Doctrine of God

By
Raymond McGough

The knowledge of God

The knowledge and wisdom of God is available to mankind, but the route to it is
through his Son the Lord Jesus Christ, and his cross. How wonderful that the
Person who made us had a plan b to come and rescue us from our rebellion
against him by providing a way of escape from our sins, when we accept that, it
is in my view the beginning of the knowledge of God.

Paul the apostle had a lot to say regarding the wisdom of God to the
believers of the first century which is equally valid for the Christians of today,
and the future. We turn to his first letter to the church at Corinth for some
valuable insight. (1cor.2:7, 8.) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
the hidden mystery which God predetermined before the ages for our glory, (8)
which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory."
Note the contrast between the wisdom of God against the wisdom of the age
or of the world. This knowledge is not available to those who do not believe. If
you do not believe and accept that Christ and his cross is according to Holy
Scripture the access point of entering into heaven. Your worldly intellect will not
suffice, regardless of the number of degrees, even only one, diplomas, and
certificates you may have attained, neither the manner of life you may lead. The
wisdom of God will supersede one day the wisdom of the age making it defunct,
because it is opposed to the wisdom of the world.
Mystery as the apostle Paul interprets it under the guidance and influence of
God the Holy Spirit is that there is no secret to it which is difficult for human

understanding. It was only a secret until God chose to reveal it to the spirits,
hearts, and intellects or intelligence of humanity, who would have the choice of
either accepting it or not? The mystery when it was revealed is the information
on God's plan for the redemption of mankind, a plan that had been conceived
before the beginning of time, and human history. Had God chosen not to reveal it
as has been manifested in the visible appearing of his Son Jesus Christ in human
history it would be still be a mystery.
Believers live by faith in a secret knowledge provided by God through his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, operated by the influence and guidance of the Holy
Spirit to those who have accepted his Lordship over them, it took a number of
decades for God to change my very conservative interpretation of Holy Scripture,
in order to make me realise no matter how big I at that time in my huge
egotistical intellect thought I knew all the right answers or so I thought as many
others do, and did, only God the Holy Spirit can provide the true exegetical
interpretation to Holy Scripture, he brings God's final word on the matter.
Even for those of us who have known the Lord for a long time, we find it very
difficult with our human nature to understand that God has no place for human
intellectualism, when self is the dominant factor. When this arises it causes
divisions among the members of the visible invisible church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We find such divisions in the church of Corinth. (1.Cor.1:11-14.) (11) " For
it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's
household, that there are quarrels among you. (12) Now I say this, that each of
you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos," or I am of Christ, (13) Is Christ
divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
(14) I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius." The
whole thrust of knowing God provides us in having his knowledge is to be like his
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in order to be like him, we need the power, influence,
and guidance of God the Holy Spirit, who enables us to overcome our sinful
nature. Therefore to have the knowledge that God wants to impart to us is no
mere exercise.
Of the sons of men whom does God choose to represent his Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ to mankind we find the answer in Paul's first letter to the church at
Corinth. (1.Cor.1:27-29.) (27) " But God has chosen the foolish things of the world
to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to
put to shame the things that are mighty; (28) and the insignificant things of the
world and the things that are despised God has chosen, and the things that are
not, to bring to nothing the things that are, (29) that no flesh should glory in his
presence."
When we use our intellect to bring our influence over others provided to us
from God for our own purposes is that not of the flesh and the age we live in?
This is precisely what had crept into the church at Corinth. Unfortunately worldly
pride had come into the members of the body of Christ in the local church at
Corinth Paul highlights these problems in his first letter to them. It had caused
division with each member of the church each member claimed that the leader

who baptized them was better than the rest. When quarrels like these arise it is
of the flesh not of God. There are certain men belonging to different local
churches like to boast of themselves robbing God of his glory.
(1.Cor.1:10-17.) (10) " Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing. And that there be no
divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind
and the same judgment.(11) For it has been declared to me concerning you, my
brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you.
(12) Now I say this, that each of you says, " I am of Paul," or " I am of Apollos," or
" I am of Cephas," or " I am of Christ," (13) Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified
for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (14) I thank God that I
baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, (15) lest anyone should say I
baptized in my own name. (16) Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas.
Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. (17) For Christ did not send
me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross
of Christ be made of no effect."
How difficult to understand or comprehend the wisdom of God as magnified
through our risen glorified Lord with his cross without accepting that, we are
creatures condemned to life without him, I believe the greatest difficulty that we
of the household of God is in realising that without the knowledge God provides
to us manifested in and through the risen glorified Christ operated by his Spirit,
our greatest intellects are like the dust of the earth, because we use it for our
own personal advantage, instead of helping others falling into the trap of the
wisdom of this world. The apostle Paul describes such knowledge as absolute
foolishness in his first letter to the Corinthian Church. (1.Cor.1:18, 19.) (18) For
the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are
being saved it is the power of God. (19) For it is written: I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." We
have to remember that this was written not to none believers, but to those who
had already accepted Christ as Lord.
The human mind can be a devious route to evil and ungodly pursuits within
those who have accepted salvation from the Lord with the battle of our spirit
against our flesh being constant until we are called home. Not only had this
occurred within their ranks the very same boastful pride had entered into the
possession of having Spiritual Gifts. (1.Cor.Ch:12-14.)

