Whom Alone We Worship and Serve
Robert P. Mills
What the Bible Teaches about God
By Robert P. Mills, Associate Editor
The Presbyterian Layman
Robert P. Mills, minister, author and
journalist, explores the person and work of God — from
I AM WHO I AM to the incarnate Jesus — in this
new evangelical Bible study. It blends first-rate
scholarship, devotional insight and practical application.
The text feeds the soul, fires the heart and sharpens the
mind, and is excellent for Sunday school classes, home Bible
studies, women's circles and individual use. Read the
introduction below and then place your order by calling
toll-free: 1-800-368-0110. Single copies are $4.50 each;
bulk orders of 10 or more are $4.00. The prices include
shipping and handling costs.
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The only really important question
before us today is this: "What do you mean by God?"
- Alfred North Whitehead
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The title of this study, Whom Alone We Worship and
Serve, is taken from "A Brief Statement of Faith. "
(1) It serves as a constant reminder that the subject of
these lessons is not an impersonal abstraction, but the
Triune God, a living person to whom we properly respond with
worship, service, and love. The goal of this study is to
help participants grow in their knowledge of what Scripture
and the Church have said about God, and thereby to grow in
their knowledge of God.
How are these studies organized?
Each lesson begins with a brief overview and the reading of
one or two biblical texts. The studies are then divided into
three sections: The Text, The Teachings, and The Life of the
Church. Discussion questions conclude each of these
sections.
The Text identifies key words and
phrases in the biblical text and explores them in some
detail. Taking the time to read and consider the other
Scripture references given in this section will yield
valuable insights into the verses being studied. Unless
otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the
New International Version.
The Teachings explain the
historic Christian doctrines that have emerged from these
biblical texts. Christians need to study Scripture in order
to learn what God has revealed about his character and
conduct. (2) However, a critically important, if sometimes
overlooked, part of the Christian vocation is recognizing
false teachings, and learning how such teachings distort or
contradict Christian faith. Christians with a limited
knowledge of Scripture and the historic teachings of the
Church, unaware of the existence or the dangers of false
doctrines, may be easily led along paths that lead away from
God. Thus, a key feature of this study is its identification
and examination of teachings that are contrary to Scripture.
The Life of the Church reflects
on how these texts and teachings can guide our life together
as the body of Christ. The purpose of this section is to
suggest ways in which the biblical teachings can shape our
daily Christian life.
Who could use these studies?
This study has been designed for use by a variety of
individuals and groups. Some individuals might work straight
through the entire study, writing out their answers to the
discussion questions. Others may wish to study only selected
lessons to learn more about specific aspects of God’s
character and conduct.
Beginning with this Introduction and the
Table of Contents as an overview, this study could be used
for a 13-week adult Sunday School course. A class that
desires more time for discussion could expand this schedule
by exploring The Text one week and The Teachings and The
Life of the Church the next.
A session or board of deacons could use
this study for their devotions. It would also provide a
year-long study for Presbyterian Women, Presbyterian Men, or
other organizations that meet monthly. Groups that meet nine
times a year could combine some lessons in Parts II and III,
or even skip Part III, to fit the material into their
schedule. Study leaders should feel free to combine or
divide lessons, adapting this resource to meet the needs of
less formal Bible study gatherings.
Certainly the material presented in each
lesson is far from exhaustive. The study leader who wishes
to provide more background, or the study participant who
wishes to explore the topics in more detail, will find a
list of additional resources at the end of every lesson.
Each lesson has been prepared so that it may be used "as
is" or as a resource for a teacher preparing his or her
own lesson plan.
Why study what the Bible teaches about God?
"It is of great importance for Christian believers to
have, from time to time, a reasonable, sane, mature person
stand up in their midst and say ‘God is ...’ and
go on to complete the sentence intelligently. ... The
theologian offers his mind in the service of saying ‘God’
in such a way that God is not reduced or packaged or
banalized, but known and contemplated and adored, with the
consequence that our lives are not cramped into what we can
explain but exalted by what we worship." (3)
It is my hope that these studies will
speak to the mind as well as to the heart. Although we know
the command "Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind and
with all your strength" (Mark 12:30), the modern age
tends to value feelings over facts. As a result, the modern
church has been inclined to emphasize that which warms the
heart over that which fires the mind. In response, I have
looked to those who have offered their minds in the service
of God, and have tried to draw together resources from
throughout "the Great Tradition," which stretches
back to the early church, through the Reformers and is
continued in the best of current evangelical scholarship.
For to strengthen our souls, we must nourish both our hearts
and our minds.
It is my prayer that those who
participate in this study – all of us by definition
theologians, those who speak a word (logos) about
God (theos) – will do so with the goal of more
fully knowing, contemplating, and adoring the God whom alone
we worship and serve.
Additional Resources
The Doctrine of God: An Historical Survey,
Christopher B. Kaiser (Westchester, Ill.: Crossway, 1982).A
helpful overview of the way God is revealed in the Old and
New Testaments and the ways in which God has been understood
throughout the history of the Church.
The Christian Doctrine of
God, One Being Three Persons, Thomas F. Torrance
(Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996).
A thoroughly biblical, scholarly study "devoted to
clarifying the understanding of the most profound article of
the Christian Faith, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity,"
by one of this century’s pre-eminent evangelical
theologians.
The Great Tradition: Evangelicals,
Catholics & Orthodox in Dialogue, James S.
Cutsinger, ed., (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1997).
Thought-provoking essays and responses on the foundational
truths Christians hold in common across the dividing lines
of time and denominations.
Endnotes
1. "A Brief Statement of Faith" was
adopted by the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1991.
2. Scripture teaches, and the
Church has always believed, that God is neither male nor
female. As Lessons 3-7 illustrate, God’s
self-revelation includes a variety of names. To avoid
numerous and cumbersome circumlocutions, this study guide
will retain the historic language of Scripture and the
Church in using the pronouns "he, his, himself" in
reference to God.
3. Eugene Peterson, Reversed
Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination
(San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988), pp. 3-4
To order Whom Alone We Worship and
Serve
What the Bible Teaches about God call 1-800-368-0110