Scripture Snapshots:
More about God
Series 1 Lesson 9
Let’s begin by reviewing what we learned about God in the last lesson. We learned that:
God is eternal … He has no beginning or end … nothing comes before or after Him.
God is Omnipresent … He is present everywhere all the time.
God is Omniscient … He is all-knowing.
God is Omnipotent … He is all-powerful and He can do anything that He wants to do.
These qualities of God are also called natural attributes. That means that these are characteristics that make up and define who God is in His core nature. No one else has these attributes … they belong only to the one true God.
Now let’s look at just a few more of God’s character qualities (attributes) … this time some of His moral attributes. These are the characteristics that we see in God’s personal dealings with humankind. These are characteristics that we should also have in us. When you become a Christian (one who believes in Jesus and asks for His salvation from sins), God wants you to become more like Him … and more like Jesus. Remember, we learned in lesson 7 that Jesus is God.
Me? Like Him?
Does it sound like an impossible thing to be more like God??? Like Jesus?? Well, it isn’t impossible. Nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27 and Luke 1:37). The Bible teaches you and me how to grow to be more and more like our Lord … and then God helps us grow (2 Peter 3:18).
Why does God want you to be more like Him?
A quick look at a few of God’s moral attributes shows you why:
Love – God loves you soooo much! Because He loves you, He wants His very best for you! He showed His love for you through His sacrifice at the cross. He died so that you could live now and forever!
God is love … God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. (I John 4:8 & 9)
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
God still shows His love for you every day. You will see and know this love as you spend time with God reading the Bible, praying, and obeying His commands. God tells you and me in one of these commands to love just like He loves. This means we are to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. It also means that He wants us to love the people around us. Sometimes this is easy because the people around us are our family, friends, and neighbors. Sometimes this is hard because they are our enemies, and they mistreat us. God still wants us to show His love no matter what.
You shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. (Luke 10:27)
Love your enemies, and do good … (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27 and Luke 6:35)
…God is love … if God so loved us, we ought to also love one another … I John 4:8 &11
Holiness - Because God is perfect, He hates all sin and wants us to live right. Remember, sin is anything that you think, say, or do that displeases God. God even commands us to be holy just like He is holy (I Peter 1:15-16). Sadly, because of our sinful nature, we are unable to be holy or pure on our own. Romans 3:23 says, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Praise God for Jesus who came to pay the price for sin! When you or I take His free gift of salvation from sin, then we can begin to learn to live a life that is pleasing to our holy God … we can say “no” to sin. This is not impossible with God!
Righteousness –God always does right, and He always keeps His promises. A true Christian will also strive to do what is right and always keep their promises. In our world that is very hard to do. Very often you will hear that if something feels right, then you should just do it, especially if it makes you happy. But God’s Word tells us the opposite … do right because it is right. Doing what is right may not be easy or popular but it is the best thing for you. Look at the account of Joseph in the book of Genesis. God took him through hard times. Joseph stood strong and did right even when it would have been much easier to sin. Joseph grew in godly character and God used him to save the lives of many people. God also rewarded Joseph for living for Him. You can read the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50.
Mercy – I hope that you already see how much God loves and cares for you. Remember God is Perfect, Holy, and Righteous and He hates sin … you and I were born sinners … yet God still loves us. Mercy is God’s loving care that is shown when God does not give us the punishment that we deserve for the sin that we were born doing (Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23, and more). And because God shows us mercy, He asks that we also have a life of mercy lived for Him …
… what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8
Grace – Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve. Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve … riches like salvation and blessings. Grace can be easily shown by looking at the letters of the word itself:
God’s
Riches
At
Christ’s
Expense
The greatest of God’s riches is His gift of salvation freely offered through His only Son Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9). And because God gave us grace in such a great way, we should also show His grace to others. This means we should tell others about Jesus. We should also show others about Jesus by loving with our words and actions as well as not holding grudges against others when they wrong us.
Sooooo …. Me? Like God? Really??
Yes, but how?
-
Make sure you have asked Jesus to be your personal Savior from sin … this is the very first thing. You must first have a relationship with Jesus in order to grow to be more like Him.
-
Reading the Bible every day ... the Bible is God’s letter to you. As you read it, you will learn more about His wonderful character and His great promises to you.
-
Praying every day. Praying is talking to God throughout the day just like you would spend time talking with someone you want to know better. You can pray anytime and anywhere.
-
Going to a good church and doing what you learn there.