Paul the apostle repeatedly called upon them to repent from these worldly
ways to go back to Christ and his cross. Not to go searching after miracles for
their own sake, and knowledge, whether through revelatory experiences or
boastful intellectualism. He called upon them to drop this pretext, and centre all
of their heart, intellect, and spirit upon Christ, our risen glorified Lord. Because in
him is the power and the very wisdom of God. (1.Cor.1:24.) But to those who are
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God,"
Jesus Christ, our Lord, is what we are not, his wisdom. (1.Cor.1; 30.) But of him

you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption -." Therefore with that said in the Apostle
Paul's first letter to the saints at Corinth, like them, we are nothing without
Christ; let all the glory be given to him. God's wisdom transcends all of human
thought, and his intellect, that even his foolishness is more intelligent than men,
and his weakness is stronger than that of men.

But there are times in our shallowness when we think we know better than
God, this presumption and conceited arrogance causes mayhem, until we repent,
and are driven back to Christ and his cross. (1.Cor.1:25.) Because the
foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than
men,"
We therefore should not boast in ourselves, and what we are doing, but what
God has done through us, in and through his Son, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified
Lord
It is only when we acknowledge our frailty and weaknesses of our humanity
in our intellect, and physic to God in honesty before him in prayer that he will
answer by sending his Spirit into ours, which will transcend all our earthly
wisdom, enabling us to receive the things of God.
The wisdom God affords to us through his Son, our risen glorified Lord. Jesus
Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, operating or working within our
hearts, and our spirits is for no mere academic exercise, we are to use it in order
to conform and commit our lives in sacrificial living towards the risen Christ. This
is precisely the knowledge of God in the eyes of them who truly belong to him.
Mere words without the power of God behind it accomplish nothing.
I believe it is worth reading what Paul the apostle had to say upon this
crucial and very important subject to the saints at Corinth in his first letter.
( 1.Cor.2:1-5.) (1) " And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with
excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the mystery of God. (2) For I
determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified. (3) I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.(4) And
my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power (5) that your faith should not be in the
wisdom of men but in the power of God."
The Holy Spirit is the vehicle which God the Father, and Jesus Christ his Son,
our risen Lord use to make vocal in us the things that the two being one would
want us to make known to his people, and the world,
Human wisdom is too often founded on faulty values and limited
knowledge. The wisdom of God is that attribute of God by virtue of which he
always acts with full knowledge and correct values." (1)

To enhance the wisdom of God has already provided to the believers who
have accepted God's Son as Lord he adds another dimension of his wisdom to
them, which is found in the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament in the
following books: Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and others. These particular books
convey the truth of God in a beautiful form of art in literature providing divine
logic resulting in proper actions that ultimately pleases God.
Proper and true knowledge according to Holy Scripture is only found in God, he
is the source of all that is true. He is a practical and knowledgeable God nothing
is missed under his scrutiny.

The wisdom of God can also be seen in his creation the psalmist describes
this for us. (Ps.104:24.) O Lord, how manifold is your works! In wisdom you have
made them all. The earth is full of your possessions." Not only the psalmist, we
also find God giving a descriptive account of his creation, a tremendous insight
into the wisdom of God to Job. See the latter chapters of the book of Job. (Jb.3441.) one text is particularly telling in the book of Job. (Jb.38:4.) Where were you
when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding."
These few words from God show just how insignificant the human race would be
without him, but yet with a few words to Job he imparts the creative part of his
wisdom to a mortal made by him as we all are.

