DISCOVERING GOD’S CHARACTER & CALLING

God is Love- There is one God, a unity of three co-eternal persons. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet made known through His divine self-revelation. He created the universe beautiful and perfect, giving all beings freedom to choose whether or not to love Him back. (1 John 4:7-12; Ex. 34:6-7; Gen. 1-2; Deut. 6:4; Mt. 28:19)

Satan Causes Suffering- Created by God as a perfect angel in heaven, Satan chose to love self instead of God. As an enemy of God’s love, he seeks to usurp God’s creation by misrepresenting God’s character and causing evil and suffering. (Eze. 28:12-18; Isa. 14:12-14; Rev. 12:4-9; Luke 10:18; Gen. 3)

Humanity Chose Satan- The first humans, Adam and Eve, lived in peace, joy and love with God in the Garden of Eden. They chose to trust Satan instead of God by eating fruit from the forbidden tree, ushering in sin, selfishness, suffering and death. (Gen. 1-3; Rom. 3:23; 5:8-12; 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:21-22)

Jesus Saved Humanity- Jesus came as a human to rescue us. He lived with perfect love and sacrificed His life on the cross on our behalf, revealing the true character of God and breaking the power of Satan. We can choose to “love God back” and accept Jesus as our Savior, Lord, Healer, Friend and Soon-coming King. (John 3:16; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Cor. 5:17-21; Isa. 53:5; Matt. 27-28)

Jesus Transforms Us- We respond to Jesus through surrendering our lives to Him. The Holy Spirit fills us and begins changing our hearts to become like Jesus. We grow in love for God and love for others. As we daily choose to follow God’s Word, the Spirit gives us the power and victory of Jesus to live it out. (Acts 2:38; 2 Cor. 3:18; 5:17; Heb. 10:15-16; Titus 3:3-8; 1 John 1:9; 2:1)

God Gave the Sabbath- At creation, God gave us the Sabbath as special time to spend together with Him every week. The Sabbath celebrates God as our Creator and Savior and is a foretaste of the ultimate restoration on the earth made new. From Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, we rest from work and other secular activities in order to keep Sabbath holy, spending the day focused on our relationships with God and others. (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11; Ex. 31:13; Eze. 20:20; Mark 2:27-28; Acts 16:13; Heb. 4:9-11; Isa. 66:22-23)

We Belong to Jesus- We are created with dignity and value in the image of God. Since God is Creator, everything belongs to Him. We are called to be careful stewards of His gifts including our time, talents, finances, health, and sexuality. God blesses us as we follow His Bible principles and live to bless others. (Gen. 1:26-30; John 1:12; Psalm 24:1; 1 Cor. 6:13-20; 12:1-11; 1 Chron. 29:14; 1 Cor. 10:31; Mal. 3:8-12; Lev. 11; Prov. 20:1)

We Follow Jesus Together- When we surrender to Jesus, we are baptized, symbolizing the beginning of a new life with Jesus as part of His church. We encourage one another and participate in Jesus’ mission together. Jesus loves His church and works through us to share His love and truth with the world in word and deed. In these last days, God is raising up a movement of people around the world who are guided by prophecy, keep His commandments, have the faith of Jesus and help prepare for Jesus’ soon return. (Rom. 6:1-6; Matt. 16:18; 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Rev. 12:17; 14:6-14)

Jesus is Coming- Someday soon we will see Jesus come in the clouds to take us to heaven. All those who have died loving Jesus rest in their graves awaiting the resurrection at Jesus’ second coming. They will burst forth from their graves and all of Jesus’ followers will rise to meet Jesus in the air. (1 Thes. 4:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-53; Titus 2:13; 2 Pet. 3:10-11)

God Will Remove Suffering Forever- God will answer the questions of all created beings about His character and how everyone responded (or didn’t respond) to His love. God will cleanse the earth with fire, consuming Satan and his followers, removing suffering from the universe once and for all. Then God will create a new earth for us to live in perfect peace, joy and love with Him forever like He always intended. God wants nothing more than for you to choose to be there with Him forever. (Dan. 7:10; Rev. 20-21; Mal. 4:1-3; Nah. 1:9; Isa. 35; 65:17-25)