Who is God?
Wheatland Lodge • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewWho is God? A brief overview of some of God’s attributes.
Notes
Transcript
So, as I was thinking about our service today, and thinking about what we could focus on, I was reminded of part of a topic we have been focusing on as a church in the past two weeks. At our church, we’ve been talking about God - who He is and some of His attributes. So as I was thinking and praying about this, I felt impressed upon my heart to bring some of that today. So for the next few minutes, I’d like to look at Scripture with you, and consider a few different attributes of God.
An attribute is “a quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something.” (Oxford Languages) That’s the definition of attribute that you’d find if you quickly looked it up on your computer or phone.
So today, what we’re going to do is look at some of the inherent characteristics that God has. In short form, here it is:
“The triune God is loving, holy , infinite, just, and worthy of all worship.” (Ex 34:6-7; Ps 99:4-5)
Loving, Holy, Infinite…
Loving, Holy, Infinite…
When we talk about the God that we serve, that we believe in, that we have personal relationships with, we must talk about God’s nature as loving, infinite, holy, just, and worthy of worship. He is all these things, and they are essential to our understanding of who the Triune God is. Part of our foundational understanding of God is to understand His attributes. But, what I just read to you, that:
“The triune God is loving, holy , infinite, just, and worthy of all worship.” (Ex 34:6-7; Ps 99:4-5)
is a quote that comes from a statement that our church uses to express our beliefs. But we are not believing any of this because a document told us that this is the truth. We believe that God is loving because God’s Word tells us He is! Time and again in fact. The same goes for being just, or holy, or any of these attributes! We believe that God is who He says He is because His Word makes these truths clear.
So, let’s look at Scripture:
The first attribute we find is love. Perhaps this is one of the easiest attributes to affirm about God.
Think about John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
That’s probably one of the most well-known verses in the whole Bible. And it tells us that God loved us so much that He sent the Son - in human flesh - to pay the price we could not for our sin.
In fact, the entire Bible demonstrates the love of God. As 1 John 4:8 tells us
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
God is love. This sums up his being, and is demonstrated throughout Scripture. Numerous times in the OT, God is seen to be loving. From the account of the fall and the promise of a Messiah, to the revealing of God to Moses in Exodus 34. To the Psalms that extol God’s care, and love, right through to the Prophets, who continually proclaimed the way back to God even when His people repeatedly turned away from Him. Finally, to the coming of Jesus Christ, and the redemptive act of the Triune God to save anyone who would believe. God is love. Haha, we could definitely have a few sermons on God’s love. But in this moment, recognize the Triune God as loving, caring for His people, disciplining His people so that they might mature. God is love.
We also see demonstrated in Scripture God’s holiness, or set-apartness. God is unique and majestic. Nothing compares to God. He has no limitations, He is completely perfect, all powerful, enthroned in majesty. Proclaimed throughout Scripture and all of heaven is the fact that God is Holy. In the book of Revelation we get this picture of God as holy:
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
Likewise when Isaiah sees the throne room of God, he encounters the same proclamation:
And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
This cry “Holy Holy Holy” stresses the uniqueness and set-apartness of our God. This holiness - the complete perfection of His attributes - when revealed to us sinful humans, it is both humbling, and terrifying (Holman, p. 773).
Within this experience of God as holy, we also understand God’s infinite nature. Jesus proclaims at the end of Revelation:
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
This demonstrates God’s essential nature as having no beginning, nor end. However, infinite spans beyond just time, to include ability.
For nothing will be impossible with God.”
And again, thinking of God’s love, we read in Psalm 100 5
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
God is also just. Complete justice and righteousness are His. Exodus 34 7 shows us God’s justice in relation to his love:
keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
God is just and righteous. He is the just judge who has the right to judge everyone. Yet as we see so often throughout the Old and New Testaments, God is merciful. Again and again he extends His mercy to His people, even when they turn away from Him. Right now, if you have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour and still have breath in your lungs, you are experiencing the grace and mercy of God. He is continuing to hold off judgement for you, giving you time to repent. But the reality is that God will judge, both the living and the dead as 1 Peter 4 5 tells us:
but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
God makes right judgements. No one can ever call God injustice, corrupt, or incorrect. He knows all, sees all, and is the master of time. As Psalm 89 14 tells us:
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
God is enthroned on justice and righteousness. Yet He loves us enough that to satisfy justice and righteousness, Jesus Christ came and died and took our place. He rose again, and is seated in the heavenly places, and now holds the power and will someday judge everyone. What kind of God is this that could - in an instant - rightly send a sinful humanity to hell. Yet out of His great love He loved us enough to take our place, to take our punishment, that we might be made righteous through Christ, and dwell with Him forever? Only our holy, infinite, triune God could do this. And He did.
Therefore, God is worthy of worship. He is worthy of praise. The praise that the angels sing to Him “Holy Holy Holy” should echo from our lips as well. Perhaps one of the most fitting verses at this point comes from Psalms:
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
God is so worthy of praise that, as Jesus enters Jerusalem to the praise of the people, He tell the scribes and pharisees that didn’t like this display of worship that even the rocks would cry out, should the people stop. All of Creation is a symphony of praise to one being. Our God! The creator, the sustainer, the infinite one. Who is just, and loving, and merciful, and right.
Our One, Triune God truly is loving, holy, infinite, just, and worthy of all worship.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So, what do we do with all this? It’s awesome to study God; who He is and some of His attributes. But the thing is that if this doesn’t actually make a difference in our lives, all it does in take up space in our brains. How does the rubber hit the road for us with this?
We live in the extraordinary reality that we get to know the living God. Not just as a far off being, but as a real, personal, close friend. We live in the reality of a love so great that He saved us, when we could not save ourselves. We live as finite beings in close relationship with the infinite God. This is an amazing reality that is beautiful and awesome.
So, here’s how I see this hitting home for us: If you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, you are friend, brother or sister, and child of the Living God. So in this time can I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to help you realize in a fresh way how amazing our God is? Sometimes we forget just how amazing it is that we get to know God on such a personal level. As we go to prayer in a moment, would you begin to just praise Him yourself. You don’t have to be loud, or very emotional to worship God. You can be quiet, by yourself even. But God loves to hear from you, and He loves to hear your praises.
If you , I pray that at this moment God’s Spirit is stirring in you. The truth is that you are currently living estranged from God. You are considered “guilty,” before God. Jesus Christ paid the price for you, so that you can be set free from sin and have a new life and relationship with God. We’ve just talked about who our God is - holy, just, infinite, loving, worthy of worship! And He loves you enough to die for you. Don’t resist Him or turn away from Him. Instead, use the time you have been given to turn to God. Repenting of sin, turning to Jesus and giving Him your heart and life is the best decision you can ever make. If you would like to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour and you want to pray with someone, I or anyone of us would be happy to pray with you. If you need to talk with someone, we’d be happy to talk with you. But I pray that the truth of what God has done for you would sink deep in your heart. You need Jesus, and He wants you to come to Him.
As we get ready to close, would you take a minute with me to praise God? As I pray, lift up your own prayer to God of praise and worship. He is worthy of it!