We find proof both in Holy Scripture, and the universe itself the wisdom of
God permeates in what he has already made, as well as being in his active
creativity of what he is making, because he is never static. The author of the
book of Proverbs affirms this from the Old Testament (Prov.3:19.) The Lord by
wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens."
Turning to the prophet Jeremiah while under the influence of God the Holy Spirit
corroborates what God had said to Job.
(Jer.10:12.) He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world
by his wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at his discretion." However;
the pinnacle and the final superior revelation of the wisdom of God are to be
found in his Son, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord
Again it is the apostle Paul we turn to for his evidence of this in his letter to
the believers at Colosse, a very godly man, while under the influence of the Spirit
of God contributed so much to the New Testament. (Col.2:3.) in whom are
hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," as has been said before the
wisdom of God has been seen, and is seen in Christ and his cross...

But the power and the wisdom of God can also be seen in the visible
invisible church of our Lord Jesus Christ worldwide universal. This had been
planned in the foreknowledge of God before the beginning of time and human

history. It is through the church of Christ that both Jew and Gentile will be
reconciled. However; this had been previously hidden in the council and the
purposes of God in ages past, until the birth of his Son, Jesus Christ in whom he
revealed the great plan of redemption to the rulers and authorities in the
heavenly places which is to be found in the Apostle Paul's letter to the believers
at Ephesus. (Ephes.3:9>10.) And to make all see what is the fellowship of the
mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who
created all things through Jesus Christ; (10) to the intent that now the manifold
wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the rulers and powers of
the heavenly places."

I can understand why godly Christian men and women use the grey cells
of the brain with the help of God's Spirit to understand and interpret Holy
Scripture. but it is not enough to overcome the dark and invisible forces of the
air, only God the Holy Spirit can enable us to overcome these evil dark invisible
powers. When we realise our fleshly wisdom is not enough to overcome the world
that we live in we cry out to God in our weaknesses to help us, only then do we
really lean on the wisdom of God, seeing the insurmountable difficulties we are
facing he miraculously provides an answer, when to our human logic, and
reasoning there did not seem to be an answer God graciously provided one
showing to us another strand of his wisdom.

Where precisely does the knowledge of God begin from the stance of Holy
Scripture? It has to be from the opening sentence of the Book of Genesis. the
very first volume of work of the Old Testament of the Bible. (Gen.1:1.) In the
beginning God, There is no argument for the existence of God by the author, in
his intellect influenced by God's Spirit he affirms his existence, the church
cannon accept the author's evidence of there being one true God and the
author's identity of being Moses. This I believe is the start of the knowledge of
God from his written word of Holy Scripture.

Further to the wisdom of God, it can be said, it is also found in the God of the
Old Testament relating it to the creation his wisdom is seen at the beginning with
God. "The concepts of both the word of God and the wisdom of God were
preparatory for the New Testament Doctrine for the Person of Christ." (1)
(Prov.8:22-31,) When you read the contents of the passage of Proverbs belonging
to the Old Testament there is another individual there beside God. (8:3. Then I
was beside him a master craftsman; And I was daily his delight, Rejoicing always
before him."
Obviously it must be a reference to the Son of God, who would become the
visible wisdom of God to mankind, when he was born in the flesh, becoming
man, but still God without his power. The author of the gospel according to John

corroborates these ideas. (Jn.1:14.) And the Word (Christ) became flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father full of grace and truth."
We have in the word of God and the wisdom of God the predetermined
plans and purposes of God for the New Testament Doctrine of the Person and
work of Christ. There can be no other logical conclusion from the passage
belonging to the Book of Proverbs (Prov.8: 22_31." in which we have to conclude
it concerns the Anointed One the Messiah.

When the apostle Paul spoke of the wisdom of God to the saints in
Corinth, he was talking not about the general wisdom of God that is common
place, if such an expression can be used? What he had in mind was the inspired
wisdom of God, spoken by the Spirit of God through the tongue of the believer.
(1.Cor.12:8.) "...for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to
another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit." The word here is Logos,
a description given to Jesus Christ, as a title from John in his gospel. (Jn.1:1.)
Meaning divine reason, the ultimate reason for everything, which is the mind of
Christ. From him comes his personal wisdom sent by his Spirit to the believer the
wisdom of God to be uttered by the believer, an inspired word of God from God
his special revelation under the heading of logos sophias. I believe it would be
fitting to conclude at this juncture this section of Systematic Theology by
reiterating a passage from Paul's letter to the saints at Colosse. (Col.3:16.) Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord"
Bibliography
Truth Aflame by Larry D Hart Publisher. Zondervan (1). Systematic Theology by
Louis Berkof. Publisher. Banner of Truth. Bible used. The New Spirit Filled Life
Bible.Publisher.Thomas Nelson.