God’s Attributes (Part 4)
God’s Attributes (Part 4)
As I prepared for this lesson I came across a statement that I thought was worth sharing. It goes as follows:
“Sadly, it is not merely children who are ignorant of God’s attributes. Many people in the world today go through life with a very vague notion of who God is. If they think about Him at all, they do not think about Him rightly. And even those who ascribe attributes to Him, do not always ascribe biblical ones. Some may think of Him as loving, but not judging. Others think of Him as full of wrath, but not full of grace. Still others may think he is wise, but not powerful. And this is true even of those within the church.
Ignorance of God’s attributes is no small thing. It has profound effects. How can our hearts be gripped by the glory of God if we are ignorant of who He is? How can our lives be transformed by His grace if we remain ignorant of it? How can we passionately preach that Christ loves us and saves us from the wrath of God, unless we have a true understanding of both God’s wrath and His love?”
It is for this reason I wanted to share with you these lessons on God’s amazing and awesome attributes. I want you to be awed by Him, I want you to revere Him. I even want you fear Him, because as Solomon put it after a life time of trying to figure what life is all about, he said to
“Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecc 12:12-14)
So far we’ve talked about His unlimited omnipotent power and soverignity. There is no one like Him with the ability to create and sustain the all that has ever been made like Him. And also because He has always existed and stands outside the constraints of the dimension of time, He is omnipresent – or present everywhere in all moments of time, and therefore He is all knowing because absolutely nothing is hidden from Him.
In our last lesson we talked about something very special and unique about our Lord and our God. It’s something which defines much of who He is and how He acts. And that was the fact that our God is absolutely, absolutely HOLY.
Now the fact that He is so Holy leads me today to talk about how His holiness influences other aspects of His personality and other attributes that we read about in Scripture.
For example, because He is absolutely Holy He will always, always be absolutely righteous in all ways. He simply can’t do anything wrong because He is always right. The author of Psalm 71 wrote in 15ff;
“My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long—though I know not how to relate them all. 16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. 17 Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. 18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come. 19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, you who have done great things. Who is like you, God?
Psalm 97:1-2 says; “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. 2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.”
Ps 145 17 states, “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.”
Whatever He does is always the right thing, whether we agree or understand it or not.
And because He is perfectly Holy and Righteous He is also always faithful and true. As we just saw in Ps. 145 it stated that “the Lord is faithful in all that He does.” Also In Psalm 71:22 David wrote, “I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.”
Another Psalmist wrote in 89:8, “Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.”
And regarding God always being true the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:19-20 “19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in Him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
If God said it, you can be sure it’s going to be true because He Himself is absolutely faithful and true.
And because He is Holy, and righteous, and perfectly faithful and true, He is also perfectly JUST in His dealings.
Before Moses died he wrote a song and the words are recorded for us in Deut. 32. In verses 3-4 he sings “ I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! 4 He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.”
Our God has no hidden agendas, He will never falsely accuse someone, He is always fair. But as you know there is the hard side of justice. Sometimes the judge has to condemn those who are guilty of breaking the law. And God will not break His own Holy and righteous laws.
Paul gives a stern warning in Romans 2:5-11 concerning God’s judgment;“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.”
So because God is faithful and true to His own word, He is also obligated to be a fair judge, even if the judgment dictates someone being condemned.
Yes God love everyone and want to see everyone in heaven, but to be true to Himself and His own Righteousness and Holiness, He has to hold true to His word and who He is.
I think we’d be in a pretty scary predicament if there wasn’t more to the story, by sending Jesus to save us. For Paul also reminds us that we all sin and are guilty and fall short of the Glory of God.
But thank God, He is also GRACIOUS AND GOOD AND LOVING AND MERCIFUL AND PATIENT. I hate lumping all these together because each of are amazing attributes of our wonderful God, but without these awesome qualities, we would all be lost.
Listen to what Peter writes in his amazing epistle 2 Peter 3:3-15
“Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation.”
God not only created all, He is also patiently waiting wanting as many of us as possible to come to Him and be saved and brought into His kingdom before He destroys and wipes away the physical universe as we know it to usher in something better – “a new heaven and new earth”..
God is good, and patient, and merciful, and He loves us. And we should thank Him, and praise Him, and honor Him with our lives every day.
These words of Peter were some of the last words recorded by him in his second letter. After warning us about what is to come and how we should live, he ends his letter by writing this “17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. (Yes it is possible to walk away or fall out of God’s grace. But he continues and says…) 18 But grow in the grace (or LOVE) and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
And to that, I can add much more to this today! Do your best to grow in your love of God as well as your knowledge of Him. And as you do so, try to become more like Him, living holy, godly lives, and be filled with hope because what is to come.
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