The True God Series - God is a Family

Ken Loucks - The True God Series - God is a Family - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGxi5CaXPd8

Transcript:
(00:02) so a couple of weeks ago I gave the message on what is sound doctrine and if you remember I was trying to cover what is sound doctrine to lay the foundation that hey it's kind of important that we think about what our doctrines are and where we get sound doctrines and within that I gave a handout remember they gave 11 11 things 11 helps in doing Bible study to know what sound doctrine is anyway I want to use sort of that tools and that technique that I sort of introduced in there of how do we go about determining what sound doctrine is and I want to do
(00:39) that by starting a series today that I'm calling the true God series so this is the true God series and I'm going to begin the true God series today with the truth first meaning I'm not going to try to refute all the non doctrinal positions that are out there i'm going to review what is the teaching on who the true God is and so this one's called God is a family and I'm going to start and I want to lay the foundation for you today that God is a family we're going to build on that we're going to look through the scriptures we're going to see that God is indeed a family in the scripture and it's important that we lay that
(01:17) foundation because then when we go in the next three we we're going to look at three false teachings about God one that Christ is a created being or that God was the father of was the old was the God of the Old Testament or three that doctrine of the Trinity and I want to tackle each of those later but you don't tackle those until you know what the truth is and you can see what's wrong with those far more easily when you know what the truth is so we're going to lay the truth what is the truth the truth is God's a family the overwhelming evidence of scripture
(01:51) tells us now I want to make this one other comment because I know that we like all of us are are we hear something that we know is true and we want to share that right and we think this is so great and I want to share that with my family friend or my friend or whatever it just needs to be stated again that that the truth of God is divinely understood if God does not open the mind you can't understand the truth and so while we hope and pray and we do for people that we would love to understand this fundamental truth they may not get it that's not our fault it's not our purview this is God's area so
(02:28) when you see it when you understand it begin there and just understand that this was been this has been divinely revealed to you we can be thankful for that so let's take a look at who or what God is it's a question that determines everything else that we believe what salvation means what we're being saved into how we relate to Jesus Christ what our destiny is and whether the gospel is just about forgiveness or more than that so a lot of these things hinge on our proper understanding of who God is so today I want to begin this foundational series of messages on the true God which I'm calling a true God
(03:12) sermon series and of course there are a lot of widespread misunderstandings that's why we have to start with what the truth is and then we build from that we we go first we anchor what the truth is and then we look at what might not be the truth we have to get that straight because each of the teachings which would we would call false doctrines they obscure the truth that's why we don't start with those we got to start with what is the truth first then we'll look at those all right so we begin with God
(03:42) is a family that's not a metaphor it is a literal thing it's a biblical reality god is a family and as we move through the message we're going to let scripture interpret scripture which is why I gave you the handout in the what is sound doctrine message i want you to have tools things you're supposed to look at remember some of the basics we're supposed to do when we're looking at what a doctrine is we start with the scriptures we let scripture interpret scripture we look for the plain meaning of the scriptures
(04:15) right we look at the plain meaning of actual words to see what they actually mean so that we can understand what the scripture is actually saying and we don't use some obscure single oneoff me uh scripture to define an entire doctrine we let the Bible the whole Bible Old Testament New Testament work together to tell us the truth and so we're going to do that today as we work through this message and understand that God is indeed a family okay so I'm going to begin with Genesis chapter 1 and verse one
(04:56) so that we begin to understand that God is more than one being god is more than one being genesis 1 and verse 1 genesis 1:1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth so that Hebrew word God that you see right there that Hebrew word God is aloim alohim e L O H I M longtime members have heard this it's important to refresh on it what is Alohim well I am when added to a Hebrew word pluralizes it a alo which is either e l or aloa means god it means or mighty one now when you add the suffix I am it's used to mark a
(05:52) masculine plural noun therefore alohim grammatically speaking means gods okay it means gods so in the very first verse in the in your Bible it says "In the beginning God's created the heavens and the earth." That's not a mistake somebody didn't mistype that or miswrite that down that's deliberate identification now despite the fact that God's is plural the verb created is singular so God's created a singular word a singular verb in combination a plural noun with a singular verb that's not an error that's intentional it suggests a plurality of
(06:42) persons acting in unity more than one person acting in unity okay so gods two beings at least more than one being acting in unity with each other now this pattern continues let's look at verse 26 still in Genesis 1 verse 26 then God said "Let us make man in our image according to our likeness.
