God is light--that is, God is the source of truth and He is in absolute moral harmony with the truth. If we are to know God and have fellowship with Him, we must come to the light because that is where He is. We cannot have God on our terms. He will not move from the light in order to compromise with us. If we want God, we must have Him on His terms. We are the ones who must move--from darkness to light. This means acknowledging the truth, loving it, living it. The truly regenerate person has abandoned all deliberate self-deception. He or she has given up all controversy with the truth and with the God of truth. The honest heart loves the truth and conforms to it willingly to the full extent that it perceives the truth.

Truth comes readily to the person who is walking with God in the light. He or she is surrounded by it. Truth is the believer's natural way of living.

The practical result of a relationship with God in the light is intelligent living. Because he walks in the light with the God of light, the Christian can be certain of his path. When he finds himself in confusing circumstances, he does not have to remain there. "When I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light to me" (Micah 7:8).

God will be our everlasting light. In Revelation 22:5 we are told that "they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever."

God teaches us

This follows from the fact that God is light. Light is truth revealed, not concealed. Light is the radiation of truth. The fulness of truth is in God. If we have fellowship with God, we have fellowship with the truth. Fellowship with the truth involves the communication of the truth, from God to us.

God revealed the truth because He intended for us to know it. Moses said to Israel, "Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you" (Deuteronomy 4:36).

If we are to be taught of God, we must have reverence for Him. The psalmist said, "What man is he that fears the LORD? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose" (Psalm 25:12). And in Psalm 32:8 God gave us this delightful promise: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go; I will guide you with my eye." Happy is the person who can honestly say, "O God, you have taught me from my youth" (Psalm 71:17). The person who takes God as his Teacher from his youth on will never be a failure, neither in this life nor in the next. The wise young person will accept His instructions and follow them diligently throughout life.

God cares for us as our Father

Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father who is in heaven..." (Matthew 6:9). On the same occasion our Lord also said, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:11). This spiritual relationship is so unique and sacred that Jesus prohibited us from ascribing the term "Father" as a religious title to any man. "And call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father, which is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9).

At the new birth the Holy Spirit brings the new believer into an awareness of his or her new "sonship." So Romans 8:15 says to us, "You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." "Abba" is an intimate term for "father." See also Isaiah 63:16; 64:8; Luke 12:32; 2 Corinthians 6:18.

As Father over the "household of faith," God is in the position of paternal authority. As members of that family, believers are accountable to Him for our conduct. At times God corrects us, just as our earthly fathers did. When I was a boy, I could not get by with some of the things I saw other children seeming to get by with. But my father never spanked the neighbor kids. As Christians, sometimes we see unbelievers doing things seemingly without any Divine chastisement. But let the Christian try it, and God will take him to the woodshed! "Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?" (Hebrews 12:9).

God governs this world

God is the Judge. His is the true Supreme Court. As the moral Governor of the universe, He is the only one qualified to exercise ultimate and final justice. And because ultimate and final justice is a moral necessity, God has a moral mandate to administer it.

Abraham's question about this is recorded in Genesis 18:25--"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Of course, the answer to this rhetorical question is "yes." God is a righteous and just God. He is "the judge of all" (Hebrews 12:33). "He shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with his truth" (Psalm 96:13). See also Acts 17:30,31.

God is our Redeemer

Redemption is the greatest and most sublime of all of God's acts on behalf of the human race. This He accomplished in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. If redemption had not been at the forefront of God's eternal purpose and plan, He never would have created man. So then, the very existence of the human race is conditioned on this supreme act of God.

The humble, repentant soul has always looked in faith to God as the Redeemer. Job declared, "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth" (Job 19:25). And the psalmist prayed, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14). Peter reminds us, "you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18,19).

What a marvelous act on the part of Almighty God toward us! We mortals cannot comprehend the magnitude of the love, the wisdom, and the mercy involved in it. But we can come in faith and receive the full blessing of it through our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be all glory and praise forever!

Our Obligation To God

It is evident to us from God's self-revelation that He did not create us and then abandon us. God is not aloof, standing off somewhere merely observing what is going on. Neither is He negligent, governing the universe in a slap-dash fashion. Somehow a general notion has developed that God is either so careless or so far away that He does not really care how we live or what kind of attitude we have toward Him and His word. Such thinking could never be more wrong. God knows our every thought, word and deed, and the attitude of our hearts is of vital concern to Him.

