The Christian View of God

This is another essay I wrote for my theology unit in my school studies.  Sorry it has been longer in coming.  :) 

1.0 Introduction

            What is the Christian view of God?  What is the doctrine of the Trinity?  If God made everything, why isn’t nature divine?  And how do you know God is real – and not just a made-up superstition to place the responsibility of our lives upon?  These are all questions that skeptics of the Christian faith will throw at us, and it is imperative that we know the answers, because they will be asked.  Some will ask with the hope of finding truth, and some will ask with only the design to trip us up and ridicule our faith.  Both type of questioners must be answered, and answered well.  We must keep the faith strong. 

2.0 Non-Dualism

            One common view of the world, a view which Postmodernists and Cosmic Humanists take, is that God is everything and everything is God.  That is to say, everything is divine.  And while that is easy for Monotheists to discount, it does raise an interesting question:  If God created nature, then why isn’t nature divine?  The answer to that question is quite simple: nature is not of God.  The definition of divine is, “Of or like God or a god.”  Divinity represents something that is a part of God or equal and comparable to God – not something which He has made.  The wonders of nature, which we see around us aren’t God, but point to God, in the same way that when we, for example bake a cake.  The cake doesn’t become us, or become like us, but instead points back to the maker.

3.0 The Doctrine of the Trinity

            As Christians, we believe in the concept of the Trinity. And although the term doesn’t appear on the Bible, the concept is there, simply the term was coined later.  When we talk about the Trinity, we are referring to the triune nature of our God: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  And yet, we believe there is but one God, “To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.” (Deuteronomy 4:35).  We also believe that God shows Himself in three different manifestations, as stated above.  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19).  God is referring to the three-fold of His nature.  This is a concept that we cannot fully understand, three in one and one in three, and is one of those qualities which we will have to wait until we get to Heaven to fully understand, until then; we simply need to have faith that it is true. 

4.0 Is God a Human Invention?

            Some people claim that God is merely a human invention, created by us for our own benefit.  They claim that we made God up so as to lessen the responsibility weighing upon us for the actions of our lives, by having a supernatural force in control ‘up there’ somewhere.  However, we know this is not true.  We believe that God truly exists.  And also, if God is merely a man-made invention, then we have no basis to believe anything, because our thought would also be subject to time and chance, and have every chance to make an     believe even our own thoughts?  It is impossible to know what we ‘know’ to be true.  But if God, a high power than us, created us and imparted knowledge to us, then we can know He exists.  Without Him, knowledge is futile. 

5.0 The Christian View of God

            God, as the Christian view Him, is primarily a God of love.  He doesn’t have love, but rather is love.  From this love, He had a wide and varied number of characteristics.  God’s love isn’t wishy-washy or even heartfelt – it is a powerful love beyond all understanding.  God’s love is stronger than circumstances, stronger than pleasure and want, and stronger than death and life itself.  God loves us so much; He doesn’t want to just save us from our sins, but to make a new, a wholly restored person.  He also, in His love and justice, cannot abide with sin forever.  He is merciful, and He gives is time and time again to repent, but eventually, we must pay for the consequences of our actions and sins.  This is a side of God which we tend to gloss over, focusing rather on his love.  But it because of His love and His holiness, He cannot strive with sin forever.  Like in the words of the song, Justice and Mercy, by Colin Buchannan, “When you call Him father, don’t forget He’s judge, when you see His anger, don’t forget His love, He’s God Almighty and He is the Lord.  Justice and Mercy, Anger and Grace, tender and holy, He is the Lord.”  This is our God, all powerful, all merciful, all just, all loving, and all worthy to be praised.    

6.0 Conclusion

            To be truly strong in this world, we must know exactly where we stand on points of God, life and theology.  We must know that God exists, and be willing to give account for the reason we have a hope inside us.  When people look to us for answers, we must be able to provide those answers, and know beyond a doubt what we are saying.  We don’t need to know all the proofs of Christianity, and we don’t need to know all the points of everyone else’s worldviews, although a broad knowledge is useful, we mainly need to know where we are in Christ, and what we are becoming in Him.  We need to know, the nature of God, nature and God, and the more difficult concepts of Christianity, such as the doctrine of the Trinity.  Above all, we need to recognize the power of God in our own lives, and praise Him for who He really is.