Practical Theology The Wonder of God
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Practical Theology: The Wonder of God Assignment
Thought Journal Submitted to Dr. Garry Graves
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the completion of
THEO 525
Systematic Theology I
By
Tyler Rutherford
February 12, 2024
1
Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….3
God Can Be Known……………………………………………………………………….3
God Can Be Heard………………………………………………………………………...4
God is Holy and Good…………………………………………………………………….5
God is Sovereign…………………………………………………………………………..7
God is Eternal……………………………………………………………………………..7
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………8
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………10
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Introduction
Theology can be described as the study of God and His relationship with all of creation including humanity. It is imperative that we view theology through the lens of practicality when we are seeking to share it with those around us. For the purpose of this paper, I will share several
thought journal entries that reflect both my understanding of and how various aspects discussed can be applied within discipleship. This paper will focus on Theology Proper, namely the attributes of, and theology directly related to God. God is Knowable
In verses eighteen through twenty of Romans chapter one, we read, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God
has made it plain to them.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
1 As I ponder on the words of the Apostle Paul, I am reminded that God reveals himself in a general sense in all that is created. In nature, in humanity,
and in the world at large, we see the general revelation of God on full display. We also see a more targeted revelation through God’s Word and His people. We are created in the Imago Dei. With that in mind, we are image bearers of God. Through scripture, God has used the hands of those image bearers to convey His word to the world at large. 1 Holy Bible, NIV
3
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God shares two distinct forms of revelation with His creation. Those forms of revelation are special revelation and general revelation. In reference to this Millard Erickson writes, “There are two basic classifications of revelation. General revelation is God’s communication of himself
to all persons at all times and in all places. Special revelation involves God’s particular communications and manifestations of himself to particular persons at particular times, communications and manifestations that are available now only by consultation of certain sacred writings.”
2 These two forms of revelation are the means by which God has made Himself known.
This means that general revelation is available to all while special revelation is for specific people at specific times. This comes through the word of God and through prayer. Erickson further shares, “Because humans are finite and God is infinite, if they are to know God, that knowledge must come about by God taking the initiative to make himself known.”
3 This leads us to draw the conclusion that God is knowable. God created us in the Imago Dei for the purpose of relationship with Him. The character of God does not lead me to believe that He would have created relational beings with no intent of having a relationship with them. For that relationship to take place, God must be known. If God could not be known, it would only be because He chose not to make Himself known.
God Can Be Heard
In verses sixteen and seventeen of chapter three in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, we read, “All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the servant of God
may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
4
2 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology
, 3
rd
ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 122.
3 Ibid. 122.
4 Holy Bible, NIV
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It is in these verses that the Apostle Paul brings the origin of scripture to light. We are aware that
God used human hands to record the words of scripture through special revelation. This does not damage the inerrancy of scripture. While the styles of each individual writer are evident in their writings, this does not diminish the objective moral truths that are contained in scripture. Objective moral truth requires an objective moral truth giver. Humankind cannot fulfill this role because we are naturally self-serving. Because of the inspiration of Scripture by a God who is perfect in every sense, we can access objective moral truths through the words it contains. Because of this, we understand that God can be heard through His voice which was given to the writers of the scriptures. C.F.H. Henry offers words that are helpful in realizing the significance of the inspiration of scripture. He says, “Inspiration is a supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit upon divinely chosen agents in consequence of which their writings become trustworthy and authoritative.”
5 The Scriptures were breathed by God Himself. He supernaturally used humans to pen the words He intended, and those words have been captured for all time.
God is Holy and Good
One of the central claims regarding the nature of God is that He is holy and good. He is a benevolent God who loves and cares for His creation. Elmer Towns shares, “These absolute attributes of God are those things man cannot know apart from the revelation of God to him. If any man has holiness, love or goodness, he first recognized it in God and then received it from God.”
6 The first attribute that comes to my mind when I think about God is His holiness.
5 C.F.H. Henry, “Bible, The Inspiration of,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology
, 2
nd
ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker,
2001), 160.
6 Elmer Towns, Theology for Today, eds. Michele Baird, Maureen Staudt, and Michael Stranz. (Mason: Cengage, 2008), 117.
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Holiness is not just an addition to who God is. It is His very nature. It is difficult for us to completely understand the holiness of God because of the presence of evil in this world because of sin. We previously discussed that God is the giver of objective moral truth. It follows that He is a God who is perfect, sovereign, and eternally existent. Out of his holiness flows other aspects such as justice, mercy, and love. Further, we see another significant attribute of God. That is love. In 1 John 14:6, we read,
“Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
7 Love encapsulates who God is not how He acts and reacts. It is this love that separates Christianity from other world religions. Many other religions paint their god as one who is driven by punishment. That is not the case with the Christian God. The central characteristic of our God is love. Out of that love flows justice, mercy, grace, and even wrath. God presents love to us that we cannot comprehend. He loved us while we were still sinners. Not only did He love us but there was enough love to send His Son to die for us so that we could be free from the chains of sin and death.
