Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Genesis chapter 1. Genesis chapter 1. I'd like to read one verse. The
first one. Genesis 1-1. In the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. I'd like to try to preach for
a few minutes on a subject that is, the more I contemplate, it's absolutely one of the greatest
mysteries that has ever been revealed. I've entitled this
message, The Being and the Nature of God. Now, the scriptures began with
this glorious truth of God's being and his nature. And it sets forth the glorious
truth of the Holy Trinity. The word says, in the beginning,
God. Now that word, that title, God,
it's Hebrew, Elohim, but it's a plural word. It's plural. In the beginning, God, in His
plurality, created, and that word is a singular word. He did
one thing. God, in His plurality, created
the heaven and the earth. One God, three persons. Now this truth
is the foundation of faith in Him. We believe what the scripture
declares concerning God. And the way we know Him is only
in Him who is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, this thought that we contemplate,
God, is the truth of our hope in Him who has revealed Himself
to be as He says He is. He said, I'm one God. Three persons. Now, we read in
the scriptures of this distinction, and we hear that He is God, but
still our minds are at a loss to contemplate how this is. We believe it, we rest in it,
but the scriptures makes no argument what that means. It doesn't aim
to persuade a carnal mind to the existence or the being of
God. It declares God to be. I am the Lord. It doesn't owe
the carnal mind an explanation. Somebody says, prove to me that
there's one God in three persons. I can't. I can't prove that. I believe it. This is the way
He says He is. So when the gospel is preached,
God's preachers are not attempting to prove to men that He is as
He says He is. We're proclaiming the truth as
He has expressed the truth to me. I'm God. Again, that word God right there.
We think of God, we think one. And that's true, that's one.
But the word's plural. But it's one God. When Moses
asked the Lord, who should I say sent me? To the children of Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, he
said, you tell the people that I am sent you. You tell them that I am the self-existent
God. The Creator. That's what Genesis
1-1 says. In the beginning, God, in His
plurality, created the heaven and the earth. Moses did just
exactly what the Lord told him to do. He came and he told Pharaoh,
he said, God has sent me to say, let my people go. Pharaoh increased the burden.
on the children of Israel. Then the Lord told Moses later
in Exodus 6-3, He told him, first of all in Exodus 3-14, you go
tell them that I am sent you. Then in Exodus 6-3, He said something
that was amazing. The Lord told Moses in Exodus
6-3, He said, I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob by the name of God Almighty. Now this is how he said, I appeared
unto them by my name as God Almighty, El Shaddai, the self-existent
Creator. But by my name Jehovah was I
not known. So I looked up what he meant. What did he say? He said, I appeared
unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the self-existent Creator. He said, I was not known unto
them as Jehovah. That means the God of covenant
mercy and grace. They knew Him first as the self-existent
God, Creator. But He said, I didn't tell them
that I was a God of covenant mercy. I didn't tell them that
until later. communicated to Moses was that
I have being in myself and I give being to all according to my
will and promise. That's what he meant when he
said my name is Jehovah. That has to do with covenant
mercy. You know, this is where we find
our hope. We believe in covenant, God's
covenant grace that God was pleased to choose. God was pleased to
redeem. He had a people. That's how we know Him. So the
reverence that we are owing, that we give unto the Lord our
God. So Robert Hawker made this comment
concerning each of the persons of the Godhead. One God, he said,
this glorious name, Jehovah, is applied to God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One God. Three distinct persons. And I know how we think. Okay,
well if it's three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, that's actually three. Because each one of them
is God. Yeah? No. No. We don't see it. John 14, 9, Here's what the Lord said, He
that has seen Me has seen the Father. You see Me? He said you see His
being. You see Him. You see Me, you
see Him. So when He is revealed as He
is to be God Almighty, Here's what it says in Deuteronomy 33,
27. The eternal God, one who has ever been, is thy refuge
and underneath of the everlasting arms and he shall thrust out
the enemy from before thee and say, destroy them. He's always
been. We believe that. But what we just try to grasp
hold of and come to the conclusion, we only see it by faith, is how
can this be? How can it be? The Lord, speaking
of God, said no man has seen God. No man has seen the triune
God. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. No man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, that He who is begotten of the Father. And I know what the word begotten
means, to bring forth, to come forth from. I know what that
word means. But the only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. You try
to start separating these things in your mind and you're thinking, how can this be? But God Himself
The Lord of glory must reveal Himself and the Lord Jesus Christ
according to Jehovah's good pleasure to make Himself known has revealed
Him, He's told Him out. He's displayed Himself as He
is. I know the heavens declare the
glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. We see Him,
we look at creation We behold something of God's creative power
but to know God. And this is where, as I said,
this is the foundation of faith. Who do we trust? We trust in
God. How has He set Himself to be? He said that He's the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit. has this revelation from the
Lord, and by nature, he tries to deny the existence of God.
