WELCOME TO DOCTRINE 1Knowing God

What is Doctrine?…the explanation of the truth about God as he has revealed it to us

Biblical Theology: Bible Overview, OT 1, NT 1

Systematic Theology: Doc 1 – What is God like? Doc 2 – What are we like?

Doc 3 – What is the church?

Doctrinal approach to scripture?

The Big Picture of the Course

• Part 1: How can we know God? (Ch 1-4)

• Part 2: What can we know about God? (Ch 5-10)

How we can know God?

• 1. Understanding the Gospel• 2. Knowing God through the Gospel• 3. Sources for the Knowledge of God• 4. The Bible as the Word of God

What we can know about God?• 5. The God we know: His Attributes• 6. The God we know: Trinity• 7. The God who creates

– The doctrine of creation• 8. The God who saves

– A biblical theology of salvation (Bible Overview super condensed!)• 9. The God who rules history

– The last days • 10. The God who renews

– The resurrection & judgment & new creation

Home Study Assignments • Mini Essay:

• Question relevant to unit covered• (Max 600 words) •

Reading:

• Next Chapter of Text Book

• Extra Mile:

• Digest Extra Paper

Why should we be better handlers of God’s Truth (2 Tim 2:15)

- It Guards Us

- It Grows Us

- It should humble us!

Advantages of learning Doctrine?

Knowing God- Important! What were we made for, purpose of life…

- But much disagreement about ‘Knowing God’

- Common approach of our world – Pluralistic Relativism

- OK as long as God has not revealed himself..

God has revealed himself

- Genesis 1:28-30, 16

- How does God relate to Adam and Eve?

- So how can Adam and Eve know God truly?

- This might seem straightforward to us but it’s not recognized by our world…Gen 3; a different script for us to live by…God’s word is not trustworthy

Knowing God by his Word

- We as Christians claim to know The Truth about God

- One God in Three Persons…not Monism/Tritheism/Arianism

- Eternal Creator of All…not bound by time/space

- Worthy to be worshipped with our whole being…not ignored, postulated, kept in a box!

Group Question:

• Why start with The Gospel in our study of how we can know God truly?

Knowing God in the Gospel• KEY CONCEPT

The living God has made himself known to people in the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this reason the proper starting place for Christian doctrine is an explanation of the gospel…

Knowing God through the Gospel

• The Problem with our knowing God –

• John 1:5, 9-11 • Romans 1:21-23, John 3:19-20• Romans 7:7-13, Ephesians 2:1-3• Romans 1:18, John 5:28-29

The Problem the Gospel Addresses

CORRUPTION

IGNORANCE

SIN SATAN

The Problem the Gospel Addresses

Knowing God through the Gospel• The Rescue

What?

1:1-3, 41, 45, 49

5:17-18, 8:57-58

How?1:29, 14:6

10:11, 11:49-52

The Prophet who deals with our ignorance

The Priest who deals with our sin and guilt

The King who liberates us, conquers our enemies and brings us into his kingdom

Knowing God through the Gospel• Jesus is:

1 Timothy 1:15

Knowing God through the Gospel• Responding to the Gospel:

John 6:37, 3:3, 3:7

John 11:25-26, 6:35, Ephesians 2:8-9

Acts 8:22, 17:30, John 20:28

John 15:8-11, Ephesians 2:10

How are we able to know God truly?• WE are sinful and deserve nothing but God’s judgment

• GOD in his great love has made Himself known to us through his Son, and brought us back into relationship with Him

• Therefore we can know God only because of:

GRACE

but..

Is the gospel our sole means for our knowledge of God?

What is the relationship between the gospel and the Bible as a whole?

What enables us to know the gospel is really true?

Come back next week to find out!

Home Study

• Mini Essay:

• Why is the Gospel fundamental to knowing God?• (Max 600 words)

• Read Chapter 2: Knowing God

• Extra Mile:• Digest Extra Paper 1: True Theology, Knowing and Loving God

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