It is the goodness of God that brings his holiness, love, and benevolence into full display. Goodness is one of God’s attributes that is right at the foundation of who He is. God’s holiness may not be a source of comfort to us, but His goodness certainly is. We are called to be imitators of Christ, and part of that means imitating His goodness. We can do this through viewing others through the lens of our Christian worldview. We can share the goodness of God with others as we interact with the world around us in meaningful ways. 7 Holy Bible, NIV
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These attributes point us to a God who is the source and perfecter of our faith. We should
seek to exemplify those attributes as we go about our daily lives. We are called to interact with a world who does not know God. We are image bearers of God and thus can show the world what He is like when we are in a right relationship with Him, and we imitate Him in all that we do. This gives the world a small glimpse into the vastness of God as evidenced through His holiness,
goodness, mercy, justice, and love. Failure to recognize these attributes and apply them in our lives could mean that we miss out on opportunities to point people to God. God is Sovereign
When we look at the divine attributes of God, we must see that God is sovereign over all.
That means He is in control. Anything that happens in the world happens because God has
allowed it. According to William Leonard, “Sovereignty means that God is in all and over all.”
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Leonard further explains that the Bible points us to the conclusion that God us the ultimate
source of power and provision in creation. Everything we see comes from and ultimately
depends on God. This is something that is often beyond our comprehension. That is because it
does not originate with us but rather originates with God. To understand the sovereignty of God,
one must give credit to Him for creating and sustaining all things. This includes objective moral
truth. This is a source of confusion and contention among believers and non-believers alike. We
struggle to determine if things are good because God commanded them or if God commanded
them because they were good. The important thing to understand is that God has a purpose and a
plan for our lives. He creates and sustains, and we can be comforted in that very fact. In His
sovereignty, God is 7
8 William Leonard, Sovereignty of God” in Holman Bible Dictionary
, (Nashville: Holman, 1991), 1296.
responsible for the smallest details of creation. That certainly means we can trust Him to care for
us. God is Eternal
The concept of an eternal being is one that is difficult for the human mind to comprehend. Our finite minds tend to believe that everything that exists must have a beginning. Our lives are driven by time as we count down minutes, hours, and days. Scripture, however, teaches us that God is eternally existent. Without His eternal existence, He would not be God. However, it is still difficult to understand that the Creator and Sustainer of the universe is unchanging and eternally existent. The world in which we live is ever changing and finite, yet the One who sustains it is not. Thus, we can believe that God was uncaused and exists outside of the boundaries of time and space. While everything that begins to exist certainly has a cause, we see that God is the uncaused first cause. It was through Him that the universe was spoken into existence and all things were made. Secular scientists argue that the universe began because of some sort of grand cosmic accident. The propose the world that we see and the order that has been established in it was brought about merely by chance. It is clear that the creation of the cosmos did not come as a result of chance but rather as a result of a purposeful intelligent designer who was and is eternally existent.
Conclusion
We have explored the attributes of God as viewed through the lens of practical, systematic theology. After thoughtful analysis of the knowability of God we have concluded that
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He can be known. We understand that through general and special revelation, God can be heard. There is further evidence of His holiness, love, mercy, and justice. Considering these facts, we understand that God is sovereign and eternally existent. It is important that we recognize the self-
revelation of God. God has revealed himself to us. He can be known. Because he can be known we can know what it means to be image bearers of God. We can imitate His attributes as we interact with the world around us. As we have studied God and His relationship to His creation, one thing is clear. We serve a God who loves us and wants relationship with us. We can take comfort in the fact that God is sovereign and is in control. He does not leave us or fail us. While His ways may not be our ways, we can trust that God is working behind the scenes on our behalf.
Of that we can be certain.
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Bibliography
Authors, V. (2008, September 2).
Holy Bible (NIV)
. Zondervan. Erickson, Millard J., Christian Theology, 3
rd
ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
Henry, C.F.J., “Bible, The Inspiration of,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2
nd
ed., edited
By Walter Elwell. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001.
Leonard, William, “Sovereignty of God” in Holman Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Holman, 1991.
Towns, Elmer, Theology for Today, eds. Michele Baird, Maureen Staudt, and Michael Stranz.
Mason: Cengage, 2008.
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