BIBLE DOCTRINE ILECTURE 19

THEOLOGY: THE NATURAL ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

The following are excerpts from Robert Sargeant’s ebook “Landmark’s of Baptist Doctrine”Pastor Warner’s comments (or others) are in brackets

Because finite man is incapable of comprehending the essence of an infinite Being, God reveals or “explains” Himself through His attributes. For us, it is difficult to distinguish between the attributes and the essence of God. [They may overlap; it is just man’s feeble attempt to ‘explain God’.] The attributes of God are defined as those essential, permanent, and distinguishing characteristics which may be affirmed of His being. Another definition states the attributes of God are “those perfections of His divine being which are declared in scripture or are visibly exercised by Him in His works of creation and redemption.”

There have been various attempts to classify the attributes of God. They generally fall into two classifications: “natural and moral,” or “communicable and incommunicable,” or “positive and negative,” or “absolute and relative.” The natural attributes of God are those which pertain uniquely and exclusively to His very existence. They cannot be communicated to any other created being. These attributes are His: Unity; Trinity; Self-Existence; Omniscience; Omnipotence; Omnipresence; Eternality; Immutability. [These terms are not specifically found in the Bible (except for ‘immutability’ on one occasion), but do explain well the ‘concept’ that the Bible teaches, respectively.] The previous lecture considered the Unity and the Trinity of God. This lecture will concern itself with the remaining six natural attributes.

I. The Self-Existence of GodIt is not correct to say that God is the cause of Himself. The existence of God does not have to be accounted for. [Did God ever not exist? Will He always exist? Does He require anything to keep Him existing? ‘No, Yes, No.’]

A. What do we mean by the ‘self-existence’ of God?We mean that God is absolutely independent of all else but Himself for the continuity and perpetuity of His being. God is “self-sustaining.” He is the first cause, Himself un-caused.

[We may mean by all this that God has always existed, and requires or required no-one else for His existence; He didn’t come from a long lineage of previous ‘gods’; God will always exist, and can never not exist; no-one can ‘kill God’; He doesn’t grow old and someday die.]

B. The self-existence of God stated“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” (Exodus 3:14)“..the Father hath life in himself.” (John 5:26)The Name Jehovah means “I AM that I AM,” or literally, “The self-existent One.”

[Isa 44:6 Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.]

II. The Omniscience of GodThis means that God is “all-knowing”. Omniscience is “infinity in relation to intelligence”.

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[Is there anything that God does not know? Does God already know all things that are going to happen in the future? On any given moment time, does God know everything that is going on, has gone on, and will go one for eternity? Did Jesus Christ know all things when He was on Earth? What is one thing that some say that Jesus does not know? ‘No, Yes, Yes, No (limited Himself, but had full access to it, it never left His ‘being’), the Rapture date’.]

The Bible teaches that God is all-knowing and absolutely perfect in knowledge: “0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33) “Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?” (Job 37:16)

A. General examples of God’s omniscience1. “…God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things”. (I John 3:20)[God is so much greater than us; so, we need to understand that we cannot understand Him, nor how much He knows… which is everything! Just how much is there to know?!...]

2. “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” (Acts15:18) [God has always known all things; 100 Trillion years ago, God knew that you would do what you just did 10 seconds ago! Since God knew that mankind would treat Him so bad, why did He go ahead and create it?!... His love.]“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” (Isaiah 46:9,10)[Might God block His knowledge of everything that you are going to do so that it wouldn’t be so ‘predictable’?]

B. Particular examples of God’s omniscience1. God Knows All About His Creation. Ps 147:4-5 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.Matt 10:29-30 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.2. God Knows Every Action Of Man. Ps 139:2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.Prov 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.3. God Knows Every Thought. Ps 94:11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.1 Chron 28:9 ..for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts:…[God is always totally aware of each and every one of your thoughts; be careful….]

III. The Omnipotence of GodThis means that God is “all-powerful.” [Is there anything that God can’t do? Can He make a rock that is too big for Him to pick up? Take all the power of the universe (atomic energy, man’s weaponry, fallen angels power, etc) and how does it compare to God’s power? ‘Yes (can’t sin or go against His nature, His will, or what He has promised); Unanswerable; no comparison at all!]

This attribute refers to God’s unlimited power by which He can bring everything to pass which He wills. It does not mean He can do (or does) anything contrary to His will. Omnipotence is “infinity in relation to energy.”

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A. The fact of God’s omnipotence stated“…With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Mt 19:26)“I know that thou canst do every thing” Job 42:2. “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” (Gen 18:14)“Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.” (Jeremiah 32:17)[Can God destroy the entire universe in a spoken word?! Can God create an entirely new universe without breaking a sweat? ‘Yes, Yes!’ The above verses need, of course, to be taken in context to who God is; God can not sin.]

