The Attributes of God - An Overview

If you got your Bibles open back to Genesis chapter 1 again, please I say again because we were there last week in Genesis chapter 1 And we're gonna read again as we did last week just the first portion of verse 1 Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 Which you probably know by heart in the beginning God You may recall that when we consider this abrupt beginning of Scripture, we noted there was no inspired introduction that led up to these words Moses was not inspired to lay any groundwork establishing the existence of God Nothing explaining what he was about to say or why he was about to say it.

He just came out with it in the beginning God The first four words in all the Bible simply declare in the beginning God These words simply assert the existence of God they simply and in a startling straightforward way assume the existence of God here the evidence of God or the existence of God is taken as a given an axiom a self evident truth And remember we noted that the absence in this verse of any evidence For the instance of existence of God does not mean that there is no such evidence Or that the Bible doesn't speak of evidence elsewhere In fact, we looked at some of the evidence presented in other places than Bible and including spending a few minutes in Romans chapter 1 We talked about some general categories of evidence for the existence of God.

We talked about creation itself and that according to Paul in Romans chapter 1 the evidence for the existence of God found in creation Is so abundant and plain that it leaves men without excuse We briefly mentioned that the human conscience is Provides evidence for God we didn't examine it much or really at all except to say that while people have Tried to explain the existence and functionality of the human conscience Apart from God their attempts are wholly unsatisfactory And we also mentioned and talked quite a bit about the laws of logic which not only provide evidence for God's existence but demanded the laws of logic require That God exists they in effect declare God to be the Necessary being in fact, I forgot to give you the title last week's message I think and the title is simply the necessity of God.

I Hope that message helped your faith. I hope it helped you be more confident in what you know to be true I hope it stretched your mind to some degree. I know it stretched mine Our minds need to be stretched to be extended to be strengthened If we're to love our God with all our hearts all our soul all our mind and all our strength Then we need to exercise to sharpen our minds to better love him with our thoughts. I Hope tonight's message will stretch you a little bit more and provoke you to worship the God who in the beginning Created the heavens and the earth.

Let's go back to the verse It simply says in the beginning God Last week we attempted to answer the question does God exist or said another way We attempted to make the case that God does in fact exist going so far as to say that not only does he exist But he also cannot not exist God must exist this week. We're gonna partially answer the question. Who is God? He exists as we've seen but who is he? What's he like?

We certainly can't fully answer that question here in the next little bit people have been attempting to answer it for centuries In fact, I don't think that eternity will afford us enough time to answer the question fully The Bible even tells us straight up that the fullness of who God is is incomprehensible God is beyond our comprehension Psalm 145 3 says great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his great greatness is unsearchable in Job 26 14 we read behold These are but the outskirts of his ways and how small of whisper do we hear of him?

But the thunder of his power who can understand in Isaiah 58 8 to 9 the Lord says for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord For is the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts Paul writes in Romans chapter 11 Verses 33 to 34. Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God how Unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable are his ways? For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor and There are many such verses that proclaim the same truth.

We cannot know God comprehensively and we never will But the fact we cannot know God comprehensively Does not mean we cannot know him Apprehensively it does not mean we cannot know God at all We can't fully comprehend him, but we can Reprehend him what does that mean? We can't know all there is to know about God, but we can at least know Something about God we can know What he wants us to know?

In one sense God is unknowable He is unknowable in the sense we cannot fully comprehend him But in another sense God is indeed knowable and the Bible tells us that in 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 2 the Bible says make grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord 1st John 4 7 says beloved let us love one another for love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God Of course, there are many many more verses that proclaim the same truth We can know God at least in part we can know him to the extent that he wants us to know him We can know quite a bit about God because he's told us quite a bit about himself in the pages of Scripture A.W.

Tozer opened his classic book the knowledge of the holy with this provocative statement I want you to get this what comes into our mind when we think about God is The most important thing about us Let me say that again what comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us So according to Tozer the most important thing about you Is what comes into your mind when you? Think about God Here's a question for you When you read the first part of Genesis 1 1 in the beginning God and you got to the word God what comes into your mind Whatever it is Tozer says it's the most important thing about you.

