Bible Study

The Attributes of God

STUDY INDEX
Page 1 - Introduction; God's Physical Attributes
Page 2 - God's Moral Contributes

Introduction

The Bible does not seek to prove that God exists. Rather, its authors wrote the Scriptures with the knowledge that He does exist. His attributes, for this study, are divided into two sections: physical and moral. His physical attributes describe such characteristics as His holiness, omnipresence, and unchangeableness. His moral attributes describe such characteristics as His love, mercy, compassion, patience and faithfulness. To the New Testament believer, God's final revelation of His attributes is found in Jesus Christ. If we want to understand fully who God is and what He is like, then we must look to Jesus, who was God in the flesh. Colossians 2:9 (KJV) states, "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." The writer of Hebrews writes, "In the past, God spoke to our forefathers at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." (Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV). Let us now begin our study by looking at God's physical characteristics, starting with His omnipresence.

His Physical Attributes

1. God is omnipresent.
He is present everywhere at the same time, observing and watching everything we do. David wrote, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." (Psalm 139:7-10 NIV). God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? 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." (Jeremiah 23:23-24 KJV). Both the writer of 2 Chronicles and Zechariah speak of the eyes of God which run to and fro throughout the whole earth. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." (2 Chronicles 16:9 KJV). Paul in his discourse to the people of Athens stated, "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us." (Acts 17:27 KJV). What a comfort to know that no matter where we go, He is always there with us, a "very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1 KJV).

2. God is omniscient.
God knows everything. He knows and sees our actions. He knows our thoughts, and He knows our heart. In 1 Samuel 16:7 (KJV), we read, "The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." The Psalmist wrote in 44:21 (KJV), "For He knoweth the secrets of the heart." David wrote in Psalm 139 (KJV), "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it." God also knows the future. He knows what is going to happen before it happens. Nothing surprises God, nor catches Him unaware. The Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, "Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them." (Isaiah 42:9 KJV). Peter, in his sermon during Pentecost, said that Jesus was delivered to be crucified "by the foreknowledge of God." (Acts 2:23 KJV).

The Bible teaches that God KNOWS the future, not that he PREDETERMINES the future. While He may know what is going to happen tomorrow, He is not a prisoner of His foreknowledge. He can alter the future and His purposes according to His divine will and wisdom. God was fustrated and angry at the people of Israel as He led them to the promised land because of their unbelief. God had planned on smiting them with a pestilence and disinheriting them, but Moses, interceding for the people, caused God to pardon them and change His plans. (Numbers 14:11-20). Hezekiah was sick and close to death. In prayer, he wept before God. God heard Hezekiah and healed him, adding 15 more years to his life. Some argue that God predetermines the future, specifically that it has been predetermined or predestined who will be saved and who will not. While God may KNOW who will be saved, He has not PREDETERMINED who will be. Jesus' call was to "whosoever will, come and take the water of life." It was foreordained that the Messiah would be betrayed, and that He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. It was not predetermined WHO this person would be. It could have been anyone, but it turned out to be Judas. When the Bible speaks of predestination, it refers to the church or to believers in associaton with the church. God has predestined His church to be (1) called (Romans 8:30); (2) justified (Romans 3:24); (3) glorified (Romans 8:30); (4) conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29); (5) holy and without blame (Ephesians 1:4); (6) adopted as children (Ephesians 1:5); (7) redeemed (Ephesians 1:7); (8) receivers of an inheritance (Ephesians 1:14); (9) for the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:12 and 1 Peter 2:9); (10) recipients of the Holy Ghost (Ephesians 1:13, Galatians 3:14 and Acts 2:4,16) and (11) created for good works (Ephesians 2:10).

3. God is omnipotent.
God is all powerful, and has the ultimate power and authority over all things. Jeremiah said, "Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made heaven and earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee." (Jeremiah 32:17 KJV). Writers throughout the Psalms proclaim,"We will sing and praise thy power..... The voice of the Lord is powerful and full of majesty..... My soul longs for thee, to see thy power and glory.... Great is our Lord, and of great power." Jesus and the angel Gabriel both remind us, "With God nothing is impossible" (Matthew 19:26 and Luke 1:37). While God has power and authority over all things, He does not always use His power and authority. For instance, God could use His power to destroy sin, all sickness and disease, etc., but will not do so until the end of time. In fact, God limits His power, or channels His power through us, according to each individuals' degree of submission to Him. Paul said to the church at Ephesus, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." (Ephesians 3:20 KJV). God is ultimately in control of this earth and all things happen under His permissive will, or at times through His direct involvement. But for now, Satan is the god of this world as it is in a state of rebellion against God. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:3 (KJV), "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

The world is full of wickedness, violence, injustice and cruelty. Men are lovers of their own selves, boastful, proud, and blasphemers. Under such circumstances, it is inconceivable that God is in direct control, that He desires or causes all suffering throughout the world, or that everything that happens is His perfect will. To the contrary, it is Jesus "who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." (Galatians 1:4 KJV). Paul said to Timothy that God desires "all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4 KJV). James adds to this, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." (James 1:13 KJV). As believers, we look forward to the day where God takes again direct control of the earth and puts in chains forever Satan and his followers (Revelation 20:10). Perhaps our own voices will be mixed with the great chorus in heaven proclaiming, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 11:15). The four and twenty elders will fall upon their faces before God and worship Him, and will say,"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign." (verse 16-17 NIV). "Then the end will come," Paul tells believers at Corinth, "when (Jesus) hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power." (1 Corinthians 15:24 NIV). Jesus has promised, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.... Write, for these words are true and faithful." (Revelation 21:4-5 KJV).

4. God is eternal
God has always existed. There was never a time when He did not exist. He is not bound by the limits of human time, and has neither beginning nor end. God referred to Himself as "I am" (Exodus 3:14; John 8:58) which reflects this attribute. Moses said of God, "Lord, thou hast been our dwellingplace in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God..... For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." (Psalm 90:1-2,4 KJV; See also 2 Peter 3:8). In Psalm 102:12, the Psalmist wrote, "But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance to all generations." Job added, "Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out." (Job 36:26 KJV). Jesus said in His great prayer during His final Passover, "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." (See also Ephesians 1:3-4, and 1 Peter 1:20).

5. God is holy and perfect.
God is righteous and in Him there is no sin. God cannot sin for it is not in His nature. James says, "God cannot be tempted with evil." (James 1:13 KJV). To Titus, Paul said that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). David said in Psalm 145:17 (KJV), "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Other writers of the Psalms tell us, "For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness..... Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy..... Exalt ye the Lord our God, for the Lord our God is holy" Peter exhorts us, "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter1: 15-16 KJV). Jesus commanded, "Be perfect, in as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48). Concerning Jesus, Paul said to the Hebrews that we have a High Priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Jesus was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15).

6. God is Triune.
God is one God who is manifested in three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully divine and equal to the other two; yet they are not three Gods, but one, fully and completely united in purpose. The creation story hints of the trinity, "And God said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness" (Genesis 1:26). "For there are three that bear record in heaven," John tells us. "The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." (1 John 5:7 KJV). "I and my Father are one," Jesus said, and "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 10:30, 14:9 KJV). Many scriptures mention all three persons of the Godhead. Jesus said, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26 KJV). When Jesus was baptized, all three persons of the trinity were manifested. Mark tells us in his gospel, "And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: and there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mark 19-11 KJV). Paul closed his second letter to the church at Corinth, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen." (2 Corinthians 13:14 KJV). Jude mentions the three persons of the trinity in his book, "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." (verses 20-21 KJV).