Believe Review Part 1

May 10, 2016
Jeff Lampl

In Part 1 of Believe we learned the following 10 things about God . . .

1.    God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a Community, a Family, a pulsating, ever creating, ever joyful being who has invited each of us into his joy and into his eternal life, which the bible calls the “life that is truly life”, a life some of our “church fathers and mothers” have called the “Divine Dance”.  (2 Corinthians 13:14) (click HERE a wonderful song worth really listening to which puts the “Divine Dance” to music)

2.    God is Personal:   This is so hard to comprehend, but God knows you personally, your coming and your going, each of your thoughts.  His eye is not just on the sparrow.  His eye is on you. (Psalm 121:1-2)

3.    God came to earth as Jesus to rescue us, to reveal Himself to us, to experience the pain that everyone experiences, to take our sin upon himself and forgive it, and to invite us to trust him as forgiven sons and daughters of God himself.   You and I are free to accept or ignore this salvation.  Actively accepting this salvation means eternal life with God, a life of endless joy.  Actively ignoring this salvation results in eternal life without God, a life of endless regret.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

4.    God has revealed Himself to us in Jesus.   The Bible is the record of witnesses to God’s creation of the world and humanity and his never ending love of it.  The Bible has been vetted thoroughly and has been found reliable by the best of objective scholars.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)

5.    You and I are (almost incomprehensively) God’s Sons and Daughters!   That’s who we are!  Our earthly task is to live as such! (John 1:12)

6.    Churches are gatherings of those who believe that Jesus is God’s Son, having died for our sin, having been resurrected from the dead, and now reigns over earth by means of His Holy Spirit at work in those believers.  The task of these believers is to love and worship God, love each other, and love others.    (Ephesians 4:15)

7.    You and I are sinners.   This means that you and I fall far short of who God created us to be.   Sin means that on my own I am incapable of achieving the kind of godly character that I am meant to have.   I need God’s help.   God has provided that help in Jesus Christ.  (John 3:16)

8.    God is compassionate.   God cares about you.   God feels your feelings and knows your struggles.  You matter to God.  (Psalm 82:3-4)

9.    God has given every human being the task partnering with Him as stewards of all that He has granted us.  Natural resources, relationships, family, material possession, money are all gifts from God and we are responsible for stewarding all of it in a way that gives honor to God.  (Psalm 24:1-2)

10. The Good News (Gospel) is that God is making and, when all is said and done, will have made everything in heaven and on earth new.   Heaven and earth will be merged and every believer will live a joyful, purposeful, vibrant life in partnership with God and others.  (John 14:1-2)    (Revelation 21:1-5)

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable.
Always work enthusiastically for the Lord,
for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever in vain”.
1 Corinthians 15:58

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