abandoned to Christ.

Not only is it a daunting task for anyone to assume to describe the holy Trinity of God, but it is also one that will never be complete by any human efforts; for God alone is God, there is no other and (as we discussed a few days ago), our finite minds will never be able to fully grasp the greatness of an infinite God.

"To whom will you liken Me and make Me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?
~ Isaiah 46:5

"I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim."
~ Ecclesiastes 8:17 (NLT)

According to Scripture, our limited minds are incapable of fully understanding all the visible works of God here on earth; therefore I don't think it's a stretch to conclude that we'll never be able to fully comprehend the qualities, nature and character of our invisible and awesome Creator, the Lord God Almighty.

With much fear and reverence for our LORD, I will attempt to share with you what I have found in God's revealed word about His relationship to mankind as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

According to Scripture, the very essence, character and nature of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all the same: not a created being; almighty; holy; perfect; just; righteous; kind; compassionate; merciful; gracious; loving; due all glory, honor and reverence; alone should be worshiped; jealous; displays grief and righteous anger. But in God's relationship with mankind, each Person of the Trinity functions in different roles that are not interchangeable (i.e., .God the Father did not die on the Cross for our sins, God the Son does not determine the time He will return, and God the Holy Spirit alone indwells believers for our sanctification).

This is not at all an exhaustive list, but hope it is sufficient in revealing to you how God describes Himself to us through His word.

God the Father's relationship with mankind:

Genesis 1:1 ~ God the Father spoke all creation into existence
Genesis 3:21 ~ God the Father provides and made plans for human redemption through sacrifice and covering for sin
John 1:18 and Colossians 1:15~ God the Father has never been seen by man
John 4:23-24 ~ God the Father has always been and will always be invisible; He is spirit; therefore all who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth
Matthew 27:46 ~ God the Father forsook the Son and accepted Him as the propitiation for our sins
John 12:49 ~ God the Father sent the Son the first time to provide salvation
Mark 13:32 ~ only God the Father knows when the Son will return the second time to gather up His own

God the Son's relationship with mankind:

John 1:1-4, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Colossians 1:15-16 ~ All creation was made and given life through God the Son
John 3:16-18 ~ God the Son was sent by the Father as the ransom for our souls
John 5:19, John 12:49-50, 1 Corinthians 11:3 ~ God the Son is under the authority of God the Father
John 14:6 ~ God the Son is the only way to the God the Father, He's not the "best" way, He is the ONLY way.
Colossians 1:18 ~ God the Son is the head of the Church, which is His "body"
Romans 5:1 ~ Peace with God the Father is provided to believers only through God the Son

God the Holy Spirit's relationship with mankind:

John 14:26 ~ God the Holy Spirit is sent by God the Father only to believers, and only after God the Son has ascended into Heaven
John 14:16 ~ God the Holy Spirit is the Counselor, Helper for all believers
John 15:26 ~ God the Holy Spirit bears witness to God the Son
John 16:8 ~ God the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment
Titus 3:5 ~ God the Holy Spirit sanctifies us
2 Timothy 1:14 ~ God the Holy Spirit indwells all believers
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 ~ God the Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts to all believers

Now that we've looked at the Trinity and their relationship to mankind, let us look at the evidence of heirarchy within the God-head.

The word hierarchy means; any system of persons or things ranked one above another and is derived from these two words below:

hieró = Greek for holy, sacred + arch = Greek for rule, government

We know clearly that our God is a God of order, not chaos and we've seen in these Scriptures above that God the Father commands and directs, while God the Son fulfills the Father's commands and God the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Son as He equips every believer to live holy lives unto the Lord.

"Finally, it may be said that there are no differences in deity, attributes, or essential nature between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each Person is fully God and has all the attributes of God. The only distinctions between the members of the Trinity are in the ways they relate to each other and to the rest of creation. In those relationships they carry out roles that are appropriate to each Person."

~ Wayne Grudem
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine

Gracious and most merciful Father God in Heaven, I thank You for revealing Yourself to us through Your written word. Thank You so much for making a way for us to know You. I still can't completely wrap my mind around Your majesty and the fullness of Your glorious nature. You are so much greater and more wonderful than I'm sure my feeble mind could ever behold. I am humbled by Your love and that You even take notice of me.

Oh wonderful and merciful Father God, I thank You also for my sisters Laurie Ann, Hope, Michelle, Dusty and Ruth whom You've provided to travel with me in prayer as I seek to do Your will and share Your truth with anyone who will listen. Bless us awesome Father and fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so we may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Strengthen us Father God will all power according to Your glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to You Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Thank You Father for delivering us from the domain of darkness and transferring us to the kingdom of Your beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Amen.

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,

As I was studying this morning and meditating on God's word, the Holy Spirit was so gracious to take me to the Scriptures where God our Father reveals Himself to us in His deity, His holiness, His sovereignty, righteousness and matchless nature; and how every person who has "seen" God in His majesty responds. They are all different people, but all have the same reaction from being in His holy presence: humility and fear.

"Thus says the LORD:
Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."
~ Jeremiah 9:23-24

If I may, I'd like to share these Scriptures with you so that our hearts might be united to fear (revere) His holy name and worship our awesome and incomparable God in the splendor of His glory (Psalm 86:11, Psalm 29:1-2). I pray that God will give all His children discerning and wise hearts; so much so, that we will not entertain thoughts of God in ways He never reveals Himself to all mankind; that is, through His living word.

"It is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such a contemplation to look into himself."

- John Calvin

Below are some of the accounts in Scripture where people have been in the presence of the LORD God Almighty and their reaction, not only towards God, but also towards themselves (their true selves); in the light of God's holiness we can't help but clearly see our putrid depravity.

