God's True Nature in the Book of Genesis

Right, we're ready now for the main message. It is interesting how God does inspire the services, the topics, and the hymns. They're all interspersed and in harmony because I have a subject that goes even further, but it's a similar topic. And actually, it's a topic that arose as I was praying to God and addressing Him. And we begin our prayers normally by honoring God, what He is, thanking Him, and praising Him.

We are addressing the greatest being that exists. Jesus Christ, we know, is subordinate to Him in position, although equal in nature. What an honor and privilege it is to know what He is, how He is.

It's actually the greatest thing we can know. Everything else derives from the proper understanding of who God is. All the teachings all have to do with God's nature and His attributes. That's why we put it first in our prayers. That's the way Christ set up the model prayer for us. And notice the Scripture that goes along this way. It summarizes that idea in Jeremiah 9 verse 23 through 25. This is a memory Scripture we should always have in mind.

Jeremiah 9 verse 23. Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Which means a person can have a lot of intelligence, and people that are intelligent usually want to let you know how intelligent they are. And you have all kinds of tests, and people think it's very important to feel like they're the smartest person in the room. As Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5, that knowledge tends to puff up, while love through humility doesn't do that. But he says, Don't let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might, in his strength.

And you know there are people that really are muscular and strong, and they really like to know it. They bear their arms and want everybody to see all the muscle. And we used to have a fellow like that, and that brings back memories. A young man, and he did a lot of physical, you know, gymnastics and stuff. But he says, that's not really what is important.

Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. This is another vanity attitude. Very common. People want to impress people with what they have, and how many toys and all the luxuries that they can extend. And they go around and purr with their cars and make sure people are focusing on that. It doesn't matter. You can't have that. But not to glory, not to gloat, not to show people up that look what I have and you don't have. We can also add, you know, let not the woman glory in her beauty, because that's also something that is very common for human beings.

Verse 24 says, But let him who glories, if you want to boast about something, glory in this, that he understands and knows me. In other words, knows my nature, understands how I operate, what I am, how I carry out things. And then his attributes, that I am the Lord exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord. That's part of his nature. That's the way he is, to get to know him in that way. And actually, it is sort of like the first important thing in the morning to recognize him, get charged up.

We have a wonderful, loving father that actually calls us his children. What a privilege. As Paul also said in 2 Timothy 1, 12, which I'll read, it says, For I know whom I have believed. Yes, Paul was in prison, didn't have much left to live, but he said, I know whom I believe. I know that being. I know how he is. How important is it to know him intimately and his nature? So how do we know whom we have believed? We shouldn't take it for granted, especially when we pray to him to understand those dimensions of God, how he is and who he is, and the honor we have.

Actually, probably very few know this outside of our Church of God community, but the knowledge of God's true nature takes a miracle from God. It takes a miracle from God. So you're not going to find this in typical mainstream Christianity. Unfortunately, we would love for them to understand this. Notice what Jesus said in Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10 and verse 21.

Jesus said, In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes, to people that are relatively simple. God's not calling the powerful, wise, and mighty of the world. He goes on to say, Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. God deals with people that he can work with that are meek and humble, malleable, that are not full of themselves, full of vanity or pride. He goes on to say, All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal him. So it takes God to choose the person, to open their mind to these wonderful truths. I always remember this lady that I met in Chile many years ago, and she had never learned to read. She had like six or seven children. Her husband had abandoned her. So she worked all day, and she never was able to get a formal education. But she was a very intelligent woman, and she had gone to Evangelical Church. She had known about the scriptures, but she had never been satisfied with the answers. I remember meeting her and started talking with her. And basically, she understood the truths of God. God opened her mind, and she's a member to this day, and very faithful, dedicated, wonderful example, but she never learned how to read. But God opened her mind, and she knows the true God.

Now, because God has to choose, and it says through Christ, He reveals the Father to the people, mainstream Christianity doesn't have the right concept about God. There's all kinds of confusions about it, and there are contradictions in the way they teach it. That's why they call it a mystery, but actually it's more clearly a contradiction, and we can't understand, we can't explain it all. It's a contradiction, but you have to obey it, and you have to follow it. You have to accept it.

