Sabbath School Week

Read for This Week’s Study

Gen. 3:1–5, Lev. 20:26, 1 Sam. 2:2, 1 John 4:7–19, Gen. 1:1, Gen. 2:7, Matt. 1:23, Matt. 28:20.

Memory Text:

“ ‘And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent’ ” (John 17:3, NKJV).

Having a clear understanding of God’s character is foundational to having a strong relationship with Him. That is why, this week, we will look carefully at what the Bible says about the character of God, keeping in mind that it “is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth. . . . The last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 415.

It seems impossible to describe God adequately, and so the most we can do is point to what the Bible says about Him. Although we will never know, especially now, everything there is to know about God’s wonderful character, let’s pray that as we learn more about Him, our understanding of and love for Him will deepen, so that, ultimately, we will want to grow closer to Him in order to reflect His love and character to others.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 11.

Supplemental EGW Notes

The law of God, from its very nature, is unchangeable. It is a revelation of the will and the character of its Author. God is love, and His law is love. Its two great principles are love to God and love to man. “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10. The character of God is righteousness and truth; such is the nature of His law. Says the psalmist: “Thy law is the truth:” “all Thy commandments are righteousness.” Psalm 119:142, 172. And the apostle Paul declares: “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Romans 7:12. Such a law, being an expression of the mind and will of God, must be as enduring as its Author.—The Great Controversy, p. 467.

In the beginning, man was created in the image of God. He was in perfect harmony with the nature and the law of God; the principles of righteousness were written upon his heart. But sin alienated him from his Maker. He no longer reflected the divine image. His heart was at war with the principles of God’s law. . . . But “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,” that man might be reconciled to God. Through the merits of Christ he can be restored to harmony with his Maker. His heart must be renewed by divine grace; he must have a new life from above. This change is the new birth. . . .
The first step in reconciliation to God is the conviction of sin. . . . “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). In order to see his guilt, the sinner must test his character by God’s great standard of righteousness. It is a mirror which shows the perfection of a righteous character and enables him to discern the defects of his own. The law reveals to man his sin. . . . It declares that death is the portion of the transgressor. The gospel of Christ alone can free him from the condemnation or the defilement of sin. He must exercise repentance toward God, whose law has been transgressed; and faith in Christ, his atoning sacrifice. . . .
In the new birth the heart is brought into harmony with God, as it is brought into accord with His law. When this mighty change has taken place in the sinner, he has passed from death unto life, from sin unto holiness, from transgression and rebellion to obedience and loyalty. . . .
The followers of Christ are to become like Him—by the grace of God to form characters in harmony with the principles of His holy law. This is Bible sanctification.—God’s Amazing Grace, p. 20.

The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.

The Bible gives the truest, clearest, and most consistent picture of God. The entire Bible seeks to peel back the unseen veil between our visible world and the invisible; to show us where we’ve come from and where we’re going; and, ultimately, to show us who is in control and what God is like.

From Genesis to Revelation, we read about the one true God, who makes Himself known to us through the Bible and through Jesus Christ, God incarnate. We can read about God’s omnipotence (Job 1:12), His omniscience, His all-knowing nature (Isa. 46:9, 10), His justice (Isa. 30:18), His mercy (Deut. 7:9), His loving-kindness and patience with us (Rom. 2:4), His wisdom (1 Cor. 2:7), His grace (2 Cor. 12:9), His forgiveness (Matt. 6:14), His will for our lives (Jer. 29:11), His power to defeat death (John 11:25), His kingship (Ps. 47:8), His eternal nature (Deut. 33:27), and many other characteristics that give us abundant reasons to love and have an abiding relationship with Him. The more we know about God and what He is like, the more we will love Him and desire a close and abiding relationship with Him.

It was Lucifer who first doubted God’s character. His doubts about who God is ultimately led to the greatest battle in the history of our universe. Ever since that time, “it is Satan’s constant study to keep the minds of men occupied with those things which will prevent them from obtaining the knowledge of God.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 740. Satan doesn’t care what kind of picture of God we have (pantheism, polytheism, deism, etc.), as long as it’s not an accurate one.

Read Genesis 3:1–5. What was Satan’s goal in his conversation with Eve? What lies did he tell Eve about God’s character?

Ultimately, Satan’s message to Eve was this: God is keeping secrets from you. God does not want what is best for you. You can’t trust Him. Ellen White expands on this when she says, “From the opening of the great controversy it has been Satan’s purpose to misrepresent God’s character and to excite rebellion against His law.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 338.

How is God’s character misrepresented in our world? More important, how might you, at times, have misrepresented His character to others? If you have, what can you do to change with the Holy Spirit’s help? How can you show God’s love to the people around you?

Supplemental EGW Notes

All the light of the past, all the light which shines in the present and reaches forth into the future, as revealed in the Word of God, is for every soul who will receive it. The glory of this light, which is the very glory of the character of Christ, is to be manifested in the individual Christian, in the family, in the church, in the ministry of the Word, and in every institution established by God’s people. All these the Lord designs shall be symbols of what can be done for the world. They are to be types of the saving power of the truths of the gospel. . . .
By beholding the goodness, the mercy, the justice, and the love of God revealed in the church, the world is to have a representation of His character. . . .
In order to manifest the character of God . . . we must become personally acquainted with God. If we have fellowship with God, we are His ministers, though we may never preach to a congregation. We are workers together with God in presenting the perfection of His character in humanity.
God has enjoined the duty upon His human agents to communicate the character of God, testifying to His grace, His wisdom, and His benevolence, by manifesting His refined, tender, merciful love. . . .
Our work is to restore the moral image of God in man through the abundant grace given us of God by Jesus Christ. . . . Oh, how much we need to know Jesus and our heavenly Father that we may represent Him in character!
The soul that is transformed by the grace of Christ will admire His divine character. . . . The less we see to esteem in ourselves, the more we shall see to esteem in the infinite purity and loveliness of our Saviour. A view of our sinfulness drives us to Him who can pardon; and when the soul, realizing its helplessness, reaches out after Christ, He will reveal Himself in power. The more our sense of need drives us to Him and to the Word of God, the more exalted views we shall have of His character, and the more fully we shall reflect His image.—God’s Amazing Grace, p. 229.

But the plan of redemption had a yet broader and deeper purpose than the salvation of humanity. It was not for this alone that Christ came to the earth; it was not merely that the inhabitants of this little world might regard the law of God as it should be regarded; but it was to vindicate the character of God before the universe. To this result of His great sacrifice—its influence upon the intelligences of other worlds, as well as upon man—the Saviour looked forward when just before His crucifixion He said: “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Me.” (John 12:31, 32.) The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of mankind would not only make heaven accessible to men and women, but before all the universe it would justify God and His Son in their dealing with the rebellion of Satan. It would establish the perpetuity of the law of God and would reveal the nature and the results of sin.—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 68.

The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.