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KNOW GOD Powell 23 Know God Part 4: the Attributes of God (Section A

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KNOW GOD Powell 23 Know God Part 4: the Attributes of God (Section A Know God Part 4: The Attributes of God (Section A) THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD REVEAL THE BEING AND THE CHARACTER OF GOD + God would not be knowable unless He made himself known As we have studied in previous portions of this study, God has revealed Himself to humanity through: creation, His acts of power, the Person of Christ, and in His Word the Bible. God has not chosen to reveal all of Himself to humanity, and truly even if God wanted to reveal all of Himself to us, He couldn’t. The reason He could not fully reveal Himself would not be because a lack of anything on His part, but we as created beings could not possibly perceive His vastness. The hidden things belong to the LORD our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law. -Deuteronomy 29:29 HCSB emphasis added THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD’S BEING + God’s Aseity Aseity speaks of God’s self-existence. The word Aseity is derived from the Latin word aseite meaning “of oneself.” God’s Aseity means that God exists in and of himself. God’s needs no cause because He is self-existent, and God needs no explanation for His existence because He is eternally self-existent. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. -John 1:1 HCSB emphasis added + God’s Necessity Necessity speaks of God’s function as a being and the impossibility of His nonexistence. Because of God’s Aseity (self-existence) He is in need of no-thing. Because he is self-existent, He needs no cause or explanation for His existence. God is dependent on no-thing. The opposite of necessary beings would be contingent beings. By nature, contingent beings are dependent on a necessary cause. God’s Necessity is illustrated in the following argument: KNOW GOD Powell 23 1. Both God and the world exist 2. God exists if the world does not exist 3. The world does not exist if God does not exist 4. God existence is a necessary existence God’s existence is necessary and does not need a cause. Aristotle referred to the first cause as the Unmoved Mover. Aristotle based his argument on the realization that all causes have a cause, and the only way to avoid an infinite regress is a transcendent causer (A unmoved mover.) Therefore, God’s necessity reveals the fallacy of the question, “who created God?” If God was created, he would be a contingent being and would not be God, but necessary beings do not need a creator. Because God is a necessary being, His nonexistence is not possible. If all things are from Him and in Him, His nonexistence is not possible. Without God’s existence there would be nothing. + God’s Infinity Infinity is not a “BIG” number; infinity is a principle meaning without limits. Any number can be added to, subtracted from, multiplied by, or divided. Infinity cannot be added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided. Infinity is limitless. Infinity has no beginning or ending it just is. To say that God is infinite is to say that God has no limits. In fact, to say God is big is not entirely true, because all big things have limits, but God is not “BIG,” He is infinite. Nothing in the universe is infinite: time has limits, space has limits, matter has limits, and energy has limits (finite.) The reason the universe is limited is because the universe is the result of a cause. Everything that is caused is limited by that cause. Since God is uncaused, He is not limited by a cause and is therefore infinite. Can you fathom the depths of God or discover the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. -Job 11:7-9 HCSB emphasis added KNOW GOD Powell 24 But will God indeed live on earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built. -1 Kings 8:27 HCSB emphasis added I will speak of Your splendor and glorious majesty and Your wonderful works. -Psalm 145:5 HCSB emphasis added Also, everything that is visible has a size or a limit to its space. Nothing that is infinite could possibly be visible. God is invisible, and therefore God is infinite. No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son the One who is at the Father’s side He has revealed Him. -John 1:18 HCSB emphasis added Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. -1 Timothy 1:17 HCSB emphasis added “Our God did not begin in time: He alone is without beginning, and He himself is the beginning of all things. God is Spirit, not pervading matter, but the Maker of material spirits, and of the forms that are in matter, He is invisible, impalpable, being Himself the Father of both sensible and invisible things. Him we know from creation, and apprehend His invisible power by His works.” –Tatian (AD 120-173) Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology p. 127-128 + God’s Immateriality Everything visible is made of matter and/or energy. As we have seen is invisible. To be immaterial is to not be made of matter. To say that is immaterial is another way of saying that God is an invisible spirit. God does not have a physical body. This is what the LORD says: Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house could you possibly build for Me? And what place could be My home? -Isaiah 66:1 HCSB emphasis added God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” -John 4:24 HCSB emphasis added The Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have not heard His voice at any time, and you haven’t seen His form. -John 5:37 HCSB emphasis added While, God is immaterial and invisible, the Bible teaches that His acts and power can be seen. KNOW GOD Powell 25 For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. -Romans 1:20 HCSB emphasis added Also, the Person of Christ is the visible Person of the invisible God. The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. -John 1:14 HCSB emphasis added He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. -Colossians 1:15 HCSB emphasis added Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. -Hebrews 1:1-3 HCSB emphasis added + God’s Omnipresence To say that God is Omnipresent, is to say that God is in all places at all times. Of course, all places are created God, so there can be no place He cannot be. Because God is invisible and infinite, there is nothing preventing God from being able to be in all places at all times. Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, even there Your hand will lead me; Your right hand will hold on to me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will be night” even the darkness is not dark to You. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to You. For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began. -Psalm 139:7-16 HCSB KNOW GOD Powell 26 For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ -Acts 17:28 HCSB emphasis added + God’s Immutability To say that God is immutable is to say that God is changeless in nature. God does not change, God does not grow old, get tired, or become bored. God just “is” and His “is-ness” is unchangeable. They will perish, but You will endure; all of them will wear out like clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will pass away.
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