Category: Nature Of God

The Nature of the Holy Spirit

4/18/2021

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Nature Of The Holy Spirit

God’s nature is often referred to in terms of essence or substance. Substance refers to the basic aspects of God’s nature. Nature refers to the definable property of someone or something. Nature should not be confused with attributes or characteristics. Consider a book. The nature of the book is that it has a cover and pages. The attributes of the book would describe the type of cover or pages, the number of pages, the color of the cover, and similar descriptive characteristics intrinsic to the book. Without a nature, or substance, the Holy Spirit would have not attributes or characteristics. As a member of the Godhead, His nature is two-fold — Life and Light. Since the Father and Son are both life and light, the Holy Spirit then is also life and light.

For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; - John 15:26
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. - John 8:12
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that bGod is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. - 1 John 1:5

Spirit means that the Holy Spirit is immaterial. In other words, He does not possess a corporeal or physical form.

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. - John 4:24

That He is immaterial is to say that the Holy Spirit is not dependent upon matter and has no connection to matter.

…a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. - Luke 24:39

Flesh and bones are matter, which a spirit does not have. Hence, the Holy Spirit is not simply a spirit, He is pure spirit. He is invisible to the naked eye (Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17).

He is the image of the invisible God - Colossians 1:15
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God - 1 Timothy 1:17

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The Divine Nature of Christ

11/7/2020

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TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Divine Nature Of Christ

Christ is the image and exact representation of God.

And He is the radiance (apaúgasma) of His glory and the exact representation (charaktḗr) of His nature (hupóstasis), and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, - Hebrews 1:3

He is the radiance of His glory. The term radiance (apaúgasma) means to shine forth and is only used in Hebrews 1:3. Christ is the shining forth of God’s glory. The verb is (hṓn) comes from verb eimí — to be or to exist. This verb is a present tense participle indicating that Christ is existing as the shining forth or physical manifestation of God’s glory. There has never been a time when Jesus was not the brightness of God’s glory.

The phrase exact representation, occurring only in Hebrews 1:3, translates the Greek term charaktḗr. It denotes something that is an exact copy or exact likeness. The term originated from the engraving die used in making coins. The die would be pressed against the metal and when removed, would leave behind an exact copy of the image.

Nature (hupóstasis) refers to the substance or essence of someone or something. Jesus is the exact copy of God’s nature or essence.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. - Colossians 1:15

Whatever God the Father is, the Son is the exact copy of Him. The Father is holy. Hence the Son is holy. The Father is righteous; ergo the Son is righteous. Everything true of the Father is true of the Son.

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The Nature of God

8/19/2020

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TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Nature Of God

God’s nature is often referred to in terms of essence or substance. Essence or substance refers to the definable property of God’s nature. Without a nature, God would have not attributes or characteristics. In the case of God, His nature is two-fold — Life and Light.

God is Life. Scripture declares that God is a living God.

But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. - Jeremiah 10:10

That God is life means that He is the source of all life. In this sense, life is activity and movement.

Then Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. - Genesis 2:7

When God breathed life or movement into humanity, man and woman became living beings — persons with intellect, emotion, and will.

God is Light. Light is energy. When God said, “Let there be light,” He did not create light or energy, but transferred it from His own essence.

… God is Light… - 1 John 1:5b

Note that God is not a light or a type of light, but the light itself. All light or energy comes from Him. Thus, all energy in the universe, which must have a cause, originates in God.

God’s nature is perfect. That is, there is nothing lacking in His nature. God has everything that He needs to be God.

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The Nature of the Holy Spirit

The Divine Nature of Christ

The Nature of God

WHY TWO MINUTES?

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