Lesson Two: Part One God and His Perfection

Thank you so much for joining us our Baltimore catechism lesson, God, and his perfections part one. We're going to be taking this lesson and breaking it up over the next two weeks. Last week, I outlined the purpose of our existence, which is to know, love, and serve God in this life. So we can one day gain happiness and heaven with God forever. That is our purpose. I said that the end of our life is the purpose for which you and I were made. So if the goal of our life is heaven, and that's why we were made, then everything we do should be leading us in that goal. If what I'm saying, doing, watching is leading me in my direction or in the worlds direction. It's not leading me to my ultimate destination, which is in heaven. Last week, we were invited to pray the apostles creed as part of our nightly prayer routine. Today, we focus on the first article of faith found in that creed. "I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. So far, we've learned that God is the Supreme being who is infinitely perfect. And as the first chief of truth states that he's Father and creator of all that exists. That word Supreme tells us that God is the highest being, that no one can be above him because God created all things. which makes Him above all things. So our first key takeaway for today is:

That a creature or a creation cannot be greater than its creator.

Did you know that God, right now, is holding us in existence, as I'm speaking to you. That we owe our very lives and our very existence here on earth to Him who has always existed. Now, what are some of the things that you and I need in order to survive or to live or to exist? Because we have a body. We need food, we need water. We need air, clothing, and shelter. Without these things, we would die. But you see God in his goodness provides all of these things for us. And therefore we owe our very existence to him. But God, on the other hand does not owe His existence to anyone or anything. He does not owe His existence to anyone or anything because he self exists. He doesn't need anyone or anything to continue to exist. When God met Moses in the burning Bush, he revealed his name as YAWAY, or, "I am who am". Meaning he always was, He always is. and will always be.

The Baltimore catechism goes on to say that he's an infinitely perfect spirit and that there's no limit to his perfections or attributes or good qualities. When we say that God is pure spirit, what are we saying? Well, three things, really that number one, he has no body like we do. Secondly, if he has no body as we do, He's not bound by time and space. And thirdly, he's immortal that he lives forever. And this is going to be very helpful for our understanding of who God is and his divine perfections. So let's take the first divine perfection. God is eternal. I want you to draw a circle. And I want you to write the word God in the center of that circle.

One of the divine attributes of God, or perfections of God, is that he's eternal. It symbolized by a circle that has no beginning and no end. And like I said before, he always was, is now, and always will be. God is unchanging and always remains the same.

Now a second divine attribute or perfection of God is that he's all good.

Everything good that comes to us is from God. All things that were created that are good come from God because he is all good and all good things come to us from God.

A third divine attribute or perfection of God, and by the way, these are in no particular order,

A third divine attribute or perfection of God is that God is all knowing.

We call this omniscient. God is omniscient in that he knows all things past, present and future. Our most secret thoughts, words, and deeds God knows. I don't know about you, but that should be enough for you and I to run to confession. If God already knows our imperfections, why not confess them to him so that we can get right with God on our journey towards heaven.

A fourth divine attribute of God is that he is present everywhere at all times.

We call this being Omnipresent. How can God be everywhere at all times? I've tried it and it doesn't work well? Remember we have a body, soul and spirit. We're bound by time and space, but God, he's a pure spirit. He can be everywhere at all times. Not to mention, He is God and we are not.

The fifth divine attribute or perfection of God is that God is all mighty.

That means that he's powerful, he's strong and he can do all things. Now these are just a few of the divine attributes that we wanted to highlight for you today. But God is much more than that. God is all merciful. He's all loving. He's all wise. He's all holy he's all just. God IS all because he's IN all. We can't adequately explain God's divine attributes or perfections in the short time that we are together.

We can't even classify God or contain God, but we do this simply for our own benefit because we're human. And we try to understand the mysteries of God.

I want to leave you today with these few final takeaways. As we conclude this lesson, you and I are one of God's greatest creations. Don't ever forget that. Number two, when God created all the things in Genesis chapter one and two, he looked at all that he created and said it was it was good. But when he created you and me, he looked upon us and said, we were VERY good. Why are you and I very good? Because we were created in the image and likeness of God. It means we can share in those attributes of God yet we are imperfect. Every newly formed baby that is in the womb and every senior citizen was made in the image and likeness of God and therefore each and every person born and unborn has value and worth with that said, as human beings, we are limited because of our human weakness and our sin. And therefore, unlike God, we are limited in our knowledge. We are limited in our strength. We are limited in our goodness and we are limited in our love compared to God and his divine perfections and attributes. We are imperfect and inconsistent, but I want you to know that God loves you and God cares for you each and every day of your lives. He sees us where we are. He knows us where we are. He watches over us each and every day of our lives. And he loves us so much that he doesn't want to leave us where we are in our sin, but his Holy Spirit is always guiding us closer to himself. This loving care, of a heavenly father, who is our creator in heaven, watching over us, is called divine Providence. And God desires to and wills to continue to shower that grace, that providence, that blessing over you and me all the days of our lives. That should bring you great comfort and joy on this day.

So for this week, remember this: Allow God to use everything we do, everything we read, everything we watch lead us closer to God and to our final destination, which is in heaven. God bless you.