Before the mountains were brought
forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to
everlasting you are God.
Psalm 90:2
Background
for Parents:
God’s attributes can
be understood from an early age. This lesson focuses on the independence of God
and how we may reflect His glory back to Him. There is a review of His
eternality, reflecting back to last week’s lesson on the Trinity.
You will need a pocket
watch, watch, or clock for the object part of the lesson.
Memory Verse: The God who made the world and everything in
it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor
is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself
gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. Acts 17:24-25
Introduction:
This week we are
going to begin examining the attributes of God. Attributes are a way that we
can describe something. For example I can describe your mom as a loving person,
who is kind and considerate. I can describe your brother or sister as
_________________________________.
When we study the
attributes of God, some of his attributes we can see in ourselves, and others
we cannot. Remember we were created in His image. Today we are going to focus
on two attributes of God that we cannot see in ourselves. These attributes are
limited to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Lesson:
Today I have a total
truth for you. God does not need us, but He chose to create us and we can
glorify Him and bring Him joy. This truth has two parts. The first part is that
God does not need us.
Understanding that
God is distinct from the universe, but always involved in it can be confusing.
The simplest way that I can picture this for you is to draw to circles. (Top
circle label God and bottom circle label creation. Draw an arrow from top
circle to bottom.) We know that God is involved continually in creation and in
each of our lives. Job 12:10 says In his
hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. In
Acts we see God … He himself gives to all
mankind life and breath and everything and that in Him we live and move and have our being. (17:25,28) Ephesians
4:6 states one God and Father of us all,
who is above all and through all and in all. So even today we know that the
universe is dependent on God.
So far we learned God
is independent of His creation and does not need it. The second part of this
truth though is just as important. He chose to create us and we can glorify Him
and bring Him joy. Today we are going to see what we can learn about God and
how we can glorify Him.
In Acts 17:24-25 we
can learn that God does not need man and that He exists apart from creation. The God who made the world and everything in
it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor
is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself
gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
The psalmist in Psalm
50:10-12 writes For every beast of the
forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the
hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. “If I were hungry, I would not
tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Again in this verse we
can see that God does not depend on creation for anything. Today I brought this
pocket watch. What can we use a pocket watch for? Right, telling time. Time is
a gift from God and we know that we each have a certain amount of time each day
that God has given us. God is different though! God has always existed and will
always exist. Remember we discussed how the Trinity has always existed from
before there was time and that they will always exist. Moses wrote in Psalm
90:2 Before the mountains were born or
You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to
everlasting, You are God. When we read this Psalm we can clearly see that
God does not need man and has existed for all of eternity.
Now remember we spoke
about how God does not need us. He chose to create us and we can glorify Him
and bring Him joy. We should try to glorify God in everything that we do! There
are many ways that we can glorify God. Although God does not need us, He
desires to be our friend. He wanted a personal relationship with us, so much,
that He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins. The first way that we
can glorify God is to believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. God is glorified
every time that someone believes in Him. We cannot glorify God unless we have
chosen to believe in Jesus. When you repent and come to saving faith God is
glorified.
Once we believe in
Jesus as our Savior there are many ways that we can glorify God. 1 Corinthians
10:31 states Whatever you do, whether you
eat or drink, do all to the glory of God. Secondly, everything that we do
should be aimed at glorifying God. Whatever we are doing we should be asking ourselves
“Will it glorify Him?”
The third way that we
can glorify God is by growing strong in our faith. We should be growing more
every day. Romans 4:20 states With respect
to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith
giving glory to God. All of creation was made to glorify God. There are
many additional ways that we can and should glorify Him.
Total
Truth:
I have a Total Truth
for you today. Are you ready for the truth? Remember the world is full of big
lies, but we can always learn the truth from the Bible! Today’s Total Truth is:
God does not need us, but He chose to
create us and we can glorify Him and bring Him joy.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry
of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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