Well if that's true, I Think you might want to get that right Or at least get it as right as you can don't you? How do we get that right or how do you get it as right as you can? Well, you study God you become a theologian a student of theology Which is just a fancy word that means the study of God Douglas ponders said this and I like it everyone is a theologian Everyone you me your neighbor next door your atheist co-worker your child too young to speak yet Everyone is a theologian because everyone was made by God to study him and that's what theology is Theology is the study of God Jesus says this is eternal life That they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent that's in John 17 3 Ponder continuing there's no one alive who doesn't have a thought about God Whether they think he exists or doesn't think he exists or isn't sure if God exists Everyone thinks something about God Everyone therefore is a theologian But not everyone is a good theologian That reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by one of my favorite philosophers and teachers RC spro the late great RC spro who said the same thing using fewer words He simply said everyone is a theologian.

The question is whether they are a good one or a bad one He actually wrote a book an introduction apologetics called everyone is a theologian So you already are a theologian whether you're a good one or a bad one. I pray your desire is to become a better one That should be the desire of all of us. I pray that tonight God will ignite a desire with you to within you to know him better To know him more Well, where do you start? How do you go about? studying God Certainly a good starting place would be to study the person and work of Christ, right?

We know the Bible says this about Christ in Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 to 17 He is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of all creation For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him and He is before all things and in him all things hold together Hebrews 1 3 says this about Christ he is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature and He upholds the universe by the word of his power After making purification for sins.

He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high In Christ himself said in John chapter 10 verse 30 I and the father are one So the study of Christ the big fancy word for that is Christ ology Is a good place to start to study God or? theology Christ is God and he reveals to us who God is and what he's like But another good place to start is to study the attributes of God those features or Characteristics of the nature of God as they are revealed in Scripture That's where I want to start this evening with just sort of an overview of the attributes that you have in your handout Steve You get a handout Of course only have time to wet your appetite just barely enough time to point you to areas of further study But I hope to give you a glimpse even just a glimpse of the vastness That is his glory his person his divine self And I wish that I said this to Keith before he walked out of here, but what perfect song choices Knowing that we were going to be talking about the attributes of God this evening very worshipful I'm not sure there's a complete agreed upon list of the attributes of God and in fact I know there's not but I've seen quite a few some shorter some longer Many similarities some differences, but the one I printed out for you is one of my favorites And it's taken from a terrific study series put out by Ligonier ministries and led by dr.

Steve Lawson Before we say a few words about the attributes on the list. Let me point out some things Generally speaking about God's attributes as a whole Some of God's attributes are called incommunicable Attributes, it's a big word. I'll explain it in a minute some of God that God's attributes are called incommunicable attributes and others are called communicable attributes What does that mean?

Well God's? incommunicable attributes such as his Creatability his unchanging nature and his omniscience his all-knowing nature belong to him alone No one shares those attributes God's communicable attributes on the other hand such as love and wisdom Find their fullest expression in him, but they can also be displayed on a smaller scale Perhaps to a lesser degree by his human image barriers does that make sense? Some of his attributes are his alone others.

He shares with us and we can display them to a lesser degree in a smaller scale Here's something else God's attributes are not independent of one another but they are in connect the interconnected These divine attributes are present in the entire Godhead. They are possessed by all three persons of the Trinity The father does not have attributes that do not also belong to the Holy Spirit or the Son and the same can be said of all three Each of these attributes is off has always belonged to God and will always belong to him God neither gains nor loses attributes. It doesn't mean that this list is finite.

I haven't listed This list again, you could probably find a list with some other attributes that aren't on here, but whatever lists Whatever attributes that may not be on our list. They're not new. They're also eternally belonging to God He neither gains nor loses attributes and none of his attributes ever weaken or get stronger. They are always full and undiluted Those who claim that God is different in the Old Testament and New Testament simply misunderstand the nature of divine attributes Bible says he's the same yesterday today and forever. Amen Each attribute characterizes every other attribute.