He hopes that there's not a God. I tell you, this is the truth. Man by nature, if it comes right
down to it, you can read these scriptures right here. We're
all going to stand before the Lord, the Judge, the Lord Jesus
Christ, Him, the express image of God. And this is what He says
is going to happen, and there's going to be a separation The
sheep and the goats and everything. And you know what man by nature
thinks? I hope there's not a God. I hope it's not. I hope men just
die and they just go back to dirt. I hope that's not what
it is. The fool has said in his heart,
there's no God. They're corrupt. They've done
abominable works. There's none that doeth good.
Though men deny the existence of God, truly they know better.
Man knows better. The scripture declares in Romans
2.15, they show, the Gentiles, unbelievers, show the work of
the law written in their hearts, their conscience, also bearing
witness in their thoughts, the mean, that means between themselves,
while accusing or excusing one another. What does that mean?
That means that man, by nature, knows right from wrong. Man by
nature knows that wrong needs to be judged. And he knows that
right needs to be rewarded. That truth is imprinted even
in his carnal heart. They know that it's a witness
to the I Am. It's a witness of Him. One who
is just, but for a believer. Given a new heart, there's a knowledge in regenerating grace
of the being of God as to who He says He is. Until the Lord
regenerates a man or a woman, these truths, they're not known. They're not imprinted in that
heart. Only those born again possess
a heart of true knowledge of God. Listen to what Job said. I know, I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and
though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold,
and not another. That means I'm not gonna see
a stranger. I'm gonna see God, though my reigns be consumed
within me. What does that last line mean?
He said, my heart right now pines away and is consumed within me
with the very desire of his arrival. I want him, I want him to come,
come quickly, Lord Jesus. How much are we ever going to
see of God who has revealed Himself to be the Triune God? How much are we ever going to
see of Him? We're going to see the Lord Jesus. He is the image. That's all we'll ever see. And
when we see Him, we're going to see God. We're going to see
the Trinity Himself. Job knew the Lord as He revealed
Himself to His people in covenant grace. That's what Job saw. I
know, I know, man by nature knows that God is. He knows that. He knows that there is a God.
He doesn't worship Him as God, but he knows there's a God. But
here's what Job said, I know. I know Him as Jehovah. I know Him as the covenant God
of mercy. I know that my Redeemer, Job
knew that God had chosen a people. That Christ had redeemed those
people. And the Spirit of God was going
to call those people. I know that my Redeemer liveth.
I know. Leviticus said, and this is what
he was dealing with when he said my Redeemer. The kinsman redeemer. Listen to Leviticus 25. If thy
brother be waxen poor and hath sold away his possession, and
if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem, that
is the kinsman redeemer, the one that's close to him, brother,
shall redeem that which his brother sold. Now that's how it was back
in the Old Testament. If I fell into some poverty or
something like that and had to sell myself out as a slave. My kinsman redeemer, the one
that was akin to me, family, he had the right to redeem whatever
I sold myself out for, that I had gone into poverty for. Not just anybody. It was the
right of the kinsman redeemer to do that. Kept it in the family.
Let me ask you this. Who has ever become more impoverished
than the man that's fallen in the Garden of Eden? And all that
ever came from him. Whoever sold away the greatest
possession. What is the greatest possession
that a man has, a woman has? His soul. His soul. That's going to live forever.
That soul is not going to die. When man was created, he was
created as a living soul. That means he don't die. A dog
dies. He goes back. But not a man. Not a woman. Whoever lost more than man by
one act of rebellion. One. One. One act. His soul died. But what brother has ever redeemed
as the near kinsman? The Lord Jesus Christ. You see
how when I say this title that the Lord revealed himself as.
He said, at first I revealed myself as the self-existent creator. Okay, man by nature knows that.
But to God's people, Jehovah. You know what he's saying now?
Covenant mercy. Do you realize the joy, the peace,
the comfort to say that God by His mercy and grace would make
Himself to me to be a near kinsman? Wasn't anything in me that He
saw that made Him do that. Nuh-uh. Nuh-uh. Here is the near
kinsman. the Lord Jesus Christ, the elder
brother of all who've been predestined unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself. All of a sudden, man's a little
fickle will and fickle works and, you know, flighty thoughts. I need a kinsman redeemer. I
need one that, according to God's will and purpose, has been the
one that I've been placed in His family. And he stood for
me. Who ever paid the price of redemption? Somebody out of a hundred bucks
or something like that, I might be able to help you on that.