This idea of the Trinity being one being and three persons, but they also teach that that since it's one being, three persons, there's only one will in these three persons. So how can all three have just one will and decide everything, but it's only one being that's doing the decisions. They have this closed Godhead concept, not being a family, which is the most important revelation that God can give us about himself, that He is going to bring many children to glory and to be part of that family. But this is not what is taught in traditional Christianity. In John chapter 1 verse 18, it says, no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, which means intimate relationship with the Father, He has declared them. So again, Jesus is the one that reveals this wonderful truth. It is interesting that in a book years ago, which we quote in our booklet about it's God of Trinity, Spiros Zodiates, who wrote the book, Was Christ God? He's also the main author of the complete word study dictionary, very famous, going into the Greek. And he writes about this verse, John 1.18. He says, here we are told that He who came to reveal God, Jesus Christ is of the same family, of the same stock, of the same race as God. There is ample evidence in the scriptures that the Godhead is a family. In other words, consisting of two beings. You can't have a family and just be one person.

So there is much confusion in mainstream Christianity about God's nature and it being a mystery to them. Yet, if we look at the scriptures themselves, in particular, in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, that pictures God in His essential nature. If you want to have a picture of what God is like instead of all this theological mumbo-jumbo that they try to get you through, let's look at the pictures that God reveals. John wrote down things that he actually saw and described it.

As it says, the picture is worth a thousand words and God showed John a picture of how that new Jerusalem will come down and ultimately God the Father and Jesus Christ will dwell with humans that are now glorified spirit beings and part of that God family.

The final scene in the book of Revelation, the last scene that John is asked to describe, is like the tip of the iceberg where they show their true nature and identity with all its glory. So, of course, the tip of the iceberg is what you see above. Below, there's a lot more to it, but this is the highlight. This is what you can see very clearly. So, let's go to Revelation 22.

The beauty about the Bible is that we don't have to start in Genesis. We can go to Revelation, find out how the story ends. Here's how it ends. In Revelation 22, verse 1, it says, and he showed me, so this is something that he was witnessing. It wasn't just words that he was writing down. He was looking at the picture of that new Jerusalem that had come down to the earth. He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. So, you have two beings that are God. It shows that they have the authority, the power.

Christ is at the right hand. And notice how it's describing Christ as the Lamb. So, that's the way God wants to picture Christ for us. We can never forget the description of a Lamb. In verse 2, in the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, symbolic of the eternal life that humans can receive, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. It leaves of the trees were for the healing or refreshing, because it's not like somebody's going to be sick. The term can be translated as the refreshing. So, it's something enjoyable. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. So, here we have two beings who govern God the Father and at His right hand, Jesus Christ. They're both on a throne, symbolic of authority. And it says, and His servants shall serve Him. It's all of these glorified human beings. It's going to be a life of joyful service to God the Father and Jesus Christ. There won't be sin anymore. There won't be anything ugly and dirty. It'll all be a wonderful family sharing God's fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faith, meekness, and self-control.

They shall see His face, talking about God the Father's face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. They will be forever part of the family. They won't ever be removed from there. It's an intimate term. There shall be no more night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. So it's not just being servants. It's going to be these royal servants. There's a huge universe out there which God has prepared, and they will reign forever and ever. They will be part of the family. There won't be servants of a family. They will actually be the God family, but we're all with the spirit of service. So that's, first of all, the tip of the iceberg. It shows two beings that are in charge with God the Father over the Son.

And notice now in Revelation 1.1, we're going to go through this book and just by itself let the Scriptures describe who God is, what He is, what is His essential nature. Notice Revelation 1.1. It says, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him, now we'll see, that's God the Father, to show His servants things which must shortly take place, and He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John. So again, you have not one being, you have two beings. God, who is shown to be the Father and Jesus Christ, who is carrying out the Father's will in this case.

