KCU/04/Smarties

Topic 5: View of God matters?

Question: What difference does our view of God make? (Be sure to do more research into the issue. If the group cannot come to a consensus, feel free to each express your own opinions.)

“Who is God?” “What is he like?” “How does he relate to people?” “How does my view of him affect my everyday life?” “Is God even real?” These are some questions which many people wrestle with daily. Although there are not any single, simple answers to these questions, there are a few major views of God which have been adopted by people. For each of these different views there are some major effects which these ideas have on people’s relationships with God.

First, let us look at what the bible says about God. In Psalm 23, God is described as our shepherd. What does that mean exactly? Using the word "shepherd" instead of "king" or "deliverer" to describe God implies a close relationship with him and a dependency upon him. A flock can find everything within their shepherd. He is their guide, their protector, their provider, and their friend.

If you break this chapter down, the first thing you can see that God rests his sheep. However, he does not rest them just anywhere, but rather in "green pastures." This tells us that God does not simply settle for letting us rest just anywhere, but rather that he wants us to rest in the best place available. Not only does he want us to be able to take time off to rest, to revitalize and to be comfortable, but he wants us to be comfortable while doing it.

The next part of Psalm 23, "...he leads me beside quiet waters…" leads us to believe more than one thing. First of all, a shepherd will lead his sheep to the water to allow them to get a drink of water. Water is vital in sustaining life. However, even more important than that is the fact that the water which God provides us with allows us to have eternal life. In John 4:21, Jesus tells us, “… whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.” This shows us that God should be “living water” to us and that we should thirst for him daily.

In addition, we find that God “…restores my soul.” This could have a couple of different meanings. First of all, it could be saying that he brings us back to him just as a shepherd brings a lost sheep back to his flock. However, it could also be referring to the fact that God will heal our wounded souls and help us get back onto the “path of righteousness.”

Verse 4 of Psalm 23 goes on to tell us that God is always with us. No matter what we are going through, God is there to protect us and to comfort us. Also in this verse, we need to realize that life is not going to be easy. We will all have to “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” and experience bad things. However, through these bad times, we can take comfort in the fact that God will be there with us. No longer will he be guiding us by walking in front of us, but he will be walking beside us, protecting us.

Another way the bible describes God as being is love. This is stated in 1 John 4:8, however to have a full understanding of what this means, it needs to be compared to 1 Corinthians 13. If you replace the word “love” with the name “God” in this chapter, it gives you a full understanding of all the characteristics of God. According to 1 Corinthians 13, God is patient and kind. He does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not self-seeking, and is not easily angered. God keeps no record of wrongs and does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. God never fails.

Revelation 4:8 says that God “…was, and is, and is to come.” This means God is everlasting and that he will always be there. He can always be counted on. Also, God is unchanging. Not only can he be counted on to be there, but He will never change; his love and mercy will always be perfect. People who realize this are able to talk to God frequently because they realize he will always be a part of their life. Even when everything else is changing in somebody’s life, God remains constant and can be counted on to be stable.

God is the only savior there is. This makes him unique and “one-of-a-kind.” He is the one true God who controls everything. He is also righteous, which means he is to be worshipped. When people realize this, they respect and are fearful of God, as all people should be. Those who see these qualities of the Lord know that he is to be looked up to as one with the ultimate authority, and are more likely to follow Him and His word.

In a survey performed by The Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion it was concluded that, excluding atheism, there are four major diverse views of God expressed by people in the United States. These include people viewing God as Authoritarian, Benevolent, Critical, and Distant. Each one of these different outlooks has their own set of diverse beliefs about God.

According to the survey, people who see God as an authoritarian believe he is involved in world affairs. This group of people includes about 31.4% of the people surveyed. They suggest that God always assists in decision making and therefore influences global events. However, this group of people also sees God as being very angry all of the time. They see God as someone who is just waiting for humans to sin or be unfaithful so he can punish them. People who believe in this type of God are more likely to be afraid of Him and are hesitant when it comes to talking to Him and asking for comfort and help when they need it. When these people actually decide to talk to God, they are probably just asking Him to influence some sort of decision they have no control over.

Another popular view of God is of him being a distant God. People who fall into this category consider God as simply our creator. They believe he created human beings, put them here on the earth, and then just left us here with absolutely no help. This group of people does not believe God is angry with us, but that he just does not want to be actively involved in our lives. They also do not think God really has any opinion of the world or of humans, but that he is just sitting back and watching his creation. This group of people consists of about 24.4% of the surveyed group. These people do not likely talk to God very much at all because they do not think he cares for us or wants to talk to us at all.

When surveyed, about 23% of the public recorded their view of God as benevolent. These people believe God is actively involved in human’s lives and that he has a positive influence on all of them. This group also believes that God is not angry with us and that he does not like to punish us. Overall, people that fall under this category believe that God is kind and compassionate and wants what is best for his people.

The fourth view of God that was stated by about 16% of the people surveyed was a God who is critical. This is exactly what it sounds like. This outlook basically says God is distantly watching with displeasure. It also states that He does not like to be involved in the lives of his creation and that the sinful people of this world with be punished in another life.

Some of the other information found in this study showed that women are more likely to believe in an authoritative or a benevolent God, whereas men are more likely to see God as being distant. Also, authoritarian and benevolent believers are more likely to attend church on a regular basis and also to pray frequently.

