One True God In Three Persons: The Father

Sermons

Ron Halbrook
03/18/12 - Sunday AM Worship

ONE TRUE GOD IN THREE PERSONS: THE FATHER IS GOD (Psalm 100)

Introduction:
1. Ps. 100 Praise Jehovah God: Creator & Sustainer of all things!
2. The one true God revealed Himself: The Father; Jesus Christ, The Son; The Holy Spirit
3. We can know God’s character & purpose:
  a. God revealed Himself in nature & Scripture
b. God revealed Himself as one true God
c. The one true God is three persons
d. God rules so we can seek & find Him
e. The Father prepared salvation in Christ

    I. God Revealed Himself in Nature & Scripture
    A. Ps. 19:1-6 The Heavens Declare His Glory
1. Fire-rainbow (circumhorizontal arc): light refracts off hexagonal ice crystals in cirrus clouds like a prism
            2. God’s Glory: Wisdom, Power, & Love
   B. Ps. 19:7-11 Scripture Declares God’s Glory
            1. God’s Glory: Wisdom, Power, & Love

II. God Revealed Himself As One True God
    A. Ex. 3:14; 6:2-3 God Is Jehovah
            1. Jehovah (yahweh) from “I am” (hayah, “to be”) & “I am that I am”: “I will be what I will be,”
                a Semitic idiom meaning, “I will be all that is necessary as the occasion will arise”
                (“God” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, PowerBible CD)
            2. Eternal existence: infinite power, resources, & wisdom!
    B. Isa. 43:9-10 All Other Gods Are False
            1. False gods: Gentiles not witnesses to real gods because provide no revelation & no miracles
            2. Jehovah: Israel testifies to reality of God by revelation and miracles
            3. Jehovah includes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

III. The One True God Is Three Persons
    A. God Has All the Qualities of Personhood
            1. He is not part of the creation
            2. He is not a philosophical concept
            3. He is not an impersonal power, force, or fate
    B. One God, Deity, or Divine Nature Shared by the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit
            1. Gen. 1:26 “Let us make man in our image”
            2. Matt. 28:19 “baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost”
            3. Eph. 4:4-6 One Spirit, One Lord, One God and Father
            4. As plural persons share one human nature

UNITY IN NATURE	PLURAL PERSONS
ONE GOD: Deity, Divine Nature	Father, Son, Holy Spirit
ONE MAN: Humanity, Human Nature	Many Persons

            5. Eph. 4:4-6 Each person of the Godhead is a separate & distinct person
               a. Seven “one’s” or units, three units identify persons in the Godhead
               b. God, Godhood, Deity includes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
               c. The Father is a distinct person: He is not the Son or the Holy Spirit
               d. The Son is a distinct person: He is not the Father or the Holy Spirit
               e. The Holy Spirit is a distinct person: He is not the Father or the Son

IV. God Rules So We Can Seek & Find Him
    A. Acts 17:22-31 Paul Introduced One True God to Idolaters in Athens
            1. Vv. 22-23 They worshiped many gods, but did not know the one true God
            2. Vs. 24 The true God made the universe
            3. Vs. 25 The true God sustains us
            4. Vs. 26 The true God made, rules all nations
            5. Vv. 27-28 God wants us to seek Him
            6. Vs. 29 The one true God is not an idol
            7. Vv. 30-31 The one true God saves us from false gods & religions by Christ

V. The Father Prepared Salvation in Christ
    A. Eph. 1:3-7 Praise God for This Salvation
    B. Rom. 11:33-36 Only the One True God Is Able to Prepare This Glorious Plan!

Invitation:
1. Ps. 100 Praise Jehovah God: Creator & Sustainer of all things!
2. The One True God Revealed Himself: The Father; Jesus Christ, the Son; The Holy Spirit
3. We can know God’s character & purpose:
  a. God revealed Himself in nature & Scripture
b. God revealed Himself as one true God
c. The one true God is three persons
d. God rules so we can seek & find Him
e. The Father prepared salvation in Christ 4. Turn from Satan & sin to the one true God:
4. Turn from Satan & sin to the one true God:
   a. Gal. 3:26-27 Become a child of God
   b. 1 Jn. 1:9 Be restored from backsliding