The Nature and Character of God
 It is the temptation and instinct of mankind to create
in our own sinful minds a “god” that is the figment of
our imagination.
 While Scripture teaches that we are made in the image
of God (Genesis 1:27), we tend to want to create a god
that is made in our image (Romans 1:23).
 As a result, the God of the universe is often wrongly
depicted and understood in a way that is the exact
opposite of His true being.
 It is for this reason that we began in chapter one by
addressing the Word of God. The primary and only
infallible basis, besides the general revelation of
creation, that we have for understanding the person
and character of God is what He has clearly told us
about Himself in Scripture.
 We must be careful to make sure that we, independent
of Scripture, are not defining God.
 God and God alone is capable of defining Himself.
 Everything that we say and believe about the character
of God is rooted in Scripture alone. One of the greatest
mistakes in the modern identity of God is to either
over or under-emphasize any number of His attributes.
 It is true that God is love (1 John 4:16), but we fear that
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often the love of God is emphasized in such a way that
His other, equally important attributes are dismissed,
denied, or over-looked.
Additionally, we understand that the love of God can
only truly be grasped when it is joined to His:
Holiness (Exodus 15:11, Psalm 29:2, Isaiah 6:3 )
Righteousness (Psalm 9:8, Psalm 89:14, Romans 1:17)
Justice (Isaiah 30:18)
 Rather, He hates sin (Psalm 5:5-6) and will by no
means clear the guilty (Exodus 34:7, Nahum 1:2-3).
 Additionally, God is all-powerful (Genesis 17:1), allknowing (Ezekiel 11:5, Acts 15:18), everywhere present
(Jeremiah 23:23-24, Psalm 139:7-12, Amos 9:2-3), and
He does not change (Malachi 3:6).
 At the same time, He is gracious, merciful, patient,
abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving sin (Exodus
34:6-7) and a rewarder of those who diligently seek
Him (Hebrews 11:6).
One God in Three Persons
 In a careful study of Scripture, we quickly learn that
one of the most important things that God has
revealed about Himself is that while He is the one and
only true God (Deuteronomy 6:4, 1 Corinthians 8:6),
He uniquely exists in three persons. (Matthew 28:19, 2
Corinthians 13:14)
 This doctrine is most commonly referred to as the
doctrine of the Trinity. In the Trinity, we see God the
Father (John 6:46, John 20:17, Romans 15:6), God the
Son (John 20:31, John 5:18, Matthew 11:27, John 10:30),
and God the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-11, Romans
8:27, Genesis 1:2, John 14:16-17).
 In the Trinity, we also see equality of deity – that is,
each Person of the Godhead is fully and completely
God. (John 1:18, John 1:1, Colossians 2:9, Acts 5:3-4, 1
Corinthians 3:16)
 Jesus Himself claimed that He was one with His Father
(John 10:30) and that Paul asserts Jesus Christ is the
image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Likewise,
even Christ Himself was active in the creation of the
world, thus indicating his eternality (Colossians 1:16).
 At the same time, the Spirit of God is not merely an
inferior person in the Trinity. He is fully God, even as is
the Father and the Son. (Acts 5:3-4)
 While we see equality in terms of deity, we see a
distinction in terms of the roles among these members
of the Trinity.
 For example, in terms of God’s plan for the salvation of
sinners, God the Father sends God the Son to
accomplish salvation, and God the Son lives and dies
on behalf of those the Father gives him and fulfills the
will of the Father (John 3:16, John 6:38).
 However, it was Christ the Son who obeyed His Father
(John 6:38), took the form of a Servant (Philippians
2:8, Isaiah 52:13 – Isaiah 53:10), bore our sins on the
cross (1 Peter 2:24, 2 Corinthians 5:21), and in so doing
absorbed the wrath of His Father as our substitute
(Isaiah 53:10).
 Following the resurrection of Christ (Matthew 28:1-10),
it is the Spirit of God who has come to apply
redemption to us by convicting us of our sin (John
16:8) and giving us the new birth (John 3:3-8) whereby
we are enabled to repent of sin and place our faith in
Christ.
 Here in our salvation and in many other places in
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Scripture, such as in creation(Genesis 1:1-2, 26,
Colossians 1:16), we see all three persons of the Trinity
present, performing different roles.
God the Father is not the Son or the Spirit
God the Son is not the Father or the Spirit
God the Spirit is not the Father or the Son
All are fully and equally God
Confused? Welcome to the club.
 Within the Trinity, we see the perfect display of love
and relationship (John 17:26).
 As a result, we must humbly recognize that God did
not create mankind because He was lonely or needy.
 The fact is, prior to the creation of man, God was
supremely joyful in the fellowship of the Trinity
(Proverbs 8:27-30).
 Before creation he was not deprived (Psalm 50:9-15,
Acts 17:25) of any additional glory that was not already
present amongst His own Persons (John 17:1).