He does not lose his being or corrupt away the way we do
Eternal quantity is a corollary of this eternal quality
We believe that the one God is relational in his nature.
Three “persons” — the Trinity.
Because the three persons are one God, they are united in being.
“God is love” — the persons of the trinity are also “relationally united”.
God expressed his super-abundant love by creating.
God is “free” — God did not need to do anything, including creating, to be fully himself and fully satisfied.
Thus creation is an act of love and grace.
Creation was an overflow of his love so as to have more and more scope to express it by sharing his goodness with many children (Romans 8:29).
God as creator stands as the “ground of being” for creation.
“The Omnis” — Because God is the ground of being for creation, it never escapes him in any way.
God is omnipotent (all-powerful) — He can do anything that is not logically impossible.
God is omnipresent (everywhere present) — He has access to every point in creation, and he is not confined to any particular place.
God is omniscient (all-knowing) — He knows everything that can be known about creation at any point in time.
This leaves unstated God’s relationship to future events.
God’s character reflects his nature.
God’s goodness reflects his creativity.
What God makes is good (Genesis 1:31).
God affirms the being of everything that exists.
God’s wisdom reflects his knowledge.
His actions are always based on complete information about a situation.
This may make his actions non-intuitive to humans with incomplete knowledge.
God’s sacrificial character reflects his love.
He is willing to suffer for others’ sake.
He humbly takes the initiative to restore broken relationships.
This trait is called “grace”.
What We Don’t Believe
There is not more than one God.
It makes no sense to have more than one ground of being for reality.
The trinity does not consist of three gods.
Human analogies show that this is logically coherent.
Triangle: three sides, one object.
Computer running multiple processes: one computer, many programs.
God does not assume the roles of the trinity (sometimes the father, sometimes the son, sometimes the spirit).
God is always Father, Son and Spirit.
God is not subject to corruption (change that causes loss of being).
God doesn’t become worse
Become unfaithful
Speak untruth
Tempt others to commit evil
Act so as to corrupt others
Sacrifice means to ends
Evil is not the opposite of Good.
Evil is the perversion or corruption of good
Evil is “parasitic” on what God has made and depends on good for its expression, while good does not depend on evil.
The devil is not the opposite of God.
The devil is a servant of God who became corrupt by his own choice.
He attempts to undo creation out of spite and malice
To “unsay” the word of creation by lies
To unmake the form of creation by perversion and murder
God is not overcome by evil
He responds to evil — the unmaking of creation — by continuing to create
That continued creation is called redemption
Redemption is God’s assertion of power over evil by re-creating it according to his purposes
How This Affects You
We can trust God.
He always acts for good: specifically for our individual good and globally for the good of all.
In his wisdom God can do both at the same time.
Because God is relational, he seeks relationship with us.
God makes himself known relationally.
God is involved.
God, through Jesus, suffers with the sufferings of creation.
Love is at the heart of reality.
By loving we participate in the true meaning of the universe.
Our deepest feelings and needs are meant to be satisfied.
“All things work together for good to those who love him, who are called according to his purposes.” This is not a pious platitude, but an assertion of God’s creative power in redemption.