(07:17) " So is this God saying "Hey I'm speaking on behalf of the entire angelic realm and so we're going to make man look like what the angels." He's being very clear us and our he's not talking about the angels he's talking about the gods referred to in Genesis 1:1 that cannot be dismissed as a grammatical ottery or or oddity or some literary device because it's consistent with how God refers to himself elsewhere in scripture notice Genesis chapter 3 and verse 22 genesis chapter 3 and verse 22 he said then the Lord God said behold the man has become like one of us
(08:04) doesn't say me one of us to know good and evil ver let's go over to Genesis 11 and verse 7 Genesis 11 and verse heaven it says "Come let us go down and there confuse their language that they may not understand one another's speech." Again that's unmistakable language of plural noun usage more than one being referred to Isaiah 6 and verse 8 isaiah chapter 6 and verse 8 also I heard the voice of the Lord saying whom shall I send and who will go for us repeated usage God is not a singular individual in this
(09:10) case God or the Godhead is more than one now some argue that this passage or that these passages are using the plural it's called the plural of majesty okay so what is that well the plural of majesty is a grammatical form in which a single person speaks as though they're speaking for others okay as if in the plural so here's the best example I can think of you might have heard the story of Queen Victoria who heard a an inappropriate joke at court and she was famously quoted as saying "We are not amused." She wasn't technically speaking on
(09:53) behalf of everyone in the court she was not amused it was an inappropriate joke but she used this what's called plural of majesty language now the question would be then since some would say well that that's the same thing that's happening here that God's just using this plural of majesty language when really he's talking about himself and the answer is no did that language exist in the Hebrew at the time that this was written well Hebrew scholars generally agree that the plural of majesty was not used in biblical Hebrew
(10:26) this linguistic feature developed in later periods in biblical texts when plural forms are used they generally indicate actual plurality so if the word gods is being used it's not trying to be funny or cute it's literally referring to two or more beings more than one being it's not speaking in the you know sort of the royal we sort of format perhaps the most common scripture used to argue for a single god is in Deuteronomy chapter 6 so I'm going to turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4 this is very frequently used in that
(11:11) argument deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse4 now this is very important for us to understand deuteronomy 6:4 says here "O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one." We read one and we and and it's natural for the human mind I think to think well that that kind of says what it says right the Lord is one does that mean isn't doesn't that mean it's one God one individual the Lord is one individual isn't that what that's saying well if we can find that word one being used elsewhere in a context then that might help us to understand how it should be understood here so turn over to Genesis chapter 2 and verse 24
(12:00) genesis chapter 2 and verse 24 obviously this is in the context of marriage and it says therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife okay clear and they shall become one flesh well I see lots of married people here have you become one flesh you're two people i see two people lots of two peoples so we're obviously not literally one flesh so what are we one in well the word means one in unity and so as a married couple are we becoming one in unity well we hope so over time surely we more closely align with one another and we are experiencing higher degrees of unity the longer we're
(13:00) married and that's the objective to become one in unity and that's the exact same term that's used the word the Hebrew word is e c h a d and that's what it means okay so I'm looking up here to see if I have the actual definition yeah so it does not mean that a man and a woman merge into a single being but that they are joined in unity and this is the context of that word that it's as it's being used so taken together these verses establish a simple but vital truth the Godhead is not one person the Godhead is more than one being yet they act in perfect unity
(13:55) of will and purpose described collectively as alohim and of course I think in real terms we understand the use of a of a noun that's plural right so Becca and I are louses so if you have the LS over for dinner right Ken and Beck are coming there's two of us right i was thinking as I was laughing to myself this morning because Beck and I are you know you're getting ready for church you got a lot to do don't you and uh so one of us is doing one thing and the other's doing another thing and and so you could look at it in this way ls
(14:29) might have said to LS "Did you load the car the LS were talking about loading the car before they left for services so they might not leave anything behind?" We understand right that that that there are two people in the Les they're not just one that's why it's look we're made in the image of God so if it's true for us it's true for him it's really simple when you think about it there's more than one being god's refers to more than one being okay so if God is not the only God being then we must search the scriptures to
