Does God Depend on Us?
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 109 viewsNotes
Transcript
Aseity (a se)
Aseity (a se)
Does God depend on me or on us?
Does God depend on me or on us?
I think that for many of us we look at this questions and we think, well maybe.
When I first heard this it made me stop and wonder, does God need me?
I know I am called to worship Him, does he need my worship?
I know God calls me to give freely— does God need my offering?
I know God calls me to witness to others— Does God need my testimony?
As if, if I don’t do these God is God any less?
Or even better yet— If we don’t do these things then God is not God.
I mean he would have to need me, or us, or other believers to be praising him and worshiping him or else he would not be God correct?
The false god Baal mentioned throughout the OT is not worshipped today.
Baal was worship in Egypt and through out most of world until about 1075 bc.
Meaning that Baal has been long forgotten.
That there is this string of dependance on those who worshiped Baal and Baal its self.
This false god needed its followers to keep up this false religion.
When they all died out so did the false god.
A phrase I have heard often is the phase that Christianity is just one generation alway from being forgotten.
I think this is used as a scare tactic to get others to share their faith.
Because what that statement is kinda of saying is that if we don’t share our faith then God will be extinct.
As in God is dependent on you or me or us in order to keep Him from being forgotten.
Doesn’t that make God dependent on us then?
While we may say that God is not, we say and believe certain things that puts that to the test.
I am not saying that we should not witness to others or that we shouldn’t share our faith because we 100% should and need to.
But to put a dependence on us is actually taking away from who God is.
God is aseity.
And Aseity (a se) means: God is independent of the created order, self-sufficient, and self-existent. He is life in and of himself.
That is vocab word that is new to me.
Aseity is an attribute of God that really unlocks the other attributes of God.
Because this attribute is why God is perfect, why God is all wise, and all powerful, and all knowing, and why God is just and so on and so forth.
It is because does not depend on anyone.
In Gen 1:1 it says
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The Bible opens not with an a statement of what God was doing prior to this moment, but just a simple phrase— In the beginning God.
God was present before everything.
Often the question gets asked why did God create the world?
Maybe you have heard it said that God created the earth because he as lonely.
That God needed to fill that empty hole in his heart with people.
With creation.
That way he could have fellowship with his children and never be lonely again.
Because of us God feel fulfilled and whole.
Here is the truth God doesn’t need you.
Know as Robert gave me this topic to read about and talk about tonight— I heard that and I read it and while it seems harsh at first.
I believe by the end of tonight you will come around to appreciate that God is not dependent on me or you.
So let start at the beginning:
It is important to know that there was a before the beginning.
There is no argument as to what God was doing, as Moses wrote this first verse that all of us have heard countless times.
God was already there.
And for us to just skip over the fact that before the beginning of creation there was God, and that in a number of places the bible gives us details about the sort of existence enjoyed by God before he created the earth.
Before there was ever a universe, God existed in total perfection, blessedness, and shared love and communion.
God did not become all knowing, all powerful, all mighty, all wise, just, unchanging, incomprehensible, and so on— when he created the world.
He was already all of those things in perfection.
We know Gen 1:1 explains that God was independent and not needing us, what about some other places in scripture?
ps 90:2
Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
from eternity to eternity, you are God.
This psalm was record form Moses— as David is writing even in the psalm it predates David—
And as Moses prayers to God he understands that God was before everything.
He is everlasting to everlasting.
Let’s see another place:
The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed, enveloped in strength.
The world is firmly established;
it cannot be shaken.
Your throne has been established
from the beginning;
you are from eternity.
The Lord is the King.
He did not need anyone to rob him with majesty— he did that himself.
In verse one it talks about how the world was established firmly by God.
The world will not be shaken.
Yet God’s throne was before the world was established.
Your throne has been established.
It was already present.
You were already the King.
The world being established did not make God a king— he already was King prior to In the beginning as we read in Gen 1:1.
Lets look at John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
John begins his Gospel with talking about how the word— which we discover in verse 14 in Jesus.
And Jesus was with God in the beginning.
And if He was with God in the beginning it had to be with God prior to the beginning as well.
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all present as one, prior to everything—
Let’s look at Acts 17.
Paul is talking to people of Athen’s and he is explain to them God.
Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect. For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.
Paul here is proclaiming about who God is.
This would have been new to the people of Athens.
They have some false god they were worshiping— Paul wants to tell them, look— let me tell you about Thee God.
Look the false gods you serve they are dependent upon you.
