ABUNDANT LIFE VISION
Who is God? Concluding Part.
1 John 4:7-8
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. [8]But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. NLT.

Hebrews 12:29
For our God is a devouring fire. NLT.

Good morning dear friends, I welcome you to today’s teaching which is the concluding part of our three part teaching series on who is God? The first part talked about the qualities of God such as; He is the creator, the source of life, the creator of all races, our father, and the one who wants His creation to seek, find, and worship Him. Also, in the second part of the teaching, we discussed how God looks while describing his look from the angle of His glory. We revealed that God’s glory is inseparable from Him and His glory is manifested in form of light, holiness, and the trinity.

Today, we will describe God in form of His character. The character of a man tells us a lot about him. Therefore, if we know the character of God alongside what has been taught about Him in the previous parts of this teaching, it will give us a holistic description of God.

What is the character of God? God’s character is in two, it’s like a coin with two sides, on one side, He is love and on the other side He is the consuming fire. 1 John 4:7-8 and Hebrews 12:29. However, when one comes in contact with God, the first thing he sees about God is love. Think about the character of God as a currency. The note of a currency has two sides, the front and the back of the note. When a new currency is to be introduced, they will showcase the front and the back of the note. Any note with an empty back is invalid and vice versa. Therefore, any “god” that you come in contact with who only loves without having a dimension of discipline (fire) and vice versa is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is both love and consuming fire. However, the first side of Him that you will experience when you seek Him is love.

It is worth noting that God is love not because He is capable of loving. He is love, which means He has it in His nature, we can even say love is part of His glory because it is an attribute that cannot be separated from God. John 3:16: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. NLT. God’s love is not partial, it is for everyone because He created all the races, nations, and tongues in the world. Therefore, when you come in contact with God’s love, it gets revealed in form of God’s saving grace to reveal your sins to you and how you can be saved from it by accepting Jesus as your Lord and saviour. Ephesians 2:8-9: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. [9]Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. NLT. It is love that made God provide salvation for the world through the acts of Jesus Christ. Love compelled God to reconcile us to Himself after the fall of man.

The other side of God is the consuming fire. God is love but He disciplines. The fact that He is love and as a result forgives sin does not mean that He does not punish wrongs. God disciplines in two ways; He disciplines His children and He disciplines the wicked.

1. He disciplines His children: Hebrews 12:4-11
After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. [5]And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. [6]For the lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” [7]As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father [8]If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. [9]Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? [10]For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. [11]No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
NLT.

God disciplines His children out of love to produce a harvest of holiness in them.

2. He disciplines the wicked:
He disciplines the wicked and sinners who do wrong through His righteous system of judgment. Acts 13:4-12. Also He will discipline those who refuse to give their lives to Christ by rejecting the free gift of salvation at the end of time. Revelation 20:11-15: And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. [12]I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. [13]The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. [14]Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. [15]And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. NLT.

Jesus did not come to the world to condemn the people in it, He came to save the world, and as long as you are living, all you need to do is accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour and you would be saved from eternal condemnation.

Therefore, this is an invitation from God who loves you to give your life to Jesus Christ if you are yet to do that by saying this prayer wholeheartedly; Lord Jesus, I confess you as my Lord and saviour today, please save me and be my lord and bring me into your fold. Amen. If you have recited the prayer wholeheartedly, I congratulate you and I welcome you to the family of God. Make sure you join a bible believing church as you start your journey in Christ
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God bless you.

Bless you to brother. I have not eaten anything in 2 days. Can you help brother?