(15:12) see who else is a part of the Godhead the Bible tells us plainly who's in this God family god is a family there's more than one being we've seen that already that's easy to prove we go over to John chapter 1 john chapter 1 right at the very beginning of John we have the Godhead revealed to us so we notice in the Old Testament that we have a description of two beings but we don't know who they are do we we just know there's more than one there so it's why we go to John 1:1 to learn who is there because by inspiration this
(16:02) was revealed through John john 1:1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God he was in the beginning with God all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made so here we have a being that is described as being before anything created with God as God and that everything was created through this being so does he exist or does he not exist he exists and he had work to do and he did the work what do we learn from this passage well the Greek word for word
(16:56) is logos l O G O S for those who've been around a long time you remember Mr armstrong had always said logos meant spokesman i think that was his interpretation of it but it means word or expression and so how is this logos said to have existed it said one he was in the beginning so he existed before all of the creation two it said that he existed with God not instead of God with God there's a relationship there and three he was God that means he had divine nature he had the nature of God he was God that's what we know two beings are
(17:46) described here one God the other the word both existed before the creation the phrase with God uses the Greek construction which means a personal face-to-face relationship a personal face-to-face relationship this isn't about proximity it's about relationship not about how far or away from each other they are it's literally a relationship that exists between them so the logos is not an aspect of God or an impersonal force he is a distinct personal being who also was God now importantly the definite article is
(18:37) missing before theos in this final clause that we just read which indicates nature or quality so the word was divine not separate but a God being just like God that's how the word is described it is God with God it was God with God there was a change In that notice over here in verse 14 same chapter verse 14 because we notice then that there's been a change it says "And the word became flesh.
(19:15) " Same word that was described right at the very beginning it says "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth." The word therefore is Jesus Christ it was the word that became Jesus Christ he existed with God before creation and was himself God as the word with God and he the word became flesh that's not a metaphor christ preexisted with the father and shared his divinity let's notice how Paul describes this
(20:02) also in Colossians chapter 1 colossians chapter 1 15-17 colossians 1:15 says "He is this is talking about Christ he is the invisi the image of the invisible God the firstborn over all creation for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things consist the phrase firstborn over all creation does not imply that Christ was created
(20:57) at this time christ already existed as the word so he wasn't created but there was a change the Greek word proto prototocos protocos refers to preeminence and rank not origin firstborn refers to preeminence and rank not origin he is the first in status not the first in sequence paul says plainly that all things both visible and invisible were created by him by Christ but not as Jesus Christ as the word thus the us in Genesis 1:26 refers to the divine beings now identified as God the Father and Jesus Christ the Word who
(21:54) became flesh the unity of these two beings is also reflected in the Old Testament so let's look back at Psalms 110 verse 1 psalms 110 verse 1 where it says the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foottool who's saying this well this says a psalm of David so David is saying the Lord said to my Lord two Lords sit at my right hand here the two divine figures are addressed in the Hebrew with Yahweh if you if you were to look up in your Strongs you would see these two words yahweh said to Adoni
(23:03) yahweh said to Adonai but that's a change a rabbitical change adonai is a substitution for Yahweh yahweh said to Yahweh is the original Hebrew yahweh said to Yahweh my Yahweh that's how that's properly understood now that makes a big difference in how that passage is understood but notice that Christ himself claims that title that is here referred to in this text as Adonai let's notice over in Matthew 22 where Christ says "Yeah but that Adonai that's called there which is Yahweh that's me." Let's notice Matthew
(23:47) chapter 22 verses 41 through 45 now that interesting I got did I tell you guys I got this new Bible it's large print it's indexed and in the New Testament all the scriptures are separated remember all that hunting and pecking I had to do that hasn't been fun for a while so this one they're all nicely separated I can find these scriptures easily but right before this it says Jesus how can David call his descendant Lord Interesting question how can David call his descendant his Lord this is the title of this section now let's read verses 41-4 while the Pharisees were gathered
(24:40) together Jesus asked them saying "What do you think about the Christ whose son is he?" They said to him "The son of David." He says to them "How then does David in the spirit call him Lord saying 'The Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foottool.
