Believers And Disciples Getting Edified

THE DOCTRINE OF GOD THE FATHER

Lesson 1

The Word of God teaches us that there is one God manifested in
three personalities; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, and that these three
are co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent. Each of these has their own responsibilities, and yet,
there is perfect unity among them. The simplest way to understand the trinity is to look at ourselves.
We are made in the likeness of God, Genesis 1:26. With our mind we learn, with our
body we labor, with our heart we love. We will not attempt to go into any great details to
satisfy the skeptics or argue with the atheist, but will simply try to give some help to those who
are willing to believe what the Bible teaches about God.
Pharaoh said to Moses in Exodus 5:2, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let
Israel go?” As you study the Book of Exodus you find that ten plagues later Pharaoh knew
very well who God was and was very urgent upon Moses to take the Israelites and get out of
Egypt. One day those who deny the existence of God will meet Him face to face. Then they
will know very well that God is real. The problem with refusing to believe in God is, when
God does reveal Himself, it is usually in judgment, and then it will be too late for those who
have rejected Him to repent. In the study of the Doctrine of God the Father, we will look at
three thoughts: the Necessity of God, the Nature of God, and the Names of God.
I. THE NECESSITY OF GOD
I am always amazed when I think of how God chose to start the Bible. In Genesis 1:1 we read,
“In the beginning God…” God makes no effort to explain who He is, where He came from,
how long He has been around, what His credentials are, or any of the many other questions that
have plagued the mind of man down through the ages. The only thought that I can give for this
lack of information concerning the central figure of the Bible is, the whole operation of God
and Christianity is of faith. God says something, you believe it and receive it, or you reject and
refuse it. Before we go forward in our study, let me give you a strong warning about God and
His Word. IF YOU ACCEPT GOD AND WHAT HE SAYS IN HIS WORD, YOU WILL BE
ACCEPTED BY HIM; BUT IF YOU REJECT GOD AND WHAT HE SAYS IN HIS WORD, HE
WILL REJECT YOU.
There are three things that declare the Necessity of God. The first is the Creation declares the
Necessity of God the creator. In Romans 1:20 we read, “For the invisible things of Him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
All you must do is look around at the creation to recognize the necessity of a Creator. When
you see a watch you realize there was a watchmaker. When you see a house you recognize
there was a builder. Things which exist do not just happen. There has to be a cause behind
everything that exists. How could anyone with good common sense look at the creation and
deny there is a God who created it? If man and the creation just evolved, when and why did
they stop evolving?

The Continuation of the Creation also declares the Necessity of God. According to the
Scripture, it has been about six thousand years since the six-day creation of Genesis one. How
does it continue? Why do the sun, moon, and stars still shine? How do the birds keep on
flying, and the fish keep on swimming? How do the rivers keep on running? Why do we still
have day and night, winter and summer? What keeps the earth rotating on its axis without
getting out of balance? What keeps the sun on its course? Why have there been no collisions
of the elements in the solar system? What causes a seed to reproduce in its likeness so that we
still have different kinds of trees, fruits, herbs, fish fowls, races, etc.? What is the answer to all
these questions?
Surely you do not believe that all of this creation just happened and that by some mere chance
it continues to function. There has to be something or someone who holds all this together.
The answer is found in Colossians 1:17. “And he is before all things, and by him all things
consist.” The Greek word from which we get the word consist means to put together, to unite
parts into one whole, or to be composed of. In simple language the word consist means “to
hold together.” So the simple answer to all the complex questions above is; the creation was
created by God, and the creation continues by God.
The conscience also declares the Necessity of God. Although it is unexplainable by the
educated minds of our day, there is something inside every human being that tells him there is
a Supreme Being. There is someone for him to look up to. Why is this so? In creation, God
put something inside every human being that declares to that individual, there is a God and I
need Him to run my life. This is so because God created man “in His own image, and after
His own likeness.”
II. THE NATURE OF GOD
The first thing that we look at in the Nature of God is the fact that God is Holy. Holiness is not
just an attribute of God but Holiness is the very essence of God (what God is). Everything
about God is holy (Leviticus 11:45, I Peter 1:16). Also, we can understand something about
God’s nature by looking at some of His attributes. The attributes of God are far too numerous
to study all of them in detail, so I will just list ten of them here.
1. God is Love. One of God’s most recognized attributes is His Love, His compassion.
It was God’s love that caused Him to send His Son in the world that we might be saved,
John 3:16-17. His love is an undeserving love, Romans 5:6-8; it is an unchanging love,
Jeremiah 31:3; it is an unexplainable love, I John 3:1; and it is an undying love, John 13:1c.
2. God is Longsuffering, I Peter 3:20. This speaks of His patience.
3. God is Merciful, Ephesians 2:4. This enables Him to forgive sins.
4. God is Compassionate, Psalms 86:15. This means He is caring, loving and
considerate.5. God is Eternal, Deuteronomy 33:27, Psalms 90:2. This means He is not governed
by time; He has no beginning or ending.
6. God is Immutable, James 1:17, Hebrews 13:7. This means He can not change.
7. God is Omniscience, Psalms 139:1-6. This means God is all knowing.
8. God is Omnipresent, Psalms 139:7-12. This means He is present everywhere.
9. God is Omnipotent, Revelation 19:6. This means He is all-powerful.
10. God is Just, Genesis 18:25. This means He will always do right.
There are other attributes which time and space will not allow us to study in this chapter.
III. THE NAMES OF GOD
God is called seven single names in the Word of God. These names give us a progressive
revelation about His nature. In the following thoughts, the first name in parenthesis is the word
used in the Authorized King James Version of the Scriptures (KJV). The second word in
parenthesis is the Hebrew name from which it was translated.
1. In Genesis 1:1, He is called (God). This comes from the Hebrew word (Elohim) which
means the strong and faithful one and usually deals with Him as the Creator.
2. In Genesis 2:4, He is called (LORD). This comes from the Hebrew word (Jehovah)
which means the self-existent one that revealeth Himself and usually deals with His work in
Redemption. In the KJV Bible this word is written with all capital letters.
3. In Genesis 14:18, He is called (the Most High God). This comes from the Hebrew word
(El Elyon) which means the Highest One, and deals with Him as the possessor of Heaven and
Earth.
4. In Genesis 15:2, He is called (Lord). This comes from the Hebrew word (Adonai) which
means master and deals with His authority.
5. In Genesis 16:13, He is called (God). This comes from the Hebrew word (El Roi) which
means the God that sees, and deals with Him watching over all his children.
6. In Genesis 17:1, He is called (the Almighty God). This comes from the Hebrew word
(El Shaddai) which means the many breasted one. This is the word used for the mother’s
breast and reveals God as all-sufficient, all-satisfying, and all-sustaining.
7. In Genesis 21:23, He is called (the everlasting God). This comes from the Hebrew word
(El Olam) which means infinite in time and age and deals with Him as one existing through all
ages.

