Who Is God?

So we're in a series called I Believe, and we're walking through the Apostles' Creed. And here's what I wanna talk to you about today. What you believe about God is the most important thing about you. Years ago, it was way back in 2020. Does anybody remember anything significant that happened in 2020? 2020 was a really, really hard year for all of us. It was a really hard year for me personally. I had some personal things going on. Professionally, things were difficult. And all through that year, I just could not find peace. I felt like nothing I did was right. Personal stuff going on, but then also professionally. That was the year of COVID. And for those of you who were a leader during that time, maybe you felt like I felt, like you just couldn't do anything right. I'd get an email that would say, you're a coward. The next email would say, you're a killer. And it was just all over the place. And I was stressed out and I was struggling. And I started to notice something. It seemed like everywhere I looked, I would see the same number. Has that happened to anybody else? Like a number just keeps showing up. It was like everywhere I looked, I would see the number 111.

I would look at my watch during the day. I wasn't consciously thinking about it. And guess what time it would be? 111, at night, I would be asleep and I would wake up and I had a clock that showed the time on the ceiling. And guess what time it would be? 111, I would be driving down the road and I would look over at a building and I would see the address of the building and the address, the number of it was 111. And it just would not go away. And it was constant. And so I'm like, what is that about? And one particular night, I woke up in the middle of the night, more like three o'clock in the morning, and I couldn't go back to sleep. And so I prayed, you know, and I'm like, Lord, just in case it's not the cortisol in my system right now, right? Is this you? Is there something that you want to tell me? And immediately what flashed across my mind was mark 111. And honestly, in that moment, I kind of ignored it. And I'm like, no, Lord, do you have something for me? Like, it was that kind of thing. And no, mark 111. And so I reached over on the nightstand and looked up mark 111 on my phone. Was all stressed out, having a hard time,

challenges personally, challenges professionally, mark 111. Here's what it said, I'm gonna quote it for you. It says, you are my son, whom I love. With you, I am well-pleased. And just laying there that night, I kind of teared up and just this peace washed over me. I'm gonna quote it again. You are my son, whom I love. With you, I am well-pleased. In that passage of scripture, the context is Jesus is being baptized. And he is in the water and a voice says that from heaven. And the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove. And Jesus hears those words. You are my son, whom I love. With you, I am well-pleased. But here's the thing, for all of us who've given our lives to Jesus, the Bible says that his spirit has come upon us. That the spirit of Jesus lives in us, that the righteousness of Jesus covers us. And so when God looks at you, you know what he says? You are my child, whom I love. With you, I am well-pleased. And so now, when I see 111, and I have a couple of friends that I do this with, I'll just take my phone and go, 111. And here's what I say. And my friends who know this will say it with me. I belong.

I belong, I am loved, and I am special to the Father. I belong, I am loved, and I am special to the Father. Maybe you would repeat that after me. Would you say, I belong, I am loved, and I am special to the Father. And you are. What you believe about God is the most important thing about you. So I'll just ask, what do you believe? What do you believe about God? And let me just take it a little further because this is encompassed in that. What do you think he believes about you? And when he thinks about you, what are his, what are his thoughts? It could be you're here this weekend, and you're like, well, I don't believe in God, so I don't think that's the most important thing about me. Oh, yeah, yeah, it is. So even if you're here this weekend, and you're like, I don't believe this, just, you know, somebody cute invited me, or they're giving me a free lunch or dinner or whatever after, that belief is still the most important thing about you. Because what we believe about God, for all of us, whether you're a Christian or not, it's what shapes our worldview. So let's say you're an atheist. That means you believe that we came from nothing,

which means there is no real purpose or meaning in life. You have to be intellectually honest about that. If we came from nothing, then this life really means nothing, and when you die, you'll go to nothing. And so your worldview is centered on random nothingness. If you're a Christian, and you believe in the truth of Scripture, and what Jesus has accomplished in your life, the more you get to know him, here's what you'll believe. You belong, you are loved, you are special. You were knit together by God in your mother's womb. In Christianity, there are no accidental children. There are accidental parents. Oops. Weren't planning that. But there are no accidental children. In Psalm 139, it says that God knit you together in your mother's womb. He knew all your days before one of them came to be. He knows everything about you. And he loves you, and life has purpose and meaning. And you're important. What you believe about God matters. And so we started this series last weekend talking about the Apostles' Creed. Quick review, the irony about the Apostles' Creed is the apostles didn't write it. It was written by early Christians to combat something called Gnosticism. I'll talk about that a little more here in a minute.