The people are what kept the false god alive if you will.
But God was present, sitting on his throne long before the creation of the world.
Which he created— everything in it, he cannot be contained by any man made structure.
He does not need humans to serve him nor does he have need of anything at all.
What could the creator need from his creation?
He has given everything to his creation— his creation is only giving back what he already gave.
God is not needy— He was not bored and in need of something to kill the time of eternity.
He does not need the world to be content.
He does not need the world for his happiness and joy either.
God is life in and of himself.
This is what Aseity means.
God is fullness of life in and of himself.
He is self-existent and self-sufficient.
Take our lives for example.
We are fully dependent on God.
He needed him to create us, humans.
He needed to give us breath.
and the ability to keep on breathing as well.
He needed to keep us from floating off into space.
and also keep the world rotating and keep the sun from roasting us.
We are fully dependent on God.
As his creation we are fully in need of God everyday.
As the creator God cannot need anything from him creation.
Why do you think that is?
If God was dependent of someone or something else— then that would mean that God is not the most absolute.
Something or someone else is.
God being the perfect being cannot depend on something or someone else.
He would fail to be the standard of perfection.
He would be lacking.
Us and God are not on the same level.
God is the standard of the very best.
The most absolute.
He created everything out of nothing, a term that you may hear associated with that is ex nihilo, meaning to form out of nothing.
Only the one who has no beginning is capable of bringing the world out of nothing.
God is highest of all— everything else fails in comparison to God.
He is thee perfect being.
God is perfectly happy and fulfilled in and of himself.
God chose to create this world and you and I for that matter.
He voluntarily chose to create this world.
We can come to the conclusion that God is very different from us.
While we were created in his image— we are very different from God.
God exist as three persons.
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The trinity.
The father, the son and the holy spirit lived in perfect harmony before the earth was created and still do as well.
We know this from John 17:5
Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.
Jesus is getting ready to go to the cross and he is praying to the father.
Longing for his glory to return.
As Jesus stepped into creation as a baby— he took of his glory to be fully God and yet fully human.
He longed to return to his glory.
Jesus had only ever known his own glory— which he had in himself.
Jesus would go on in this chapter and talk about the love shared between the triune God.
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Glory and Love is showed to each part of the triune God.
Glory and love is seen in how the three fellowship with one another.
And also life.
John records in chapter 5.
For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
Life here matters.
As the father is life himself, he grants life to Jesus in himself as he is part of the trinity.
Meaning that because Jesus is granted life in himself— he is able to redeem us and give us new life.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
He promises eternal life which can only be given because he is life in himself.
Glory, love and life is how the trinity operates in it’s self.
So if God is self-existent he is also sufficient— as creator.
He also has a role as Israel’s covenant Lord and savior.
And he can be this because God is the owner of all things.
As in he give what he already owns to his people.
My daughter Evey is the oldest of my three kids.
She is super sweet, very smart, kind, loving, and caring— she gets it all from her mom.
But can be a bit possessive at times.
Just two night ago— Brittni took my mom and sister in law to Sherks.
And she bought some candy.
Evey loves candy— and she has great taste let me tell you.
So much so that everyone likes her candy and they ask for samples of it.
Which she will give freely to all but her siblings.
Especially her sister Rosey.
So Rosey ask her for a piece of the candy to which Evey says no, it’s mine, get your own.
And she can turn a bit mean and grouchy.
And in this case— Brittni and I just looked at her and said— look sweetie you don’t own anything.
We bought that and she can have some too.
Evey can share with her siblings something that was already shared to her by us.
We purchased it and gave it to her— she can then share because we first shared with her.
I look back at this story as a good reminder that everything first belongs to God.
As in I truly do not own anything that was not given to me first by a loving God.
He gives and he can take it away.
It reminds me of the story of Job.
Job got a front row seat into seeing this happen.
He loses everything.
And he has this right mentality when he is asked about by his wife and his friends.
saying:
Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
It is a good reminder that the God who own everything— and we own nothing—
That when we do serve God and bring forth an offering to God— it needs to be done with thanksgiving because it was first given to us.
Much like when we tithe— here at Freshwater, we do not ask for a certain amount but we ask to give as the Lord leads and has blessed.
It is out of thanksgiving that we give to the Lord.
So how does understanding that God is not dependent upon anyone.
That God is aseity.
How does this relate to the other attributes of God.
In the book that Robert has been using for this class, the author states that Aseity is the key that unlocks all God’s attributes.
