January 27th: The Attributes of God (2)

Speaker: Chris Laws

The nature of Almighty God, revealed in His Word, is the foundation of true religion. God’s attributes, commonly divided into ‘exclusive’ and ‘reflected’, define the Christian life.

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
Books: The Faith/Dr Masters, A Body of Divinity/Watson, The Attributes of God/AW Pink, A New Systematic Theology/Reymond, BCF. All take much the same approach.

Christ’s Immutability - footnote to exclusive attributes
When Christ came to Earth He took a body. He did not have one before.
John 1.14: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Eternal change, for us. Ascended with it, has it now in Heaven.
Phil 3.21: “who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.”
Will return with it: 1 John 3 .2: “when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

REFLECTED ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
Genesis sets the scene
“In the beginning God...” Alone, self-energising, self-sufficient. Unique.
“...created the heavens and the earth.” Distinct from creation.
Natural approach. God unique/ “let us make man in our image”. Exclusive/ reflected.
6 exclusive – Divine Spirit, Self Existent, Infinite, Eternal, Omnipresent & Immense, Immutable.

Immutable? His Godhead remains unchanged, but He adopted a body.
We will see Him as He is in Heaven. God’s attributes on display.

Eight reflected attributes
We can only understand the exclusive attributes (eg God’s infinity) at an intellectual level.
But we all have personal experience of the reflected attributes.

1.      Omnipotent – All Powerful
Jer 32.17: “Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.”
Creation – Only He has power to truly create, out of nothing: “Let there be...and there was...”
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” No materials, nothing.
We only ‘create’ – form things out of pre-existing materials.
Universe – Sun, moon, planets, stars, galaxies.
12th Jan, discovery of two vast arrays of galaxies billions of light years across.
Discoverer:“It challenges our understanding of the universe...”

Universe so vast – cannot understand. The power required!
Our power on a limited scale. WWII attempts to clear fog at runways!
Sub-microscopic level atomic particles.
The power locked up in atoms. Hiroshima bomb <1kg, power required by 16 London size cities.
Power of our God that contains all that energy.

Enduring power – He holds up the entire universe with ease all the time.
Col 1.17: “By him all things consist [cohere, hold together].”
Not like weight lifter’s Olympic lift. No relaxation. Massive effort all the time without change.
Heb 1.3: “Upholding all things by the word of his power.”  
Inexhaustible power, because generated from within His massive being.
Batteries run down. Body needs replenishing with food/sleep.
God’s care for His people/churches is uninterrupted.

Power above all earthly rule – He brings governments into being and takes them away.
Daniel 2.21: “He changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings.”
Nero tried, but Christianity filled the Western world.
Govt legislation threatens to stamp out our work. France, Russia.
They cannot destroy our work for He is King of kings. Persecution revitalises God’s people.

Absolute power – Rev 19.6: “The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
Genesis 18.14: “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed...Sarah will have a son.”
Christ performed miracles, healings. Raised Lazarus.
Eph 1.19: “What is the exceeding greatness of his power...which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.”
Human beings are powerless against death.
His power tossed death aside with contempt, and made him doorkeeper to Heaven.

Controlled, constructive power – gentle.
Power without control is disaster. Heavyweight wrestler in an airliner cockpit...
Politicians with uncontrolled power become tyrants.
God’s power is so carefully applied in our lives.

Holy power – Can do anything, except lie or sin or break a single promise.
We cannot change ourselves before conversion. New Year resolutions.
His power transforms lives. Holy Spirit helps us.
Daily ask Him for help in holiness.

Everlasting power – It has achieved eternity for millions. No one else can.
Safe for eternity because of His power.
Power to convert. Conversion of Saul of Tarsus the arch-enemy. You and me.
That is why we have a prayer meeting.

2.    Knowledge
1 Sam 2.3: “The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”
Heb: “God of knowledges.” He is expert in all fields of knowledge. Every kind of discipline.
If we try to be jack of all trades we become master of none.
We may be highly knowledgeable in technology, but no knowledge of self.
Thomas Watson: ‘Where ignorance reigns in the understanding, lust reigns in the affections.’
How vital is divine knowledge. How vital personal Bible study.

Never learned – No experiments. Not acquired by exhausting learning. Not built up.
Knows everything all the time. In His Being.
Never forgotten. Aware of all knowledge all the time. Things 5000 years old are as fresh as the present.
One thing in our minds at a time. Learning slow, painful. Things forgotten – past studies.

Instantaneous – Always been with Him. British Museum library.
We step by step. Solutions to intricate ‘problems’ known instantly.

All-seeing – Knows all thoughts. Access to otherwise unobtainable information.
Knows the schemes of the enemy of souls. Knows our prayers.
Knows our minds – they speak as loudly as words to Him.
Ps 139.1, 4: “O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me...thou understandeth my thoughts afar off.”
God overhears everything we think.
Sees the whole of our lifetime always. Open to His care.

All encompassing – He pays the same attention to each of His children as if they were they only one.
Job 23.10: “He knows the way that I take”  
He understands the corruption of our hearts. He can give us a clear knowledge of ourselves.
He alone is equipped to help us in our striving for holiness.
Hypocrisy is madness. Eccl 12.14: “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing.”
He sees the plots of Satan against the church, and can make them abortive. We are not alone.