03.2. Attributes of God with respect to God
The Attributes of God with respect to God 1.The Solitariness of God By the term “solitariness” we intend to address several things about God which are somewhat difficult to define. God is solitary in that he is One: there is no other god beside him. He is solitary in that he is unique: there is no one like our God; no one can even begin to compare to our great God in any of his perfect attributes. He is solitary in that he is entirely self-sufficient. All other things came into existence because of God and remain in existence from moment to moment by his power. Only God is existent in himself, and dependent on none other. God has absolutely no need that he looks outside of himself to be fulfilled. Within the eternal Trinity there is a perfect and all-sufficient expression of love and fellowship that could never be added to by fellowship with any creature outside of himself. God created the world, not because of any need which he had, but out of a perfect self-sufficiency that noone else could ever experience.
A)He is One Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 43:10-11 B)He is Unique Isaiah 40:25; Psalms 113:5-6 C)He is Self-Sufficient/All-Sufficient Romans 11:36; John 5:26 2. The Eternality of God By “eternality,” we mean more than just that God had no beginning and he will have no end; rather, God is not bound or constrained by time at all. God is wholly outside of time, and all of time is in his hand, the past and the future as well as the present. God does not exist within time; instead, time itself exists only because of God. The most basic revelation that God gave man of his essential nature is that he is the I AM - the always existent, always present one.
Exodus 3:14; Psalms 90:2; Psalms 102:25-27; Isaiah 57:15; 2 Peter 3:8; Revelation 1:4 b 3.The Invisibility/Spirituality of God
God, the unique and self-sufficient One, the eternally-existent I AM is not physical, and cannot be approached or seen by any finite creature. God is spirit, and no one has seen his form. With one exception: Jesus Christ alone. Therefore, if we would “see” the Father, we must look to him through the Son. He is the exact image of the invisible God, and he alone declares God to us. We can only see God through Christ.
A)God is spirit/invisible John 4:24; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:27 B)God cannot be approached or seen by any creature Exodus 33:18-20; 1 Timothy 6:15-16 C)Jesus Christ reveals God to us John 1:18; John 14:9 b; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:1-14. The Immutability of God
Because of who God is - perfect, righteous, holy, eternal - it is impossible that he should change. Any change in God would be a change for the worse, because God is absolutely flawless. Any change of his mind, or will, would be a change for the worse, because his wisdom is already perfect. He can learn nothing, already knowing everything. No one can instruct him, to change his mind, and no one can hinder him, to change the accomplishment of his will. There are times, however, when the bible speaks of God in human terms, and declares (from our finite perspective) that God “repented” that he had done something. These “changes of mind” are only changes from our perspective however, and were in the original plan of God from all eternity.
A)God himself does not change Malachi 3:6; James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8 B)God’s mind/will/plan does not change Psalms 33:11; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29
C) Although God is said to have “repented,” or “regretted” things he has done, one must take care not to interpret those verses in a way that will make them contradict the passages that say God does not change his mind. In reality, the bible often speaks of God in human terms, to help mankind understand things about his character. These “anthropomorphisms” (speaking of God in terms of human physical features) and “anthropopathisms” (speaking of God in terms of human emotions) must be understood metaphorically.
·Examples of anthropomorphisms Deuteronomy 5:15; Isaiah 37:17 ·Examples of anthropopathisms Genesis 6:5-6; 1 Samuel 15:11 5. The Omnipotence of God
God himself does not change, neither does he change his plans. Furthermore, he cannot be frustrated in accomplishing his plans, because he has infinite power to carry them out. No creature can thwart his will: nothing even has the power to exist by itself, apart from God, who “upholds all things by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). In fact, nothing outside of God himself can limit him or put a boundary on his power. With God, to will something is to accomplish it [See discussion under “Law-giving” (Attributes of God with respect to man as a created being, number 5) for a different use of the term “will of God”.]