(25:10) " He is directly quoting Psalms 11:01 and he's saying "The Lord said to my Lord I am David's Lord." In that scripture if then David calls him Lord how he is his how is he his son which they have no answer to this is a fundamental understanding that we have to digest it's not a new concept revealed in the New Testament it's just a clarification of what was already written in the Hebrew scriptures let's notice this in Proverbs 30 and verse4 proverbs chapter 30 and verse4 it says "Who has ascended into heaven or descended who has gathered the wind in his fists
(26:11) who has bound the waters in a garment who has established all the ends of the earth what is his name and what is his son's name if you know that clearly an Old Testament description of a father and son before the son was born two beings identified again interesting that we have here the acknowledgement of not only God but that he has a son and this is long before the birth of Jesus Christ in the flesh so the Bible consistently speaks of two divine beings one called God or the father the other called the word or the son
(27:04) and they have a shared glory john chapter 17 you might remember that this is where Christ's prayer to the father before his crucifixion is recorded for us john 17 and verse 5 so remember Christ is speaking to the father in prayer and he says John 17:5 and now oh father acknowledging the relationship glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was shared glory divinity for all eternity as the word and the father they have a shared purpose john chapter 6 we're here in John let's go back to John chapter 6 and verse 38
(28:11) john chapter 6 verse 38 where Christ says "For I have come down from heaven." So we know that this is him referring to himself divesting himself of his eternal nature as the word where he says for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will christ has will he had will as the word his own will which is the intellectual capacity for determining your own actions christ says "I had my own will but I did not come down to do my own will but the will of him who sent me." So the father has will and Christ has will they both are intellectually
(28:57) capable of deciding what they're going to do christ says "But I yield my will to the fathers they have shared purpose." So I've been thinking about that in light of all the stuff that we've been sort of talking about going into Passover coming out of Passover coming into Pentecost and so forth and how we've been talking about transformation we talked about becoming equally yolked when Jesus Christ returns and the wedding of the bride happens when the saints are resurrected for all eternity that same being
(29:32) comes down here to do the will of the father he has his own will and yet his will chooses to do the will of the father and God wants the bride of his son to be equally yolked to his son if the son says I am here to do the will of the father then he wants the bride to say I am here to do the will of the father too you imagine though the difference between the perfect being of Christ when he says that and us i know human beings i've met a few of us we we've got something called human nature and that challenges doesn't it because which of us likes to be told what to do
(30:24) and yet Christ says "I'm told what to do by the Father and I want to do what the Father says." And that's what he wants from the bride that's what God wants from the bride of his son to be equal exactly in harmony with will and purpose just as the father and the son are that's what we're called to do it's why it's something we have to work a lot on which is overcoming me and my resistance to being told what to do because the perfect ruler of the universe has instructions waiting for us and he wants to know that when I give
(30:58) them they're going to be handled they're going to be carried out and I don't have to worry about it that's our destiny so honestly we've got to be working on that whole submission idea because that's what we're called to do submit and help God help Jesus Christ do the will of the father now I want to I want to go next so I began here with the Bible identifies God as a family there's more than one being in God what we read in the Old Testament of as God is more than one being we come to the New Testament we realize there are two beings in that family
(31:36) the word pre-existing with God so now I see two beings what is their relationship because it changed from God and the word to father and son that helps us to understand the plan of God right there their relationship changed from God in the word to father and son a family context the New Testament makes it clear that Jesus Christ is the son of God that's not his identity before it became his identity let's look at that luke 1 and:35 luke 1:35 and the angel answered and said to her "The Holy Spirit will come upon you." you this is obviously Gabriel talking to
(32:41) Mary the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you therefore also that holy one who is to be born will be called the son of God this is what he will be called he was called the word we read that in John 1:1 now he's going to be called the son of God and this is the first time in scripture that that term son of God is definitively applied to the word in relation to his human birth as we read earlier that divine being known as the word took on human flesh form and was then called the son of God
(33:29) because he was born of the father's will and this is consistent with the prophetic declaration which we read which we will read in Psalms let's go over here to Psalms chapter 2 psalms chapter 2 and verse 7 this is a prophecy about Christ so Psalms 2:7 I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me you are my son today I have begotten you that's a specific time event it didn't happen then the sun didn't exist the word exists when this was written so this is a future event a specific event a specific moment in time when the designation sun applies today
