The Nature And Activity Of God

God’s continuing work can be seen in the incarnation of Christ and his redemptive work. “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God…God created the things we can see and the things we cannot see…everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else and he holds all creation together” (Colossians 1:16, 17). Not only is Jesus the exact representation of God, but he is God himself who worked with the Father in creating the world – the sustainer of everything (Hebrews 1:3). “Because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan” (Ephesians 1:11). This means that, “his will may be disobeyed, but his ultimate purpose cannot be frustrated, for he overrules the disobedience in his creatures in such a way that it sub serves his purpose” (Akin 2014, 235). Here we can clearly see God’s sovereignty and that we can rest in the truth that Jesus is Lord and God is in control. God’s involvement in our lives goes even deeper and shows us that he is personal and wants relationships with his creation. He not only spoke with Old Testament figures such as Adam, Abraham, Isaac and Moses, he held relationships with them through guidance and even discipline (Genesis 1:28, 3:8, 12:1, 26:5; Exodus 11, 19, 20, 33:11). Amos 4:13 says that God reveals His thoughts to man. We often

Truth, what is truth? This question itself has a thousand answers, no person can ever be sure of what truth is rather, truth can be justified, it can checked for reliability with strong evidences and logic. If the evidence proves to be accurate then it can be established that a certain answer is the truth. However, have we ever tried to think about what intrigues us to seek the truth? To think about a question and set foot firmly on the path of knowledge. Definitely it has! That was the very cause itself which is why this world has witnessed some of the greatest philosophers like Aristotle, Plato and Socrates etc. along with the school of thought. The ability to think and reason is one of the greatest ability humans have, it is what

The nature of God with a physical presence was also Christian dogma during the New Testament times. Early Christian theology, like its close cousin, Jewish theology, was built upon a literal reading of the Hebrew sacred writings (aka Old Testament scriptures) with its habitual use of direct anthropomorphisms. The early Christians in antiquity, like the Jews, were quite comfortable with this anthropomorphist God in whose image and likeness man was created. This would not be the case for long, for within a few centuries the Christians would feel a need to modify this theological concept by adopting, adapting and merging Greek philosophical elements.

God’s purpose in Christ is to reconcile all things to Himself to the praise of His glory. The church is the body of Christ in the world—the means by which the world will know that Jesus Christ is Lord, and through which all believers will reach maturity in Christ and unity in the faith and knowledge of Christ.

As time passes, the expectations that society has on women has changed. Many of these expectations had to be met for the woman to be ‘complete’ with her role in society. In Rowlandson’s time, her expectations were to be a housewife, a mother, and a religious follower. Rowlandson’s, “The sovereignty and Goodness of God” demonstrates the role she had when she was in the colonies and how that role changed as she became captive by the Natives. From her writings, one can infer her place at home and how that changed as she became captive.

Rick McPeak once dropped a bomb on me when he said, "There are many ways to God and all of them are wrong". Through these words McPeak opened up a can of worms that most Christians avoid like the black plague, and the truth is this: God is a diverse and complex God who cannot be limited to an obtainable object found by a single path full of the "right" experiences. No matter how much we want to simplify God to one single equation that is simple or makes sense, the reality is that God is bigger than even our words and understanding. This reality is scary, but it is a truth that must be learned to continue to pursue Christianity, and so I thank God that Rick opened my journey toward the complexity of God.

In this particular section, Oswalt begins by arguing that you cannot rationalize calling the Bible a myth until you have a clear definition of the word “myth.” He continues by pointing out how difficult it is to actually define what a “myth” is. Oswalt emphasizes that “Rogerson goes so far as to say that there are so many differences in opinion on the subject that no one definition is possible.”4 The definitions for the word “myth” can be divided into two distinct categories: historical-philosophical and the phenomenological, or descriptive. Regardless of the analysis of the word “myth” and its various meanings, Oswalt concludes that Bible is definitely not a myth in way, shape, form, or fashion. He writes, “Rather it is a rehearsal of the nonrepeatable acts of God in identifiable time and in concert with human beings. Its purpose is to provoke human choices and behavior through the medium of memory.”5

