Simple Theology

Introduction:
The word theology comes to us from the Greek and means ‘doctrine of God’ or ‘knowledge of God’. Naturally, we men, in our love of complications have developed all sorts of ideas around this, such as ‘God’s Holiness, His Omnipotence (meaning that He is All-Powerful), His Omniscience (meaning that He knows everything), His Omnipresence (meaning that He is present everwhere), and thousands of books have been produced on ‘Theology’. All of these things have their place, but are not always helpful to us in living our daily lives. After all, the word theology just means ‘knowledge of God' – Jesus said, ‘This is life eternal – that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You have sent.’ And Paul said that his aim in life was ‘to know Christ and the power of His resurrection.’
By ‘simple’ theology I mean ‘plain, uncomplicated, clear, intelligible, understandable’ to the ordinary person (i.e. not necessarily college trained) I would like to concentrate on just three thoughts about God that I believe are not only essential for us, but will also be helpful: I have found these three to be anchors for my life, in good times and bad:

• God is Faithful;
• God is Good;
• God is Love.

If you forget everything else I write, don’t forget these three things. All of these ideas are present in Psalm 145, so when you have five minutes, read it through.

1. GOD IS FAITHFUL :
Of course, we could profitably preach a whole sermon on this subject, but here are just a few simple points about what it means to us, that God is faithful:
He is dependable. It is not easy to find people who are absolutely dependable; you know, they say they will do something – but don’t. You hope they won’t let you down – but they do. Unfortunately, we are all a bit like that at times.
He keeps His promises. When God promises something, He delivers on it. No excuses needed as to why He can’t – because He never needs an excuse. We are full of excuses – God doesn’t need any!
He is always there for us. When we are desperate (and that can be quite often) He will be there, right alongside of us.
He won’t lie to us. One of the great things about the Bible is that it tells life ‘how it is’. It is amazing the number of times we can read the Bible and find that it speaks to us personally – straight talk, no frills, and just what we need at the time. God cannot lie, He is the Truth.
Other friends:may not be dependable,

• may not keep their promises,
• may even lie to us
  
• may not always be there for us,

2. GOD IS GOOD: When we speak of someone being ‘good’ we usually mean, if we think about it, that they always try to do their best, live by the golden rule, etc. – but we do not mean that such a person is perfect. Every one of us has faults, no matter how ‘good’ we appear to be. The Bible says that only God is good in the sense of absolute perfection. So what does that mean to us?
God’s work is perfect. Everything that He does must, of necessity, be right. Many a person is good at her job, without being perfect at it, but God’s work is perfect – He doesn’t make mistakes. That can be a real comfort if we are feeling very low, and self-esteem hits rock bottom – You and I are not ‘mistakes’. God knows what He is about.
God’s plans are good. Sometimes we wonder where we ‘fit in’ in the great scheme of things. God will work His purpose out in our lives, if we let Him.
God’s motives are good. Take a professional footballer; his ambition may well be to be the greatest goal scorer of all time, but his manager thinks otherwise – he’s trained him, watched him, and knows his capabilities better than anyone – he knows that the player will be a great asset to the team as a defender; for the good of the team, that is where he plays. Sometimes, we want something in life which will not serve the greater good of ‘the team’ (church, family, neighbourhood, world) but God places us in the right position, and one day we ourselves will come to see that it is not only right, but ‘good’.

3. GOD IS LOVE :
So much has been said, written, sung, about God’s love – all of it necessary and true, but I only want to stress a couple of points here.
God’s love is everlasting. Other loves may come and go, but His love goes on forever. Other loves can evaporate like the morning dew, but not God’s love. A row, a calamity, an illness, and many so-called loves just fall apart. God said to His people, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love, and with lovingkindness I have drawn you.’ The whole world aches and yearns today for a love that will last; only God’s love is like that!
God’s love is unconditional. When two frail human beings set out together in marriage, they repeat vows of commitment, ‘for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health,’ etc. But, in our frailty, with all our good intentions, we stumble and fall and the vows disintegrate under stresses and strains. At times, we may feel that we no longer love each other because of human faults. There are no hidden strings attached to God’s love.
He loves us quite simply because it is His nature to love.
There may come times in our lives when we feel that no one could possibly love us. But God loves us, and will go on loving us until the end. I love the translation of a repeated chorus in one of the psalms , which says, ‘His love endures forever’ or, ‘God’s love never quits!’

To end on a personal note..
What do all these things mean to me? What does this ‘Simple Theology’ have to do with my life?
God’s dependability, His faithfulness, has kept me going in many of life’s situations – when I was made redundant, when we lost our home, etc. The knowledge that God could not give up on us was a tremendous comfort. But especially a verse in the Bible that says, ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful (can be depended upon) and (is) just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us’. Frequently, I need forgiveness – always I find it through God’s faithfulness, His dependability. God is Faithful!
God’s goodness has sustained me in many a trial. Simply knowing that He knows best, He knows what is good for me. When the job wasn’t going so well, when the money wasn’t flowing in as we would have wanted, when things sometimes looked so black and forbidding; then God often surprised us with evidences of His goodness. God is Good!
God’s love has surrounded us on so many occasions, through other people, in circumstances, through the Bible, in the dark days and even darker nights. Just to know that, when all else may seem to be against us, ‘God loves us,’ is an everlasting strength. God is Love!
So, you may think that my ‘Simple Theology’ is rather naïve and too simple. Whatever you think, I find that I can trust this amazing, dependable, good and loving God!
PS: There are many puzzling verses in the Bible, things that we find it hard to understand. However, whenever we have problems, we must try to hang onto this –
God cannot do or say anything that contradicts His Faithfulness, His Goodness, or His Love.
No matter how difficult it is for us to understand, God will always act consistent with His own character.