Introduction

I have mixed emotions as I bring this series of messages on "Behold your God!" First of all I am humbled that God would give me the privilege to declare and ascribe greatness to Him. Secondly, I am excited how the Lord will work in our hearts and transform our lives. Thirdly, fear and trembling, because I am painfully aware that the great enemy of our soul, Satan himself, will do his best to distract us and to discourage us from taking this journey individually and corporately. But If we really want to know God and enjoy His fellowship, if we want to grow in our faith, love and trust in Him, we must follow hard after God, we must follow on to know the LORD.

Because an unknown God can neither be trusted, served, loved, nor worshipped.

Psalm 9:10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

Daniel 11:32b ... but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

In God's eyes, a spiritual and saving knowledge of Him is the greatest need of every human today.

Jeremiah 9:23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

Let me encourage to take this journey with me to follow on to know the LORD.

Hosea 6:3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

Last Sunday, we began looking at the attributes of the God of the Bible. There are many gods but there is only one true and living God and this true and living God is absolutely perfect.

Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

There are three things that will help us as we contemplate on the perfections of God.

I - Perfect In Himself

There was a time when there was nothing, no one, but God. God was all alone, perfect in Himself.

What does perfect in Himself mean?

1. Self-existent

He is the only Being that does not owe His existence to somebody else. He is the only being who has life in Himself. He is the Giver of life.

John 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

2. Self-sufficient

God existed before time and space. He existed when there was nothing else in existence. God doesn't need anything or anybody outside of Himself. God is not dependent on anything. He's totally self-sufficient. He is in need of nothing.

This is what is so amazing about the Gospel and the Great Commission. He does not need anyone and yet He loves us so much and in His grace He gives us the privilege to know Him and to be laborers together with Him.

Instead of God needing us, we need Him. 

Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Our very life and every movement we make as living persons and our being or existence, is from God. Our being, and the maintenance of it, and continuance in it, are all owing to the power and providence of God. 

He sustains all, but is Himself independent of all. He gives to all, but is enriched by none.

We are incomplete and unfulfilled without God. We need God. Without a true, living and personal relationship with Him, life is pointless and meaningless. 

II - Perfect In All His Attributes

1. Every attribute of God is perfect

His knowledge is perfect knowledge

His holiness is perfect holiness

His love is perfect love

His justice is perfect justice

His judgment is perfect judgment

2. Every attribute of God is in perfect harmony with His every other attribute

Psalm 85:7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. 8: I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. 9: Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. 10: Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

In God there is perfect balance between mercy and truth, grace and truth, righteousness and peace. 

This is beautifully and powerfully displayed at the Cross. At the Cross, God showed His justice by punishing sin and mercy by forgiving our sins.

Behold your God! Worship Him. Our God is Awesome!

III - Perfect In All He does

Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2: My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: 3: Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4: He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Let's look at His works that demonstrate His perfection

1. Work of creation

Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

The Lord created a perfect world. No sin, no sorrow and no death. But we know that the world that we now live on is not perfect.

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23: And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Before the Fall the world was perfect, but now it is accursed world, filled with sorrow and pain. Because of sin death had been introduced. We see the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics all around us.

But someday it is going to come back to its original state.

Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Revelation 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

A perfect world is coming. A new Heaven and a Earth is coming. We are looking forward to that. Why? Because the perfect God who sits upon the throne is true and faithful. And He will keep His promise.

2. Work of providence

The work of providence is the way He governs and sustains the world and our individual lives. It includes His way and His will.

His way is perfect

Psalm 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler (shield, helper) to all those that trust in him.

His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

God's way is perfect doesn't mean that, there is not going to be tough sometimes. It doesn't mean that there is not going to be trials and testing. His way is perfect even when we suffer, even when we are going through trials and testing.

Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God has a plan for each and every one of us and He knows what is best for us. His ways are higher than our ways. His plans are higher than our plans.

Given a choice, we would plan our lives free from trials and testing, we would plan our lives free from struggle, but if that happens we would never grow.

