What Jesus Believed About God

 

          None could have a greater knowledge of God than could Jesus. He was, “with God” and He “was God.” (John 1:1) Jesus not only believed in God but He claimed to be God in human form. In Matthew 12:8 Jesus said, “For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.” (Matthew 12:8) How can anyone be Lord of the Sabbath except God who instituted it? This is a direct claim to deity. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God because of His teaching, His miracles, how He fulfilled prophecy and especially because of His resurrection from death. What did Jesus believe about God?

 

          Jesus believed that God is spirit. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) God is infinite, intelligent, incorruptible and eternal. We must worship God in spirit because God is spirit.

 

     Jesus believed that God is the living God. "Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon BarJonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 16:16-17) Peter confessed Jesus as "the Son of the living God." In total agreement with Peter's statement Jesus said he learned this truth from the Father in Heaven. It is by the good will of the living God that Jesus Christ is revealed.

 

     Jesus believed that God is Trinity or Godhead. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19) The three members of the Godhead are "one." Jesus said, "I and My Father are one." (John 10:30) This speaks of the oneness of nature existing between the Father and Son. They are the same substance, enjoy the same power and glory.

 

     Jesus believed that God is impartial. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20) God is impartial in the matter of salvation. He will save one as quickly, and on the same terms, as He will save another. Those who were far away can come and be saved. "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 8:1.)

 

     Jesus believed that God is perfect. "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) Christians must be followers of God as dear children. The duty (and it should also be the desire) of every Christian is to press on to perfection, to perfection like God. "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14)

 

     Jesus believed that God is omniscient or all-knowing. He knows our hearts. "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God." (Luke 16:15) God also knows all our needs. "Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear?" (Matthew 6:31-32) God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows everything.

 

     Jesus believed that God is omnipotent or all-powerful. "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." (Mark 10:27) No one by their own resolution or effort can overcome their difficulties. But, with God's help all things are possible. Do you have a problem. God can help. He can handle your cares. "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (I Peter 5:7)

 

          Jesus believed that God answers prayer. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every­one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:7-11) God compares His concern for His children to that of a father for his child. But God's is love, goodness and tenderness far exceeds that of any earthly parent. God will take care of His children. He is always willing to answer their prayers.

 

     Jesus believed that God is infinite in relation to time. You can get neither backward nor forward to a point beyond God. Past, present and future are as the present with God. Time means nothings to God. "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (2 Peter 3:8)

 

     God does so many wonderful things for us. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (James 1:17) God is literally our help, strength and refuge. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1) God is the "fount of every blessing." God gives a peace which passes understanding. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)

 

     Our allegiance must be to God and to Him alone. He will not share first place with another. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24) The first and great command shows how our allegiance must be to God. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:36-38)

 

     To the Jews God had said, "You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:3) He also reminded them, "You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me." (Exodus 20:5) God is the “Most High God.” There is none like the Lord our God. "For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me." (Isaiah 46:9) There is a God in Heaven! To be saved from sin we must hear the gospel (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus (Hebrews 11:16), repent of past sins (Acts 17:30), confess Jesus as Lord (Acts 8:36-37), be baptized for remission of sins (Acts 2:38) and live a Christian life. (1 Peter 2:9)

 

By Charles Box, Walnut Street Church of Christ, 306 Walnut Street, Greenville, Alabama 36037 USA