What you believe determines who you are, what you do, how you live and your final destination. The writer of Hebrews tells us that certain foundational teachings are essential for all believers to understand (Hebrews 6:1,2). Those basics include the importance of faith, the foolishness of trying to be saved by good deeds, the meaning of baptism and spiritual gifts, and the facts of resurrection and eternal life. I am deeply concerned about the lack of understanding regarding the essentials of our faith. For instance, according to noted Christian researcher George Barna:

• Six out of ten Americans reject the existence of Satan.
• Four out of ten Americans believe that when Jesus Christ was on earth He committed sins.
• Five out of ten believe that anyone who is generally good or does enough good things for others during their life will earn a place in Heaven.
• Four out of ten believe that the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truths.
• Seven out of ten born again Christians said they do not believe in moral absolutes.
• Only one out of ten Christians base their moral decision-making on the principles taught in the Bible.
• 54 percent believe truth can be discovered only through logic, human reasoning and personal experience.

Barna writes, “Christians have increasingly been adopting spiritual views that come from Islam, Wicca, secular humanism, the eastern religions and other sources. Because we remain a largely Bible-illiterate society, few are alarmed or even aware of the slide toward syncretism - a belief system that blindly combines beliefs from many different faith perspectives."

Let’s get back to the basics.

Lesson 1: Who Is God?
God is the Father of all creation, the Creator of all. The opening sentence of the Bible reads: “In the beginning God...” (Gen. 1:1). We must believe in God as an absolute foundational truth. God refers to Himself as Father. He calls Himself "a Father to Israel" (Jer. 31:9). When asked by the disciples how they should pray, Jesus said, “...Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Mth. 6:9). God is our Father.

People have tried to describe God since the very beginning. He is Spirit, light, love, and a consuming fire (John 4:24; 1 John 1:5; 4:17; Heb. 12:29). God is eternal, self-existent, immutable (unchanging), omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnipresent (present everywhere). He is perfectly holy and cannot sin nor tolerate sin. He is perfectly righteous. His holiness demands that sin be judged and the sinner punished. This punishment is the righteousness and justice of God (Rom. 2:8,9; 2 Thess. 1:8). Love is at the heart of God’s nature. He is good, gracious, merciful, compassionate, kind, and faithful. He is all-powerful and sustains the universe.

God shows us that when you love someone dearly, you are willing to give freely to the point of self-sacrifice. God paid dearly with the life of his Son, the highest price He could pay. Jesus accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins, and then offered us the new life that he had bought for us. But we must choose. God doesn't force His will on anyone. He lets us decide whether to follow Him or reject Him. This decision is a matter of life or death. God wants us to choose life.

God is:
One - (Deut. 6:4 ;1 Cor. 8:4)
Three Persons - (John 3:16; 5:26; 1 John 4:10; John 14:26;15:26; Isaiah 44:24; Gal. 3:13; Rom. 15:16)
Truth - (Psalm 117:2;Jer. 10:10)
Light - (1 John 1:5)
Love - (1 John 4:8 ,16)
Infinite - (Jer. 23:24; Psalm 147:5)
All Knowing - (1 John 3:20)
Everywhere – (Psalm 139:7-12)
All Powerful - (Jer. 32:17 ,27)
Unequaled - (Isaiah 40:13-25)
Perfect - (1 Kings 8:27; Psalm 139)
A Most Pure Spirit - (John 4:24)
Invisible - (1 Tim. 1:17)
Does Not Have A Human Body - (Luke 24:39; Deut. 4:15-16)
Does Not Change - (Num. 23:19; Mal. 3:6; James 1:17)
Without Limit - (1 Kings 8:27; Jer. 23:23-24)
Eternal - (Psalm 90:2; 1 Tim. 1:17)
Incomprehensible - (Rom. 11:33; Psalm 145:3)
The Almighty One - (Rev. 1:8 ,4:8)
Most Wise - (Rom. 16:27; Jude 25)
Most Holy - (Isaiah 6:3; Rev. 4:8)
Most Free - (Psalm 115:3)
Most Absolute - (Isaiah 44:6; Acts 17:24-25)
Works According To His Will - (Eph. 1:11; Rom. 8:28)
Receives Glory - (Rom. 8:36; Rev. 4:11)
Most Loving - (1 John 4:8-10)
Gracious - (Exodus 33:19; 1 Pet. 2:3)
Merciful - (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 67:1; James 5:11)
Long-suffering - (Psalm 86:15; 2 Pet. 3:15)
Abounds In Goodness - (Psalm 31:19; 52:1; Rom. 11:22)
Forgiving - (Dan. 9:9; Eph. 1:7; Psalm 86:5)
Rewards Those Who Seek Him - (Heb. 11:6)
Just In All His Judgments - (Neh. 9:32-33; 2 Thess. 1:6)
Hates Sin - (Psalm 5:5-6; Hab. 1:13)
Creator - (Isaiah 40:12 ,22 ,26)
Shepherd - (Gen. 49:24)

Next lesson we will look at “Who are we?”

Grow in grace and truth,

Doug Morrell

CORE Notes From Doug