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DOCTRINAL STATEMENT AND KEY ISSUES
1]
God
is the eternal, omnipresent, all-powerful, supreme Creator and Sustainer
of the entire universe. God is one, composed of spirit and
comprising a family revealed as presently consisting-of God the Father
and Jesus Christ the Son. God is a loving, kind, merciful being who
wants to share his magnificent existence by reproducing himself through
man.
DOCTRINAL OVERVIEW
2]
The most fundamental
need facing mankind is to recognize the existence of God and to
understand his character, personality and master plan. Man will continue
to flounder without real knowledge of the purpose of life until he gains
an accurate and clear picture of his Creator.
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3]
The question of
whether God's existence can be proved is one that has troubled mankind
throughout millennia, stirring heated debate with arguments on both
sides. Unfortunately, the form most of these debates have taken is for
one person to try to forcibly "prove" God's existence to another by
attempting to formulate arguments or logic so airtight as to exclude any
other possibility. This approach does not work. No argument, no matter
how carefully thought out or logically constructed, can absolutely
"prove" God's existence to one who will grasp at virtually any other
unlikely explanation or remote possibility. No person can make
another person believe in God!
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4]
Nevertheless,
God's existence can
be totally proved to oneself. One who has individually and
personally experienced the biblical miracle of conversion, or who has
received miraculous answers to his prayers, has truly and irrefutably
proved God's existence to himself and cannot be shaken from this proof
by any argument, whether theological or philosophical, as long as he
stays in this contact with God. back to top
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5]
God's existence is
also powerfully demonstrated by the creation. The reality of the
material universe, the existence of life and the interdependence and
sustenance of the laws governing this matter respectively require a
Creator, a Life-Giver and a Sustainer.
Thus David said: "The heavens declare the glory of God: and the
firmament showeth his handiwork" (Ps. 19:1). Likewise, Paul records that
"the invisible things of him [God] from [looking up at] the creation ...
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His
eternal power and godhead; so that they are without excuse" (Rom. 1:20).
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6]
The Bible reveals
that the one God is a family composed of two members-the Father and the
Son, Jesus Christ. John's gospel states that these two have dwelt
together from eternity and that they share power, glory and majesty,
although Christ is second in authority. From the biblical
revelation we infer that God resembles man in certain aspects but is
composed of spirit instead of flesh (Jn. 4:24), radiating spiritual
energy and power. The few references to God's "appearance" emphasize His
incredible brilliance. Rev. 1:14-16; Dan. 7:9-10).
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7]
God is the total
embodiment of love; He is the originator of law and the giver of every
good and perfect gift. His many titles and names (Creator, Counselor,
Healer, Self-Existent One, Father, Almighty, etc.) reveal his special
qualities of character and personality. Yet it is God's mercy and
compassion that are paramount in giving full hope and confidence to
fallible human beings who are sinners all.
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8]
Perhaps the most
outstanding single characteristic of God is His total, unselfish love.
This one quality is so much a part of God's entire makeup that he is in
actuality its total personification and hence "is love" (I Jn.
4:8). God has demonstrated his love for us in many ways: through the
sacrifice of his son (Jn. 3:16), by forgiving our sins, by strengthening
our will and determination in the face of trials. And in countless other
ways. But perhaps the single greatest expression of God's love is that
he has devised a plan to share himself by reproducing himself through
man. back to top
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9]
This master plan is
indeed the greatest imaginable truth and the very reason why the entire
universe was created. All human beings from all times shall have a full
opportunity to become members of God's family. Mankind has been created
in God's image (Gen. 1:26) and put on earth to reject evil and thereby
to build character so that each human being can be spiritually born into
God's kingdom and family. Thus God's family of two revealed persons
shall grow to billions, and God's greatness shall be multiplied by as
many times as the incredible number of sons God shall add to his family.
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10]
The God of the Bible
is both cosmic and personal. He is the Creator of the universe and at
the same time is concerned for each human being. He sustains galaxies
and controls the full scope of human history at the same time as he
focuses his intense concern on each man, woman and child who seeks him.
God is involved with the whole of mankind: in the rise and fall of
governments, in the sweep of generations, in the ultimate direction of
human society. Yet this same being is intimately involved in the
personal lives of human beings of every social stratum, race and
intellect. God is merciful to sinners; He is compassionate and deeply
desires that we attain the greatest possible happiness and success.
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11]
I Thess. 5:9 asserts
"For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 8:19 states that the entire creation
"waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." God intends for all
mankind to succeed at son ship. For now, God rules the spiritual and
material universe from his throne in heaven, although his mind and
Spirit reach everywhere. Beside him sits his Son, Jesus Christ, and the
two of them, surrounded and aided by myriads of angels of differing
ranks and authority, direct the working out of their master plan.
Eventually, God's throne will be moved to the "new earth" of Revelation
21 from where He and his billions of sons will rule his Kingdom and the
unfathomable vastness of the infinite universe for all eternity.
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