Genesis 32:30
"So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, 'For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.' "

Exodus 20:18-20
"Now when all the people saw the thunder and flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, 'You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.' Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.' "

In human philosophies, God's righteous and merciful statement in Exodus 20:20, doesn't make much sense. We don't hear this in the world, nor in churches any more: That if we fear God, we will love Him all the more and obey Him. According to God's word, the "fear of God" is clearly a gift and not something to be avoided or replaced with something a bit more warm and fuzzy that makes our flesh "feel" good (Proverbs 1:7). But we continue to see this in today's society and sadly in our churches as well. Often we will hear people refer to God in ways that is more appeasing to the human ear while desensitizing our spirits to the holiness of God's nature and at the same time, feeding our pride; then we wonder why our churches our filled with rampant sin - just as it is outside the church. This seems to be a dangerous road we've wandered off to and would be wise to quickly leave it.

Judges 6:22-23
"Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, 'Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.' But the LORD said to him, 'Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.' "

Isaiah 6:5
"And I said; 'Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!' "

Luke 1:11-12
"And there appeared to him [Zechariah] an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.' "

In this account, Zechariah, has the same reaction to seeing God or even a servant of God (an angel) in the proper way others before him responded. But then, after Gabriel comforts Zechariah and let's him know that he was not sent by God to destroy him, but to bless him, Zechariah gets a bit too familiar, a bit too comfortable and therefore is reminded that he is merely a man and talking back to an angel of God is a dangerous and foolish thing.

Luke 1:19-20
"And the angel answered him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.' "

At this time, it would've greatly benefited Zechariah to have remembered the word of God spoken through King Solomon:

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few."

Luke 1:28-30
"And he [Gabriel] came to her [Mary] and said, 'Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!' But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.' "

In contrast, we see Mary responds differently than Zechariah when Gabriel assures her not to be afraid, because he has been sent by God to bless her with good news. Instead of letting her pride rise within her so that she would sin like Zechariah and dare to become too "chummy" with an angel of the Lord, she humbles herself as she perceives herself as she truly is - a lowly servant in the sight of a holy God .

This reminds me of a time several years ago, when my oldest son purchased himself a t-shirt while at church camp. The shirt was very plain. It was black and had white writing on it that simply, yet profoundly stated: "Jesus is NOT my homeboy. He is God." My son bought this shirt because at the time, many teens his age (that is, professing born-again believers) were sadly duped into wearing t-shirts that boasted about their intimacy with God. These t-shirts said: "Jesus is my homeboy." Our oldest son considered this statement to be extremely irreverent and was very sad for those who had fallen into the deception that God is our "buddy". Purchasing the t-shirt, which he wore very proudly, was his silent way of revealing God's truth about His own character; God is holy and alone is worthy of the utmost honor and glory.

Jesus Himself when He spoke of His resurrection said, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself." As only Jesus has the power to raise Himself from the dead, since He is God. Jesus did not say, "And if you bring me down to your level, your understanding, your comfort, I will draw all people to a more intimate relationship with me." As a matter of fact, we clearly see here in the Scripture below what God says about such things:

"But the righteousness based on faith says, 'Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend in to heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down) or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)."
~ Romans 10:6-7

It is very clear in God's word, that the "fear of God" is what proves how intimate someone truly is in their relationship with Him. Nowhere in Scripture is it revealed that "chumminess" with God produces intimacy. And nowhere is Scripture do we ever witness God sharing His "secrets" with those who do not fear Him and approach Him with irreverence as if He were their buddy or pal. I will close with these Scriptures:

"The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant [secret counsel]."
~ Psalm 25:14

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:10-11

I am thankful to the Lord for giving me this time with you as we unite our hearts to fear the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 86:11); rejoicing together by the power of His Holy Spirit as we meditate on the greatness of our God, who makes Himself known to us by the revelation of His word. The more we read God's word, the more easily can we discern His voice as He daily directs us in His righteousness.

Tomorrow, I will share Scriptures that reveal the nature of the God-head, the holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and the hierarchy of their relationship.

Today is GOOD Friday.

Why do we call this day "good"?

What's so good about it? Let's first take a look at the definition of the word good.

good n. ~ moral righteousness, excellent; adj. ~ virtuous, righteous, pure, untainted, unspoiled, reliable, sufficient.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, our Lord and Savior was brutally beaten, his beard was ripped off his face, He was spit on, utterly rejected; a murderer was considered better than Him; Jesus was mocked, stripped naked before the world, nailed to a cross of shame between two thieves, died and was buried.

To give us a better understanding, let's read Psalm 22, which is where King David, by the power of the Holy Spirit, prophesies what our precious Jesus was feeling on this very day nearly 2,000 years ago:

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.

Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.

All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.

I don't know about you, but this day doesn't sound like a very "good" day. So why do those of us who have repented and trusted our lives to Jesus Christ celebrate calling this day "good"? We do this because on this day, nearly 2,000 years ago, the greatest battle in all creation was won! On this very day, those of us who have sinned and were once enemies of God (which is all of us [Romans 5:12]) were given HOPE.

hope v. ~ to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; trust

"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."
~ Romans 8:22-25

This day, in which the Son of God suffered and died, was the day that Jesus defeated the sting of death; crushed the penalty of sin (eternity in Hell) and set the captives free. On this very day, Jesus the Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that we might be the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).

For those who witnessed the Lamb of God, drinking the full cup of God's wrath, this day seemed to be the worst day ever recorded in history. But then...Sunday came!

Therefore those of us who are in Christ Jesus celebrate this day calling it "Good Friday" because we know that Sunday's a comin' and.....

Christ has risen from the dead!

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