Genesis 17:1 b; Jeremiah 32:17; Matthew 19:26; Psalms 33:6; Psalms 115:3; Job 42:2; Revelation 19:6 6. The Omniscience of God
We have reflected on the truths that God is immutable, his plans are unchanging, and his power to accomplish those plans is unbounded. In light of these great truths, it is highly comforting to remember that God is also omniscient God has all knowledge and all wisdom, so that the plans he unfalteringly accomplishes are perfect plans. There is nothing in all of creation, through all of time, that God does not wisely and all-knowingly use to bring about the greatest possible good. God knows all of his creation exhaustively, even the hearts and minds of men. He knows all the events of all of history, past, present, or future. He knows all things that might have been as well as all things that actually are. He is infinitely wise, and knows the best ends, as well as the best means to those ends. And with God, his knowledge is efficacious. When he knows something, he accomplishes it. His knowledge does not just recognize a reality; it produces that reality.
A)God knows all of creation exhaustively Psalms 139:1-6; Psalms 147:4-5; Matthew 10:30; Hebrews 4:13; 1 Chronicles 28:9 b; John 2:24-25 B)God knows all the events of history, past, present, and future Isaiah 42:9; Isaiah 46:9-10 C)God knows all things that might have been, as well as things that are
Luke 10:13 D)When God knows something, he accomplishes it Romans 8:29-30; Isaiah 55:8-11; Proverbs 3:19-20 E)Our response to God’s omniscience should be worship Romans 11:33-36. The Holiness of God The holiness of God is the attribute which is perhaps the most difficult to define or comprehend or approach. It is also the attribute which, when even glimpsed, causes the most overwhelming awe and consternation. The account of Isaiah’s seeing the thrice holy God (Isaiah 6:1-13) is perhaps the clearest sight we have of the overwhelming, unapproachable glory of God’s holiness. In attempting to describe such an incomprehensible reality, words necessarily fail us. However, we may suggest at least two aspects of God’s holiness that we may see in the scriptures. First, by virtue of his holiness, God is entirely transcendent, utterly separate from all of his creation, high, lifted up, and unapproachable. And second, the holiness that is the very essence of God’s nature is the source from which all ethical and moral perfection springs. All things that are right and just and good and praiseworthy are that way precisely because they accord with the holy nature of God. Ethical and moral standards are not impersonal truths outside of God, or self-existent rules by which to judge him. No, those very standards of what is right spring from within God. How foolish and unthinkable to assert or even suppose in the darkest recesses of our heart, “God is not fair,” or some other such nonsense. God is God. He cannot be judged by our standards. And what is fair, is fair only because of who God is. In other words, our very perception of fairness, or any other moral virtue, must be informed by what God has revealed to us about himself. Because all true holiness and moral perfection come from who God is, it is noteworthy that throughout the bible, even created things become holy only by God’s imparting holiness to them. All holiness comes from him who is Holy, Holy, Holy; therefore even things that are separated and consecrated to him are holy. It is in this way that we are to strive to be holy. Our holiness is an imparted holiness, but God’s holiness is his very nature and essence.
A)God’s holiness is unique and transcendent Exodus 15:11; 1 Samuel 2:2; Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 15:4 B)God’s holiness is the source of all ethical and moral perfection
· That which God imparted to man in the giving of the law and worship ordinances is summed up as holiness
·The nature of creaturely holiness is being separated by God unto God, and so being made like God Leviticus 20:26; 1 Peter 1:15-16; Ephesians 5:25-33. The Love of God When we speak of the love of God, it is natural for us to think of his redemptive love. That is good and well. We can never think too much or too deeply on the wonder that, when we were sinners, God loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. But that is not specifically what we are mentioning here. There is a difference between saying that God loves and saying that God is love. That God loves sinful creatures is an amazing thing. That God is love is staggeringly beautiful. It means that God’s love is not exclusively connected to us. Ages before we were created, God was love. Part of what it means to be God is to be love. Just as with holiness and moral perfection, we would not even know what love is apart from knowing who God is.