(34:29) this is not referring to the creation of the word nor does it imply that the word had a beginning rather it just refers to the moment when the eternal word took on humanity and entered a new phase of relationship with the father as the son and that sunship is central to Christ's identity throughout his ministry let's notice here Matthew chapter 3 and verse 17 matthew chapter 3 and verse 17 as Christ went to see John the Baptist and was baptized verse 17 and suddenly a voice came from heaven all those around heard this witness
(35:13) this voice from heaven saying "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." This is the event the Greek word for son is the common word for a male offspring this is my beloved son male offspring Jesus Christ this affirms Christ's identity was publicly declared at the start of his ministry by God it was declared it was not assumed god made it public it's clear there is a different relationship now and of course he was born of a woman and as such by a father this is emphasized in Paul's teachings over in Romans chapter 1 let's notice Romans
(36:16) 1:es 3-4 romans 1 3-4 verse three says "Concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead." Paul ties the status of sunship directly to Christ's birth and human life not to his eternal existence this helps us to understand and refute the idea that Christ was always the son of God he was not he was always the word until he became the son notice Hebrews 5:5 i understand that there's more than the typical number of scriptures that I give but I wanted this
(37:29) message to be scripture-heavy for emphasis on the lessons and where we're drawing our conclusions about this doctrine that God is a family from the scriptures hebrews 5:5 so also Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest but it was he who said to him "You are my son today I have begotten you this verse obviously quotes from Psalm 2:7 which we just read so now we see that it was being applied directly to Jesus Christ and at the time of his birth as a physical human being his then he became the son so that did not apply to his
(38:17) pre-incarnate state so we have this divine family structure established now by God father and son that relationship was not a fiction it wasn't a metaphor it's real but this is a new revelation of God's intent and we can see that clearly now as we look back on this that God wants a family and he established that family by creating a son and that son acknowledges the relationship to a father so they go from God in the word to father and son which is a family relationship and this truth is foundational to the
(39:03) doctrine that God is a family through being born of God he became the son and in doing so he became the firstborn among many brethren establishing a pattern by which human beings can also become children of God now I'm going to come to that here in a little bit we're going to move on to the next idea because we go from this family of God that we've now clearly seen god began more than one being we see when we move into the New Testament who the two beings were we move from that to a change in their relationship as God and
(39:43) the word to father and son and we move from that to a family with two members to a family with many members god has a plan to expand his family to bring others into it and we have been given the invitation to become part of that family paul describes some important elements of this in Romans again romans chapter 8 verses 14-1 17 romans 8:14-17 verse 14 for as many as are led by the spirit of God these are the sons of God notice that that adds an element to what we already understand about how do we become part of the family of God it begins with baptism and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
(40:39) remember Christ told the disciples the spirit is with you but it will be in you so it moves from outside to inside that's the point of baptism but is it enough to have been given the spirit of God paul is saying "No it's not enough." If that spirit is not alive and active and you are not following it because it leads a requirement for as many as are led by the spirit of God so that's the extra element we have to be following the lead of the spirit of God these are the sons of God for you did not receive the spirit of bondage
(41:27) again to fear but you received the spirit of adoption by which we cry out "Aba Father." The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God right now if you are led by the spirit you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and you are being led by that you are right now a child of God and if children then heirs heirs of God and joint airs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together that's our future to be in the family of God as children in God's family the Greek word for sons
(42:22) here the same word we read about Christ when God said "This is my son." It's the plural form of that same thing physicalborn beings called sons plural the same word son as Christ when he walked this earth as a man god was proud of his son we are called sons because we've been given his spirit the phrase spirit of adoption uses the Greek term which means the placing or positioning of a son in Roman law adoption conferred legal status and inheritance rights just as if the person were born into the family i think it's important for us to just contemplate a simple reality god formed
(43:15) man of the dust of the ground jesus Christ was the word that's a difference he became the son of God when he was born from a woman which one of us had that which one of us was pre-existent incarnate with God so how do we get there how do we become sons it isn't just by the indwelling of this Holy Spirit it's a change also isn't it in status we're adopted in paul was a Roman speaking well here we're reading to the Romans and he's speaking about a Roman principle of adoption something they understood my father was not God the Father in the real sense of my birth
(44:07) and so I'm adopted into the family of God you are adopted into the family of God he's describing a legal and relational transformation those who receive the spirit of God are adopted into the divine household we're no longer outsiders we are now full heirs joint hes with Jesus Christ we know what heirs are they receive the inheritance eternal life is the inheritance because we've been adopted in that is our inheritance also the next verse Romans 8 let's look at 8:29 now Romans 8 29 this is talking about us he says 'For whom we forneew for whom he