Genesis is the first book of the Bible.  It begins with the story of God’s creation of the universe.    The Lord is the Almighty Creator of the world, skies, heavens, seas, animals, man, and woman.  He governs the universe and develops relationships with man.  Throughout Genesis, God acknowledges the fact that human beings make mistakes, and accepts their imperfection.  Throughout Genesis, God changes from one who does not tolerate disobedience, to one who shows clemency.  Early on in Genesis, God punishes Adam and Eve for disobedience.  After making the mistake of flooding the world, the Lord realizes that even He is not perfect, and does not allow Jacob’s deceit of his father to taint his future.

a) Christians believe many different things about God’s nature; due to the huge spectrum of Christians that there are. However, as a general rule they perceive God as being one of the following four things:

The existence of God has been in question for as long as mankind has existed and thought logically. Many questions have plagued the human mind in regards to God, and there have been many arguments drawn with the hopes of proving the existence of a supreme being whom we know as God. The “God” question has been presented to every individual at some point in their lives. It is a topic that will bring forth never-ending questions and an equal amount of attempted answers. Many philosophers have formulated different rationales when examining the topic of God, some of which include how the word itself should be defined, what his role is in human existence, whether or not he loves us, and ultimately, if he even exists at all. Mankind cannot

1. Based on the course material, how “just” is the world and the relationship that exists between man and god that is envisioned in the different myths you have read? Based on the course material there's a hierarchy in the world where gods are above all human kind due to the fact they created them for the purpose to serve. For instance, in the "Enuma Elish" myth it's widely expressed the gods created the human race. The gods are divided up into two groups younger and older gods. Each group shared the interest of having the human kind worship them and become loyal servants. In this myth, gods are viewed above humans and humans are viewed to be beneath gods. In fact, they're viewed in the lowest form possible and shed in a very good light in relation to the gods. This is the first aspect of where we see hierarchy in the world and unjust world. Another example of this is suggested in this myth when the gods comment on how unjust the humans are to each other. In fact, in this myth, the humans are so unjust and unruly towards each other that the gods contemplate what to do with them. As a result, the humans were flooded by the gods. Also in the Enuma Elish, the relationship that exists between man and god is as I mentioned before man was meant to be a lowly, worshipping servant and the gods were to be high, powerful, mighty, and worshipped with great importance. In several other myths such as the Sumerian version of this one, the concept is similar. Both versions are similar in

The mystery of God's existence has been a crucial element of many religious studies and traditions. Who is God? What is God? Where is God? To effectively discuss the existence of God, it is necessary to illustrate the notion of faith. People of faith believe that God does exist, and that relationship with God gives meaning to their lives. Others who are skeptical point to God as an obsolete hope of an ignorant human race. People today live in a world distinguished by sophisticated technology in which modern science has been a strong agent in questioning the existence of God.

One thing that people from different eras have in common is that they were continuously inspired by faith. Throughout time people have consistently sought for answers to the mysteries of this world; in doing so a multitude of religions have burgeoned, with the Greek Gods and Christianity being among the most prominent religions in history. There are a plethora of Greek texts, with some of the more notable including Homer’s Iliad and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which focus on man’s relationship with the Greek Gods. Likewise, Saint Augustine, an illustrious figure in the Catholic Church, wrote Confessions which focuses on his relationship to God throughout his long, confusing path to conversion.

The mission of God is to reach all nation. God uses chosen people to spread the Good News, to the nation. As He called Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22: 18; 26:4; 28:14). Jesus taught that we must preach repentance to all nation ( Matthew 28:19 ; John 20:12; (Act 1:8). Jesus was sent by God to teach all nation about Him and His return (John 20:21). Christian should accept all people of all walks of life. The church should continue to teach the word of God as it is in the Bible and to show love to all ethnic diversity. To equip people to participate in multicultural ministry is to embrace the love of God to all. The biblical base of philosophy is “Love covers over a multitude of sins” ( 1Peter 4:8). To get the saints and un-believers to join in unity with Christ. Cultural influence biblical interpretation, thus as we teach or preach we must remember whom our audience are and be able to get the message across so they can understand, by keeping the social also cultural of the Scriptures in mind.

Some key themes or repeated actions were the creation of the world. In these passages, God did not only speak into existence, but we can perceive that there is definitely power in his word. He created the universe and everything that resides in it. Including humankind, and every creature that walk on this planet. He also makes sure that everything he created was good. Nevertheless, with his good creation also came responsibilities with which we are to adhere to (following his rules and regulations). However, man disobeys God, which led to many consequences we are experiencing in the world today.