Who Is God

MV: Psalm 139:1. Lord, you have examined me and you know me.

Who is the most important person in the world to you? If you think about that for a while you will probably feel that YOU are. Of course! The things you think, how you feel and what happens to you are very important because they affect YOUR life.
Now I wonder if you feel like this…..

* When you get up in the morning you have to decide what to wear. Do you ponder, think, worry, or choose something and then change your mind? Why? Because you want to wear whatever feels right today, or mod or casual or pretty. It’s an important decision right?
* You wish Mum wouldn’t cook pumpkin for tea tonight. Or maybe it’s silver-beet you don’t like, or broccoli or kumara. But whatever it is, why does it matter if you don’t like it? Because it makes YOU feel yuck. It isn’t what YOU like.

You see, YOU are most interested in what affects YOUR life, because YOU are the one living it. You know yourself better than you know anyone else, and you know yourself better than anyone else knows you. EXCEPT GOD.

You might not understand this yet, but God is even more important to your life than you are yourself. God knows what you think, how you feel and all that happens to you. He also knows what is going to happen to you tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. He knows what will happen to you every day of your life. God is even more interested in you that you are yourself. He loves you more than you love yourself, But really, who is God?

We call God a person. But He doesn’t have a body like you and I have. Let’s look at a few things about God.
(Put the words up for them to see – Spirit, Eternal etc)

GOD IS A SPIRIT. (you can ask them what they think this means, or tell them if they can’t guess) This means a person without a body. He can be happy or sad, funny or angry, he can create, work or rest. He has feelings. He communicates. He does things. He is a real person, only not inside a body. You and I have bodies with our spirits inside. God doesn’t need a body but he is still very real.
GOD IS ETERNAL. God WAS always alive, and He WILL always be alive. He will never die. Sometimes it is hard for us to understand these things, but that is because He is God. He is far greater than us and of course we cannot understand all about Him. But we can understand and learn some things.
GOD IS ALL-POWERFUL. God made the world and everything in it. We will learn more of this in our next lessons. God is in control of everything. He can make things happen and He can stop things from happening. Nothing is too hard for God. He is by far the most powerful being that ever lived or will ever live.

A story is told about Dr Martin Luther, who was one of the great leaders of the Christian church many years ago – of how he once forgot that God is so powerful. Dr Luther was so worried about many things that he forgot God could help him. So one day his wife dressed up in her black funeral clothes. When Dr Luther came in to breakfast he said, “Oh, who has died.” “Don’t you know,” said his wife, “God is dead.” “How can you say such a foolish, wicked thing?” Dr Luther said. “How can God die? He will live for all eternity. He never changes. He can never die.” “Then why are you so worried,” his wife asked. “can’t God help you?” “Then I saw,” said Dr Luther, “what a wise woman my wife was. She was trying to make me see that God truly is the same powerful and wonderful God that He has always been. I needed to trust Him with my problems instead of worrying so much.”

GOD IS HOLY. The word HOLY might be a difficult one for you to understand. Does anyone know what it might mean? God is completely good and just. He thinks and does only good and right things. He never makes mistakes. He is pure and doesn’t have any sin. He is perfect.
GOD IS ALL-KNOWING. He knows EVERYTHING. He knows everybody who ever lived, and He even knows what they thought. He knows all about you too! In the Bible there is a verse in Matthew 10:30 that says “and even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Wow, God knows how many hairs are on my head – and yours too. And that brings us to the last point.
GOD IS LOVE. The Bible tells us that God is love. That love comes from God. And that God loves the whole world and all the people in it. Can anyone tell me the Bible verse that tells us this? (John 3:16. For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not die but have eternal life.) That means that God is very interested in you and loves you. So much so, that He took the punishment you’re your sins and died so you wouldn’t have to. And he knows how many hairs are on your head. If you love someone, you want them to love you back don’t you. Well, God is like that too. He wants us to love Him. He has done so much for us and given us this beautiful world to enjoy, took our punishment and now is preparing a wonderful place called Heaven for all the people who love Him.

Sometimes things might not go the way we want them to. Sometimes we can even get hurt, or be sad. But God still loves us no matter what. Sometimes there are disasters too. God doesn’t cause them – it is sin that has ruined the world and causes this. But God is there to help us through it and in the end He will turn it back to perfection. God wants us to learn more about Him, and learn to trust him and love Him. This great, powerful and wonderful God wants to be our friend.