Biblical View of God

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The story of an Elephant & Six blind men
• The six blind men were brought to an elephant for the
first time and each man touched a different part of the
elephant and gave a description of how the elephant looked
like.
• The first man who touched the side of the animal said “the
elephant is smooth and solid like a wall!“
• The second man who touched the elephant's trunk said
“the elephant is like a giant snake.“
• The man who touched the elephant's pointed tusk said,
“this creature is as sharp and deadly as a spear.“
• The fourth man who touched the elephant's four legs said
“the elephant is extremely large cow.“
• The fifth man who touches the elephant's giant ear said
that the “elephant is like a huge fan or maybe a magic
carpet that can fly over mountains and treetops."
• While the last man who touched the elephant's coarse tail
said “the animal is nothing more than a piece of old rope.”
Each of this man gave the description of the elephant from their perspective. It is so with
understanding God, there are many theories that attempt to explain who God is. This shows that
human mind cannot fully comprehend who God is. No one has seen God at any time, Joh 1:18 .
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• To some people, God’s wisdom is “hidden wisdom,” 1 Cor. 2:7. To
them, God appears to be a mystery, Paul says human knew nor
God and if they knew, they would have not crucified Jesus; 1.
Cor. 2:8.
• Job asked, can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover
the limits of God? Job 11:7
• “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness
is unsearchable;” Psa. 145: 3.
• The unbelievers cannot understand who God is; 1 Cor. 1:20, 21.
• Sin has separated humans from God so humans have the limited
understanding of who God is. God then used various methods to
reveal himself to human so they can know him personally.
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God Chose to make Himself known
• General & Special Revelation
• (1), General Revelation
- Nature: Psalms 19:1. The heavens declare the glory of
God: the skies proclaim the work of his hands; Rom 1:20. “For
since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…”
- Human Relationships: Psalm 103:13. Father to child
relationship: God is here described as a man falling in love with us.
Isa 66:13. “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort
you.”
• While nature & human behavior try to show us who God is, they
do not give us the full knowledge about God.
• Why???
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What problem do we find with the
General Revelation?
• What about the cyclone, earthquake, flood and famine? What
about the coronavirus pandemic which causes 239, 740 deaths
(1.12pm, 05/05/20)? What about the incest victim with his/her
abuser? Is God seen in the relationship that involve jealousy,
envy, anger and hatred that leads to murder?
• So the natural world and human relationship do not give the
total picture of God due to the fall and continuous acts of sin
(Rom 8:18-25). God is not fully known through general
revelation which limits our ability to interpret God’s character.

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God Chose to make Himself known
(2), Special Revelation
a. Through the person of Jesus, Heb 1: 1,2
b. The written word (scripture), Amos 3:7

The Bible is the primary source of our

knowledge of God. It does not invalidate
general revelation rather it clarifies and
completes it. It corrects the inadequate
understanding of the nature and the human
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relationships.
Biblical View of God
• The Bible reveals God’s important qualities through: His name, activities
and Attributes.
• (1) God’s Names: In scripture, names reveal the character of the bearer
- El & Elohim (God) reveals God’s divine power. Depicts God as
strong & mighty one
- Elyon & El Elyon- focuses on his exalted status
- Shaddai & El Shaddai- God almighty, portrays the Almighty God
- Yaheweh-Jehovah (Lord)-focuses on God’s covenant faithfulness
& grace

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 Biblical View of God
(2) God’s Activities
• God’s actions received more consideration than his being. The
Bible introduced him as Creator (Gen 1:1; Psa. 24: 1,2),
Sustainer, redeemer and Savior. He makes plans (Isa 46:11).
He forgives sins (Ex. 34.7), he deserves our worship (Rev 14:6-
7), he is eternal, immortal, invisible (1 Tim. 1:17). His activities
confirm that he is a personal God.

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Biblical View of God
(3) God’s Attributes
- God is self-existent, he has life in himself (John 5:26)
- God is omniscient, he knows everything (Job 37. 16, Psa. 139. 1-
18, 1 Joh 3: 20)
- God is omnipresent, he is fully present in everywhere at the
same time, (Psa. 139: 7-12, Heb. 4:13)
- God is omnipotent, he is all powerful (Dan. 4:17,25,35; Rev 19:6)
- God is a personal God, he desires relationship with humans.
Attributes such as love, grace, mercy, patience associate with
such attributes.

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• So while sin has separated us from God, God has never stop
revealing himself to us in various ways at various times through
nature, events of the past and human relationships however,
these methods continue to give mixed messages so our view of
God is blurry. Thus God then revealed himself through the person
Jesus Christ and finally through his written word (Bible). These
methods (Jesus/Scripture) do not substitute the other methods
rather clarify the mixed messages.

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• So why do we study the Bible doctrines? And if studying the
bible doctrine is crucial, why is the study so crucial to our
understanding of God?

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 Reference
Rice, Richard. The Reign of God: An Introduction to Christian Theology from a
Seventh-day Adventist Perspective. Michigan: Andrews University Press, 1985.

Seventh-day Adventists Believe… A Biblical Exposition of Fundamental Doctrines.

Washington: DC, Ministerial Association of the General Conference of the Seventh-
day Adventists, 2005.

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