We don't see a third person, do we? There's no third throne, no mention of a third being at all. That was concocted centuries later because they did get involved. As Mr. Wozner mentioned about the monotheism and trying to put everything into one being and then how do you fit Jesus into that and all of these crazy ideas because, as we're going to see, God the Father and Jesus Christ share the same spirit. They share the essence, the nature, but they are two beings. They're not one being. What's the big deal about that? It's one Godhead with two beings, one family and with two persons. That's why He's identified as the Father and then as the Son. You can't have the Father and the Son be one person. They're distinct identities. So continuing on, we see in Revelation 3 verse 5 where Jesus Christ calls God the Father. In Revelation 3, 5, it says, He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. Again, there's not another being. Not the Holy Spirit as a person. No, it's God the Father and Jesus Christ mentioning that family name, the Father. What about that depiction that we said about the Lamb? It's very important how the details are filled in in the book of Revelation. So it's not just a picturing a Lamb. It's a special Lamb, as we will see. Let's go to Revelation chapter 5 in verses 3 through 7. Revelation chapter 5 verse 3, talking again this picture that John is describing in heaven. It says, And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth. Remember, under the earth is people lived in caves in those days. You know, there wasn't all of these big buildings made out of cement and all of this. So a lot of people, they lived in caves, which is an arched tunnel, and you go in there and it's cool during the day and in summertime it's cool. In wintertime you put a fire and it's cozy. So that's what he mentions. It says, No one was able to open the scroll or to look at it. So I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it. No one felt they were worthy. Showing angels even are not worthy. They make mistakes. It says, But one of the elders said to me, Do not weep, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to lose its seven seals. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb, as though it had been slain. And it goes on saying, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out in all the earth, because Christ has seven angels that report directly to him what's going on on the earth. Because Zechariah has a lot more about those seven angels.

It goes on to say, Then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne, which was God the Father. But here, notice that Jesus Christ is described as a lamb, and says, as though it had been slain. In other words, it had wounds that were mortal wounds. So it shows the depiction of having sacrificed himself, not with just a little cut someplace, but slain. And so you have the picture of this second divine being as sacrificing himself for us. So when we go before God, we should remember all that Jesus Christ has done for us. He is the lamb as though he has been slain, which means all of the depictions of his wounds.

It goes on to say in verse 8, Now when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb. So here you see a sign of worship that he is God as well. Each having a harp and the golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. That's how our prayers go up before God, a sweet-smelling aroma.

And they sang a new song. Now, unfortunately, the new King James is not a good translation of verses 9 and 10 because it says here, verse 9 is okay, up to a point. It says, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its heels, for you were slain, and you have redeemed us to God by your blood. Now, that shouldn't be us because angels are not redeemed through Christ's blood. And so you have translations that are more accurate. For instance, the easy reading version says this, and they all sang a new song to the lamb, You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because you were killed, and with your blood sacrifice you bought people for God from every tribe, language, race of people, and nation.

So, of course, angels are not included in the race of people and nations. And then it goes on in verse 10 in the easy reading version. It says, You made them to be a kingdom, made them to be a kingdom, and to be priests for our God, and they will rule on the earth. That's the proper translation, not that we, including the angels, are doing that. So here we see the importance of the lamb and what he is doing, and through his blood he has forgiven us of our sins, he paid the price, and has redeemed us, which means gotten us out of jail in that sense, out of the debt that we owe God for our sins. Notice in Revelation 6, 15 through 16, we learn a little more about God's nature, and the lamb. Revelation 6, verse 15.

Again, no sign of the Holy Spirit as a person, or Trinity, any of this. You could not come up with this theory just going through the book of Revelation. There's no substance for it. Going on in 6, verse 15, it says, The Lamb, for the great day of his wrath, has come. And who is able to stand? So when Christ comes, yes, he has the meekness of a lamb, but he is all-powerful. And with his wrath, he's going to show. He rules. He's not going to be intimidated by man's technology or forces at all.

Another side to God's nature is found in the following chapter, chapter 7, verse 9.

Notice how many times the lamb is described because of those attributes. It says, After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. Always two beings being worshipped, given the same attributes as God. All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne, and worshipped God, saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor, and power might be to our God forever and ever. Then one of the elders answered and said, Who are these, arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? And I said to him, Sir, you know, in other words, he said, I don't know. So he said to me, These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. These are the people that were martyred, according to the clearest translation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. People that had been baptized, had received God's Spirit, been forgiven of their sins. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. So here, it's going forward to the time when that New Jerusalem will come, where they will serve, and there's going to be that New Jerusalem, and they're going to be serving God, the Father, and the Lamb, or Jesus Christ. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. So we know that God the Father is coming back when the New Jerusalem is established. Verse 16, what is their nature? They're no longer humans, subject to the physical infirmities and problems and conditions. It says, They shall neither hunger anymore. They don't need to eat. They don't need to thirst anymore.