The total volume of the Sun is 1.4 x 1027 cubic meters. You could fit 1.3 million Earths inside the Sun with room to spare.The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) site estimates there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe, each with their own sun (most of which are estimated to be much larger than the earth’s sun). A recent German super-computer simulation estimates that the number may be as high as 500 billion! The Milky Way Galaxy is 100,000 Light Years in diameter. The next closest galaxy to ours is 2.2 Million Light Years away!

B. Examples of God’s omnipotence in nature1. God’s Creative Power Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth.Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.[How do you create something from nothing?! The evolutionists out there stumble at the thought of such a power.]2. God’s Sustaining Power Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.[It may very well be that as Biologists examine the energy components of an ‘atom’, that they will (if given enough time) finally come to God as the ultimate source; they have discovered what they call Gluons, Quarks, etc. (Quantum Chromodynamics / Physics). As space seems endless, so might be the other direction…microscopically.][John Negele (top Physicist at MIT) [describes] how scientists are using supercomputers and a concept called lattice field theory to figure out the behavior of quarks and gluons, the smallest known particles."The quest to understand the fundamental building blocks of nature has led to the exploration of successive layers of worlds within worlds," says Negele.The force between two quarks becomes larger as they move farther apart, whereas the force between a nucleus and an electron, or two nucleons in a nucleus, grows weaker as their separation increases. None of the analytical techniques used to successfully solve atomic and nuclear physics problems can be used to analyze quarks and gluons.Instead, physicists use lattice field theory to study these interactions. Using large supercomputers, researchers can analyze Quarks and Gluons by representing space-time by a four-dimensional lattice of discrete points, like a crystal.The calculations are being performed by computers specially built for this purpose, such as the 360-teraflop BlueGene/L at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. (Science Daily 2/23/2008)]

[How does God destroy the whole universe?.... He may just simply ‘let go’!]

3. God’s Controlling Power Ps 107:25,29 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.Nah 1:5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

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Dan 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

IV. The Omnipresence of GodThis means God is “everywhere present.” It does not mean that God is everything (Pantheism). Because He is a Spirit, He is not something material. It has been asked, “Where is God?” Where is He not? [Omnipresence is “infinity in relation to space.” God is not controlled by the 3 dimensions that we understand as space; He is outside of space…and time…but how can this be?!... Is God in that rock? in the ground your standing on? in the sky? Yes, because God is everywhere. But, the rock, ground, or sky does not in of itself contain God…i.e., all of God. Is God in Hell? His presence is there, but not His whole Being. And, He is

definitely not suffering in Hell.]

A. The fact of God’s omnipresence statedPs 139:7-10 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.

‘God’s center is everywhere, His circumference nowhere.’

B. The omnipresence of God qualified: [Can God really be two places at one time? Can God be in Heaven and

here on Earth? Is Jesus Christ both on the right hand of the Father and in our hearts at the same time?]He is manifestly present in some places in a way in which He is not present in other places.

1 Kings 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?Acts 7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.[Jesus is God; God cannot be contained by the universe; Jesus is said to have left earth and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (the Father).]

V. The Eternality of GodA. What is Eternity?Eternity means infinite duration; endless existence with no beginning. [Everlasting and eternal have similar meanings.]

B. The eternality of God statedPs 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place,

[It hurts the mind to think of eternality! To think back trillions and trillions of years, and know that God existed back then, and always had existed…never began. And, then on the reverse side, God/we will always exist, never ceasing, forever and ever…Praise the Lord it will be in Heaven (if you are indeed saved)! And, time will be no more…

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1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. We have eternal life. But, we did/do not have eternal existence.]

VI. The Immutability of GodThis means that God is “unchangeable.” It is that perfection of God whereby He is completely and fully perfect in all His being and attributes, and thereby, ultimately unchangeable.

A. The Immutability of God stated“For I am the LORD, I change not” —Malachi 3:6. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” Hebrews 13:8.

B. The Repentance of GodIf God cannot change, why does the Bible say God repents?Ex 32:11a,14 And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people,… And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.The reason is that God’s repentance is anthropomorphic. The word “repent” means ‘a change of mind resulting in a change of course,’ and does not always have to do with sin and salvation. He may change His mind in relation to our (man’s) viewpoint, but not His own. For, He already knew all of this prior. He is doing it for our benefit. He wants us to challenge Him in prayer and faith…which could cause Him to change what He started off to do…but, all along, knowing and planning for this event of ‘repenting’.God is never going to repent (change His mind) on the lost burning forever and ever in Hell or allowing the saved to be in His presence for ever and ever. We might go back on our promises, but God will never.

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