For example each attribute Also has a deity. We'll talk a little bit about a deity self existence. They're each eternal and self existing with God Also, his wrath for instance is holy his sovereignty is wise does that make sense? See what I mean how they characterize each other Think of it this way Complex beings have separate identifiable parts but what scientific and classified as a simple being does not and This may sound counterintuitive and make you cringe, but God is classified as a simple being doesn't mean he's simple-minded But what it means is it's impossible to divide him into parts You can't separate his goodness from his wisdom from his wrath.

Does that make sense? Instead each attribute describes the others another example is God's holiness is immutable It's omnipotent and it's eternal Also God's attributes have crucial implications for our day-to-day lives This is not purely an academic or intellectual subject rather an accurate understanding of God is Foundational if we desire to know him to serve him and to become like him Only when we know God can we truly worship him Brother Chris is fond of saying so what? In other words, we've got all this information about God's attributes, but but what is the point? How are we to respond to this information?

How does it apply to you to me and to us? The answer is that got knowledge of God's attributes provokes us to worship It keeps us humble and anchored as we minister in his name and proclaim his truth to others All right, got your list You can you can look at your list now. We're gonna run through it kind of quickly again We can't do an exhaustive study and our limited time tonight. I just want you to get a taste I just want you to come away with a desire to to know more to know him more and better So I'm gonna say a bit about the first one then less about others and still less about the rest Not because they aren't all important.

They are they're all Very important, but just for the sake of time The first one is it says God is self-existent the Latin I say That's where you get the characteristic of aseity He has life in himself and depends on no one Dr. Lawson says of God's many distinct attributes one of the most difficult for finite human beings to come to terms with is his aseity or his self existence Unlike us God has neither beginning nor end and he is not dependent upon anyone or anything Not only is the aseity or self existence of God one of the most difficult attributes to understand It's also one of the most fascinating ones to study You might end up spending most of your study time with your mouth mouth hanging open in in astonishment God has existed forever He has no beginning and no end And think about this.

It's it's possible for us. Maybe using our finite minds to imagine something never having an end something lasting forever in the future But it's impossible for us to conceive of something or someone never started Never having a beginning Why is that? I think it's probably because everything else we know about Everything in our lives has a beginning Everything we know has a starting point everything we know was made or caused by something else everything except God Who has no beginning no starting point and no cause? That's just wow God also has need of nothing his Self-existence his aseity means he has need of nothing.

He is perfectly complete within himself What does that mean? It means he didn't create Because he had a need to create he created simply because it pleased him and he wanted to do it AW Pink said God was under no constraint no obligation No necessity to create that he chose to do so was purely a sovereign act on his part caused by nothing outside of himself Determined by nothing but his own mere good pleasure Fascinating stuff number two. God is spiritual now again.

I'm not gonna spend as much time on all of these He doesn't have a material body and is transcendent the Bible does sometimes Describe God in anatomical terms, but it does so only in a figurative sense We we read in the Bible about the hand of God we read about the eyes of God running to and fro We hear about God's strong right arm and in God's ears He speaks of himself in such a way due to our limited ability to understand not because he is limited by a physical body Number three God is sovereign. He rules over all things with absolute control Regarding the sovereignty of God dr.

Lawson says resounding throughout the pages of Scripture is a proclamation that God is king and the Concept most closely associated with his kingship is his sovereignty to say that God is sovereign is not to say merely that he is Stronger than everyone else although that is true Rather to call him sovereign is to ascribe to him a rule and authority that transcends space and time leaving nothing outside its scope Abraham Kuyper adds There's not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ who is sovereign overall does not cry mine and I love what RC Sproul said about the absolute sovereignty of God Listen to this RC said I like to explain it this way if there's one molecule in the universe run and loose Outside of the control of God's sovereignty what I like to call one maverick molecule Then the practical implication for us as Christians is that we have no guarantee whatsoever That any future promise of God or any future promise God has made to his people will come to pass If we have one maverick molecule running loose out there We have no assurance whatsoever that this single molecule may not be the grain of sand in the machinery of God's eternal plan It may be the thing that runs them up and makes it impossible ultimately for Christ to return to this planet It may be the thing that destroys any hope for the consummation of the kingdom of God Leaving all those promises of God unfulfilled listen there are no maverick molecules in a universe where God is sovereign Not one not a molecule in the universe is outside the sovereign control of God psalm 115 3 says our God is in the heavens.