But the Apostles' Creed for almost 2,000 years now has been uttered by Christians, both Catholics and Protestants alike, and it is foundational doctrine to the Christian faith. It's like the big rocks of our faith. It's been sung in prisons all over the world by people who were thrown in prison because of their belief about God. It's been spoken by martyrs who were killed because of their faith in God. And as they approach the guillotine or the place where they would be burned at the stake, they would proclaim what we are about to read. This is foundational to the Christian faith. It's ancient, but it's also timeless. And it's unshakable. And it's something to build your life upon. So I wanna invite you, if you're able, at all locations, will you please stand? And as the creed comes here on the screen, let's read the creed together. And as we read it, I said this last weekend, I'll say it again, pay attention to the commas because that'll help you understand what you're reading as you read it. Let's read it out loud together. This is the Apostles' Creed. Read it with me. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to hell. The third day, He rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From there, He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Universal Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. And all God's people said, amen, amen. You may be seated, thank you. When you came in today at all of our locations, the creed was placed on your seat. I wanna invite you to take this card and put it somewhere where you're gonna see it. And I wanna invite you to read it regularly as we walk through this series. In fact, I wanna challenge you to memorize it. And I'm gonna teach you a little trick in memorization. Repetition helps you memorize. So the more that you read it, the more likely it is over time you will remember it. And here's the little trick. When you read it, read it out loud. Because then you're seeing it and you're saying it and you're hearing it all at the same time.

And that'll help you keep it in your mind and in your heart. How many of you noticed that we sang a worship song a moment ago and a lot of the truth that's in the creed was in the song. We were singing about what we believe. Anybody noticed that? Yep, you can learn that song and that will help you. I'm gonna give you a song you can look up on iTunes or Spotify or whatever, fresh from the mid 1990s. Are you ready? How many of you know the name Rich Mullins? Yeah, he put the creed to music. I believe in God the Father, almighty maker of heaven, maker of earth. Does that sound familiar? And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Some of you are mouthing it with me. If you download that song and you start listening to it and you look at this and you sing it and say it, you'll get it. Get it, got it? Good, okay, I want you to know the creed because again, this is sound Christian doctrine for Catholics and Protestants alike for almost 2,000 years. The first two words of the creed, quick review from last weekend. If you weren't here, go online,

watch and listen to the sermon. The first two words are I believe. Couple of really important observations. It doesn't say we believe. It doesn't say my mom and dad believe. It doesn't say my family believes. It doesn't say in America, you know, it's thought. It doesn't say any of that. It says what? I believe. I believe. This is about what you believe. This is about your faith being your faith. And so with that, I'm gonna ask the question all the way through the series, what is it that you really believe? The Latin word for I believe is this word credo. And it's here in your notes. Just a quick reminder again from last weekend. When we say the words I believe, it's not just mental ascent. It's not like, oh yeah, I'm in general agreement. It's more than that. Here's what the word credo means. And again, it's translated I believe. Here's what it means. I believe so fully. I believe so fully that I give my heart, my trust and my life to this truth. No matter the cost.

Credo, I believe, the creed means we are all in. It means this is what we build our life upon. So today I wanna talk to you about that first line. And I want you to think about this. What you believe about God is the most important thing about you. So what is it that you believe? If you're a reader, I'm gonna recommend a book to you. I mentioned this book back towards the beginning of the year. It's called Knowing God by J.I. Packer. I'm gonna tell you right now, it's not the easiest of reads. So if you're like, I really like picture books. This book probably not for you, all right. But I'm gonna read something from it because we're unpacking this thought, what you believe about God is the most important thing about you. This is the first two paragraphs from the book. I'm gonna share it with you. Here's what it says. On January 7th, 1855, the minister of the New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, England, opened his morning sermon as follows. This is the first paragraph of a sermon preached by Charles Spurgeon when he was 20 years old. Charles Spurgeon's kind of a famous preacher. Late 19th century, he had a megachurch which was unheard of in that day and time.

