Lesson 7 Attributes of God - III

   Lesson 7

Attributes of God - III

Understand the importance of God's grace, companions, and faithfulness. Be thankful to God and reflect the divine qualities of God.

Bible Portion : Eph: 1: 1-2, 10

Memory verse: Ps: 103:8 The Lord is merciful and graces, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

Eph. 2:4-8: But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us live together with Christ (By grace you have been saved) ,  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God 

Introduction: What are the attributes of God we have learned in previous lessons? How do we live, for God holy? Where the love of God and his righteousness mostly related together? Can you say some other qualities of God which are significant to us? 

1. The grace of God 

God is gracious and merciful. What is grace? Suppose, and obedient son of a good father killed by a criminal. Father can take revenge by himself, or execute the justice through authorities. He can also forgive him, accept his to the family, and gives his all the properties of his som. This is called grace. The grace of God is the love and goodness that flows to unworthy, Grace is the blessing given to an ineligible person. I make ineligible to eligible, and the person with liability will be sent freely.

The works of God's grace 

1. Saves: It saves humankind who is under death and curse through sin. Justification is a free act by the redemption of God's grace. You have been saved by grace through faith. Choice, call, Justification, and glorification are the experiences related to salvation is given to us by the grace of God.

2. Strengthens:  It empowers us to lead a victorious life from opposite circumstances and Satan's temptations. 

3. Maintains and nourishes: The grace of God maintains us and also nourishes us

4. Enriches: Though he was rich, he became poor for our sake. How wonderful is God's grace!. He has blessed us with all heavenly blessings. By the grace of God, we receive all blessings in the world to live.

5. Gives us blessed hop: The grace gives us the revelation of the glory of Jesus Christ in the second coming. 

6. Blesses us with gifts: The people, who are saved by the grace, will be blessed with the Holy Spirit and its gifts. These gifts are given by grace. So they are called gifts of grace. Such gifts are the gift of knowledge of wisdom, of healing, of the prosthesis, of speaking in different tongues, of interpretation, etc. All these are given to the church by the grace of God. We must praise God for his grace manifested in various ways, and no one has to take his grace in an ordinary way. 

God's Compassion 

Though God's grace and compassion are more or less the same, that is different in meaning as we experience it. His compassion is God's dealing with our sin and misery. Compassion is God's divine quality. The divine quality of God as compassionate is described both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, God's compassion to Israelites is described 4 times that it is used in the New Testament; but Israelites, due to disbelief, unable to experience it. So the word of God was not useful to them. We cannot measure God's compassion, and it can be experienced through Jesus Christ. As we come nearer to the presence of God bravely, we can experience the test of his compassion.

God's compassion is a reality. 

3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. Psalm 103 3 -5

Who will be manifested with God's compassion?

1. Those who are afflicted.

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! Says the lord 

2. God shows his mercy to those who fear, depend, and walk wholeheartedly in his presence. 

And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments (Exodus 20 1-6)

3. Whoever confesses and denounces the sins will find God's mercy 

whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

4. Whoever calls on him truly 

For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. 5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; 6 you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, LORD, detest. (Psalms 5 4 -6)

How God manifests His mercy? 

1. By forgiving the sins of those who confess and renounce their sins

2. By showing steadfast love to those who do not confess sins and continue in it 

3. By delivering the people from sickness, sadness.

4. Being a shade at the time of oppression from the enemy.

God's Faithfulness 

Like all other attributes of God, Faithfulness is also part of God's quality. All his qualities are one though we learn it differently; God is self-formed, eternal, and unchanging. He is faithful. The meaning of the root word for faithfulness is to uphold. So "faithful" means one who can uphold or one can be treated upon. God is not only omnipotent and omnipresent but also an unchanging one. The power and knowledge of men will change. No man can be trusted. But God is faithful. 

God's Faithfulness is a reality

The below mentioned Bible verses show God's faithfulness.

 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. (Deuteronomy 7:9)

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The Greatness of God's faithfulness 

a. The compassion of God is fresh every morning and his faithfulness is great.

b. His faithfulness reaches to the skies

c. He establishes his faithfulness in heavens

d. All the deeds of God are faithful

e. His faithfulness continues through all generations. 

How God revealed His Faithfulness 

1. He reveals his faithfulness in maintaining his promises and laws. The promise given to David was fulfilled at the time of Solomen. Though the Israelites were unfaithful, God is faithful in his promises to their futures. The people of Israelites have been scattered into different parts of the world due to their sine. But they had established their own nation this century. God is faithful, and the promises about Jesus Christ were also revealed. Though we are unholy, he remains holy. 

2. God delivers his people from the hand of wicked. He also provides a way out at the time of temptation. 

3. God makes his people unblemished at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

4. God punishes the people when they go away from the ways of God and also forgive their sins as they confess.

We can trust in God at any time because He is compassionate, gracious, and faithful. Thus we will get our problems solved. All these qualities showed to be reflected in our lives.