Lesson 1: A Real God Changes Your Life

It was his parents’ move and his mother’s joining the work force that left this sixth-grade boy and his three siblings with a new-found freedom that they quickly demonstrated they did not know how to handle. As the fighting and the pressures increased, so did the pain in his heart. He was never the "praying type" for his family never got into that "church-going" business, but there was nowhere else to turn. He just had to know that everything was going to turn out all right in his crazy mixed-up world. "God, are you up there?" He asked. "Do you really exist? If you are really there, then send me a lightning bolt." Silence. "Okay, God, I am going to walk around this house and if You really exist, send me a lightning bolt so I will know." The next several hours involved a monotonous series of laps around the premises. Now frustrated, he stopped and made his defiant declaration. "Fine, God! From now on I am an atheist!" He did not really know what that word meant but he thought it was used by those who did not like God.

Despite his childish rebellion, fifteen years later, out of love and mercy, God did send this boy a lightning bolt in the form of an encounter with His Son Jesus Christ, which pierced his broken heart. But rather than destroying him, this shocking encounter healed and restored his shattered soul.

Yes, that boy was me. The reason I share my story is because I believe it is a more common scenario than we think. The average person today, like I was, is flooded with questions like, "Where did I come from?" "What happens when I die?" "Is there life after death?" and "Is there meaning and purpose to life?" These questions have driven our world into a frantic search for purpose, direction, and truth relating to their existence. Millions of people are on a quest for some secret "alien" book or some ancient "religious" writing that will somehow unlock the answers to life.


The irony of it all is this so-called mysterious book that everybody is searching for can be found on bookshelves, collecting dust, in many homes! It is right under their noses. It is called the Bible. But too few will read it! It is not because there is a lack of Bibles.

This self-imposed ignorance of God that comes from not studying the Bible results in the lives of not only non-Christians but now even many Christians being filled with many questions and pain. We have churches full of Christians who are living like practical atheists. We say we believe in God, but we act like He is not there. This is not only harmful to your own walk with God, but it also keeps others from believing in God. Therefore, to avoid this irony of Christians living like practical atheists, by not knowing who God is, we begin this study entitled, "The Character of God."

* Memorize: Philippians 3:10 - That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death