He's known as the Prince of Preachers. Here's how he starts that sermon. It has been said by someone that quote, the proper study of mankind is man. I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper. study of God's elect is God. The proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings and the existence of the great God whom he calls his father. That's going to be a good sermon. What you believe about God is the most important thing about you. So here's how the creed begins. As it comes here on the screen, follow along with me and we're going to break down a couple of words. Here's how it begins. I believe in God. I believe in God the, what are the next two words? Say them with me. Father almighty. That's what we're talking about. I believe in God the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Here's how it begins. I believe in God the father. The word father is a relational word. I believe in God the father. I believe in God the father. The word father is personal. The creed begins with this truth. God is personal. We're not talking about the universe. We're not talking about karma. We're not talking about the force be with you. We're talking about something personal. We're talking about a person. We're talking about God the father. When you say father, you're not talking religion anymore. Let this sink in. When you say father, that's relational speak. Relationship, personal. God the father. Now in our day and time, that's really common language, but Jesus was the first person to call God father and it shook everybody up to the extent that they crucified him over it. When Jesus taught that we're to call God father, think of the Lord's prayer. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Does that sound familiar? When Jesus was teaching call God father, the Jews that he was speaking to would not even utter God's name because it was too holy. Yahweh. When they would write it, they wouldn't even write Yahweh. They would just put a symbol because it was too holy to write. Then you got Jesus coming along calling God father. He's talking about relationship with the king of kings and the Lord of lords and it shook everybody up. But this truth is foundational to our

faith. Not the universe, not karma, not the force, but a personal relationship with a God who loves us. God the father. When Jesus said it, he would have said it in Aramaic. The Aramaic word is Abba. There's not a perfect translation for Abba into English. The closest we have is daddy. But to call God father says something about him. Now here's the challenge that a bunch of us have. When you think about God as father, it's tainted because your earthly father was not that great. What I want to do is give you four truths about God as father. When I give you these, I'm going to give you a reference so you can jot this down and you can look up the verse of scripture later. But when you think about God as father and when you pray to him as father, look at me. If you have an issue with your earthly father, don't say father in your prayers. I'm going to invite you to speak Aramaic and just say Abba. Because my guess is you never called your dad Abba. Right? You might have listened to the band. But we're talking about what Jesus told us to call God. See here's the deal. When you give your life to Jesus, you're adopted into the family of God. What's the family of God? The father, son, and the Holy Spirit and anybody else that's given their life to Jesus. So you're like Jesus' adopted brother or sister. And because you've been adopted into the family, you can call God what Jesus calls God. Why? Because you're part of the family. The Bible says the Holy Spirit is the seal on your life. It's the seal of the family. You're gonna get an inheritance from the father. Why? Because you're a son or daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And so you can call him Abba. Four truths about him. First one, he is always present. It could be that your earthly father abandoned you or regularly abandons you. Lots of broken promises. But God the father, Abba, is always present.

If you're writing down notes, I wouldn't even write he, I would just write Abba. Abba is always present. He will never abandon you, he will never leave you, he will never forsake you. He's always there. When you trust in him and enter your faith in Jesus, the Bible says he holds you in his right hand and no one can snatch you from it. Not even you. There's nothing you could ever do to make him love you more and there's nothing you could ever do to make him love you less, he just loves you. Lots of people will say, you know, God is so disappointed in me. I lean in, think with me, no, he's not. Can you disappoint somebody that knows the future? Can you disappoint somebody that knows the future? Think with me. That's what disappointment is. I expected this and I got this. Oh, I'm so disappointed in that gap. But you can't disappoint somebody that knows the future. What am I saying? Look at me. God expects less from you than you do. He already knows it's coming. That's Romans 5.8. God proved his love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

That means God, knowing everything you would ever do, sent a Savior for you because he loves you. He is always present. He will never leave you or forsake you. He doesn't love you because you're awesome. He loves you because he's awesome and his love is unchanging and unrelenting and always there. Second truth, he is compassionate. Abba is compassionate. He is not harsh. It could be that you had an earthly father who was harsh. I'm gonna go all the way there. It could be that he used religion to be harsh with you. That is not the God of the scriptures. That's not Abba. There are things in the scriptures where God pours out justice and then Jesus comes and pays for it all. Here's what you get from God, grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saves wretches like you and me. You were blind. Hopefully now you see. He's not harsh with you. He loves you and cares for you. And here's what it says in Hebrews. When you and I sin and we become afraid of God, God doesn't want us to run from him with that sin. He wants us to run to him with that sin.

