Part 3 the Character of God

Bible Study Notes | July 31st, 2024

 

 

God Is Just …so, He will always treat you fairly.

God is absolutely just “I, the LORD, searching all His judgments. Because of His holy righteousness, He cannot be bribed or corrupted in anyway. God cannot be fooled. Because He is all-knowing and ever-present, He has all the facts at His disposal.

He knows the circumstances and motives, so His decisions are always based on absolute truth. God is also a perfect judge because when He pronounces judgment, He has the power and sovereignty to carry out the punishment. “Everything He does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright He is!” (Deuteronomy 32:4, NLT).

Justice is a pillar of society, ensuring that the innocent are vindicated and the guilty are punished. But all too often, this standard for justice is compromised for personal gain by corrupt judges and unscrupulous lawyers. Consequently, many people mistakenly believe they can manipulate God’s system of justice. They think that God is fooled by their excuses and alibis. But because He is a just God, His verdict will always be right. King David said, “The Lord is righteous, He loves justice” (Psalm 11:7, New International Version).

Because God is just, He will always treat you fairly. However, as the holy and righteous sovereign of the universe, God cannot ignore any act of sin. God hates sin with a holy passion. The psalmist writes,

“You spread out our sins before You — our secret sins — and You see them all. … Who can comprehend the power of Your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear You deserve” (Psalm 90:8,11, NLT).

God’s anger over sin should never be underestimated. You need to have a healthy fear of God to help you avoid anything that would violate your relationship with Him.

God also rewards right behavior. Although your salvation is secured by faith in Jesus Christ, your good works confirm that you are a child of God and determine the rewards you will receive from Him. We serve a just God, so what you do in this life will matter for eternity.

“God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14, NLT)

God Is Love …

God’s love for you is supreme.

We, in turn, are to love God wholeheartedly. Jesus declared: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37- 38, NLT). God, in His sovereignty, has created us to find our greatest joy and fulfillment in loving Him.

God also enables us to be channels of His supernatural love. On our own, we are incapable of loving as we should, but God has for us an unending supply of His divine love. It is for us to claim, to enjoy and to share with others.

When believers begin to love God, love their neighbors as themselves and love their enemies, society will change for the better. Then the world today, as in the first century, will marvel when they see and experience the transforming power of God’s love.

“Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39, NLT)

He is unconditionally committed to your well-being.

 

“Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love really is.” (Ephesians 3:17-18, New Living Translation)

God is the source of all love. It flows out of the great reservoir of His goodness. Love permeates all of His attributes. While people sometimes violate standards of honesty, righteousness, and morality to please others, God never compromises His integrity. His love does not suppress or negate any of His other attributes.

God’s love is unconditional. It is not based on how good you are or what you do to please Him. He loves you because He is God and you are His creation. God’s love never fails. The psalmist proclaims,

“The LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever” (Psalm 100:5, NLT). God’s love will not be terminated because of disappointment or a change of heart. He defines love, He generates love, and He demonstrates what true love looks like.

John explains, “This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son

God Is Merciful …

To experience God’s mercy, you must repent of your sin and accept God’s forgiveness. The Bible promises, “The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him” (Daniel 9:9, NIV).

God wants you in turn to be merciful to others. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7, NLT). In fact, Jesus said, “If you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:15, NLT). God’s mercy flows to those who show mercy to others.

Your loving heavenly Father is committed to your well-being. Out of His great compassion, He generously bestows on you His grace and mercy. God demonstrates His grace by showering you with blessings you do not deserve. He displays His great mercy by withholding the punishment you so rightfully deserve.

“Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:16, NLT)

God is the master of mercy. His very nature desires to relieve you of the self-imposed misery and distress you experience because of your sin.

“The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (James 5:11, New International Version)

All humanity benefits from God’s mercy to some degree. Jesus stated, “He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45, New Living Translation). But God also has a sovereign mercy He shows to those who are His. In gratitude, this is the mercy you are to share with others.

God shows you mercy because He compassionately cares about you. The prophet Isaiah states, “The LORD comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones” (Isaiah 49:13, NIV). Your loving Father cares about what you are going through. The gospels are filled with examples of how Jesus was moved with compassion and acted to help those who were sick, suffering and in need. Consider the blind man, Bartimaeus, or the ten lepers. Jesus reached out His hands and healed

God Is Faithful … so you can trust Him to always keep His promises.

 

promise, “If“O Lord God Almighty! Where is there anyone as mighty as You, Lord? Faithfulness is Your very “O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as You, O LORD? You are entirely faithful.” (Psalm 89:8, New Living Translation)

Faithfulness is at the heart of all that God is and does. His truthfulness, holiness, love, righteousness and other attributes ensure His faithfulness. He is incapable of being otherwise.

 

God is faithful to purify you from unrighteousness. It is God’s plan for you to become holy and advance His kingdom. And He is faithful to bring this to pass. Paul declared, “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6, NLT).

God is faithful to fulfill His promises. Hebrews 10:23 states, “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise” (NLT). God is ready and able to deliver all He has promised.

God is faithful to help you in your need. He will never fail you! He is reliable. He is trustworthy. He cannot be otherwise. Your holy and loving God is faithful!

“If you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for He will never fail you.” (1 Peter 4:19, NLT)

God is faithful to protect you from temptation and the evil one. Paul wrote, “God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NLT). When you are tempted to sin, do not focus on the attractiveness of the temptation but on God’s faithfulness to deliver you from that situation.

God is faithful to forgive you even when you are unfaithful. Because you are still in a body of flesh, you have a tendency to sin and, ultimately, to be unfaithful. How encouraging it is to remember God’s faithfulness.