Attributes
In thinking of Who God is, it is often helpful to try to understand not only His triune nature, but also His character. These attributes should cause us to stand in awe before Him in utter worship. As stated before, we will only examine those attributes of God which are not communicated to His creation, although a more thorough study of those other attributes such as love, justice, joy, etc. would educate and enrich the reader. We will therefore focus on six such characteristics: self-existence, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, immutability and eternality.[1]
Self-Existence: God is the only Being in all existence Who is utterly self-existent, having no need of anything or anyone outside of Himself, in no way dependent on anything for His pleasure or existence.[2]
Pertinent Scriptures:
- v Acts 17:24-25 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things…
- v Job 41:11 Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.
- v Psalm 50:10-12 For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and all it contains.
Omniscience can be a hot topic in certain circles these days. According to God’s self-revelation, omniscience refers to God’s possession of all wisdom of past, present and future contingencies and actualities. He not only knows what has happened, but what could happen and what certainly will happen. His knowledge of the past, present and future is therefore absolute, certain and exhaustive.
The Biblical text is therefore directly contrary to that rather recent theory which is called “open theism.” This ideology believes that the nature of the future is such that absolute knowledge of all outcomes is incompatible with human freedom. Therefore, open theists claim that God is limited (either by nature or choice) in what He knows of the future. In response to this theory, we would certainly claim that the nature of God trumps any supposed understanding of the nature of future. God surely and decisively knows not only what might happen, but what will surely happen.
Pertinent Scriptures:
- v Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’.
- v 1 John 3:20b … God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
- v Psalm 139:4,16 Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it all… Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.
Omnipotence is the ability of God to accomplish His entire purpose in the heavens and the earth. We serve a God Who is not only powerful, but indeed all-powerful. While a more thorough exposition of the topic will be undertaken in subsequent posts on Reformed theology, may it suffice for now to maintain that God is ultimately and decisively sovereign over all things.
Pertinent Scriptures:
- v Psalm 115:3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.
- v Psalm 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.
- v Daniel 4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
Omnipresence is the doctrine which refers to God’s ability to exercise His sovereign will at any place or multiple places, at any time. Since God is spirit (John 4:24) we should not conceive of Him as being spatially located.[3] Thus, we can say that God is unlimited with respect to space.[4]
Pertinent Scriptures:
- v Psalm 139:7-8 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
- v Jeremiah 23:24 “Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?” declares the LORD “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
Immutability is the doctrine which refers to God’s unchangeableness. While this doctrine is sometimes expressed in confusing fashions, it is most properly understood to indicate that God is unchanging in four specific regards: his being, perfections, purposes and promises.[5]
The question then arises as to whether or not God ever changes His mind or repents. The problem comes up in passages such as Exodus 32:9-14 and Isaiah 38:1-6 in which Moses’ and Hezekiah’s prayers respectively seem to change God’s intended plans. It is also seen in God being grieved at creating man (Genesis 6:6) and making Saul king (1 Samuel 15:10-11). As we discussed under omniscience, open theism attempts to explain these passages by insisting that God is somehow limited in His knowledge of the future and therefore His mind truly changes as circumstances dictate.
However difficult texts such as the above appear to be, we need not strip God of His sovereignty in order to understand them. Rather, it is preferable to read them in the light of such passages as:
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
1 Samuel 15:29 Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.[6]
From these passages, we see that change and repentance are characteristics which are limited to God’s creation. God is immune to and unacquainted with change in the ways in which we experience it. At the same time, God is immanent in this world and works within time and place. As times and places change, so does God’s unchanging response to those things. This is seen in the story of Jonah in which Jonah proclaimed that Ninevah would be judged and yet the repentance of the city led to God’s mercy being displayed. In some sense, it could be said that God changed His mind, but, ultimately, the narrative should be seen as an indication of God’s eternal and unchanging purpose to bring Ninevah to repentance.
Pertinent Scriptures:
- v Malachi 3:6 For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
- v James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
Eternality: God is eternal, having “no beginning, end, or succession of moments in his own being” and seeing “all time equally vividly” yet also seeing “events in time and acts in time.”[7]
Time as humans understand and experience it, is a created measurement. As being the Creator, God therefore stands not only above, but also beyond and outside of time. He sees past, present and future all together. All of history is therefore equally present in God’s awareness.
At the same time (no pun intended), God acts within time. This is clear from the Biblical narrative in which God acts in an orderly manner at various times and in various places. As Galatians 4:4-5 and Acts 17:30-31 indicate, it seems as if time itself was awaiting for the birth of the Savior and all time thus revolves around that event.
Pertinent Scriptures:
- v Psalm 90:2-4 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
- v Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
- v John 8:58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
- v 2 Peter 3:8 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.
[1] We realize that some of these attributes are listed in various theologies as being communicable. For example, omniscience is sometimes said to be merely an absolute form of the communicated attribute which is reason or wisdom. While this argument is valid, we simply view the absolute nature of the attribute as lending it to the category of incommunicable.[2] Sometimes called aseity (”from himself”). This self-existence and lack of need does not therefore imply that God is distant from His creation. As Wayne Grudem has said, “God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify him and bring him joy.” – Grudem, Systematic Theology, page 160.[3] This statement refers to the Father, Spirit and pre-incarnate Son. Since Christ’s incarnation, He has mysteriously taken on human nature in such a way that without compromising His omnipresence, He has also restricted Himself to physical position. Currently He is seated at the right hand of the Father awaiting His return (Hebrews 10:12).
[4] “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.” – Grudem, Systematic Theology, page 173
[5] These words are used by both Louis Berkhoff and Wayne Grudem in their individual works, both entitled Systematic Theology.
[6] It is important to note that this very passage is given in the context of God’s rejection of Saul as king, indeed just 18 verses removed from God’s declaration!
[7] Grudem, Systematic Theology, page 168.
