THEOLOGY - philosophically oriented discipline of religious speculation and apologetics

- systematic interpretations of the divine or sacred

- an effort to make definitive statements about God and his implications in an accurate
coherent, relevant way based on God’s self-revelations
Meaningful relationship with God is dependent on correct knowledge of him.

*APOLOGETICS - the intellectual defense of the truth of the Christian religion

- functions both to fortify the believer against personal doubts and to remove the
intellectual stumbling blocks that inhibit the conversion of unbelievers.
Knowledge without devotion is cold, dead orthodoxy; Devotion without knowledge is irrational instability.

“We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this
we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and
whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:6-7, ESV).
WHY WOULDN’T THEOLOGY BE IMPORTANT?
1. DULLNESS – boring and has no meaning
ANSWER:
- “the greatest insult to the doctrine of knowing God is to make the subject boring.”
- story of God to redeem fallen humankind by making a covenant that God will provide
what God requires... (boring and dull??)
- not judge theology as dull, if we are so unfortunate as to have a dull preacher.

2. DIVISIVE - tends to cause disagreements

ANSWER:
- Peoples inability to express a perfect unity in every single aspect of Christianity neither
invalidates their faith nor the veracity of the Word of God. It merely shows that we are human.

3. ESOTERIC - intended to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or
interest.
ANSWER:
- doctrines of the Bible may have philosophical, metaphysical, or intellectual merit, but they are
simply impractical. Someone might even say, “stick to the simple things.” But the thing is, the
“simple things” of the Bible are also “deep things” revealed from God to humankind.
WHY THEOLOGY IS VITAL TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH?
1. It Is the Study of God - The Gospel is not a truth among other truths. Rather, it sets a question-mark
against all truths.
2. It Is the Story of Ourselves - the pursuit of God, is an extraordinary inquiry into not only the Creator but of
necessity the creation.

Theology proper is to know God. And to know God is to know what it is be fully human.

3. It Is the Greatest Story Ever Told

- narrative of God’s pursuit of His own joy and communion in the relationship, lost and
found, of His People. It is Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained.
- The culminating truth of Christian theology is the Person of Jesus. He lived the life we
could never live and died the death that should have been ours.
THEOLOGY MUST NEVER BE:
1. A Speculation - we should not be speculating about the meaning of a mystery not revealed.
2. Weaponized - there is nothing so heinous as twisting the very Word of Almighty God to
become an arsenal to use against another human being made in God’s image.
3. Ignored - the knowledge of our Creator, must not be neglected.
KNOWING GOD PERSONALLY:
PRINCIPLE 1 - God Loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life
 God’s Love -” ...believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16)

 God’s Plan- “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10:10)

PRINCIPLE 2 – All of us sin, and our sin separates us from God

 We are sinful - “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

 We are separated - “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23)

PRINCIPLE 3 - Jesus Christ is God's only provision for our sin. Through Him we can know and
experience God's love and plan for our lives.
 He died in our place – “…while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

 He rose from the dead – “He raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures”
(1 Corinthians 15:5)

 He is a way to God - “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one
comes to the Father, but through Me’” (John 14:6).
PRINCIPLE 4 - We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and
experience God's love and plan for our lives.
 We must receive Christ - “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).

 We receive Christ through faith - “By grace you have been saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast”
(Ephesians 2:8-9).

 We receive Christ by personal invitation - Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and
knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him” (Revelation
3:20).
Knowing the Unknowable God
Knowledge of God begins by accepting our limits.
Job 37:14-24; Malachi 3:1-5; Matthew 5:1-12; 2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Though God made us in his image, we cannot fully grasp his infinite nature. In order to better know God, we
must take a close look at what the Bible does-and does not-tell us about the Creator of the universe. Knowledge
of God begins by accepting our limits.

The Incarnation
What it means that the Word became flesh.
Isaiah 55:8-9; John 1:1-14; 10:11-38; 14:1-6; 16:12-15

Christianity is first and foremost news (good news). It is about what God has done to reach down to save
weak, helpless sinners such as we. Even more specifically, it is about a God who did this by becoming one of
us.

The Uniqueness of Jesus

Jesus called himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life for a reason.
John 13:36-14:7; 15:18-27; Acts 4:8-12; 1 John 4:7-12

Our Vision of God

Jesus enables us to see God not as a stern taskmaster but as our loving Father.
Genesis 3; Psalm 5; John 1:1-18; 2 Corinthians 3:12-18

How can a righteous God look at me, a sinner, and see a precious child? Simple: The Son gets in his
eyes. This is good theology, but incomplete. We need to also get a good dose of biblical anthropology so that
we may grasp how sin warps our perceptions, not just of ourselves, but of God himself?

The Bible Serves as the Medium of Understanding God

 2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness.

 Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

 John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 Jeremiah 29: 11-13

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen
to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jesus Christ came to earth for us to have a personal relationship with God
“IT MUST BE PERSONAL TO BE EFFECTUAL”
“Not just head knowledge, but heart understanding is also essential”
We were created to know and love God and to submit to His good and loving rule over us. Unfortunately, from
the very beginning we didn’t like the idea of submitting to God’s rule. We wanted to rule ourselves without Him,
to run our lives how we thought best. We think God should be friends with us, but only as our equal. But God
made the world and He made us. He is the rightful ruler of it all.

STUDY GOD TO LIVE GOD

Studying God is key to our ability to image Him and thus live out our created purpose to reconcile creation to
the ultimate leadership of Christ.
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
Natural Revelation – God is glorious, powerful, loves all, good to all, and a personal, relational, moral
and rational being.
Psalm 19
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky displays his handiwork. Day after day it speaks out;
night after night it reveals his greatness. There is no actual speech or word, nor is its voice literally
heard. Yet its voice echoes throughout the earth; its words carry to the distant horizon”
Special Revelation – God speaking to man through signs, dreams, visions, manifestations of God,
inspired verbal messages, inspired written messages and also the incarnation of Jesus Christ

Names of God
o Elohim – First reference to god in the Hebrew bible. (Gen 1:1)
 El Shaddai – God Almighty
 El Elyon – God Most High
 El Olam – Everlasting God
 El Roi – The God who Sees
o YHWH or Yahweh – personal name of God (Gen 2:4) (Exod 3:13-15)
 Yahweh Jireh – The Lord Will Provide
 Yawheh Nissi – The Lord is my Banner
 Yahweh Shalom – The Lord is Peace
 Yahweh Sabbaoth – The Lord of Hosts or Armies
 Yahweh Maccadeshsem – The Lord your Sanctifier
 Yahweh Roi – The Lord my Shepherd (
 Yahweh Tsidkenu -The Lord our Righteousness
 Yahweh Shammah – The Lord is There
Attributes of God
 All-Powerful; Omnipotent – (Jer 32:17) , Good – (Mark 10:18)
 Everywhere; Omnipresent – (Ps 139:7-10) , True – (1 John 5:20)
 All-knowing and in Control; Omniscient and Sovereign – (Is 46:9-10) , Merciful – (Eph 2:4)
 Unchanging; immutable – (Jas 1:17) , Love (1 John 4:8)
 Eternal; No Beginning or End – (Ps 90:2)
 Righteous/Just – (Ps 89:14)
 Holy – (Rev 4:8)
References:

Omnipotent (Jeremiah 32:17) - “After I had given the copies of the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah,
I prayed to the Lord, ‘Oh, Lord God, you did indeed make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great
strength. Nothing is too hard for you”

Omnipresent (Ps 139:7-10) “Where can I go to escape your spirit? Where can I flee to escape your presence?
If I were to ascend to heaven, you would be there. If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. If I were
to fly away on the wings of the dawn, and settle down on the other side of the sea, even there your hand
would guide me, your right hand would grab hold of me”

Omniscient (Is 46:9-10) “Truly I am God, I have no peer; I am God, and there is none like me, who announces
the end from the beginning and reveals beforehand what has not yet occurred, who says, ‘My plan will be
realized, I will accomplish what I desire”

Immutable (Jas 1:17) “All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change”

Eternal (Ps 90:2) “even before the mountains came into existence, or you brought the world into being, you
were the eternal God”

Just (Ps 89:14) “Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne”

Holy (Rev 4:8) “Each one of the four living creatures had six wings and was full of eyes all around and inside.
They never rest day or night, saying: “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful”

Good (Mark 10:18) Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.’”

True (1 John 5:20) “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know him who is
true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life”

Merciful (Eph 2:4) Paul describes nature of God’s mercy. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great
love with which he loved us”

Love (1 John 4:8) “The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love”

Elohim – First reference to god in the Hebrew bible. (Gen 1:1)

El Shaddai – God Almighty (Gen 17:1)

El Elyon – God Most High (Gen 14:19)

El Olam – Everlasting God (Gen 21:33)

El Roi – The God who Sees (Gen 16:13)

YHWH or Yahweh – personal name of God (Gen 2:4) (Exod 3:13-15)

Yahweh Jireh – The Lord Will Provide (Gen 22:14)

Yawheh Nissi – The Lord is my Banner (Exod 17:15)

Yahweh Shalom – The Lord is Peace (Judges 6:24)

Yahweh Sabbaoth – The Lord of Hosts or Armies (1 Sam 1:3)

Yahweh Maccadeshsem – The Lord your Sanctifier (Ex 31:13)

Yahweh Roi – The Lord my Shepherd (Ps 23:1)

Yahweh Tsidkenu -The Lord our Righteousness (Jer 23:6)

Yahweh Shammah – The Lord is There (Ezek 48:35)