God is infinitely great. His interests and His happiness are supremely valuable and thus supremely important. Therefore our moral obligation to Him is total and all-inclusive. This is the great essential of life. Jesus made it very clear that God's interests have first claim. Our Lord said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33 NKJV).

God is a jealous God. He zealously guards His divine prerogatives. He is watchful and protective over His honor. His is a just, righteous, and holy jealousy. He is jealous, not in the selfish sense, but in love. He values His indispensable position and His vital relationship to His creatures. He guards that relationship. He demands exclusive love and worship. In view of who He is He cannot justly require anything less. In so doing He has our good as well as His own glory in view. Our vital well-being is dependent upon our rendering to Him supreme love and exclusive worship. Because He loves us, God is concerned lest we serve other "gods," and thus dishonor Him and ruin ourselves. This fundamental moral principle heads the Ten Commandments.

"You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God," (Exodus 20:3-5 NKJV).

Again, in Exodus 34:14 we read, "for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God (NKJV)." And to the new generation of Israelites Moses solemnly declared, "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God" (Deuteronomy 4:24).

When Joshua saw the people's carelessness in contrast to God's integrity, he said to them, "You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God" (Joshua 24:19).

"You shall not tempt the LORD your God..." (Deuteronomy 6:16). "Tempt" here means "put to the test." We must never attempt to "tease" God into giving in to our whims and desires by trying to make Him jealous. We cannot play games or "toy" with God. "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?" (1 Corinthians 10:22).

God is worthy of our all. In Revelation 4:11 the "four and twenty" elders, representing the redeemed of all ages, joyfully cast their crowns before God and declare, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." The first and great commandment is to love God with all our heart. Can any personal obligation be greater than to love God with all our heart, and therefore to obey, honor, glorify and please Him? Of course not. God made us. Our mental, moral, and physical capacities and abilities were conferred on us by God to be developed and employed for His glory and for the good of others.

Each of us must ask ourselves, "Do I love God? Is my aim to glorify and please Him? Is this my conscious purpose and motive? Do I sincerely and honestly seek to use my capacities, abilities and resources intelligently for His highest well-being and that of His creatures? Or do I constantly defraud God by using them primarily for my own personal gratification?" This is the most important issue. God is infinitely important; therefore He is worthy of our supreme devotion. This clear definition of our obligation to our Maker and lawful Sovereign was embodied in the Mosaic law. We read in Deuteronomy 10:12,13--

"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes which I command you this day for your good." See also Micah 6:8.

Deuteronomy 11:1 gives us this charge: "Therefore you shall love the LORD your God and keep his charge and his statutes and his judgments and his commandments always." Under the law of Moses the people attempted to observe this as a legal requirement, and for this reason they failed. Now under grace the believer in Christ does so naturally because the love of God motivates his heart.

Joshua urged this universal moral obligation upon a later generation of Israelites: "But take diligent heed...to love the LORD your God and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cleave to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Joshua 22:5).

People who want only enough "religion" to ease their consciences, to gain acceptance in their church, and to give them a hope of going to Heaven have missed the whole point. The real, personal issue is this: "What does the Lord my God and my Maker deserve and require of me?" The Lord Jesus defined it very clearly when He quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 in answer to a question about the greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40).

Genuine, honest, sincere, whole-hearted love for God and man is the minimum requirement. In fact, this genuine love for God and man is the whole of religion and morality. It is the point of beginning, not an ideal that we struggle to attain. It is where self surrenders and Christ takes control. Until this happens there is no true religion in the soul. It is the dynamic of true saving faith.

Included in the obligation to love God is the duty to fear Him. Genuine love for God naturally includes a deep reverence for Him. To recognize that God deserves all our love is to recognize that He deserves our highest regard in every way. God is infinitely great, awesome and majestic. When Moses turned aside to see the burning bush, God said to him, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5 NKJV).

The Scriptures admonish us to fear the Lord. This is not a slavish, cringing, selfish fear. Rather, it is giving to God in love the solemn, reverential awe and respect that are rightfully His, coupled with a healthy regard for the serious consequences of not doing so. There is nothing inconsistent between loving God and fearing Him. In fact, the person who truly loves God supremely will reverence Him supremely. They who trifle with God neither know Him nor love Him.

