Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians

The Beginnings of All Things Created
Lesson 1

The Nature of the LORD GOD

The study of Beginnings 002 must start at the beginning. That beginning is the LORD GOD. A Christian must know the LORD GOD before he can love the LORD GOD. As a Christian, you must love the LORD GOD with your complete soul, heart and mind. This cannot happen in truth, unless you know the LORD GOD completely. And you cannot know the nature of the LORD GOD completely, unless you reject and remove all doctrines of man, church and hopes, from your mind, and fill it with the truth from the Word of God. Only then, when you have met the LORD GOD in truth, can you love Him with all your being.

THE LORD GOD is bigger than a television, bigger than a church, bigger than a city and bigger than the earth. People of this world try to encapsulate Him as a tiny being, ready to fulfill their every desire as long as they rub His bottle the right way through promises of being good. Contrary to popular belief, He does not help you cross a busy street, he does not reward good behavior with lotto tickets, he does not make the football fly over the goalposts in the last seconds of a game.

The LORD GOD does not sit in the heavens like some fabled Greek gods, and manipulate human lives in some sort of controlling game. He is not an old grandpa ready to give you hugs when you need them, and He is not the agent of death that sucks the life out of innocent people.

What a confusing picture our world, our churches, and our humanness has created concerning the nature of our LORD GOD! It's no wonder that Satan is so effective in tricking people, when even the LORD GOD's most faithful, often become confused when questioned about the LORD GOD's ways.

It is sometimes difficult to grasp an understanding of the nature of our LORD GOD. The LORD GOD is not Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ is the LORD GOD. He loves His Creation but He wants His Creation to fear Him. He expects His people to love him with their complete heart, soul and mind, to forsake all others and come to Him. He expects His people to glorify Him to all men, yet He expects His people to remain humble in that process. He knows His people will suffer persecution, tribulation, and martyrdom as a result of loving Him, yet He calls those He loves most, closer to Him, and as a result, closer to the pain caused by the wickedness in this life. The One He loves the most, His Son Jesus Christ, was given by Him as sacrifice for sins of this world.

Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. (2 Samuel 7:22 AV)

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18 AV)

28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. (Isaiah 40:28-29 AV)

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Numbers 23:19 AV)

10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

12 ¶ Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

18 ¶ To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. 21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. 25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

27 ¶ Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:10-31 AV)

Let's break this large Scripture into verse study...

Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. (Isaiah 40:10 AV)

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11 AV)

Two different groups of faithful are mentioned in this Scripture. As a result, we can learn several things. 1) Not all Christians are brought immediately to the LORD GOD’s bosom to experience the complete envelopment of the LORD GOD’s love. 2) Some Christians who are new in the faith and young believers are not brought close to the LORD GOD quickly, but gently led in His direction by Jesus. 3) There is no allowance, encouragement or promise given to the non-Christian that they will be held in the bosom of the LORD GOD.

Why is this important? If you are to love the LORD GOD completely, you must understand who He is. You cannot form your opinion based on popular belief, personal desire or worldly tales. You must examine His Word to know the LORD GOD deeply. This powerful scripture in Isaiah 40:11-12 is a good example of truth vs. a worldly, hopeful, fairy tale.

Many people in the world want a God who is all loving, all forgiving and all giving to them. They want a God who punishes those who hurt them, and a God who rewards them for all the good they have done in life. They want a God who overlooks their sins, and sees all the wickedness and all the sin in those that are out of favor with them. They want a God that has made a beautiful place for them to go when they die, that will provide them with all of their unrealized wishes and dreams. They want to believe that living a mostly good and honest life will qualify them to receive the love of God in the afterlife, and they base their whole life on this hopeful, but misguided, belief.

What’s the truth? There is only one way that a person can receive the fatherly love of the LORD GOD. Only Jesus Christ can bring His people to the LORD GOD’s bosom to be enveloped in His love. To be in the bosom of the LORD GOD is not an automatic right gained by the whole world, nor is it an entitlement for those people who live “good lives.” The bosom of the LORD GOD is reserved for the people that Jesus Christ presents to Him. Period.

Therefore, the deep fatherly love of the LORD GOD is reserved for Christians. Throughout your studies, you will learn that there are many different types and degrees of love. You will find that our LORD GOD experiences all types of love, and gives many different expressions of that love to Christians, Jews, Muslims, mankind and His creations. But you must know, with certainty, that the LORD GOD’s Fatherly love is promised to you! CHERISH YOUR POSITION! As a faithful Christian, you have the reserved and special place in your Father’s arms, to be enveloped in His love for eternity. Your Father’s warm embrace will hold you close to Him in love forever. Surely this knowledge alone, can give each of us strength to accomplish our Christian walk in spite of the wickedness surrounding these last days.

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? (Isaiah 40:12 AV)

13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? (Isaiah 40:13-14 AV)

15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. (Isaiah 40:15-17 AV)

18 ¶ To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. (Isaiah 40:18-20 AV)

21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. (Isaiah 40:21-24 AV)

25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. (Isaiah 40:25-26 AV)

In the world, a leader is only as strong as his army. If the army is great, the leader achieves greatness in war. If the army is weak, the leader achieves loss of power. The worldly leader must develop his army with enough confidence, fortitude, bravery and talent to succeed in any campaign of war. The leader's position rests on victory. At the same time, the powerful leader must always maintain complete control of the army through the use of power, laws, terror and rewards. If the leader does not keep the upper hand, an army will topple the leader quickly and assume his position of rule. As a result, world leaders walk a fine line of developing power but risking overthrow in the development of their army. Most leaders learn to get as close to the line as possible, giving the power to the armies, but maintaining a little degree of control, should his army choose to turn on him. No leader in the world has the power to survive if his powerful army turns on him. This results in an army that is not allowed to reach it's complete powerful level, and is reined, subdued and controlled by a cunning leader.

