We had a great Theology study this morning about our great God. For two weeks we are studying the attributes of God. Next week we are going to study the attributes that God shares with others. This morning we studied the attributes that belong to God alone. He shares these with none.
We studied 5 of these. God is 1. Independent; 2. Unchanging; 3. Eternal; 4. Everywhere Present; 5. Unified. Will you read one paragraph about each of these, beginning with Wayne Grudem’s (the author of our textbook) definition?
Independence. God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation glorify him and bring him joy. (ref. Acts 17:24-25; Job 41:11; Psalm 50:10-12). Both sides of this attribute are awesome. Our God is so great and powerful that he can exist totally by himself, but he allows his creation to bring him joy. I want to serve a God that is not like me. And I am thrilled that my worship brings him glory.
Unchanging. God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations. (ref. Psalm 102:25-27; Malachi 3:6; Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29). If God could change, he would either change for the better or for the worse. And that is all I am going to say about that. If you need explanation send me a message. The fact that God does not change means that we can trust his promises, they will not change.
Eternity. God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in his own being, and he sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time. (ref. Isaiah 46:9-10; Psalm 90:2; Job 36:26; Revelation 1:8; 4:8). There are two kinds of existence. We all live in time and space. God exists outside of time and space in eternity. Because God sees all time at once, he sees even the future that for us hasn’t been written yet. Depending on your trust in God this is either a very comforting statement or a horrifying one.
Omnipresence. God does not have size or spatial dimensions, and is present at every point of space with his whole being, yet God acts differently in different places. (ref. Deuteronomy 10:14; Jeremiah 23:23-24; Psalm 139:7-10). Just as God is unlimited or infinite with respect to time, so God is unlimited with respect to space. As David understood in Psalm 139, God is present to punish, to sustain, or to bless. Once again, how you feel about this attribute depends on your desire to be holy. Wholly his, or selfishly yours, it is your choice.
Unity. God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times. (ref. Compare 1 John 1:5 with 1 John 4:8). One attribute of God is not more important than the rest. God is not partly light, partly love, partly just, partly merciful, etc. God is all of these things completely. God is not loving at some point, or wrathful at some point. The little boys statement that Jesus is really nice but he has a mean father is far, far, from the truth.
This was a great study. But it was the study of a great God.
(the book, if you are interested is Grudem, Wayne, “Bible Doctrine; Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith, Zondervan, 1999 which is an abridgment of Grudem’s Systematic Theology Book)
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