Take it to him so that we get help in our time of need. Do you know why you sin? Here's why you sin, because you're stupid. This is why I sin, because I'm stupid. I do things that are stupid. I say things that are stupid. I think things that are stupid. The reason I sin is because I can't see what God sees. Because if you could see what God sees, then you would always do what God says. I'm gonna say what we say around here. Your problem is not that you don't love God enough. Your problem is you do not realize how much he loves you. Because if you could see what he sees and you understood his love for you, you would always do what he says. And so one of the most common prayers I have when I repent is help me see what you see. I'm not seeing what you see or I wouldn't have done that. I wouldn't have said that. I wouldn't have thought that. I'm sorry. God, what do I need to see here? Does this make sense? But he's compassionate towards you. He wants to help you in your time of need. He is not harsh. Abba is compassionate. Third thing, Abba is close. Psalm 34, 18 says that he's close to the brokenhearted.

He's right here with you. And you might say, I don't feel like it. Well, feelings aren't facts. The truth is he's right here. Here's how you feel it. You ready? You start thinking about it. You wanna change your feelings. Here's what you do. You change your thoughts. Quick example, that's the one I always give. This is why you can be in a scary movie and be scared to death and you are not in danger. You are in a movie theater in a lounger drinking a $37 soda pop and eating a $40 popcorn. You are just in danger. Fine. So why are you scared? That's what's in your mind and it affects your feelings. Make sense? This is why we wanna know the Bible. This is why you wanna look up these scriptures that I'm giving you. This is why you wanna tell yourself the truth all the time. Because your feelings will follow what your brain is thinking. And he's close. And he's with you. He'll never leave you nor forsake you.

He's compassionate. Fourth thing, he delights in you. He delights in you. I mentioned this last week. I know we always put the scriptures on the screen so we're gonna continue to do that. But I wanna invite you to bring your Bible to this series. I'm gonna have you look up a verse. It's not gonna be on the screen. The verse is Zephaniah 317. And you're like, Zephaniah? Yeah, I gave you an easy one to start with, all right? Go to the end of the Old Testament. The last book in your Old Testament is Malachi. And then go backwards a couple of books. And as you're going backwards, you'll see Zechariah and then Zephaniah. The reason it's called Zephaniah is that's the name of the prophet that God is speaking through when this was written. So look it up. I'll give you just a second. And we're gonna look at Zephaniah 317. And here's what we're talking about. God delights in you. I wanna remind you of how we started this thing. You belong, you are loved, you are special to the Father. Does anybody remember that? Two of you from like 15 minutes ago. You belong, you are loved, you are special.

This is Zephaniah 317. Here's what it says. Listen close if you don't have your Bible with you. The Lord, your God is with you. The mighty warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you. And in his love, he will no longer rebuke you. Listen to these words. But we'll rejoice over you with singing. Do you know that God sings? My guess is he's got a pretty good voice. All of you who are parents, you ever sing over your children? I was talking to a mom recently who would sing songs to her kids. You ever do that with your kids? My boys, sometimes when they're in the truck, especially if they have friends, I'll start singing. If they have friends, I sing as off-key as possible. Like as bad as I can pop, as bad as I can make it. And I just sing at the top of my lungs to try to embarrass them. We sing over our kids, why? Because it's a joyful thing to do, because we love them, because we delight in them. Hear this, because we wanna connect with them. God delights in you. Come on now, in Jesus' name. You belong.