IF God is self-sufficient as we have stated and believed.
If God is self-sufficient then God must also be self-divine.
He cannot receive his deity from anything else.
And if God is self-sufficient then he is also self-wise.
If others told God what was wise then he would be less perfect in his wisdom.
And if God is self-sufficient then he must be self-virtuous
If he received his virtues from others he would not be perfectly moral.
If God is self-sufficient then he must be self-attesting.
God does not just merely speak the truth, know the truth, possess the truth— God is the truth.
If God is self-sufficient then he must be self-justifying.
God is just through himself.
If God is self-sufficient then he must be self-empowering
If he is less-powerful then he would have to rely on others when his power fails.
If God is self-sufficient then he must be self-knowing
God does not depend on any creature to know what is going to happen or what will happen, if he did his knowledge would be incomplete.
If God is self-sufficient then he must be self-excellent.
If there was another more excellent, more glorious, more majestic then God, then God would be dependent on that being.
If God depended on someone/something else, he would forfeit his perfection— he would give it to another.
As you hear these things, It would be hard to follow a God that was not absolute over all of those things right?
That even if God was lacking in one area, that area would be enough to go— then you can’t be god.
The author states: “God is the absolute being, for nothing and no one committed to him; nothing and no one is like him; nothing and no one makes him who he is. The absolute God, then, is the God of absolute power, absolute knowledge, absolute wisdom, absolute divinity, absolute glory, absolute excellence and so on.”
Anslem stated that God is a boundless ocean of being.— all being is contained in him.
The more I wrestled with this attribute his week the more I came to the place— that if God lacked in an of these areas— as in if he was not the absolute then he would not be God.
God would be whoever was better then God.
I believe that this is why this attribute is so vital for us to understand.
It can be a bit of a downer— that God is not dependent upon you— it may come as a shock and even bring up lots of other questions, but before we get there, let talk about why this matters in light of the Gospel.
In light of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection why does this matter?
God is unlike any other human made god.
In Isaiah we see this play out and we even see God mocking these false human gods.
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any.”
All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
Isaiah is writing what the Lord has told him to say.
God is saying look— there is no other God but me.
These human gods cannot announce the future— if they could let them say so.
God knows of no other.
Nothing can stand up to him.
And then he talks about how as created being we create these false gods.
And these false gods or these idols are nothing— they benefit no one.
The ironworker labors over the coals,
shapes the idol with hammers,
and works it with his strong arm.
Also he grows hungry and his strength fails;
he doesn’t drink water and is faint.
The woodworker stretches out a measuring line,
he outlines it with a stylus;
he shapes it with chisels
and outlines it with a compass.
He makes it according to a human form,
like a beautiful person,
to dwell in a temple.
He cuts down cedars for his use,
or he takes a cypress or an oak.
He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.
He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.
A person can use it for fuel.
He takes some of it and warms himself;
also he kindles a fire and bakes bread;
he even makes it into a god and worships it;
he makes an idol from it and bows down to it.
He burns half of it in a fire,
and he roasts meat on that half.
He eats the roast and is satisfied.
He warms himself and says, “Ah!
I am warm, I see the blaze.”
He makes a god or his idol with the rest of it.
He bows down to it and worships;
he prays to it, “Save me, for you are my god.”
Such people do not comprehend
and cannot understand,
for he has shut their eyes so they cannot see,
and their minds so they cannot understand.
No one comes to his senses;
no one has the perception or insight to say,
“I burned half of it in the fire,
I also baked bread on its coals,
I roasted meat and ate.
Should I make something detestable with the rest of it?
Should I bow down to a block of wood?”
He feeds on ashes.
His deceived mind has led him astray,
and he cannot rescue himself,
or say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”
God is mocking these false idols that are limited in their capacity because they are made by humans who are limited in their capacity.
God is saying— you will use the wood you will use to make an idol for all sort of other things and they you will create an idol and ask it for help.
Those idols are dependent upon the humans.
If God was not Aseity then this is what God would be.
If God depended on us it would as if God made us and then asked us for help to be rescued by his creation.
It would not make sense.
The carpenter in this story makes the idol that he wants to save him.
As in he brought it to “life” and then placed it above himself.
It shows the complete foolishness of worshiping idols.
They do not have the power to save.
Praise be to the one true God.
Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.
While God is speaking to the nation of Isreal for they have fallen away again.
God is calling them back into his grace and is offering something they desperately need, salvation.
