John 4:24
Thesis: God as Spirit is supernatural (existence beyond natural experience).
God Is Infinite and Omnipresent.
A. Exegesis
- 1 Kings 8:27–God has no beginning or end. God is outside time.
- Psalm 139:7-12–God is everywhere, not in everything (as in pantheism).
B. Illustration
A little child asked, “Mommy, did God make Himself?” The mother used the illustration of a ring to teach her child: God has no beginning or end, yet God encircles our lives with His presence.
C. Application
- God provides a discomforting awareness of our sin–He does this to improve us.
- God provides a comforting presence, free from fear.
a. Pestering fears
b. Pressing fears caused by mild panic: layoffs and finances.
c. Paralyzing fears–“I’m going to die!”
e. Prayer recognizes God’s presence to give peace, Philippians 4:6-7.
God Is Eternal and Omniscient.
A. Exegesis
- Eternal–Free from limitations of time; God sees all time at once.
- Omniscient–God knows all actual and possible things, Hebrews 4:13.
B. Application
- God knows our sins.
- God knows our scars.
- God knows our service.
God Is Sovereign and Omnipotent.
A. Exegesis of Revelation 19:4
- Sovereign–God is in control of all creation.
- Omnipotence–God possesses all power, creative and destructive. God uses His power to accomplish His purpose, see Judges 14:6.
B. Illustration
Who controls your feelings? Do you allow the world to dictate what you feel and how you react? Do you allow God to control you? Are you plugged in to the power?
C. Application–God is able to change us through faith.
God Is Immutable.
A. Exegesis
- Malachi 3:6–“I the Lord do not change.”
- James 1:17–“the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
B. Illustration
Charles Swindoll said, “When a man or woman of God fails, nothing of God fails. When a man or woman of God changes, nothing of God changes. When someone dies, nothing of God dies. When our lives are altered by the unexpected, nothing of God is altered or unexpected.”
C. Application
- God never changes.
- Prayer changes our minds and response to God; prayer does not change God.
Conclusion
- God offers His presence to replace our fears with His peace.
- God offers His knowledge to guide our daily lives.
- God offers His power to empower our spiritual lives.
- God offers His unchanging nature to change our sinful nature.