December 13, 2009--Who is God--Part 2

Today in Sunday School, we viewed the second half of the video lesson from The Truth Project in which Dr. Del Tackett addresses the question, "Who is God?" According to the Truth Project, "Knowing God is absolutely central to the meaning of human life, for it is only in the context of intimate, personal relationship with Him that we experience eternal life." (Lesson 4 Leader Guide, p.1)

In the first half of this lesson, Dr. R.C. Sproul describes our era as one in which the knowledge of God has been eclipsed. I think this is a great description of what is happening with God and His Word in our culture and our world. In other words, even though there have been efforts to do so, the truth and the knowledge of God have not been destroyed. However, they have been obscured and shadowed by lies and misconceptions. Dr. Tackett addresses some of the attacks that have been leveled against God's Word during the video segment we watched today. He answered the objections of Voltaire, Robert Ingersoll, and liberal theologians such as Julius Wellhausen and members of the Jesus Seminar. He also demonstrated the Bible's historical accuracy by helping us resolve an apparent scriptural discrepancy concerning the dates of King Jehoram's reign.

R.C. Sproul made the statement that the establishment of two basic points related to God and His Word will make "90%" of the case for God. The two basic points are: 1) The existence of God, and 2) The credibility (accuracy and inerrancy) of His Word. Certainly, it seems reasonable that if we can establish with a non-believer that God does indeed exist and that the Bible is the all-powerful, all-inclusive, inerrant perfect Word of God, we can help that non-believer reach a saving Grace in Jesus Christ.

Much of today's lesson focused on the names of God, specifically, the name "El Qanna." Dr. Tackett made the point that names matter and when God gives himself a name, it describes a fundamental characteristic of God. He describes "El Qanna" as the God who is a consuming fire, jealous for the purity of the covenant relationship. When this knowledge dawns upon us, we can expect a couple of things. One is that the revelation of God's character is likely to reveal things to us about ourselves. Just as the prophet Isaiah declared, "Woe is me, for I am undone!"(Isaiah 6:5), we may be inclined to recognize our failures before God. Even though such a revelation will surely drive us to despair, He raises us and shows us who we can be in Him.

Today's episode helps us to understand that we should all have a thirst for the Word of God. The "thirst" should be so strong that we will not be deterred from spending time and energy in God's Word! Dr. Tackett states, "Knowing God ought to be our passion and our highest goal; for until we look upon His face, we cannot rightly know ourselves or begin to grasp the meaning of our existence in the world." (The Truth Project--Lesson 4 Leader Guide, p. 1).

Next week, the class will begin looking at the question, "What is truth?" This segment is fairly extensive and will address issues of science and the existence of an all-powerful, omnipotent, omni-present, God of the Universe. I hope you will make plans to be present for his intriguing presentation.