03.0. Catagorized Scripure-Knowing Our God
Knowing Our God
Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD… Jeremiah 9:23-24
Introduction Of all the possible pursuits, activities, or studies that are practically relevant and positively beneficial which we might spend our time pursuing, there is none, however profitable or necessary, that is as needful and uplifting and valuable as the subject matter of this study. As Christians, there is nothing more practical for us than to know our God. As created beings, there is nothing we need more than to understand our Creator. As desperate and wandering souls searching for significance, longing for something that is infinitely satisfying, seeking pleasure from finite things when God “has set eternity in [our] heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), there is nothing that can even begin to answer to the depths of our vast needs, desires, and longings, except for one thing. That one thing is knowing our God. And that one thing is what we are hoping by his grace to pursue. I hope that all of us can resonate with the truth A. W. Pink once observed, that “a spiritual and saving knowledge of God is the greatest need of every human creature,” and furthermore, that “the foundation of all true knowledge of God must be a clear mental apprehension of His perfections as revealed in Holy Scripture.” As we turn to the scriptures, it is with the hope and prayer that God will ” shine in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). But how do we even begin to undertake a task so enormous? Our first and guiding principle is that, if we would learn about God aright, we must do so only from the pages of his word. The cause of man’s first rebellion, and all the chaos and misery that ensued, was only this, that he failed to take his understanding of God’s character at his own word, and instead listened to the whispered lies of the serpent. If we would regain the position from which we fell, it can only be by listening once more to God’s word, and letting his own self-revelation shape our ideas of who he is.
However, as we embark on the process, we quickly realize that the task is overwhelming: there are thousands of passages that speak of the nature of God, and they are not laid out like a systematic theology: they are occasional, revealing the truths of God’s nature as he takes opportunity to enter the world of mankind for a specific purpose, and show himself to his people. If we would learn about who he is, we must be able to take all of those truths which he reveals on specific occasions, and organize them in such a way that we do not emphasize any set of attributes to the exclusion of any other. We must be able to frame them in simple, accurate and memorable ways. This is the task of the systematic theologian; and like it or not, all Christians, as they pursue a deeper knowledge of God, must play the role of the systematic theologian to some degree. So how might we best organize the characteristics of God as he reveals himself in his word, in order to understand who he is as intimately and accurately as possible? Theologians have come up with several organizing principles, speaking of God’s communicable and incommunicable attributes, his absolute and immanent attributes, his moral and non-moral attributes, and other such classifications. For the purposes of this study, the following categories will be employed:
1.The triunity of God In reality, this is an overarching category, that affects every category which follows. The most foundational and non-negotiable truth of the Christian religion is that God is triune. Every other attribute that can be considered - God’s sovereignty, his love, his justice, etc. - is an attribute of a triune God. In this study, we will consider the ontological trinity, that is, the inter-relationship of the persons of the Godhead that has existed from all eternity; and the economical trinity, that is, the way in which the eternal inter-relationships of the persons of the Godhead show up in the work of redemption which the triune God has undertaken to accomplish.
2.The attributes of God with respect to God This is basically an overview of who God is in relation to himself alone. Such attributes as God’s eternality, self-sufficiency, omnipotence, inter-triune love and fellowship, etc. may be dealt with under this classification.
3. The attributes of God with respect to man as a created being
There are certain things we can understand about God simply by realizing that he is our Creator. The bible speaks of many attributes of God in relation to this classification: he is sovereign over his creation, he is actively governing his creation, he is directing all things for his glory, he is the lawgiver and judge, the owner and ruler of all mankind, simply because he is God the Creator and man is man the created.
4.The attributes of God with respect to man as a sinner When God related to man in the garden before his fall, he did not display certain of his attributes which we see later in the bible. Such attributes as God’s holy wrath against sin, his righteous judgment, his judicial hardening, his sovereignty over evil, his turning of man’s wickedness to accomplish good things, all became manifest only in relation to man as a fallen creature, and not man as an innocent creature.
5. The attributes of God with respect to man as redeemed
It is only against the backdrop of understanding God’s absolute ownership of and sovereignty over man because he created him, and his uncompromising justice and wrath against man because he wickedly rebelled that we can begin to understand the staggering wonder of such precious attributes of God as his redemptive love, his grace and mercy, his covenant faithfulness, and so on. This will be the final division of our study.