New Christian’s HandbookEverything Believers Need To Know

Max anders

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© 1999, 2011 by Max Anders

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version®, © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations identified by nasb are from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975 by the Lockman Foundation, and used by permission.

Scripture quotations identified by niv are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society, and used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations identified by nrsv are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations identified by rsv are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, © 1946, 1952, 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission.

ISBN: 978-1-4185-4593-2

The library of congress has catalogued the earlier printing as follows:

Anders, Max E., 1947–New Christian’s handbook / by Max Anders.

p. cm.ISBN: 978-0-7852-0707-81. Theology, Doctrinal—Popular works. 2. Christianity—Miscellanea.

I. Title.BT77.A465 1999238—dc21

99-11283 CIP

Printed in the United States of America

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I dedicate this book to our children Katherine Tatyana Anders

and Christopher Kirill Anders

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Part 1

What Do WeBe l ieve?

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A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship him than a

lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word “darkness” on the

walls of his cell.

—C. S. Lewis

What Do We Mean When We Say, “God”?

A young woman fell in love, and accord-ing to tradition, brought her husband-to-be home to meet her family. After dinner, her father invited the fi ancé into his study for a man-to-man chat. “So, what are your plans?” he opened.

“I’m a theology scholar,” the husband-to-be replied.

CHAPTER

1

Chapterat a Glance

• Godisthecreatoroftheuniverseandruleroverit.

• Godislikeusinsomeways.

• Godisunlikeusinsomeways.

Well Said

Who IsGod?

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2 New Christian’s Handbook“That’s very fine,” the father returned, “but how will you pro-

vide a nice home for my daughter?”“I will study, and the Lord will provide,” he explained.“How will you raise children and send them to college, and

how will you prepare for your retirement?”“The Lord will provide” came the answer again.The young man left the study and the mother asked her hus-

band, “How did it go?”“Well, he has no money or employment plans,” the father said.

“But on the other hand, he thinks I’m the Lord.”We may chuckle, but many people’s understanding of God

is nearly as far-fetched. Fifty years ago, if we had asked a large number of people who God was, we would have gotten a pretty uniform answer. Today we wouldn’t. Each person feels free to decide for himself or herself who God is.

A book entitled What Do We Mean When We Say God? is a compilation of answers received when thousands of people were

Snapshot

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Who Is God? 3asked that question. The answers varied widely. One person wrote, “My opinion of God is that every-one sees God in their own way. I see God as being black . . . a white person might see God as being white. I have no objection . . . we just see Him differently.” 1 Another wrote, “I know Santa Claus is not real, but if he was, God would have the exact personality of him.” 2

However, if there is a God, then no matter what we mean when we say “God,” it has no real value un-less God says the same thing. If there is a God, then He is who He

is, regardless of what we think. We cannot invent a defi nition of God and expect it to be true. Therefore, one of the great chal-lenges in life is to fi nd out who God is. It is from the Bible that Christians get their understanding of who God is (see chapter 25 , “Why Believe in God?”). He is more than Santa Claus, more than a kindly grandfather, more than the conjurings of our imaginations.

God Is the Creator of the Universe and Ruler over It “God is an infi nite, eternal spirit, the self-existent creator of

the universe and the sovereign over it.” While this defi nition is not complete, it is a good beginning. The God we are talking about is the creator of the universe, the original being, the sovereign ruler of all that is, the sole judge of all that is true and false, right and wrong, good and bad. No one created Him (Acts 17:23-25). He has always been there and will continue eternally unchanged (Heb. 13:8). James I. Packer writes, “God does not have it in him to go out of existence.” 3

God has two different kinds of characteristics: those which He shares with humanity (sometimes called His moral attributes or His communicable attributes), and those which He does not share with humanity (sometimes called His natural attributes or His in-communicable attributes).

I n a N u t s h e l l

Ways God Is Like U s

God is holy

God is loving

God is just

God is merciful

God is good

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4 New Christian’s Handbook

God Is Like Us in Some Ways God is holy. Technically, “holiness” means

“set apart” from sin to righteousness. Not only has God never sinned but in fact He is inca-pable of sin because His character—His very nature—is what defines sin. Anything that is like God is not sin. Anything that is not like God is sin. It is not that He has the ability to live up to some high standard; rather, He is the standard (Isa. 6:3).

God is loving. Three words in the origi-nal Greek language of the New Testament are all translated into English as the one word “love.” Eros is physical, sensual love. Philos is emotional love, such as one might have for a parent or close friend. Agape (pronounced uh-GOP-ay) is the exercise of one’s will for the good of another. When the Bible says that God is love, it is saying that God is agape. He has committed His will to the good of hu-manity (1 John 4:8).

God is just. Today it is considered im-polite to stick our nose into anyone else’s business. Therefore, we hear little of God’s justice. Nevertheless, justice is one of God’s characteristics (Rev. 15:3). Justice applies con-sequences to a person’s actions according to a fixed standard, without regard to favoritism or any other intervening thing.

God has said that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and that the “wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Therefore, God’s justice requires that all die.

God is merciful. Mercy is God’s characteristic that causes Him to provide a way of escape when we deserve judgment (Titus 3:5-7). We deserve to die, but God sent Jesus to earth to die for us. Therefore, since God has provided a way of escape from judgment that satisfies Him, when we accept that way of escape, God would be unjust not to save us. God’s justice and His mercy combine to provide humanity a safe haven from the consequences of our sin.

Think about It

If you don’t know who God is . . .