He does all that he pleases In Ephesians 1 11 we read in him We have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will Nothing is outside of his sovereign control The doctrine of God's sovereignty is probably the most comforting doctrine the most comforting Attribute in all of scripture for a believer Charles purges and say when you go through a trial the sovereignty of God is The pillow on both upon which you lay your head Let me say that again when you go through a trial the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head Because God is sovereign over all things You can sleep well at night knowing that he is awake and on the throne and right there with you Fully in charge of the situation.

What a comfort that is Fourth God is holy. He is pure blameless and flawless in all of his being Remember what Isaiah heard the angels calling out to one another in Isaiah chapter 6 They called out to one another saying holy Holy holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory in Hebrew writing repeating something like that three times in a row indicates the highest possible level of emphasis Repeating something twice was a common tool to provide emphasis Christ often said remember this truly truly I say unto you and things of that nature and those listening automatically understood what Christ was about to say was extremely important Well repeating something three times Raised the bar of emphasis to an even greater degree to the highest possible degree And RC Sproul often pointed out to you that Isaiah didn't hear the angels calling out mercy mercy mercy or love love love But holy holy holy is the Lord God of hosts That doesn't mean God isn't filled with mercy.

Of course. He is it doesn't mean that God isn't filled with love Of course, he is the Bible even says point blank God is love But it does mean that the point of the emphasis is the holiness of God. He is holy holy holy Number five God is on the present Everywhere present he is boundless present in all places at once Consider this there is not a single square inch in the entire universe where God is not Now think further about this He's everywhere all at once and he is in all places in all of his fullness And all of his full attention in Every square inch of the universe.

He isn't spread thin All of him is in every spot in the universe That's a stunning truth and I hope you'll spend some time pondering that Number six God is omniscient. He knows all things God knows Everything all the time now we've heard these omnis we've all heard since little little children almost and maybe in Sunday school But I want you to think about this omniscient a bit He knows everything all the time He doesn't have to remind himself of anything.

He doesn't have to think about anything to come to a conclusion Nothing has ever occurred to God He's never been surprised by anything Believers can take comfort that he knows everything about everything that you're going through or will go through Unbelievers should be terrified because he knows everything about you every sin you've committed Every word you've said every thought that pops into your head You cannot escape and you should turn to Christ and be saved God is omnipotent he is all powerful Charge Charles hodge says we can do very little God can do whatever he wills We beyond very narrow limits must use means to accomplish our ends with God means are Unnecessary.

He simply wills it and it is done He said let there be light and there was light He by a simple act of his will created the heavens and the earth at the will of Christ the winds ceased And there was a great calm By an act of the will he healed the sick opened the eyes of the blind and raised the dead the simple idea of omnipotence of God that he can do without effort and By simply by an act of his will whatever he wills is the highest conceivable idea of power and It is that which is clearly presented in scriptures close quote Not only is God all-powerful meaning there's nothing he cannot do By the way except contradict his own nature God cannot lie for example But other than contradict his nature, there's nothing he cannot do but think about this now But not only that when he does do something he expends no energy doing it Chris mentioned this Sunday when he talked about rest God didn't rest on the seventh day because he needed a break God never grows weary.

He never needs to recharge. He's always full of omnipotence Wow Number eight God is immutable. He never Changes like we said he's the same yesterday today and forever. Remember that he never had to resort to plan B There is no plan B He never changes Number nine God is truthful. He speaks accurately and authoritatively Puritan Thomas Watson said The truth of God is a great pillar for our faith We're not he a God of truth. How could we believe him our faith were?

Fancy, but he is the truth itself and not a word which he has spoken shall fall to the ground What God says is true in its deepest sense of truth How important is that in the day we live in today? How difficult Keith and I were talking to before service how difficult if not impossible it is to find a source of truth about anything outside the Word of God number 10 he is wise He enacts his perfect will by the highest ends and the most perfect means And I really wish me.

