God

What Shapes Us: God

WARM-UP

What are some characteristics you look for in a friend? Why are these important to you?

What does an ideal relationship look like for you in your family or with your friends?

What are the non-negotiables in your life? Why do they matter to you?

WORD

11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.

13 All the saints greet you.

14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2CO 13:11-14

Our Statement of Faith summarizes the twelve essential doctrines that we believe and teach in our church, which are based on the word of God. It is the basis of why we do the things we do and the non-negotiables when it comes to our faith. The Statement of Faith also helps us understand the overarching story of the gospel in the Bible.

In the next few weeks, we will be going through six of the twelve articles, starting with the most important—God. God is the anchor of our faith and he exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person has a distinct role, but all are God and co-exist in a harmonious, perfect relationship with each other. Today, let’s look at a blessing from the apostle Paul that shows the different roles fulfilled by each person of the Trinity.

1 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ brings salvation.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2CO 13:14

(Read also JOH 1:14-17).

The grace of God—undeserved merit and favor—is fully expressed in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is full of God’s grace and also the way by whom we receive grace through faith. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection bring us salvation as a free gift. By walking on earth as a human, Jesus is a reminder that God is not far from us. He is heavily concerned and involved in our lives, providing grace for us to live the kind of life God wants for us. How have you experienced the grace of God through Jesus Christ in your life?

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”)

Commentary on the Bible, by Adam Clarke

About him—The glorious personage before mentioned: John the Baptist, whose history was well known to the persons to whom this gospel came in the beginning, bare witness; and he cried—being deeply convinced of the importance and truth of the subject, he delivered his testimony with the utmost zeal and earnestness—saying, This is he of whom I said, “He who comes after me”—for I am no other than a voice of the crier in the wilderness (Isa 40:3), the forerunner of the Messiah.

Was before me—Speaking by the prophets, and warning your fathers to repent and return to God, as I now warn you; because he was before me—he was from eternity, and from him I have derived both my being and my ministry.

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. JOH 1:14-17

2 The love of God our Father is his motivation for giving us his Son.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2CO 13:14

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. JOH 3:16

As sinners, we all justly deserve to experience eternal destruction. However, because God loves us, he doesn’t want us to perish, but instead have an eternal relationship with him. His love for us is the reason he sent Jesus Christ to live and die in our place, thus accomplishing both his love and justice. Jesus is the ultimate expression of God’s love for us—he is the means by which we can receive forgiveness and eternal life, and have a relationship with God. What are the other ways by which God shows his love to you each day?

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown

For God so loved, &c.—What proclamation of the gospel has been so oft on the lips of missionaries and preachers in every age since it was first uttered? What has sent such thrilling sensations through millions of mankind? What has been honored to bring such multitudes to the feet of Christ? What to kindle in the cold and selfish breasts of mortals the fires of self-sacrificing love to mankind, as these words of transparent simplicity, yet overpowering majesty? The picture embraces several distinct compartments: the world—in its widest sense—ready “to perish”; the immense love of God to that perishing world, measurable only, and conceivable only, by the gift which it drew forth from him; the gift itself—“he so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,” or, in the language of Paul, “did not spare his own Son” (Rom 8:32), or in that addressed to Abraham when ready to offer Isaac on the altar, “withheld not his son, his only son, whom he loved” (Gen 22:16); the fruit of this stupendous gift—not only deliverance from impending “perdition,” but the bestowal of eternal life; the mode in which all takes effect—by “believing” on the Son. How would Nicodemus’ narrow Judaism become invisible in the blaze of this sun of righteousness seen rising on “the world” with healing in its wings! (Mal 3:20)

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley

Yea, and this was the very design of God’s love in sending him into the world.

God so loved the world—That is, all men under heaven; even those that despise his love, and will for that cause finally perish. Otherwise not to believe would be no sin to them. For what should they believe? Ought they to believe that Christ was given for them? Then he was given for them.

He gave his only Son—Truly and seriously. And the Son of God gave himself (Gal 4:4), truly and seriously.

Whoever believes on him—With that faith which works by love, and hold fast the beginning of his confidence steadfast to the end.

The People’s New Testament, B.W. Johnson

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, etc.—For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, etc. There is no sweeter verse in the Bible. It declares: (1) That God is love. (2) That he loved the world instead of hating it. (3) That he so loved that he gave his Son. The Son did not come to appease the Father’s wrath, but the Father sent him because he loved so well. (4) That he came to keep men from perishing.

3 The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is possible because he lives in us.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2CO 13:14

(Read also 1CO 6:19-20; 2CO 6:16.)

Because of God’s love and grace through Jesus, those who put their faith in his Son are cleansed. Now, we can be his vessels, we become part of the body of Christ, and our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God within and among his people. His presence enables us to have a deep fellowship with God because he is not someone who is far off, but near and always with us. His presence is a continuous experience and reminder of God’s grace, love, and power in our lives. His presence encourages us and binds us together as the body of Christ. What does the fellowship of the Holy Spirit mean for the fellowship within the church, the body of Christ?

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

Commentary on the Bible, by Adam Clarke

Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit—What an astonishing saying is this! As truly as the living God dwelt in the Mosaic tabernacle, and in the temple of Solomon, so truly does the Holy Spirit dwell in the souls of genuine Christians; and as the temple and all its utensils were holy, separated from all common and profane uses, and dedicated alone to the service of God, so the bodies of genuine Christians are holy, and all their members should be employed in the service of God alone.

You are not your own—You have no right over yourselves, to dispose either of your body, or any of its members, as you may think proper or lawful; you are bound to God, and to him you are accountable.

20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1CO 6:19-20

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.” 2CO 6:16

Commentary on the Bible, by Adam Clarke

What agreement has the temple of God with idols—Nothing could appear more abominable to a Jew than an idol in the temple of God: here, then, could be no agreement; the worship of the two is wholly incompatible. An idolater never worships the true God; a Christian never worships an idol. If we join in idolatrous rites, it is impossible that we should be Christians.

We are the temple of the living God—God intends to make the heart of every believer his own house.

I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them—The words are very emphatic: I will inhabit among them. I will not be as a wayfaring man, who turns aside to tarry as for a night, but I will take up my constant residence with them; I will dwell in and among them.

I will be their God—They shall have no other God, they shall have none besides me; and if they take me for their God, I will be to them all that an infinite, eternal, and self-sufficient Being can be to his intelligent offspring.

They shall be my people—If they take me for their God, their supreme and eternal good, I will take them for my people; and instruct, enlighten, defend, provide for, support, and bless them, as if I had none else to care for in the creation.

While knowing more about the Trinitarian nature of God is important, our human capacity to know him is still limited. This only shows how vast and great our God is. We are to worship him because of who he is. Even though we can’t fully know the mysteries of God, we can walk with him, trusting that in him, we are fully known and fully loved.

APPLICATION

What about the Trinity do you struggle understanding the most? Pray that God would give you wisdom to know him more each day.

What is something you can start doing to spend more time with God and his word?

The Trinity is a perfect example of relationship in God himself. Pray for the grace to nurture godly relationships in your life, and that you would choose unity in the church amidst challenges.

PRAYER

Pray that as you know more about God, he would reveal himself to you distinctly as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Thank God that he fulfills our every need in his Triune nature—through his love, grace, and fellowship.

Pray that the Trinity would be the foundation in which relationships in church would be built upon.