The document presents a 14-week series on understanding God's divine nature, gifts, and functions of the Holy Spirit, emphasizing that man's chief purpose is to glorify God. It explores the attributes of God, including omniscience, holiness, justice, love, and sovereignty, while referencing biblical scriptures to illustrate these characteristics. The text also includes a narrative involving a character named Mack who encounters God in different forms, further exemplifying the nature of the Godhead.

1. ACE Men’s Bible Study
God’s Divine Nature
Intro to 14 week series on the Nature, Gifts, and Functions of the
Holy Spirit, beginning with an overview of

2. Man’s chief end is to
Glorify God
…and enjoy him forever.
—The Westminster Catechism
The Presence of God

3. Who/What/Why is God?
…is best answered by what God says about God.
Two sources:
1. Creation
On Earth - Romans 1:18-21 For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities - his
eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that men are without excuse
In Ourselves - Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made
In the Heavens - Psalm 147:4 He determines the number of stars and calls them each by name

4. What’s in a name?
2. The Bible
Gen 1:1 In the beginning, God... Hebrew word Elohim, which implies a plural or magnified,
intensified majesty as opposed to the singular El, or dual tense Elah
Gen 1:26 Let US make man in OUR image
Gen 3:22 God said...behold, the man has become like one of US
Deut 6:4 Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
was with God...
2 Cor 13:14 ...GRACE of the Lord Jesus, LOVE of God, FELLOWSHIP of the Holy Spirit
Acts 17:24-29 ...The God who made the world and everything in it...does not live in temples built by
hands
Col 2:8-9...In Christ all the FULLNESS OF THE DEITY lives in human form

5. The Godhead
• The GODHEAD of the Bible is referred to throughout the Bible as the ONE and ONLYGOD, butALSO as having distinct parts
or functions (i.e. “Persons”), as in a PLURALITY.
• The word “Trinity” is not actually found in the Bible, but it is a word that is most often used to describe the multifaceted nature of
GOD as described in scripture.
• One author thinks the word “TRIUNITY” is perhaps a better description because of the unified “Oneness” that is the essence of
the God we call Jehovah…in whom we recognize as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

6. The Shack (William Paul Young)
Mack, the main protagonist, having experienced awful and incredible loss and grief, is drawn by what
he believed was a message from God to an old shack, which ironically is the very icon of his
pain. There he three met mysterious people:
Father - “Elouisa” or Papa, a large, benevolent and loving African American woman smelling of
gardenias and jasmine and his mother’s perfume. The housekeeper and cook.
Son - “Jesus”, a Hebrew man, dressed in jeans, plaid shirt with a tool belt and workers gloves, who
though not physically stunning had irresistible eyes and smile. Someone he could more
easily relate to, a fixer of things.
Holy Spirit - “Sarayu”, a wispy and ethereal Asian woman dressed in kind of hippy earth mother
clothes. Collector of tears, lifter of burdens, keeper of gardens.
The Shack – An Introduction to the Godhead

7. Skip is ONE PERSON, unique and unified, and there is no one like him.
Skip is ALSO:
- FATHER to Reid and Leigh Avery
- SON of Stanley
- HUSBAND of Jane
...BROTHER to Doug
• Like there are not multiple Skips, there are not multiple Gods.
• There is ONE GOD
• Unlike Skip, God is ALL KNOWING, ALL POWERFUL, ALL MERCIFUL...
Skip, the analogy

8. Attributes of God
To really understand
• WHO God is,
• WHAThe does, and
• WHYwe should care,
…is to look at the characteristics—ATTRIBUTES—of his Nature.
TheAttributes of God’s Divine Nature fall into two basic categories:
-Those that can be emulated by mankind
-Those that are EXCLUSIVE to God (in CAPS)

9. God is:
• 1. OMNISCIENT -All knowing. God knows everything possible; not onlywhat is, was and will be, but also what might have been and what could be. He is
intimatelyacquainted with everydetail in the life of everybeing in Heaven, on Earth and in hell. Psalm 139:13,16 You created my innermost being; you knit me
together in my mother’s womb...All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be
• 2. Holy- Absolute perfection. The gold standard. Not just the absence of evil, but the presence of overweening good or righteousness. e.g. “Healthy” is more
than just the absence of sickness. It is the presence of life, growth, vitality, etc. True holiness can onlybe measured against God himself. Holiness is probably
the most important attribute of God.

10. God is:
• 3. Just - Equitable. Fair. Most often referring to his dealings with humans, especiallywhen referring to judgement. God is not a liar. He can both condemn a
sinner and save him at the same time bypaying the penaltyhimself.
1 Peter 3:18 Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
• 4. Love - True affection. Delightful benevolence. Sacrificial deference. That which desires and seeks the best in others over themselves. John 3:16,
1 John 4:8 ...God is love. John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down his life for one’s friends.
• 5. True - More than fact - what a fact is there for. More than the absence of falsehood...the projection of righteousness. Bedrock. Constancy. The making and
keeping of a promise. Romans 3:4 Let God be true...and (by comparison) every man a liar.

11. God is:
• 6. Free - Independent of everycreated being or thing. God is onlybound to himself: He cannot sin, cannot lie, etc. God can and will do as he chooses, because
he is God. Isaiah 40:13-14 Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor...
• 7. OMNIPOTENT -All powerful. TheAlmightyOne. The same God that spoke the universe into existence and yet knew us before we were born, is the same
God that secures our salvation. Eph 3:20 Nowto him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power to work
within us...
• 8. INFINITE - Eternal. God always has been, is, and always will be. His ways
are unknowable. God transcends all know dimensions. Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to
everlasting, you are God.

12. God is:
• 9. IMMUTABLE - Unchanging/Unchangeable. The nature of God, who he is and what he stands for, never changes. He is the same yesterday, todayand
tomorrow. Mal 3:6 I the Lord do not change. So you, descendents of Jacob, are not destroyed.
• Sometimes, byhis divine will, he will alter his plan or “change his mind” in response to a request, act of obedience (or disobedience) on the part of men, but it
is still part of his overall intent. The storyof Noah is an example. Gen 6:6The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and...said I will wipe (them) from
the face of the earth... Gen 8:21 ...Never again will I curse he ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.And never again
will I destroy all living creatures.

13. God is:
• 10. OMNIPRESENT - Everywhere. Inescapable. Psalm 139:7 Where can I go from Spirit? Where can I go from your presence? Psalm 46: 1-3 God is our refuge and
strength, an ever present help in times of trouble.
• 11. SOVEREIGN - The UltimateAuthority. Highest Power. The Number One Ruler in the Universe. Includes laws of nature, his perfect will, and implied will.
God’s sovereigntyinvolves the entire plan of God from everyintricate detail to everyvast reach of scope. Romans 8:38-39 ...Neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God...

14. Dr. S. M. Lockridge – “My King”

15. We are…compelled to be holy
Holy, Holy, Holy
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty
God in three persons, blessed Trinity
Holy, holy, holy, though the darkness hide Thee
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see
Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee
Perfect in power and love and purity
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty
All Thy works shall praise Thy name
Because
He is
holy

16. We are…compelled to be holy
Doxology
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Because
He is
holy