The person of God
PERSON OF GOD
God's ministry in us and through us is to exalt the Person of God: God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit
God the Father
Our understanding of God comes from Scripture, from His creation, and from our experiences with Him. From Scripture we know that God is holy, just, good, powerful, great, sovereign, infinite, eternal, loving, merciful, gracious... We could write forever and still not fully describe Him. He sustains the entire universe by His power. He works out His purposes in each generation whether or not we realize it, see it, or acknowledge it. One of these purposes is that all creation, and man in particular, should reflect His glory — His character, His ways, and His purposes.
God created man in His image to bring glory to Himself. We rebelled against God and fell from a close relationship with Him. Because of these realities, our glory both reflects God's glory and competes with God's glory. Throughout history, God has taken the initiative to rescue men and women and reconcile us to Himself. He has been intimately involved in people's personal and corporate lives.
His love for us is unending. We are undeserving of it, but He offers it anyway. Jesus illustrated God's love for people in His story of the Lost (Prodigal) Son. Our Creator Father gave us much, but we went our own self-centered way. He waits patiently for us to return to Him. He rejoices when He sees us come back to Him and throws His loving arms around us.
God's love includes individuals of all cultures. God's plan has always been to reach and call out people from all nations. In the end, people from every tongue, tribe, and nation will be part of God's family and kingdom.
Primary source passages: Genesis 22:15-18; Psalms 8:5; 19:1; Isaiah 43:13; 46:9-10; 49:1-6; Luke 15:11-32; Acts 17:24-28; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 2; Revelation 5:9; 7:9-10.
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God the Father sent Jesus to earth to reveal Himself to humanity. Jesus Christ is God and yet being also human He faced life as a human. He gave us the only perfect example of doing His Father's will — relating with His Father; dying to self; serving; teaching; investing in people; demonstrating love, compassion, and authority over nature, disease, religious and civil authorities, evil spirits, and even death.
God's greatest expression of love for us was the death of Christ on the cross. This sacrifice was at the heart of God's plan to reconcile us to Him. Through God's power Jesus was resurrected to life. He now sits at the right hand of His Father where He rules and sustains the universe. Christ paid the penalty for our rebellion and opened a way for us to relate personally and openly with the Father. In a very real sense, the Person of Jesus Christ is the gospel. By having faith in Jesus Christ we are acceptable to God. Jesus indwells us, changes us, and reveals Himself through us. Jesus frees us from Satan, the world, and ourselves and gives us a new identity as children of God.
Jesus is Head of the Church. As such, He gives life and direction to and intercedes for God's people. In His Father's timing Jesus will return to earth for His church and rule over heaven and earth.
Primary source passages: John 1; 3:1-21; 10:1-18; 14:1-14; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21; Ephesians 1-3; 5:22-33; Philippians 2:6-11; Colossians 1:15-23; Hebrews 1.
Holy Spirit
God the Father has given His Holy Spirit both to the world and to His children. The Spirit has been coexistent and coequal with the Father and the Son from the beginning. The Spirit is an agent in carrying out God's purposes. God used the Spirit to speak through people in providing us with the Scriptures. He restrains and condemns evil, convinces and convicts of sin, and reveals God. God uses people and circumstances to communicate His love and the Holy Spirit accompanies the message with power and conviction. The Spirit of God is the source of life and regeneration to people who respond in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit comes into each new child of God to give power to live a life pleasing to the Father. God pours His love into believers' hearts by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit enables believers to die to their sinful natures. He is the Agent of transformation, seeking to make each believer more and more like Christ. As we surrender to and actively cooperate with Him, allowing Him to fill and control us, He gives freedom and produces fruit in us. He also gives gifts to each believer as God determines.
The Spirit gives us understanding of truth. He brings glory to Jesus by drawing on His truth and showing it to us. He reveals the thoughts of God and speaks what He hears from the Father. He intercedes for us.
Primary source passages: John 3:1-8; 14:15-31; 16:5-15; Romans 5:5; 8:1-27; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 3; Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 1:13-21; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
The Scriptures
The Bible is truth and reveals God. Jesus Christ came to fulfill Scripture and He is its central theme. The Bible points people to Jesus and declares that new life is available only in Him. Through the Holy Spirit, people recorded what God said and did. All Scripture is from God and is consistent with who He is. It is authoritative and takes priority over culture and tradition.
God gave us the Bible for our benefit. The Scriptures, through the work of the Holy Spirit, show us our need for a relationship with the Father through faith in His Son. Through the work of the Spirit, the Bible comes alive and penetrates our souls and spirits and judges our thoughts and attitudes. The Bible instructs us how to live holy lives, how to serve Him, and how to minister to others. The Bible gives wisdom, insight, understanding, and true freedom.
God wants us to respond to Scripture in humility, eagerness, being teachable and obedient. This is only possible through the work of the Holy Spirit and our active cooperation with Him.
Primary source passages: Deuteronomy 30:11-14; Psalm 19:7-11; 119:97-100; John 5:39-40; 8:31-32; 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Hebrews 4:12.
