Lesson 7: God is Personal

 Danny, in our last lesson, seemed to have a pretty good grasp on just Who God is. But unfortunately, boys like Danny are no longer in the majority. Why? Because, as ironic as it might sound, the one book that has all the answers to life and tells us Who God is, is sitting on bookshelves collecting dust in many homes! Yes, the truth is out there all right! It is called the Bible! The problem is that too few ever read it and that includes Christians. Because of this self-imposed ignorance of God coming from not studying the Bible, the lives of many Christians are now filled with just as many questions and just as much pain as the rest of the world. We are living in a time when many Churches are full of Christians who are living like practical atheists. Oh, we say we believe in God, but much of the time we act like He's not there. This not only keeps you from growing in your own walk with God, but it also keeps others from believing in God.

To avoid this irony of Christians living like practical atheists by not knowing Who God is, we continue our study of "The Character of God."

 The second thing about God is simply this: God is Personal. But in order to appreciate the fact that God is Personal, we need to first look at two other attributes. The first attribute is that God is Independent.

Acts 17:22-25 - "Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything."


 According to these verses, we see the incredible truth that we all seem to take for granted and that is this: Did you know God does not need anything? There is nothing He lacks. There is nothing He needs, which includes us. The humbling truth is, did you know that God is perfectly fine without us? He really is. You may not like this truth, but as we read in the Bible, it is nonetheless true. In fact, rather than admitting this humbling truth, some Christians try to come up with excuses like, “God needed to save us so He would not be lonely." But God is not lonely. He cannot be. That would be a need and God does not need anything. Besides, God the Father has the Son and the Holy Spirit to commune with for all eternity. Therefore, loneliness is never an issue.

We continue this in our next lesson.

* Memorize: Psalm 119:11 - I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.