davidbowerkingwood

According to the Dictionary, You’re Not Real!

The Merriam Webster Dictionary provides the following definition of reality:

“something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily”

The Bible makes it very clear that none of us exist necessarily but are both derivative and dependent! Genesis 1 records the fact that the one true reality, identified as God, created us. In Genesis 1:1 it is written:

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Later in Colossians 1, it is recorded our existence is sustained by the power of that one true reality!

In reference to the Lord Jesus Christ it is written in Colossians 1:16-17:

“¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”

I have written on this in 2011 and 2015, but the enormity of this message warrants a further investigation into the truth of Biblical reality! I have never heard a pulpit message on this subject or encountered a conversation, among Christians on anything even close.

I personally delight in the thought of my dependence on the one true reality and rejoice in the absolute wonder of reality as revealed in the Holy Bible! A clear understanding of what is truly real and what is not provides the foundation for a proper worldview; I suspect the percentage of the world population that holds a true Biblical worldview is very small indeed!

The Mystery and Wonder of our One True Reality, God!

The Bible gives us very limited information on God; by examining those brief references we can put together some inferences as to the character and nature of God.

The Dallas Theological Seminary Doctrinal Statement provides the following summary:

Article II—The Godhead

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and obedience (Matt. 28: 18–19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3–4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1–3; Rev. 1:4–6).

The Bible identifies certain attributes that helps us understand God. The following was compiled by the “Christian Research Institute” More information can be found by following the link.

1. SELF-EXISTENT: God has no cause; He does not depend on anything for his continued existence.

2. TRANSCENDENT: God is entirely distinct from the universe, as the carpenter is distinct from the bench; excluding pantheism (God in all) and animism (everything is a god).

3. IMMANENT: Though transcendent, God is present with and in the world; excluding deism (God is out there but not here).

4. IMMUTABLE: God is perfect in that He never changes nor can He change with respect to His being, attributes, purpose, or promises; excluding process theology, Mormon doctrine of eternal progression.

5. ETERNAL: God is perfect in that He transcends all time and temporal limitations, and is thus infinite with respect to time.

6. OMNIPRESENT: God is perfect in that He transcends all space and spatial limitations, and is thus infinite with respect to space, with His whole Being filling every part of the universe and being present everywhere (not diffused through the universe, but present at each point in His fullness).

7. OMNIPOTENT: God is perfect in that He can do all things consistent with the perfection of His being. God cannot do the self-contradictory (e.g., make a rock He cannot lift), nor can He do that which is contrary to His perfect nature (e.g., He cannot change, He cannot lie, etc.).

8. OMNISCIENT: God is perfect in that He knows all things, including events before they happen.

9. INCORPOREAL: God has no body or parts, and is immaterial, being a simple and infinite being of spirit; excluding the Mormon doctrine of God as an exalted man.

10. ONE: God is a perfectly unique and simple being, existing as one infinite Being called God. There is therefore only one God, who is called Yahweh in the Old Testament, and who reveals Himself in the persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the New Testament; thus excluding polytheism, tritheism (belief in three gods), and subordinationism (in which Christ is a lesser god subordinate to the Almighty God).

11. CREATOR: God is the One through whom all things have come into existence; by His unbounded power and knowledge He created finite existence ex nihilo and formed the universe as it now is.

12. PERSONAL: God, as the author of personhood in the created universe, cannot be less than personal Himself; thus He experiences relationships with other persons, or self-conscious beings. Note that God may be more than personal, indeed, His infinite nature suggests that He must be.

13. INCOMPREHENSIBLE: God is incomprehensible, not in the sense that the concept of God is unintelligible, but in the sense that God cannot be fully and directly known by finite creatures, because of His uniqueness and His infinitude.

14. MORALLY PERFECT: God’s moral nature is perfectly unified, with no tension between His wrath and His love, for example.

You May Not be Real, but You are Eternal!

Mankind has a problem-filled history; starting with Adam, mankind’s record is filled with serious errors in judgment!

At the point of creation, mankind was created in a unique fashion; whereas God spoke the balance of creation into existence, God deliberately breathed mankind into existence. Certain attributes of the eternal God were imparted to mankind including eternal life! That’s right, you’re an eternal creation and will always exist somewhere in some form!

Your biggest problem is when Adam disobeyed God, there in the Garden of Eden, he died spiritually and also caused you to die spiritually. In other words, you were born spiritually dead; Romans Chapters 5 and 6-8 deal with that problem and its solution extensively.

God’s Love has had Amazing Results!

In 1 John 4:8 it is written:

^“8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

God’s love for his fallen creation resulted in the First Advent which culminated in the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of God, the Second Person, revealed to mankind as the Lord Jesus Christ.

While the disobedience of the first Adam caused the spiritual death of mankind, the obedience of the Second Adam from above, the Lord Jesus Christ, resulted in salvation for all who will receive Jesus Christ as Savior and their change from not real to real!

Next time, your transformation from not real to real!