The Attributes of God.
Part One.
Bible
Reading: Genesis 1:1.
“In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
The Attributes
of God, and their meaning.
A.W. Tozer says: “Man’s spiritual history will positively
demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.”
It is not
enough to follow “god,” that word has come to mean so many different things
today that it means very little. So, who is the God of the Bible? What is God’s
character or attributes? When
we talk about the attributes of God, we are trying to answer questions like:
Who is God?
What is God like?
What kind of God is He?
It is impossible
for us as limited beings to fully understand who God is, but God does make Himself
known to us in a variety of ways, and through what He reveals about Himself in His
Word and in His creation, we can begin to fill our minds around our awesome
Creator and God that He is.
God is unlike
anything or anyone we could ever know or imagine. He is one of a kind, unique
and without comparison. Even describing Him with mere words truly falls short
of capturing who He is, our words simply cannot do justice to describe our holy
God.
Still, God
possess attributes that we can know (even in just in part) and He is given us His
Word to understand Himself.
Here are some of God’s
attributes; some are unspeakable, inexpressible, unutterable, beyond words or
description, qualities possessed by God alone. But we can do our best to
understand them.
Attributes
of God. Or the Characteristics of God. The Basis.
Jesus
came to reveal the God of the Bible. And God has revealed Himself in His book.
The Bible says to praise God for who He is, especially in prayer. Much of the Psalms
is a good example of this. By learning the attributes of God, you may praise
God for who He really is and for how each of His attributes impacts your life
in a positive way.
Omnipotence: Literally this word means
all-powerful. Since God is infinite and since He possesses power, He possesses
infinite power. He does allow His creatures to have some power, but this in no
way diminishes His own. “He expends no energy that must be replenished.” When
the Bible says God rested on the seventh day, it was to set an example for us
and our need for rest, not because He was tired.
Omniscience: “God possesses perfect
knowledge and therefore has no need to learn. God has never learned and cannot
learn.” Omniscience means all-knowing. God knows everything, and His knowledge
is infinite. It is impossible to hide anything from God.
Omnipresence: This theological term means
“always present.” Since God is infinite, His being knows no boundaries. So,
clearly, He is everywhere. This truth is taught throughout the Bible as the
phrase “I am with you always” is
repeated 22 times in both the Old and New Testaments. These were even Jesus’
words of assurance just after giving the challenge to His disciples to take His
message to the entire world. This is certainly a comforting truth for all who
follow Jesus.
Infinitude: God knows no boundaries. He
is without measure. This attribute impacts all the others. Since God is
infinite, everything else about Him must also be infinite.
Immutability: This simply means that God
never changes. It is why the Bible says, “Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Self-existence: When Moses asked who he was
talking to in the burning bush, God said, “I
AM THE ONE WHO ALWAYS IS.” God has no beginning or end. He just exists.
Nothing else in all the universe is self-caused. Only God. In fact, if anything
else had created Him, that thing would be God.
This is a
difficult concept for our minds since everything else we will ever encounter
comes from something other than itself. The Bible says, “In the beginning, God.” He was already there.
Self-sufficiency: The Bible says that God has
life in Himself (see John 5:26). All
other life in the universe is a gift from God. He has no needs and there is no
way He can improve. To God, nothing else is necessary. He does not need our
help with anything, but because of His grace and love, He allows us to be a
part of advancing His plan on earth and being a blessing to others. We are the
ones who change, but never God. He is self-sufficient. Sovereignty: This is “the attribute by
which He rules His entire creation.” It is the application of His other
attributes of being all-knowing and all-powerful. It makes Him free to do what
He knows to be best. God is in control of everything that happens. Man, still
has a free will, and is responsible for his choices in life.
Trinity: Though the actual word is
not used in the Bible, the truth of God revealing Himself in three persons is
included. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all called God, given worship as
God, exist eternally, and are involved in doing things only God could do.
Although, God reveals Himself in three persons, God is One and cannot be
divided. All are involved completely whenever One of the Three is active.
Holiness: This is the attribute that
sets God apart from all created beings. It refers to His majesty and His
perfect moral purity. There is absolutely no sin or evil thought in God at all.
His holiness is the definition of that which is pure and righteous in all the
universe. Wherever God has appeared, such as to Moses at the burning bush, that
place becomes holy just for God having been there.
Love: Love is such an important
part of God’s character that the apostle John wrote, “God is love.” This means that God holds the well-being of others
as His primary concern. For a full definition of love, read 1 Corinthians 13. To see love in action, study the
life of Jesus. His sacrifice on the cross for the sins of others is the
ultimate act of love. God’s love is not a love of emotion but of action. His
love gives freely to the object of its affection, those who choose to follow
His son Jesus.
End of
part one, part two to follow.
