Читать книгу Principles of the Kingdom of God - Kenneth B. Alexander BSL JD Deacon - Страница 6

The most important aspect of God that we need be aware is that God is a Spirit. In the Gospel of John he records a conversation between a Samaritan woman (not a Jew) and Jesus as follows: [the woman said] “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain”. The Samaritans lived in what was formerly Israel (not Judah) and there was a specific mountain where they worshipped. “and you people [Jews] say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know…“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:20-24).

What He was saying is that God does not live in a certain place and that there is no designated place where He should be worshipped. In the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant given by God to Moses, there were physical places where God abode i.e. the temple, the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant, Mt. Sinai or Jerusalem. However Jesus was the author of a New Covenant and the voice of the coming Kingdom of God. His primary prayer was: “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). Here he designates that the Father is in heaven (the spirit realm) and that the spiritual Kingdom is to come on earth just as it is in Heaven.

The Lord God wishes to fill the earth with the knowledge of Himself, the Spirit. Isaiah said: “They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). And “they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest” (Hebrews 8:11). Thus the “New Heaven and the New Earth” will not have need for preachers, teachers or churches. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind” (Isaiah 65:17). And “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea” (Revelation 21:1).

Now that we know His plan, who is this God? There are several adjectives to describe Him and he has various named used my men which attempt to describe Him. God is OMNIPOTENT meaning “almighty or infinite in power and having very great or unlimited authority or power” (Dictionary.com). “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!” (Revelation 19:6-7, NKJ). 

God is OMNIPRESENT meaning “He is present everywhere at the same time” (Dictionary.com). “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me” (Psalm 139:7-10).

God is OMNISCIENT meaning having “infinite awareness, understanding, and insight and possessed of universal or complete knowledge” (Webster’s Dictionary, see Psalm 139). God knows everything that goes on in His creation. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father in heaven. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than sparrows” (Matthew 10:29–31).

God is ETERNAL as having “infinite duration or everlasting, continued without intermission or perpetual, valid or existing at all times” (Dictionary.com). “For thus says the high and exalted One Who dwells in eternity, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place,” (Isaiah 57:15). “just as  He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love” (Ephesians 1:4).

God has many names applicable to the circumstance wherein He is being referred.