Those who study the Hebrew language tell us there are also eight compound names by which
God reveals Himself to His people. These names are not all mentioned in the text of the Word
of God, but there are incidents that reveal Him as such to us. All of these are connected to the
word Jehovah and generally deal with His redemptive work.
1. Jehovah-Jireh, Genesis 22:14, -This means the God of pre-vision and provision. This
deals with God seeing our needs before they arise and having the provision ready when we
need them. In Genesis 22, God manifests Himself by providing the ram for a burnt offering.
2. Jehovah-Nissi, -This means the Lord our banner and deals with the Lord fighting our
battles for us against the enemies that we face in our lives. In Exodus 17:8-16, God delivered
Israel from Amalek, and promised them that He would “have war with Amalek from
generation to generation.” Moses then built an altar there and called the name of it
Jehovah-Nissi to remind Joshua and the children of Israel that it was not Joshua, but God who
won that battle.
3. Jehovah-Rapha, -This means the Lord that healeth thee. This deals with God as both
our spiritual and physical healer. In Exodus 15:23-26, He reveals himself as such to Israel
saying, “I am the LORD that healeth thee.”
4. Jehovah-Shalom, -This means the Lord our peace. God reveals himself in this manner
to Gideon in Judges 6:23. In verse 24, Gideon built an altar and called it Jehovah-shalom. To
us, this deals with the fact that God alone could reconcile the sinner back to Himself, thus
making peace between the sinless God and sinful man through the blood of Christ, Colossians
1:20.
5. Jehovah-Saboath, This means the Lord of hosts. This presents Him as a mighty warrior
protecting us. It also pictures Him as being over the host of angels that serve us and minister to
us, I Samuel 17:45. God is pictured in this manner many times through the Bible, especially in
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
6. Jehovah-Ra-ah, -This means the Lord, my shepherd. This is pictured for us so
wonderfully in Psalm 23, and deals with the Lord guiding and guarding His sheep. He is also
portrayed as protecting and providing for us as His sheep.
7. Jehovah-Tsidkenu, -This means THE LORD, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. In Jeremiah 23:6
we see these words prophetically dealing with the restoration of Israel, when the Lord Jesus
shall reign in righteousness. Today it also speaks of God imputing His righteousness to us.
8. Jehovah-Shammah, -This means the Lord is present. In Ezekiel 48:35 we read, “And
the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there.” This teaches us that some day
we will be in His presence there, but it also speaks of Him being present with us now.
It is very interesting when you put the meaning of all these compound words together and see
God’s plan of redemption, and how His provisions for the redeemed ones are revealed. We
will review a brief thought from each of them to get a better picture of this.

In # 1, with His Pre-vision, God sees our need for a Saviour before we were ever born and in
His provision, God provided Christ as a lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

In # 2, we see Christ battling Satan over the souls of mankind, winning the war at Calvary.

Then in # 3, we see Him healing our sin-sick souls with salvation as is spoken of in I Peter 2:24.
In # 4, when God saves us, the result is peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

In # 5, we see Him as a mighty warrior protecting us against the enemies of our souls, keeping us
saved.

In # 6, we see Him as the great shepherd watching over His flock, guiding and guarding
us, walking with us, and talking with us.
In # 7, He imputes His righteousness to us. This deals with the settling of our account in
heaven. God not only imputed Christ’s righteousness to us, but He also imparted His
righteousness to us whereby He enables us to live a holy life.

Finally, in # 8, we see that one day Christ will come and catch out His church from this world “…to meet the Lord in the air:
and so shall we ever be with Lord,” I Thessalonians 4:16-17.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Did you read each passage of Scripture that is mentioned in this chapter? If you did not,
then do so right now.
2. List three things mentioned in this lesson that declares of necessity, there is a God.
a.
b.
c.
3. List three things around you that reveal to you the necessity of God.
a.
b.
c.
4. Name the attribute of God that caused Him to give His Son to die for us.
5. Name the attribute of God that means He is all-knowing.

6. Name the attribute of God that means He is all-present.
7. Name the attribute of God that means He is all-powerful.
8. Name the attribute which means God will always do right.
9. Of all the attributes of God, which three would you choose as being most precious?
a.
b.
c.
10. What does the Hebrew name Jehovah mean, and how is it printed different from the
other words in our 1611 KJV Bible?

Email your finished copy of this lesson to badgesboots@mm.st  and we will email you the next lesson.
Be sure to study these questions until you know them well before you go to the next Lesson.

*Lessons are from Dr. Stinnett Balew