Attributes
of God, Part 1
Absolute
Curriculum
Year 1,
Lesson 6
Introduction
Over
the next two sessions I want to wrap up our discussion of God by
looking at some of His attributes, and segueing into our discussion
of man. To some extent this may feel like a fire-hose dumping
information on you at a pace that is impossible to keep up with. I'm
okay with that. Here's why. God, by the very definition of being God,
is beyond our full comprehension. If you will remember our discussion
of the Scripture, we said that we cannot know God fully, but we can
know Him truly. That's an important distinction. So no matter how
little or much you walk away from today with, because our subject
matter is the attributes of God, I think it will be of benefit.
So,
what is an attribute? An attribute is simply a word that we use to
describe some action or characteristic of God. Now, because God is an
infinite and unlimited being, He has an infinite number of
attributes. That is, there is no end to what we could say about God.
But I want to restrict our looking to what the Bible has to say.
Theologians
have often (though not always) grouped the attributes of God into two
categories: communicable (that is, He shares these attributes with
us) and incommunicable (that is, attributes that rightly describe Him
alone). However, we should realize that, as one writer put it, “these
categories are not hard and fast, and some of the choices as to which
attributes to place within which category are debatable. The
important thing to study is the attribute itself to learn not only
what it reveals about God but also what implications that it has for
one’s personal outlook and life.”1
So as we break this into two sessions we aren't going to specifically
follow the communicable/incommunicable distinction. I don't want us
to worry too much about big words like communicable and
incommunicable so much as we worry about learning who God is and what
He is like. I have had to be somewhat selective in which attributes I
have picked to looked at, but hopefully they will give you a taste
for the immense power, beauty, and wisdom of this God whom we serve.
In this session we are going to focus specifically on God's
attributes to kind finish our discussion directly about the Persons
and Being of God, and next week we will look at some of the
attributes that we are made or told to model as His image bearers, as
a way of introducing our next topic: Who is Man?
Independence
The
first attribute I want to look at is the eternal independence of God.
That He depends on no one to exist, because He and He alone has
always been.
“In
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”2
“13 Then
Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to
them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask
me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God
said to Moses, “I am
who I am.”” 3
“Jesus
said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I
am.”” 4
In the
beginning God. I am who I am. Before Abraham was, I am. God predates
creation, His point of reference for Himself is Himself, and Jesus
makes clear that as God, He is the one who has always been. In
Revelation 4:8 we read the following,
“And
the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of
eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to
say, “Holy,
holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to
come!””
Why
does this matter? Because as the only eternal being, we see that God
is not only one who existed before creation, but He is not dependent
upon any part of His creation. Acts 17:24-25 says the following,
“The
God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and
earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor
is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he
himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”
He
is the one who gives it, He does not depend upon you or me. This is
good news, for a God who needed us would be a small God indeed!
Sovereignty
The
next attribute that I want to discuss it the sovereignty of God. That
is the powerful, effective, controlling rule of God over all things.
There is absolutely nothing that is outside the control of God. He
does whatever He wants, whenever He wants, however He wants.
“Our
God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” 5
“Who
has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?...Behold, the nations are like a
drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust...All the
nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less
than nothing and emptiness.”6
God
does whatever He pleases, the nations are all a drop in the bucket to
him. But God's control isn't just over nations, but over persons as
well, and even down to the birds of the air!
“The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.”7
“Are
not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to
the ground apart from your Father.”8
All
things, all thing, are under God's control. Theologian JI Packer puts
it this way,
“The
assertion of God’s absolute sovereignty in creation, providence,
and grace is basic to biblical belief and biblical praise. The vision
of God on the throne—that is, ruling—recurs (1 Kings 22:19; Isa.
6:1; Ezek. 1:26; Dan. 7:9; Rev. 4:2; cf. Pss. 11:4; 45:6; 47:8–9;
Heb. 12:2; Rev. 3:21); and we are constantly told in explicit terms
that the Lord
(Yahweh) reigns as king, exercising dominion over great and tiny
things alike (Exod. 15:18; Pss. 47; 93; 96:10; 97; 99:1–5; 146:10;
Prov. 16:33; 21:1; Isa. 24:23; 52:7; Dan. 4:34–35; 5:21–28; 6:26;
Matt. 10:29–31). God’s dominion is total: he wills as he chooses
and carries out all that he wills, and none can stay his hand or
thwart his plans.”9
Holiness
The
final attribute I want to discuss today is the holiness of God.
Before we dive into this one though I want to plug a book to you,
“The Holiness of God” by RC Sproul. It has been one of the most
influential books in my own life, and he covers this aspect of God's
character much better than I can here. End plug.
We
see the holiness of God brought forward to us time and time again in
Scripture. All three members of the Trinity are described as holy.
God the Father is referred to as “a holy God”10,
Jesus, God the Son, is referred to by Peter as the “holy one of
God”11,
and of course God the Spirit is known as the “Holy Spirit.”12
But
what does this word “holy” mean? The word carries with it the
idea of separation, or different-ness. When God's people are referred
to as holy in Scripture, the idea is often that they are ones who
have been set apart or chosen by God for a distinct purpose, and are
thus different from the world.13
We see a similar usage throughout the Old Testament, extending even
to inanimate objects, such at the vessels in the temple. To be holy
was, and is, to be set apart by God for His use. In applying this to
God Himself, we begin to see the idea of transcendence, that God is
over everthying and not constrained by anything outside of Himself,
and of the distinction from all of His creation. So you might say
that God is holy because He is not human, or angelic, or a dog, or a
tree, or anything else. He is God. And yet if that's all we said
about holiness we would be missing something very important.
There
is also a very clear message about the holiness of God in Scripture:
God's holiness means not only that He is other, that He is unlike us,
but also that He is pure, righteous, perfect, unstained, and
untainted by sin. For example, we read in Leviticus,
You
shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that
swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become
unclean through them. 44 For
I am the Lord
your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am
holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that
crawls on the ground. 45 For
I am the Lord
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall
therefore be holy, for I am holy.” 14
God
holiness meant being untainted by any impure or unclean thing. And as
a result of His holy character, He demands that His people live in a
way that is holy as well. Of course it looks different today than it
did then when God was telling them not to eat insects, but God is
making a clear point. I am pure: you be pure.15
Conclusion:
So
I want to wrap up today with I want to close with Paul's words to
young pastor Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:17,
“To
the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and
glory forever and ever. Amen.”
1
Ryrie, C. C. (1972). A survey of Bible doctrine. Chicago:
Moody Press.
2
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Genesis
1:1). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society. All Scripture taken from the
ESV, unless otherwise noted.
3
Exodus 3:13-14
4
John 8:58
5
Psalm 115:3
6
Isaiah 40:13,15
7
Proverbs 16:9
8
Matthew 10:29
9
Packer, J. I. (1993). Concise theology: a guide to historic
Christian beliefs. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
10
Joshua 24:19. See also, Ezekiel 39:7, Isaiah 41:14
11John
6:69. See also, Mark 1:24, Acts 3:14
12Acts
5:3. See also, Ephesians 4:30, John 20:22
13For
example, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, “Do you
not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells
in you? 17 If
anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s
temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
14
Leviticus 11:43-45
15See
also, 1 Peter 1:15-16
No comments:
Post a Comment