"Stand in awe and sin not" (Psalm 4:4). "Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him" (Psalm 33:8). "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him" (Psalm 89:7).

The fear of the Lord is intelligent and reasonable. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10). A proper regard for God is the beginning point of a truly liberal education.

Reverential fear is evidence of a proper sense of values and an acknowledgement of our moral obligation. Ecclesiastes 12:13 expresses it this way: "Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." People who are not afraid to sin have no true regard for God. With little or no hesitation they disregard His interests and injure His honor. How grossly insensitive they are to God's feelings! One of the two thieves crucified with Christ was so hard and impenitent that he finally drew from the other this rebuke: "Do not you fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation?" (Luke 23:40).

Sin has to take on the magnitude of a public scandal before many people even regard it to be wrong. But a soul in tune with the holy One is so sensitive to His honor that they recoil from even the thought of disobeying Him.

It is possible to become so accustomed to the sublime that it becomes commonplace to us. The ungodly can camp, hunt and fish in the great outdoors, surrounded by nature's eloquent testimony to the power and majesty of God. But instead of being inspired to worship in awe and wonder, they swear and throw beer cans around. Madness!

The words of Habakkuk 2:20 are for us today: "the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." This is not the silence of indifference or estrangement, but the silence of wonder, awe, reverence, and adoration. Oh, that we would wake up and realize the awesomeness of approaching the presence of the Majesty in the heavens!

The fear of the Lord has a profound effect on our behavior. In 2 Corinthians 7:1 we are admonished, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." We are admonished also in 1 Peter 1:17, "And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons judges according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear."

Our moral obligation to God also includes the duty and the privilege to glorify Him in all things. The true Christian loves God. This love is more than an emotion, a sentiment. It is a purpose, a commitment to glorify God. This is the motive, the great objective, of all who are truly born again. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). "Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples" (John 15:8). A true disciple is primarily concerned about the Father's honor and glory. He goes beyond religious wishful thinking and sentiments. Feelings alone are not enough. The genuine Christian seeks to glorify God directly or indirectly in all things. His heart's desire is found in 1 Corinthians 10:31--"Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God." Earlier in the same epistle the apostle reminds us, "For you are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:20).

People who truly love God aim to please Him. It seems to be an assumption with some that the first question in religion is, "How can God please me?" God is a means to an end. But let it ever be remembered that true religion is aimed at pleasing God, not ourselves. God's blessings are great, of course, but we must always serve God for His sake and not just for the sake of the blessings. Let us live to be a source of pleasure and happiness to God.

Jesus said that He did always the things that please the Father (John 8:29). This is the motive of every truly saved soul. Paul knew what he was living for. He said, "not as pleasing men, but God" (1 Thessalonians 2:4). Hebrews 11:5 records that "Enoch...had this testimony, that he pleased God." Ah, here is the real meaning and purpose of life; here is our highest reason for being--pleasing God! One might attain fame, fortune and status in this life; but if that person fails to please God--to make pleasing God the grand aim of life--that person is a failure both for time and for eternity.

Yes, God does open His blessings to those who love Him supremely and therefore live to please Him. In 1 John 3:22 we read this promise: "And whatsoever we ask we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."

Another privilege that we have is to praise God. God is worthy of all praise now and forever. "Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee" (Psalm 67:3). Praise should be as natural to the Christian as breathing. It is the soul's language of love to God. Thus it will be forever, for God has redeemed us for the high calling and privilege of praising Him forever. See Ephesians 5:20; Colossians 1:3,12; 3:17.

The Bible is a praise book. It gives us the reasons why we should give praise to God, and then tells us how to do it: "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name" (Hebrews 13:15). God is worthy of total and exclusive worship. All the hosts of Heaven worship Him, and the universal response resonates in the hearts of the redeemed.

Every neglect or refusal to glorify and worship God defrauds Him of what is rightfully His. Every sinner is guilty of continuously cheating God. When Satan suggested that Jesus worship him, the Son of God retorted with the eternal mandate: "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve" (Matthew 4:10).

Real worship is not the heartless recital of mere words, the mechanical performance of church ritual. Jesus said, "God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). In Psalm 96:9 we are urged: "O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." Genuine worship must be accompanied by the radiance of a holy life.

Psalm 95:6 sums it up beautifully: "O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker." Amen and amen.

**********