The sun shall not strike them nor any heat. So you're not subject to climate issues. For the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. You notice in Revelation 21, as a reference, it shows when he does that, when God the Father brings that New Jerusalem down at the time. So again, there are sometimes projections to the future when everybody is going to be one happy family, God the Father, Jesus Christ, together, and they will follow Jesus Christ and will be there to bride the church at that time. Continuing on in chapter 12, another facet of God's nature is revealed. Revelation 12 in verse 10, it says, Then I heard a loud voice, saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down, no longer has access to heaven like he still does. He had access to heaven when in the book of Job he came and reported, and he says that he gets here as this prosecutor, always accusing the brethren of this or that. Well, that'll have an end at this time. It goes on to say in verse 11, those that are accused, how do they overcome those accusations? And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, the way they're following God, following, keeping his commandments and doing the things that are pleasing in his sight. And they did not love their lives to the death. So some perished, faithful to the end.

So we see here again the importance that it's not because somebody is a super Christian and so perfect, but we do have the blood of the Lamb. And we can't forget that when we go before God. Then in chapter 13, in verse 8, notice what it says here. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of life, of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. So here's where it reveals to us that in God's plan, it already had a provision inserted for Christ's sacrifice. We are still human. We have blood, skin, and bones, and we got human nature. So there had to be a provision for our sins. And this was planned even before the creation of mankind. It's a slain from the foundation of the earth. That means at the very beginning it already had that plan. Christ, the Word at that time, was willing to do that, to carry out the plan.

So let's go to one last verse in Revelation. Revelation 17, verse 12 through 14. Revelation 17. Let's start. It says, Then ten horns, which you saw, and ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with a beast. This is coming in the future. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. They will delegate that to this person. And then it says, they will make war with the Lamb. Again, as spirit of meekness, but strength at the same time. Jesus is not coming because he's on a tirade. No, he's still the Lamb. He still loves and he still died for all these people that are coming before him, who don't know better, who have been deceived. And the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings. And those who are with him are called chosen and faithful. So the people that have been glorified, the spirit beings, that are going to be with Christ when he defeats these armies. So the Lamb is not some weak creature here, but he is meek in nature, but all powerful in action. That's what it reveals. So what action steps can we take with what we have learned? Number one, recognize the privilege of having our minds open to the truth of God's true nature. That it is a growing family, that God is developing. We're so thankful. We didn't learn that from any Protestant group or anything else. That was something that when we came into God's church, we came to understand. And that opened our eyes. God took the veil from our eyes to understand it. And then all the other truths come along with it, that we have to obey God. And he's not this indulgent Father that just allows you to do whatever, and then he comes in, you know, blank check and pays everything that we've done that way. No, no, he is going to forgive us, but there is a part to obey, to love his law, like King David mentioned in Psalm 119, which is dedicated to God's law and how much wonderful it is. That comes along with the knowledge of who God is. His law is part of his nature as well.

Secondly, we can address God the Father and recognize his love and Christ's love as our intercessor when we go before him. Recognize all that they have done for us to be in their kingdom one day as the first fruits of those being called. Imagine the tremendous privilege it is.

And thirdly, we need to have a better relationship among the brethren, a better family relationship, to pray for them, serve them as we can, and encourage one another.

Let's go now to 1 John chapter 5 verses 19 through 20. I think this summarizes it very well. 1 John chapter 5 and verses 19 through 20. John, who had that intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and they were just very close together, he knew about the love of God. He says, we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. They've been deceived. If it hadn't been for Christ, we never would have had our minds open to these truths. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding how He is, what the Father is, that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God in eternal life. So we understand both God the Father's nature, Jesus Christ's nature, and what they want from us. So reiterating Jeremiah 9.23 says, don't boast if you're strong, if you're rich, if you're intelligent, but if you have something to boast about, it's getting to know God as He truly is.