(45:05) forneew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that his son might be the firstborn among many brethren that he might have many brothers and sisters that's what that says the term firstborn indicates preeminence in sequence it does not refer to creation or origin it's the status within a growing family he's the firstborn this family expansion is further confirmed in the book of Hebrews in chapter 2 hebrews chapter 2:es 10 and 11 for it was fitting for him for whom are all things and by whom are all things
(46:03) in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings for both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters brethren we are called brethren right now today for that reason this family identity is not limited to spiritual analogy the Apostle John speaks to the present and future reality of this identity over in 1 John chapter 3 1 John 3:es 1 and 2 it says "Behold what manner of love the father has bestowed on us that we should
(47:15) be called children of God therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him beloved now we are children of God and it is not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know that when he's revealed we shall be like him we shall finally see him as he is that's talking about the resurrection when Jesus Christ comes and stands down on the Mount of Olives we are resurrected we meet him in the air we finally see what he looks like that's how we're going to look whatever that is that's our destiny as eternal spiritborn
(48:05) children of God and we're not waiting to become children of God at that moment we're children right now we've already been called that so this future promise is that we will be like him when we are born into that family that means we're going to share in the divine image and nature just as Christ has so will we have and Paul reinforces the same teaching to the believers that are in Corinth let's turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 6 uh 2 Corinthians 6 17 and 18 this may sound familiar to anyone who read the did you know it says verse 17 here in 2 Corinthians chapter 6
(49:06) therefore come out from among them and be separate says the Lord do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you i will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters says the Lord Almighty that's family language it's deliberate because it reflects God's intention to establish a household the household will be named after the father notice Ephesians chapter 3 14 and 15 ephesians chapter 3 14 and 15 it says 'For this reason I bow my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named
(50:10) so apparently I'm not going to be known as LS anymore i'm going to take on the name of God as a son of God i get a new name so do you we're all going to be brothers and sisters in that family named after the father a concept I think that our human birth our human lives help us to understand the Greek word translated family here means a lineage or paternal household it refers to a real structure headed by a father containing children that's just exactly how the family of God is described throughout the New Testament god's plan
(50:55) is not to remain a closed unit of just two beings he's creating a family the father and son form the divine foundation but the purpose is to add more children us to that family when you when you know that this is why it's been so important to walk through this when you know that then you know the plan of God you understand what people cannot understand billions of people who call themselves Christians do not understand this it's not their fault they've been blinded by the God of this age who doesn't want them to understand this he'd far rather they think that God is a
(51:37) trinity that is closed off to three people three beings three persons in one being because if that's true there is no family you don't get to be a part of the family of God if that's true that's why the truth matters so much god is not a closed up relationship of two or three he established a father-son relationship so we would see he wants and is building a family and he's inviting us to be a part of that so we go from two people in that family two beings to many that's the plan of God let's recap first the Bible does not present God as
(52:23) a solitary individual we walk through the very beginning of the Bible where we see two we see more than one that's a better way to say that where he says "Let us make man in our image." where he says Elohim created more than one God at least two we turn to John 1:1 and we see oh there are two beings God and the word from the beginning before anything was ever created there were two beings eternally together with shared purpose shared identity shared glory shared nature independent of one another with their own will
(53:09) we saw that they changed that God changed that relationship from God and the word to father and son when Christ was born on this earth that he declared Jesus Christ a son and himself therefore a father he established then a family relationship and then he called us out of this world and invited us to become children in that family today when we are baptized and we receive the Holy Spirit and we are led by that spirit we're a part of that family we are children of God this is not a theological curiosity it's a literally a defining truth
(53:51) if we misunderstand who and what God is then we misread what he's offering so the gospel is not just about forgiveness or moral change it's about transformation into God's image and inclusion in his family so he's not a mystery because we understand him because he's given that to us through his divine revelation he's not a solitary being he's a family and that family today is composed of the father and the son and many more to be added as many as who receive the holy spirit and who are led by that spirit god indeed is a family