You are loved. You are special to the Father. What you believe about God is the most important thing about you. So what is it that you believe? I believe in God the Father, next word was? Almighty, what does that mean? Here's what that means, God is powerful. So here's what we're talking about. God is personal and God is powerful. If you want, you can pray to Abba Almighty. I tend to pray that, Abba Almighty. My Father, Abba, who is all-powerful, Almighty. In the creed, it was written in Latin. Here's the word Almighty in Latin. It's omnipotentum, which is hard to say. Say that fast three times. Omnipotentum, here's the word we get from that, omnipotent. Omnipotent means all-powerful. Here's what it meant in the time that the creed was written. Omnipotentum, here's what it means. Having absolute power and supreme authority. Look at these words. Unrivaled, uncontested, and unlimited. In all creation, time, and existence. The creed was written and proclaimed to combat Gnosticism. I'm gonna give this to you quickly. Gnosticism was the belief that there is more than one God. That there is the holy, righteous God, and he is God over the spiritual,

and then there's a different God over the physical. And that belief began to enter into the church. And it began to be taught that Jesus was not a physical being. He was just a spiritual being. Did you notice in the Apostles' Creed how specific it is about Jesus being dead and then being alive again? Does anybody notice that? It's very specific. Very specific, here's why. It's combating Gnosticism. But here's what you need to see, and here's why this matters. He's Abba Almighty. He's omnipotent creator of heaven and earth. In the Bible, there are three words for heaven. There's one English word for heaven, it's the word heaven. When the Bible talks about heaven, it could be talking about the sky, it could be talking about space, or it could be talking about the realm beyond space, literally beyond the stars. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul talks about knowing a man who was caught up to the third heaven, if that sounds familiar. What is he saying? Beyond the stars, that's what he's saying. Another dimension, okay?

So the Bible has talked about other dimensions for a long, long time. There is the physical, and there is the metaphysical. What does that mean, outside the physical? There's the visible, and there's the invisible. Hear this now, and the Lord God is creator and ruler over it all. I get asked a lot lately, Chad, do you believe in aliens? Yes, I always have. You call them angels, but there are beings that live in another dimension, and some of them are holy, and some of them are fallen. Let me give you some good news. The devil is not equal with God. The devil is a fallen angel. God created the devil. Jesus is God. Jesus and the devil are not brothers, if you come from that background. Jesus is God made flesh. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, one God. And Jesus will come back, and he will wipe out all evil for all time. And the Bible says when he returns, he's wearing white. Why? He's not planning on getting dirty. He's that powerful. And on his thigh are the words, king of kings and Lord of lords. Yes, he's tatted up.

And he's gonna come down, and he's gonna throw down, and he's gonna wipe out all of evil for all time. Thank God. Okay, and you're like, why does he need to do it now? Because he wants as many people as possible to come to repentance. Peter wrote that. He says, God's not slow in keeping his promises. He's wanting as many people as possible to come to repentance, because God wants to wipe out evil without wiping out you and me. And so he's provided a savior. It's his own self. God made flesh, Jesus Christ, who died to pay for all sin for all time on the cross, and three days later rose again. And if we receive Jesus, his righteousness covers us, so that when he comes back in justice and covers the earth to wipe out evil, we are covered by his own blood and made safe. This is the gospel. This is what we believe. This is the creed. He's Abba Almighty. Our verse for the series, and then I wanna pray for you. Romans 1, 16 says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who, what's the last word?

Look at me. What do you really believe? And if so, is your life credible? Credo, credible, the creed. Do you live it? Do you walk it? This is God's will for you and for me, because what we believe about God is the most important thing about us. I wanna encourage you to take the card, read the creed, look up the songs if you want. If that helps, come back. We're gonna continue to break this down. And I wanna encourage you in this series, here in about a week, groups are gonna begin here at the church. I wanna encourage you to get in a group. You can go to groups.sv.cc. That's an opportunity to make some friends, to talk about what we talk about on the weekend. And you're like, are they gonna make me pray? No, you don't have to pray. You don't have to read. Just be in the group, make some friends. It's conversation, all right? You can do this. We'll talk more about that over the next week, but I would encourage you to sign up. And together, we're gonna strengthen our faith. This week, here's what I want you to begin to pray.

Abba, Almighty, and think on these things. Let's pray together. Would you pray with me? God is personal and God is powerful. And he loves you. And so, Abba, Almighty, give us wisdom of who you are by your spirit. May we have correct thoughts about you. You are compassionate and kind. You never leave us nor forsake us. You're always close. You delight in us. We belong, we are loved, we are special. May we lean into this and receive it and walk in it. Give us wisdom of these things, and in that may we be changed, for the glory of Jesus and also for our good. It's in His name that we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen.