January 20th: The Attributes of God (1)

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.

“In the beginning God...” Alone before time. No heaven, angels, earth, mankind, universe.
For eternity. Self contained, self-sufficient, in need of nothing.
Divine Spirit, uncreated, infinite, no beginning. Then “created the heavens and the earth.”
Early lesson: He is distinct from the Creation not yet made.

Not a kind of super-being/man. He is quite different from us.
Luther to Erasmus, “Your thoughts of God are too human.”
Ps 51.21 “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether as thyself.”
Isaiah 46.5, 9: “To whom will ye liken me?...I am God, and there is none like me.”

Invisible – therefore must reveal Himself. He has. ‘How precious is the Word divine.’
Ex 33.20 “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me and live.”
Amazing Being! Ill: Andrew Fuller, ‘that man with so large a quantity of being’. Deep impression.

Attributes
We speak of God’s attributes. Word not in Bible.
1 Peter 2.9 “the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light”. Gk praises = virtues, excellencies.
So many of them! How to study? Gen 1 suggests a first step.

Traditionally theologians split them into two groups to help us.
1. He is quite different from us.
2. Genesis 1.26, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
Like Him in some ways – knowledge, goodness, love.
Some attributes are exclusive to God, some are faintly reflected in us.
This is usual approach in Reformed theology. Helpful framework.
First chapter of Scripture lays the foundation for us!

EXCLUSIVE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
1. God is Divine Spirit
John 4.24 “God is a spirit.” Gk “God is Spirit.”
Invisible, indivisible. Hence cannot be investigated, examined. All philosophy is guesswork.
Job 11.7 “Canst thou by searching find out God?” Unsearchable, incomprehensible.
He cannot be illustrated by art. Exodus 20.4: “Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image…”

No body, no bodily appetites. Obviously not pleased by ceremonies, music, incense.
John 4.24: “God is [a] Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
With zeal, intensity, purity. Heart worship.

Personal, not some vast unknowable force. Father, Son and Holy Spirit together for eternity.
Created man, a personal being.
John 17.3: “And this is life eternal, that they should know thee, the only true God.”
Father, Son and Holy Spirit for eternity! Some people are so interesting, you can listen for hours.
Incomprehensible – hence reverence. Casual prayer widespread.
Personal – hence familiarity and reverence can/must co-exist. Over-familiarity.
God is not interested in outward form, but the heart.

2. God is Self-existent
John 5.26: “The Father hath life in himself.”
We derive life from Him; “in him we live, and move, and have our being”, Acts 17.28
But His life is from Himself, uncreated.
He is the fountain of all life. Gen 2.7: “He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”
He is the “I am that I am” (Exodus 3.14). Regardless of all else He lives.
Always existed, immortal = never failing, imperishable. “Now unto the King eternal, immortal...”

There is no similarity of essence between God and creatures. He remains distinct from all He has made.
Our existence the product of His command. Upheld until withdrawn. He has a right to us.
The most vocal angry atheist upheld daily too.
Satan and demons likewise exist by His permission, will be destroyed at His coming.
Acknowledge our dependence on Him, reverence Him.

3. God is Infinite
Psalm 145.3: “His greatness is unsearchable.” Heb: immeasurable. Without bounds.
Free from all limitations. He is “over all, God blessed for ever” (Rom 9.5).
Nothing in existence is over Him, restraining or impeding Him, for He made it all.
Infinite perfection, knowledge, intelligence. He knows what would have happened if...
The Met Office gets a new supercomputer – can never know what every air/water molecule will do in the atmosphere. God does.

Why so slow to pray? What astounding knowledge to benefit us with in life.
Infinite power to govern all things in Heaven and earth!
Infinite wisdom to guide us.

4. God is Eternal
He is the “I am that I am” (Exodus 3.14). The everlasting present tense.
Animals have a beginning + end/Men have a beginning but no end/God has no beginning, no end.
Psalm 90.2: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
‘Eternal’ doesn’t just mean God lives for ever.
He created time, exists outside and above time.

2 Peter 3.8: “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
We live inside time. ‘Time like an everlasting stream, Bears all its sons away.’
He controls it, knows “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46.10).
He alone can bestow eternal life on us! Total control over time.
Unbeliever: “Eternity, Eternity...You’ve got to meet it, where will you spend Eternity?”
Christian, “set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

5. God is Omnipresent and Immense
He fills all things. He fills every part of space with His whole being.
1 Kings 8.27 “The heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee.”
Psalm 139.7-8 “Whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”
Proverbs 15.3: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”

He knows the hearts of His enemies better than they know themselves.
A man owes millions of pounds, and flees so his creditor can’t find him. But we cannot escape God.
Christian: He is always at hand. Every thought visible.
Unbeliever: no running from God.

6. God is Unchanging (immutable)
Ps 102.27 “But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.”
Mal 3.6: “I am the Lord, I change not.”
A change is either for better or for worse. Neither possible for God.
Does not mean He is inactive – His essence is always the same.
The Rock of Ages is always there, always loving, caring.
He is infinitely dependable, His promises unchanging. Isaiah 46.10 “My counsel shall stand.”
Man’s work changes, fails.
Thomas Watson: “What is become of...Troy? Now corn grows where Troy once stood.” (~3000BC)Our love for God may ebb and flow, but His does not.
In our greatest need, He WILL be there. At death. “I am the Lord, I change not.”
Rest your head on the pillow of His unchangeable care.