God
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Introduction
God’s nature and character have been the central topic for many theologians throughout the centuries. This is not to assume that anyone is able to completely understand and know God for His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). However, it is to say that there is no greater joy than to desire to know God.
This section is only a cursory glance at the attributes of God, as this whole study will be examined for weeks to come. May the Lord grant you His wisdom as you worship Him in the study of His Word.
His Nature and Character
Incommunicable Attributes – Those attributes that God does not have in common or “communicate” to human beings.
1. Independence – God does not need anything from human beings to make up who He is. God is completely independent from His creatures. (cf. Acts 17:24-25; Job 41:11; Psalm 50:10-12). God never “needs” human beings to satisfy loneliness. Indeed, God’s glory was always full and wondrous even before the creation of the world: “5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). This correlates to the community nature of the Trinity, which assumes that there is full independence from creation, in light of the dependence between Father, Son, and Spirit.
2. Unchangeableness/Immutability – J.I. Packer writes:
“The sense of remoteness is an illusion which springs from seeking the link between our situation and that of the various Bible characters in the wrong place. It is true that in terms of space, time, and culture, they, and the historical epoch to which they belonged, are a very long way from us. But the link between them and us is not found at that level. The link is God Himself. For the God with whom they had to do is the same God with whom we have to do. We could sharpen the point by saying the exact same God.”1
God is the same God who continues to exist completely without change. However, Scripture seemingly posits that God does change. In Jonah 3:10, it says, “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them.” The word “relented” can also be translated as “repented.” Did God really repent, or change His mind? When Hezekiah prayed, and the Lord added 15 years to his life (Isaiah 28:1-6), did God change His mind there? Or when God made Saul king, or when He created humanity before the flood, and the biblical authors said God ”repented” or “regretted” doing those things, was God just being capricious?
The answer is a resounding, “No!”
1. There is the use of human language to describe God (also called “anthropomorphism”) and because language ultimately is limited, it can never fully describe God in the fullest. One person says, “God is stable, not static.” God is not a God that rules from above and waves a wand of arbitrariness of robotic creatures. God feels for His people. He has passions for them. So words like “repent” and “regret” genuinely express the heart of God. They are not meant for its literal sense.
2. But perhaps the most critical reason is that God responds to specific situations, consistent to His nature. This does not mean that God has not foreseen events. He is not taken off guard, and there is nothing left to “chance.” John Piper writes: “When the Bible says that God repents, it means that He expresses a different attitude about something than He expressed before, not because any turn of events was unexpected, but because the turn of events makes it fitting to express a different attitude now because of a change of circumstances.”2
God responds to His people! God does not shift like shadows, as James makes clear (James 1:17), but He actually has a relationship with His creation. God wants His people to delight in Him. This tension of God’s unchanging ways, and His responsiveness, is evermore a clear indication of God’s holiness and yet, grace for His people. You matter to God, and not just a deity who waffles back and forth, like some pagan god that desires ritual sacrifice. But a God who never changes but is indeed the same powerful God, over all creation, cares for you!
There are serious implications for a changing God. If God could change, then the change would be for better or for worse. If God changed for the better, then it would mean He was never perfect from the beginning. That would also mean it would be impossible to know when He would be best, when He would cease to change. There might be no limit to that change, meaning that eventually an omnipotent God of pure evil could reign over the universe. Without unchangeableness, there would be no way to place our faith and trust in Him.
Also, if God could change His purposes, then who’s to say that the whole redemptive plan could not be changed, and the work of Christ and the cross, scrapped for an alternative plan. What good would the promises of Scripture be if those promises can be changed at God’s whim. Perhaps, those plans have already been changed and He is no longer omnipotent, and even if He wants to keep those promises, He couldn’t. (Other subjects include: Process Theology, Impassability, Historicity)
The Bible makes it quite clear that God does not change, but is stable, consistent, and true to His very nature. (cf. Num. 23:19; Psalm. 33:11; Psalm 102:27; Heb. 6:17; James 1:17).
3. Omnipresence – God is not limited by space, but has the ability to be in all places and at all times; yet, He is also able to act differently to different situations. Because God is the Creator of the physical realm, He has the ability to move beyond anything physical. In fact, His spiritualness (John 4:24) means that those things which limit His creation, do not limit God. So Deuteronomy 10:14 reads: “14 To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.” Psalm 139 is perhaps the greatest text that speaks of God’s omnipresence (cf. 1 Kings 8:27; Psalm 139:7-10; Jer. 23:23-24; Acts 17:27-28).