I'm sorry We just don't have time to really delve into these and look at the scriptural backgrounds for all of these But I hope you'll take that hand out that and trace those scriptural references and really prayerfully study these attributes Number 11 God is good and he deals bountiously with his creatures Dr. Lawson said this about God's goodness.

It is not uncommon for those who face pain and hardship in this life to doubt the goodness of God But the clear message of Scripture is that God is uniquely good and they that he is the measure for everything we call good Considered together with his wisdom and power Christians can be assured that God not only desires to reveal his goodness But is able to accomplish his good plan in the best possible way some Guy whose name I can't really pronounce will I'm just gonna call him will him brackle, but that's not right will help us Brackle further said the goodness of God is the loveliness The benign character the sweetness the friendliness the kindness the generosity of God Goodness is the very essence of God's being listen to this even if there were no creature to whom this could be manifested God doesn't have to display his goodness to be good.

It's his his goodness is who he is 12 God is gracious He freely bestows salvation on undeserving sinners We could camp out right here And spend the rest of the year talking about this, but I promise I won't Just three little things Ephesians 2 8 9 says for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing It's the gift of God and not a result of work so that no one may boast If you're sitting here tonight as a believer who's been born again.

It's a gift of God you had nothing to do with it God in his grace bestowed life on you who were dead in your trespasses and sins Martin Luther said of God's grace quote faith is a living unshakable confidence in God's grace It is so certain that someone would die a thousand times for it This kind of trust in and knowledge of God's grace makes a person joyful confident and happy with regard to God and all creatures and In Spurgeon said repentance was never yet produced in any man's heart apart from the grace of God and 13 God is loving he demonstrates Selfless love for his children and again I'll point you to the scripture references on that sheet for the sake of time Number 14 I do want to talk about this one a minute God is for knowing he has known and and loved his people from all eternity Sproul says this God knows both the micro and the macro dimensions of the entire universe He numbers the very hairs of our heads Not only does he know what we will do before we do it But also he knows all the options we could have chosen at the moment He knows all contingencies yet God's knowledge of contingencies is not Self-contingent not itself contingent his foreknowledge is perfect and absolute He is not a great chess player who must wait and see what we will do But he knows absolutely what we will do before we do it before a word is even formed on our lips He knows it all together John Calvin said when we attract when we attribute foreknowledge to God We mean that all things always were and perpetually remain under his eyes so that to his knowledge, there's nothing future or past but all things are present and They are present in such a way that he not only Conceased them through ideas but truly looks upon them and discerns them as things placed before him and Lastly God is righteous in wrath He loves purity and punishes impurity Jonathan Edwards long considered the greatest American theologian Wrote these words.

There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God there is hell's wide gaping mouth open and You have nothing to stand upon nor anything to take hold of there's nothing between you and hell but the air It is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up What a frightening and sober sentence or two that is But John Piper points out this the wisdom of God Devised a way for the love of God to deliver sinners from the wrath of God while not compromising the righteousness of God Hallelujah So forgive me for just Glancing over so much of this it deserves much more attention It deserves your attention and your prayerful study and I hope you'll do that Why why why do that?

What is our so what here? Well? To make you stand in all of him or to fall on the ground in all of him To increase your worship of the only one who is worthy of your worship in the beginning God I Pray you will yearn to know the God who was there in the beginning Let's pray Lord We are so unworthy of your kindness and mercy we're so Unworthy that you would desire for us to know you and that you would reach out and communicate who you are first through creation And then through the words of Scripture for us But we're grateful Lord, I pray that we none of us would take it for granted You want us to know you and?

So may we be driven by desire to know you more deeply more intimately May we Lord be determined to study the Lord Jesus Christ to know about the Father and the Spirit and the Son And may all of it cause us to just stand with our mouths hanging open at your Unsearchable majesty your incomprehensible glory Lord even if we when we spend all eternity with you we will never Stop learning about your glory and your goodness and your majesty and your kindness Thank you in Jesus name amen