The Baylor Institute also found that what a person believes about God affects how they feel about certain political and moral issues. On the subject of abortion, authoritarians were found to be two times more likely to believe that abortion is wrong than any other group. In the gay marriage debate, 80% of authoritarians believe gay marriage is never acceptable, whereas only 30% of people who believe in a distant God do not believe in gay marriage. But overall, the study found that 20% of Americans believe God does not favor any particular political party.

“For most people, it would seem that belief in God has little to do with organized religion or with the ‘official’ chrisitian faith. We are also familiar with small groups of commited believers who are prepared to press their version of belief in God as if it were the only possible option.” (Bray, 13) With so many small groups of believers, it is hard to know what is right and wrong because they all have different ideas. They can’t all be right, so how do we distinguish fact and fiction!? This is why we should also press our version or view of God. (Spoken) People aren't confused by the gospel, They're confused by us. Jesus is the only way to God, But we are not the only way to Jesus. This world doesn't need My tie, my hoodie, My denomination, or my translation of the Bible, They just need Jesus. We can be passionate about what we believe, But we can't strap ourselves to the gospels. Because we're slowing it down Jesus is going to save the world, But maybe the best thing we can do Is just get out of the way. Casting Crowns “What This World Needs” No matter how we dress, what our denomination, or translation of the Bible we use, as ong as we know that Jesus is the only way to God. Then our view of God does not really matter.

Sometimes the way a person views god is in direct correlation with those people’s values, what kind of person they are. It has been shown that if a person has a positive view of god then that person is more likely to be an upstanding citizen, make right decisions, and just live a more peaceful, less stressful life. In the Bible there are several passages that tell people how to live their lives just my simply trying to follow God's word in doing this they do the right things with out even having to think about it.

Other times people that have a negative view or no real view of god are more likely, not necessary having to be criminals, to be people with low values. Meaning that they are making bad decisions because they feel like there isn’t anything that will happen to them because of there choices. They feel that there is nothing God can do to them that can make their lives worse then it already is, or just because they don’t believe that there is a God.

What is God Like? God is like Jesus. Jesus is the perfect image of God. Jesus came to show us what God is like.(John 14:9-10) God, who at various times and various ways spoke in the past time to fathers by the prophets. Jesus healed people because God likes to heal people. He became like God at a human level. Jesus is our clearest sign to what God is like. God is powerful- (Genesis 1:1-3&27) God is Loving -(Psalm 36:5-7) God is Perfect-(Psalm 7:9-11) Above all eles God is Holy & Pure-(Luke 5:4-9)

Who is God?

HE IS KNOWABLE God, who created the universe in his own way is creative in details, and is also able to be known. He welcomes us into a relationship so that we can personally can get to know him.

HE IS APPROACHABLE God invites us to talk to him and engage him in what concerns us. The best thing is we can come just as we are to him. It is his nature to be loving and accepting when we go to him.

HE IS CREATIVE Everything that God made was built on previous thoughts. God has the capacity of speaking things into existance.

HE IS FORGIVING God id forgiving and will forgive us from the moment we begain a relationship with him. Sence Jesus died on the cross all of our sins are forgiving and paid for.

HE IS HONEST God is always honest. You don't have to worry about God breaking his promises because he is true to what he says.

HE IS CAPABLE God is 100% right about everything he says or does. His wisdom is unlimited. God is capable and his motives are pure. The key is we just have to do our part in trusting him.

When you embark on your journey with God you are not going to get to know God but you are going to get “connected” to God. In the words of Klaus Issler, “I find myself in conversation with God more. As I rely more on God… I feel more connected with God.” The further into our journey with God the more we will feel connected to God. God wants to know everything about us, so we should make the effort to get to know him. James 4:8 “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”

How well we know God and trust in God is often determined when our life is turned upside down. When life seems to not be going our way we often turn from God or blame God for this. It is times like these when you faith in God is most important you never want to lose sight of what is most important, your relationship with God.

In the words of Klaus Issler, on our view of God, “if God is viewed as an exacting, legalistic judge, he would keep track of every jot and tittle in our lives, including each lie, each angry moment, and each lustful thought. Would not this “god” plague us with guilty reminders of our sins or punish us at each opportunity? Or maybe we conceive of God as a jovial grandfather type with a twinge of Alzheimer’s disease and an elastic sense of grace. He would largely ignore whatever we do and excuse any wrong actions. Or maybe God always enjoys a good bargain. If we do something good for him, he will come through for us. But what happens when it appears that he does not hold up his end of the bargain? Our ideas about God influence how we conduct our lives. Indeed, it may well be that the most important about is what comes to mind when we hear the word God.” Our view of God should correspond to the true being God as possible.

Bibliographic Information Issler, Klaus. "Wasting Time With God." Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press. 2001

Spencer, Aida Besancon, and William David Spencer. "The Global God: Multicultural Evangelical Views of God." Grand Rapids, MI: Bridge Point Books. 1998

Kinder, Derek. "An Introduction and Commentary on Books I and II of the Psalms. London, England: Inter-Varsity Press. 1973

Williams, Donald M. "The Communicator's Commentary: Psalms 1-72." Waco, TX: Word Books. 1986

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