4. Omnipotence – God can do all things and nothing can stop His power. He is able to carry any task that He so chooses to completion (cf. Genesis. 18:24; 2 Chron. 20:6; Psalm 147:5; Isaiah. 14:27; Isaiah. 43:13; Jer. 32:17; Dan. 4:35; Mark 10:27; Eph. 1:19-20).
5. Omniscience – 1 Cor. 2:10-11 says: “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” In 1 John 3:20, he writes: “For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” Omniscience is when God is able to discern all things at all times, and nothing is able to stop that knowledge (cf. Psalm 139:1-4; Isaiah 40:28; 46:10; Rom. 11:33; Heb. 4:13).
Communicable Attributes – Those attributes that God does have in common with humanity in which He does “communicate” to human beings.
1. Spirituality – God calls His people to worship in spirit because He Himself is spirit (John 4:24). So God calls His people to meet Him not just on the physical plane, but where he is.
2. Wisdom – God’s ability to choose that which is best, and in accordance with His plans and ways (cf. Psalm 104:24; Psalm 147:5; Jer. 10:7; Dan. 2:20-21; Rom. 11:33; Col. 2:2-3).
3. Faithfulness (Truthfulness) – God carries out all things to completion because He is completely dependable in His words, His promises, and His ways (cf. Dt. 7:9; 32:4; Josh. 23:14; Psalm 89:1-2, 8; Lam. 3:22-23; 1 Cor. 10:13; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 10:23; 1 John 1:9).
4. Goodness – God is the “final standard of good”3 and so goodness is measured upon the very character of God (cf. Psalm 100:5; 145:8-9; Lam. 3:25; Matt. 5:45; Matt. 7:11; Acts 14:17; James 1:5, 17).
5. Love – God’s love is sacrificial in that God gives His love apart from human reaction. It is defined within Himself, and acts from within His own nature (cf. 1 John 4:8; John 17:24; John 14:31; John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). It is also God’s love which is the philosophical and moral ground to love others (Matt. 22:37-38; 1 John 5:3; 1 John 4:19).
6. Grace, Mercy, Patience – “God’s mercy means God’s goodness toward those in misery and distress. God’s grace means God’s goodness toward those who deserve only punishment. God’s patience means God’s goodness in withholding of punishment toward those who sin over a period of time.”4 The unifying theme of these three words is that God’s goodness acts first. There is nothing that compels Him to act in goodness. He simply acts as a means to glorify Himself. Texts that convey this message are… Grace and Mercy - Neh. 9:17; Psalm 103:8; Luke 1:54-55; Rom. 9:16; Eph. 1:6; 2:4-5; Titus 2:11; Titus 3:5; Patience – Num. 14:18; Psalm. 86:15; Rom. 2:4; Rom. 9:22; 2 Pe. 3:9; 2 Pe. 3:14-15.
7. Holiness – The word “holy” in its root meaning is “set apart, set aside.” But what would God be set apart for? The answer is that God is set apart for Himself. There is something so distinct in God, divinely distinctive, that there is absolutely nothing that can compare to Him. In His very nature He is. To define holiness is to define God. Then, maybe the best way to define holiness is to say “When God is God.” In reading the book of Leviticus, there’s a story about a boy who is stoned as a blasphemer because, “If anyone curses his God, he will be said to be responsible.” (Lev. 24:15) This seems to be a harsh punishment, until you understand the holiness of God. If holiness is truly God being God, then for God to do anything less than to uphold that holiness, makes him no longer God.
That’s why the OT is replete with holiness codes. God’s holiness covered the earth and so there are real-life implications. The OT seems to link God’s divine holiness to ethical considerations. The nation of Israel is to be holy, because God Himself is holy (Lev. 19:1). Ethics, how one lived, was rooted in the very nature of God. To disregard life in respect to God, was to disregard God Himself.
Holiness then, means that God is utterly incomparable, inexhaustible. He alone is God! (cf. Ex. 15:11; Lev. 11:44; Psalm 22:3; Isaiah. 6:1-8; 1 Pe. 1:15; Rev. 4:8)
8. Justice, Righteousness – God’s justice and righteousness assumes that God is the final standard for that which is just and right. Those things which God does then, are to be considered both right and just (cf. Dt. 32:4;