But who ever paid the price of a fallen race before God? Who ever paid the debt of the
entirety of God's elect? except the Lord Jesus Christ.
Whoever bought back out of the bondage of sin and
unbelief, whoever paid a debt like that, whoever honored God's law and
made himself sin, God made him sin for His people choosing to
lay down His life that they might. It was the Lord Jesus Christ,
the very image of Jehovah that restored unto His people that
which He didn't take away. He restored all that they lost
in the fall. He said, I restored that which
I didn't take away. What are we losing in the fall?
Well, I can tell you this, when Adam fell in the garden, the
scripture says, the Lord told him, He said, in the day that
you eat, you're going to die. What'd a man lose? Well, he lost
life. He died, and when he died spiritually,
it was gone. But what did Jehovah, according
to his covenant mercy, do for his people? He gives them life. When Adam died, His innocence. Gone. Righteousness is his filthy
rags. No good. And he restored, the
Lord did restore that lost righteousness by robing His people in His own
righteousness. We hear of the being of God. We know that He is. He says He
is. Oh, but His nature. covenant God. He said, this is
how I reveal to my people who I am. What else did Adam do? He lost fellowship, but in Christ
we were reconciled by the death of his son. We lost our ability
to spiritually see and to hear, but now he said, I give you new
eyes. I give you new ears to see and
hear of the glory of God in him. Job confessed to the being and
fellowship of God. He said, I know that he's going
to stand again in the latter day. You know, whenever the Lord
Jesus Christ came to this earth, he walked this earth. When he
got ready to ascend into heaven, he went to the Mount of Olives
and his disciples watched him. Two angels were standing there
and said, you men of Galilee, Why stand you gazing into the
heavens? The same Jesus that you see is sinning shall likewise,
in a like manner, return unto the earth. So, here's Job's hope
and peace in Jehovah's covenant. God, three persons. He is as He says He is. Here's
how He said He is. He said that I am the Father. And as far as election, it's
attributed to the Father. That's what the scripture says.
We read of the Father Himself who has elected. He is God the
Son as the one who is absolutely coming to this earth as the Messiah
that redeemed his people. So redemption is attributed to
the Son. And to God the Spirit? What's attributed to Him? He's
the quickening God. He's the one that gives life. Micah was moved by the Spirit
of God to pen this. Who is a God-like unto thee?
that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage. He retaineth not his anger forever,
because he delighteth in mercy. Who is a God like you? Who, you
know, in his nature, who's like him? You know, everything's got
a nature. Animals, man, angels. But the
Spirit of God has revealed that God is Spirit. They that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and truth. So how is God? How is He? Well, as spirit, He's not limited
in anything. He's not limited in time, geography,
space. He's invisible. It's impossible
to touch Him or perceive Him by natural human senses. Being
spirit, He's incapable of being defined. How do you define a
spirit? How do you define that? God is
spirit. But here's what the scripture
says. The Lord Jesus Christ speaking, John 1.18. No man has seen God. I want to know what that word
seen meant. I looked it up. No man has perfect knowledge
without being taught by another. No man has a perfect knowledge
of God without being taught by another. No man has seen Him. No man perceives Him. No man
understands Him. No man can grasp hold. No man
has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, now listen to this, in the intimate
presence, He hath declared Him. Now let
me tell you what the Lord Jesus Christ said concerning Himself. He who never left the place of
separation, that union with God, He who never left the place of
intimate oneness, was made flesh and dwelt among us. I want you
to listen. to what the Lord has said here. He's the Father, the Son, the
Spirit, one person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and here He is
that never left the presence of the Father dwelling among
men. I mean, I'm telling you, the
more you consider what He says, the deeper it gets. the less
we can perceive, but believe it, yes. And here's what the
scripture says concerning Jehovah. The Lord is in His holy temple.
The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes, behold, His eyelids
try the children of men. What does that mean? That means
that He sees. He who is Spirit sees. The scripture says that beheld
Noah, that found grace in his eyes. He hears Psalm 1017, Lord
thou has heard the desire, the longing of the humble. Thou will
prepare their heart. Thou will cause thine ear to
hear. He hears, I'm speaking right
now and you can hear what I'm saying. Can you hear what I'm
thinking? He does. Who is a God like? Scripture says, concerning not
only the hearing of the humble, listen to what he says concerning
the evil. And Jesus, there were some that rebuked what he said,
and Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil
in your hearts? He is the God who speaks. Spirit. Three persons. One God. At the Lord's baptism on the
Mount of Transfiguration, God spoke and said, lo, a voice from
heaven said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. So speaking of God, one God,
He's the Father in electing grace, He's the Son in redeeming grace,
and He is the Spirit in quickening, regenerating grace. One God in
covenant mercy that has been pleased to reveal Himself in
three persons. He is the omnipotent, what does
that mean? He's all-powerful. Omniscient,
what does that mean? All-knowing. Omnipresent God
with whom all men must deal. So the God we worship, one God,
three persons. It's totally God. He's not one-third
the Father, one-third the Son, and one-third the Spirit. I wrote
this in the bulletin. Daniel Webster gave an answer
to somebody's question. I thought that was such a good
answer, I put it in there. Daniel Webster was asked, isn't
the doctrine of the Trinity a mathematical impossibility? You know, I'm saying one God
and somebody say, well yeah, but I mean he agrees, he agrees,
they all agree in one. Well that's true, absolutely,
there's no doubt about that. They agree in one. But I tell
you what, turn, I'm almost finished. Turn to 1 John 5, 7. 1 John 5,
7. For fear of making a mistake
on this, what I'm about to say again, I looked it up. 1 John
5, 7. I'm gonna read 5, 7, and 8. It says, there are three that
bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost. And these three are one. That word one right there, it
means Numerically. Numerically. They agree in one. They have one will. They have
one purpose. That's absolutely so. But that
word right there means one. This is one Bible. This is one Bible. It's not three. It's one. That's what it means.
There are three. There are three. That word three
means Three that bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. One. So when we behold, like
Mr. Webster said, somebody asked
him, said, isn't that a mathematical impossibility? Mr. Webster said,
well, according to the mathematics of Earth, it seems to be. But
I'm not acquainted with the mathematics of heaven. We're not going to
figure it out. I'm telling you, the tri-unity
of God, His being, He is the self-existent creator. He's God. But His nature, revealed
to His people, He said, I'm Jehovah. Three persons, one God. In covenant
mercy. Scripture declares him to be
as he says he is. And anytime you try to figure
it out or try to start explaining it, just don't. All you're going
to do is mess it up. You're not going to figure it
out. Genesis 1.26, and God, God, one God said, let us, make man in our image, after
our likeness. At the baptism of the Lord Jesus,
the scriptures declaring what John the Baptist said. It says,
In Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water, and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him. And he saw,
this is what John the Baptist saw. He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting upon the Lord Jesus Christ And
lo, a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. Whenever Thomas was not in the
assembly of the disciples, the first time after the Lord's resurrection,
whenever Thomas was not there, and they told him, Thomas, we
saw the Lord. And he said, unless I put my hand in the nail holes,
thrust my hand into it, I put my finger in the nail. I put
my hand inside. I'm not going to believe you.
I don't believe that. The next time they met, I met, Thomas
was there and the Lord appeared to him. He told me, he said,
Thomas, put your finger right here. Put your hand right here
on my side. And here's what Thomas said. He said, my Lord, my Messiah,
and my God My covenant God. My covenant God. Matthew 22. I jotted this down just a moment
ago. I thought I'm going to read this
verse of Scripture. Matthew 22, verse 31 and 32. The Lord speaking, He says, But as
touching the resurrection of the dead, Have you not read that
which was spoken unto you by God saying, I am the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the
God of the dead, but of the living. He is the covenant God. The triune
God. Three persons, one God. That's what Thomas said. my Messiah,
my Lord, and my God. He addressed the Lord Jesus Christ
with the same exact word. When the Lord speaking, when
He said, I am the God of Abraham, I'm the God of Isaac, I'm the
God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead
but of the living. I am the triune God. And when Thomas said, my
Lord and my God, that was the same word. Same word. Covenant. Again, the scriptures make no
apology, no argument to prove it. Like Mr. Webster said, humanly speaking,
yeah, I guess I can understand it. We can't relate, we can't
relate this to anybody but Him. But I can tell you according
to the Scriptures, according to the covenant mercy of God,
God has revealed Himself to His people, to the living, those
that He's taught, loved, chosen, redeemed, regenerated. He said,
I am a covenant God to you. Thanks be unto God that He's
not left us to ourselves. To know Him as the self-existent
Creator. Men are going to know that. They
know that. Oh, that He would reveal Himself to His people
as the Covenant God. The God that's everlastingly
loved of people and purposed that they would never perish.
That's the God we know. May the Lord be honored and we
be blessed. For Christ's sake, Amen.