• YoumayhavealackofpeacebecauseyoudonottrustGod’scharacterorpowertoalwaysactinyourbenefit.

• Youmayhavealackofself-esteem,feelingthatGoddoesnotloveyouenoughtogotothetrouble toansweryourprayers.

• YoumaynotloveGodasmuchasyoucould,because youdonotbelieve thatHeiswhoHe saysHeis.

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Who Is God? 5God is good. God is not a celestial scientist fooling around

with human toys for His own enjoyment, regardless of the neg-ative impact on those toys. “Goodness” must mean “goodness” from His children’s point of view, not just God’s. Otherwise, He could hatch all kinds of sadistic schemes against His hapless chil-dren, plunging them into misery purely for His own enjoyment. Such is not the case. He intends to do good for His children (Deut. 8:16; Mark 10:18).

This does not mean that life will always be easy and plea-surable. God’s goodness means that, in the end, all will be well, even though some things between now and then may be difficult.

These characteristics are not all the ones that God shares with humankind. But they are among the most important ones.

God is enough like us to understand our problems and enough above us to be able to solve them.

God Is Unlike Us in Some Ways God is eternal—with no beginning and no end. God never

had a beginning, and He will never have an end (Ps. 90:2). It is much easier to think of humans, who have a beginning but no end. That is not so difficult. But to imagine that someone never had a beginning, that He has always existed, takes us beyond our ability to grasp. Nevertheless, that is true of God. It is a reassur-ing thought to me. It makes me feel safe. The universe can make sense to me. He always has been, and He always will be, and I am safe, loved, and significant. Nothing could be better.

God is immutable—unchanging. God has never and will never change. Webster defines immutability simply as “un-changing.” God cannot change because His very nature is un-changing. Therefore, He can never be wiser, more holy, more just, more merciful, more truthful—nor less. Nor do His plans and purposes change. He is the same yesterday, today, and for-ever (Heb. 13:8). The apostle James wrote that He is “the Fa-ther of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of

Insight:

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6 New Christian’s Handbookturning” ( Jas. 1:17). Speaking for God, Malachi wrote, “I am the L ORD , I do not change” (Mal. 3:6).

God is omnipresent— every-where simultaneously. The next three characteristics of God form a well-known triad, each one be-ginning with the prefi x “omni,” which means “unlimited.” The fi rst one is “omnipresence,” meaning that God is present everywhere si-multaneously (Ps. 139:7-10). That is good news for the child of God. There is nowhere we can be that God is not there with us.

God is omniscient— all-knowing. Psalm 139:4 reads, “There is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O L ORD , You know it al-together.” When we say God knows everything, we mean that He know all things, both actual and possible. As an example of a pos-sible thing Jesus knew, in Matthew 11:21 He said, “If the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

There is no hoodwinking God. There is no wool to be pulled over His eyes. Jeremiah wrote, “I, the L ORD , search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, accord-ing to the fruit of his doings” ( Jer. 17:10).

God is omnipotent —all-powerful. The fi nal characteristic of God we want to look at is His omnipotence. Omnipotence means that God can do anything He chooses. Job 42:2 reads, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be with-held from You.” He put the stars in place. He spoke the world into existence. He breathed life into a lump of clay and cre-ated the fi rst man.

Conclusion Sometimes we may be tempted to question God’s character

because He does not treat us better. I read one time of a mission-ary couple who had spent their entire lives on the mission fi eld working tirelessly to improve the quality of life and to spread

I n a N u t s h e l l

Ways God Is Not Like Us

God is eternal

God is immutable

God is omnipresent

God is omniscient

God is omnipotent

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Who Is God? 7the gospel. When they retired, they sailed home on the same passenger ship carrying Teddy Roosevelt home from one of his famous safaris. As the ship docked in New York harbor, there was a band playing, crowds cheering, confetti fly-ing, and banners waving, just for the president.

It’s not fair, thought the missionary. The president goes hunting for a few weeks, and when he comes home, he re-ceives a hero’s welcome. We spend our entire lives in an underdeveloped country, and when we come home, there isn’t even anyone at the dock to meet us. And then in a flash of insight given by the Holy Spirit, he realized, Ah, yes. But the difference is, I am not home yet.

You may be treated poorly in this life. You may not get the reward that is due you. That doesn’t mean God has failed. It only means that you are not home yet.

You’ll get your party when you get home!

1. God is the c of the universe and ruler over it.

2. God shares His m attributes with humanity.

3. God does not share His n attributes with humanity.

Insight:

Instant Recall

Let Me Ask You

1. HaveyoueverthoughtaboutGod’sneverhavingabeginning?Whatdoyouthinkaboutitnow?

2. WhichofGod’smoralattributes(thoseHeshareswithhumanity)seemmostwonderfultoyou?Why?WhichofGod’snaturalattributes(thoseHedoesnotsharewithhumanity)seemmostwonderfultoyou?Why?

3. Haveyouhadproblemsinyourspirituallifebecauseyoudidnotknoworbelieveoneoftheseattributes?Howcanyousolvethoseproblems?

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8 New Christian’s Handbook

Read: My book What You Need to Know about God for more helpful information about this subject. To learn even more about this, read My God by Michael Green and Knowing God by James I. Packer.

Memorize: 1 Timothy 1:17.

Pray: Dear Lord, I am so grateful for who You are—that You are perfect in character and so great in ability. Thank You that You chose to let me know who You are. Help me trust You to rule my life with wisdom, love, and power. Amen.

Action Line

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