"For our God is
a consuming fire" Heb 12:29, Deut. 4:24
Attributes of God-
Who is He, anyway?
Before we discuss anything else, I want you
to understand the world view I am coming from. To do this, I believe you
need to know exactly who and what I mean when I talk about God. I do not
want you to believe common misconceptions many have about Him: That everything
is God; that we are all God or gods, or can become so; that God is a stern,
grandfatherly figure with a beard and a white robe; that since God is love
everything is OK in the name of "love"; or that God is only angry and vengeful.
Therefore, I am making this feeble attempt to describe the nature of God.
As a finite, imperfect mortal, I could never hope to fully or perfectly
describe an infinite, perfect immortal like Him, but since He is knowable,
at least partly, I can try.
A. One God
First of all, there is only one God.
One. That's it. This can seem confusing, because of the Christian doctrine
of the Trinity, but that's another essay altogether. There is only one
being who can be described has having all of the following attributes or
characteristics, and that is God. He is a Person, with individuality, personality,
emotions (though not like our emotions), thoughts (also not like ours),
and actions. He is NOT an impersonal force or power "somewhere out there."
Deut. 6:4; Eph.
4:4-6
B. Omnipresent
This one God is everywhere. He has been
described as "A circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference
is nowhere." Acts 17:27 says,
"God is not far from each one of us." Psalm
139 proclaims, "If I go up to the heaves, you are there' if I make
my bed in the depths, you are there." John
4:24 tells us that "God is spirit." God can be everywhere because He
is pure Spirit and is not limited to time or space. He is in every place
and in every moment in time, all at once. Even Satan and the angels and
demons are confined to space/ time of a sort. The only place where God
is not is Hell, but that is not a lack of power. It is His choice to withdraw
from Hell and it is His absence that makes it Hell.
You must understand that this aspect of
God does NOT mean that God is everything, or that everything is God. The
Creator is by nature separate from His creation. I like to think of Him
as the space between atomic particles, or that He transcends the Heisenberg
Principle that says two things cannot occupy the same place at the same
time. For example, take a rock. I believe God is in the rock, through the
rock, around, beside, above and below the rock. But he is NOT the rock
itself.
C. Omniscient
God knows everything. From the number of
grains of sand to the number of hairs on your head, to the thoughts inside
that head. Everything that ever happened, is happening, or will happen,
God knows. Every thought and move of every person who ever lived, is living,
or will live, He knows.
Some people may have a problem with this
idea becuase of the question of Free Will- If God already knows everything
you will ever do, how can we say we have free will? Well, that, too, is
another essay, but it is enough to say here that just because God knows
what you're going to do tomorrow, doesn't mean He makes you do it. You
make you own choices, we all do. He just knows about them already.
Psa 139:1-4; 94:9;
147:4-5; 33:13-15;
Isa 55:8, 9; Prov.
15:11; I Sam 2:3; Eccl
12:14; Matt 6:8; 10:29-31;
Acts 1:24; 15:8;
I John 3:20; Heb
4:1; Rom 11:33-34
D. Omnipotent
E. Holy
F. Love
"God is love" 1
John 4:8, and perfect love at that. This is best described by the Greek
term agape, or unconditional love. God loves each and every one
of us equally, no matter what we do. "For God so loved the world that He
gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish,
but have eternal life." John 3:16.
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us." Rom.
5:8. He even loves Bill Clinton and Saddam Hussein. This love is a
decision of the will, not an emotion of the heart. God wants what's best
for all of us, and He knows better than us what is best for us to do or
be. He also wants our love in return. We show our love to Him by obeying
His commands. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
John 14:15. Then we can all be
with Him in heaven, just as He wants. "He is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2
Peter 3:9
Matt 22:27-40
G. Good
H. Truth
I. Faithful
God is always dependable and loyal. you can count on Him to be the
same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is always available for you to
talk to, to comfort and guide you. He will always do what He promises to
do.
Deut. 7:9;
Psa. 36:5, 89:8; 2
Tim. 2:13
J. Patient
K. Just
L. Wrathful
M. Jealous
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