A General Introduction to the Bible - Lecture Fifteen
Review:
The Bible is (among other things) an accurate record of earth and human history
Bible History can be broken down into “time blocks” or eras; there are 12 eras of Bible History
Eras 1-9 cover Old Testament history; eras 10-12 cover New Testament history
1. Creation
2. Patriarch
3. Exodus
4. Conquest
5. Judges
6. Kings
7. Exile
8. Return
9. Silence
10. Gospels
11. Church
12. Missions
There are 10 Great Doctrines of the Bible; we looked at the first of these (the doctrine of the
Bible) last time; now we begin with doctrine #2 – The Doctrine of God the Father
2. God the Father
a. Existence (Romans 1:20)
 God’s existence is plan to all but people deny and suppress this truth; that is why
the non-Christian is without excuse on the day of judgment
 If people will respond affirmatively to the truth they have received from God, He
will give them more truth (Mark 4)
b. Sovereignty (Psalm 135:5-6)
 God is the Supreme Authority; He has the right to be believed and obeyed
 He is in control of the whole created order
 Even so, people are not mere puppets; evil men to evil things, but even this is in
the sovereign plan of God; He is able to use evil things to bring about greater
goods
c. Trinity (1 John 5:7)
Attributes:
Divine:
Omnipotence (Job 42:2)
 God is all-powerful; He can all whatever He purposes to do; no plan f His
can be thwarted
Omnipresence (Ps 139:8)
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Personal:
God is Spirit; this means He is not extended in space;
Nevertheless he is causally active at all points in the created order; He is
holding all things together moment by moment
Because He us not limited by space, He is closer to you than you could
ever be to another human being
Omniscience (Ps 139:4)
 God knows all things; He infallibly knows the future
 Some think that God knows the future only because He has chosen to
strongly actualize whatever comes to pass
 I think this cuts into His omniscience too much; it makes His omniscience
dependent upon His omnipotence; I think it better to believe that God
just knows all things and to leave it at that;
 How God knows all things is a mystery; the Psalmist said it was too
wonderful for him to understand (Psalm 139:6)
Holy (Isaiah 5:16)
 Holiness speaks (among other things) of God’s independence; He is
independent and unlimited in all His perfections
 This includes moral perfect
Just (Psalm 19:9)
 God is a just judge; He punishes evil in the created order
 Our sins must be punished but God didn’t desire that we suffer for
them;
 His solution was to send the Lord Jesus to die in our place
 God showed himself maximally just and yet merciful at the cross
Love (1 John 4:8)
 God is by nature love; the members of the Trinity have existed in love
relationship throughout eternity
 God showed His great love in spectacular fashion at the cross
(Romans 5:8)
Aberrations to this Doctrine
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Mormons teach that the Father has a body of flesh and bone (incorrect; see John 4:24)
Russelism (Jehovah’s Witnesses) denies that God is omnipresent and omniscient
He was unaware that the fall would occur
He resides in heaven; he is not everywhere present
New Age Cults teach that God is everything (Pantheism) or is in everything
(Panentheism)
3. Jesus Christ
a. Deity (John 1:1)
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Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity; from all eternity he has had a divine
nature
 He is no less God than God the Father
 He is called the Son of God because He shares the same nature as the Father; not
because the Father somehow produced Him
 See Hebrews 1
b. Humanity (John 1:14, Hebrews 2:14)
 At a point in time the Second Person of the Trinity added a human nature to His
Person; He is now one person with two natures forever
 We may say that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man; He is not ½ God and ½
man
c. Resurrection (Romans 1:4, 1 Cor. 15)
 Jesus the “God-man” experienced death on the cross—the punishment for our
sins
 God the Trinity did not die there, nor did the Father or the Holy Spirit
 Jesus the Second Person of the Trinity experienced death
 Jesus was raised from the dead bodily; he is called the first fruits (1 Cor 15:20)
because those that trust in him for salvation will be raised just as He was raised
d. Return (Titus 2:13)
 The Lord Jesus resides in heaven with God the Father, now making intercession
for us
 One day he will return to the earth to establish His kingdom (Matt 25; Revelation
19-20)
 All things that offend will be purged from His realm; what a day that will be!
Aberrations to this Doctrine
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Jehovah’s Witnesses insist that Jesus is a created being
Mormons believe that Jesus is just one of many gods, and is still progressing in
godhood; This is contrary to the clear teachings of Scripture: (Is 43:10-11; Heb 13:8)
Christian Science teaches that the entire physical universe is an illusion, so:
Jesus did not come in the flesh (This is an antichrist doctrine – 1 John 4:14)
New Age Gurus teach that “Christ” is a label for those of us who are enlightened; Jesus
was therefore “a” Christ, Not “the” Christ