The LORD GOD has armies. His armies are unbeatable. He allows them to have His power to fight wars, and as a result, not one army campaign, not one soldier, fails in completing his duty. The LORD GOD has the most powerful armies in existence for eternity, yet, the LORD GOD does not fear His armies. He has the power, the greatness of might, to truly be the leader of great armies, without fearing overthrow. He is the ultimate commander in chief, the most powerful and supreme leader of the most awesome and powerful fighting forces ever.

Why is this important? There is going to be a very great battle someday. That battle is going to involve the forces of Satan against the forces of our LORD GOD. As confident as we are of victory through our LORD GOD, Satan is developing forces that are also confident in their ability to win. It is going to be a great and terrible battle, where in the end, somebody is going to win, and somebody is going to lose.

There is a long list of reasons of why we can be confident that our side, the side of righteousness fought by the LORD GOD's armies will win. Isaiah 40:25-26 is on that list. The LORD GOD's armies cannot fail because they have His complete power to win. We must never faint from fear, we must never turn to run, and we must never forget the awesome power of our LORD GOD.

27 ¶ Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:27-31 AV)

33 ¶ O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36 AV)

His thoughts have level upon level upon level of knowledge, built upon each other to a degree that can never be understood by man. This wisdom that He has gained through this growing and ever expanding knowledge cannot be duplicated by any other being. As a result, His judgments, His decisions, His Ways and His Will cannot be understood by mere man, mere devil, mere angel, mere being, mere creature or mere little gods. He knows everything, and his thoughts are unsearchable by all beings.

If man has a thought.....if man has a knowledge.........it was put there by the LORD GOD. A man’s brain is not filled with his doings, but with the knowledge the LORD GOD allows that man to have.

15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. (Isaiah 57:15-16 AV)

Therefore, if you have not been laid humble and contrite, you will not be in the highest and holiest places with the LORD GOD. This promise is to the rebellious and hardhearted who have become meek and lowly through the effective parenting techniques of the LORD GOD. An earthly parent becomes angry with a disobedient child, and disciplines that child to do the parent's will rather than the child's will. When a child is very hardheaded, the discipline and punishment requires an increase in intensity, until that child is laid low, or broken in spirit. It is only when the child is contrite or humble that bad behavior stops, and good discipline can be put in it's place. Once a bad behavior has been broken, a responsible parent reassures their child that he is still loved by holding him near. This results in a reviving of the sorrowful heart, and the elimination of the bad behavior . So it is with the LORD GOD, who truly is our loving Father who corrects us in anger, and loves us in glory.

Our Father has no intentions to destroy our spirits, only to form them to His Will. If His contention is destructive to us, He will cease the rebuke, and restore our soul. Every action taken by the LORD GOD Father to His children is purposeful and loving, even in His anger and His rebuke.

Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: (Jeremiah 32:17 AV)

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. (1John 3:20 AV)

3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; 5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. (Isaiah 48:3-5 AV)

Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (Acts 15:18 AV)

Hopefully by this point in your study, you have realized some of the terrible misconceptions about the LORD GOD that have been forced inside your head by worldly, selfish and sometimes wicked interests. The LORD GOD's Nature is slandered every time a movie or television show tries to make the LORD GOD fit into the screen or story line. The LORD GOD's Will is misinterpreted every time importance is placed on secular events in the name of God. The LORD GOD's Word is diluted to the world every time a scripture is half quoted, every time a prayer is said for show, every time a false teacher takes the podium. The LORD GOD's Love is sabotaged each time He is blamed for the tragedies caused by the evil doings of man. The LORD GOD's Credibility is smeared when religious fakes continuously profess they speak for Him. The LORD GOD's Holiness is dirtied every time a worship service is conducted to entertain man. The LORD GOD's Power is made out to be a slave to any person wishing to demand His performance for their interests. The LORD GOD's Glory is dulled every time a person suggests that He helps them to cross a street, win a lotto, recover from a rash, get an A on a test, or cure the hiccups.

It is time for the people of the LORD GOD, the called and chosen followers of Jesus Christ, to defend the LORD GOD's Nature. Enough is enough! Study hard......study quickly......the time is fast approaching when the lines will be drawn, and sides will be chosen. You can not afford to rely on your past knowledge of the LORD GOD, because, with certainty, it has been contaminated by the world. Remember....there is a big difference between the “Things of the LORD GOD” and the “vanities of men”. Throw the old out and put the true Nature of your LORD GOD inside your head, and never let the world touch that Truth again!

Cite Article Source

MLA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. "The Nature of the Lord God." The Beginnings of All Things Created Jan 2005.   <http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/002nat1.htm>.

APA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. (2005, January) "The Nature of the Lord God." The Beginnings of All Things Created Retrieved   from http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/002nat1.htm

Chicago Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. (2005) "The Nature of the Lord God." The Beginnings of All Things Created (January), http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/002nat1.htm (accessed )

About the Author

Kathy L. McFarland is a Becker Bible Studies Teacher and Author of Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. She is a Religious Studies student of Liberty University, Hebrew language student attending Israeli taught Ulpan and a Homeschool parent teaching the things of God. She is also well-known as a child advocate of innocent children tortured and suffering from the abuse of sexual perversion, out-of-control violence, and pathetic neglect by a carnal world gone mad.

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