How are pearls formed? 

Pearls are formed by mollusks such as oysters or clams. Pearls are formed when an irritant, such as a bit of food, grain of sand, or bacteria becomes trapped in the mollusk. To protect itself, the mollusk secretes or releases substances to seal off the irritation, which results in a pearl. So a pearl is a reaction to irritants within an mollusk. The more irritation the bigger the pearl.

In this present life God allows irritants so that we would turn into beautiful pearl to reflect God's glory in our lives.

That caterpillar needs to work its way out of the cocoon if it is going to develop into a beautiful butterfly.

So in the midst of trials and testing, difficult times, we need to remember His way is perfect. We need to trust the Lord that He knows what's best for us.

His will is perfect

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

One preacher said ...

Here we have three degrees of God's will. Some of you are kind of dedicated and you are finding His good will. But some of you are little bit more dedicated and you are finding His acceptable will, well-pleasing. And then some of you that are really dedicated , you are going to find His perfect will.

But I don't agree with that interpretation. I don't think that is what this text is saying. I believe what this text is saying is that, God's will is both good, acceptable or well-pleasing and perfect. His way and will is perfect.

I know in this life we will struggle to agree with that, specially in difficult times but we need to exercise faith and to trust Him that He knows what is best for us. His ways are not always are ways but they are the best ways.

Trials dark on every hand, 

And we cannot understand

All the ways that God could lead us 

To that blesse'd promised land;

But He guides us with His eye, 

And we'll follow till we die,

For we'll understand it better by and by.

By and by, when the morning comes,

When the saints of God are gathered home,

We'll tell the story how we've overcome,

For we'll understand it better by and by.

His Word is perfect

How do I discover God's perfect way and will for my life? Through His perfect Word.

Psalm 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

The word of the LORD is pure. It is flawless. It is perfect.

Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

3. Work of redemption

God's way of salvation is complete and perfect.

John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Our redemption has been fully paid. God's grace and mercy is offered to all. His work of redemption is perfect.

We cannot improve on what the Lord has done. How can you improve on His perfect works? It would be like me who knows nothing about music and take Handel's Hallelujah Chorus and try to improve it. It would be like me who knows nothing about painting and take Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting and try to improve it.

As soon as I touch these master's pieces I will ruin it.

There is nothing that I can do to improve on the work of redemption. It has been fully paid, complete and all you and I need to do is to accept it by faith. We do not have to earn God's favor. We have His favor through His Son. And when you say you have to work for your salvation or earned to be loved of God you are saying that what He did on the cross for you is imperfect.

IV - Applications

There you are, Behold your God! The God of the Bible is perfect. He is perfect in Himself. He is perfect in all His attributes and the exercise of it. He is perfect in all He does.

Are there any practical applications in knowing that God is perfect? What bearing does this have on my life? What possible meaning can the perfection of God have for you and me in this present life and the life to come?

1. You and I cannot approach a perfect God

If God is perfect and we are imperfect, there is no way we can approach Him. But thank God He sent His perfect Son who lived a perfect life and offered a perfect sacrifice. So the only way to approach a perfect God is through the perfect Son of God who offered the perfect sacrifice.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

2. Be ye therefore perfect

Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

There are two other commands similar to this one ...

1 Peter 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16: Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

So what does this mean? 

It did not say, Be as perfect as your Father. This perfection does not mean equality, but relates solely to resemblance. Be like your Father. Strive to love like your Father. Strive to be merciful like your Father. Strive to be forgiving like your Father.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46: For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47: And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Thus God is our standard of perfection, and we must never set a lower standard for ourselves.

God our Father is perfect in every way yet He loves us so much.

3. Our anchor in the midst of raging storm

So in the midst of trials and testing, difficult times, we need to remember His way is perfect. We need to trust the Lord that He knows what's best for us.

Psalm 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. 31: For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God? 32: It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

Because He is perfect we know that whatever God allows to happen in our lives, it will be to our perfection.