He says I have blotted out your transgression, your sin in like a mist.
You are redeemed because only He can redeem.
And Praise be to God that we have a redeemer who came in the flesh.
Jesus came and gave up his life for our freedom from sin.
He came to save.
And because of God’s aseity we can rest in knowing that the only true king, the only true God can save and redeem us.
If God was not life in and of himself then he would not be independent— he would not be worthy or qualified to save us.
He would need saving as well.
IF God was dependent upon another then God would be weak and pathetic.
It would be as if God needed something to make him complete.
He would be looking for someone/something to save him in his state.
It is because God is outside of creation that he can save us.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time—to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him.
What good news it is that the gospel depends on a God who does not depend on us.
Before we get into why does this matter to us:
I would like to just give a brief four point outline to you.
This is from John Frame:
As Lord, God owns all things because he alone is God.
(Gen 14:19, 22; Exodus 19:15; Deut 10:14; 1 Chron 29:11; Job 41:3; Pss 24:1, 50:10-12, 82:8, 89:11)
2. Everything comes from God because of his free choice to create, rule, and provide for his creation.
a. (Exodus 20:11; Neh 9:6; Ps 146:5-6; James 1:7)
3. Scripture teaches that God has no needs
a. (Ps 50:8-15; Isa 40:19-20, 41:7, 44:15-17, 46:6; Jer 10:3-5; Hab 2:18-20; Acts 17:24-30)
4. God is by nature Aseity
a. (John 5:26; Rom 11:36)
Why does this matter:
Divine aseity means that God’s existence is grounded only in himself.
Divine aseity reminds us that God did not create us because he was lonely or needed fellowship with other persons.
Although God does not need us, the amazing truth is that we can glorify God and bring him joy.
Isa 43:7; Eph 1:11-12; Rev 4:11
The fact of aseity is God’s infinite nature.
Number three is the one that I want to camp out with rest of the time.
Because if God is aseity then why create us?
If God is life and in himself life then what do we offer?
Can we bring something forth to the king who needs nothing?
I loved Jon Nelson’s message this week because Jon talked about understanding our identity in Christ and when we do we then understand our purpose.
We know that God chose to create us so that we would be meaningful to him.
everyone who bears my name
and is created for my glory.
I have formed them; indeed, I have made them.”
You will be a glorious crown in the Lord’s hand,
and a royal diadem in the palm of your God’s hand.
You will no longer be called Deserted,
and your land will not be called Desolate;
instead, you will be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land will be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so your sons will marry you;
and as a groom rejoices over his bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
We cannot know our identity nor our purpose apart from God and God alone.
If we try to then we will only know ourselves.
Creation is dependent on God.
And creation has a real relationship with God.
It is important to note that while we are dependent on God, he is not dependent on us.
Our relationship with God does not change God.
Our relationship with God 100% changes us.
We are transformed
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
While this is all true— the question that I kept coming back to was why did you create us then?
We look at Isaiah 43:6-7 again
I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
God created us for his glory.
John Piper has a podcast called Ask Pastor John.
And a question was submitted about this exact question and I think it is most helpful in understand why God created us.
“The Bible is the teaching that God does everything to communicate and display to his creatures his own glory, his greatness, his beauty, his worth. The whole panorama of his perfections, he communicates that, displays that to his creatures, as the overflow of his love.”- John Piper
God does it all for his glory.
And when we hear that, I don’t know about you but I think man that doesn’t sound right.
That sounds a bit selfish maybe.
But we need to understand that God is not us.
He stands outside of time and creation.
He is perfection itself.
If we heard someone say— look at what I have done— I made it for me and me allow so you could give me glory we would be appalled.
Yet when it comes to the creator— the king— the great I am— It is good to be reminded that he sit above all things.
He deserves all glory, and honor and praise.
We need to understand that God gave it all to those who would receive it.
And if you caught the last part of the first Piper quote he speaks on this overflow of love.
While we can grasp that God did it for his glory.
And we may even be able to quote Piper’s famous line that “God is most satisfied in us when we are most satisfied in him.” John Piper
Yet, Piper talks about the love of God being overflowing, which I found profoundly impactful.
“And if you press even harder on me and say, “But why? Why did he do this if he was so full and happy without creation?” I would say it’s the nature of the fullness of the divine love to share itself. That’s just what love is like in God. And this sharing is not the completion of God or the improvement of God. Jonathan Edwards, I think, said it most memorably when he said, “It is no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain that it is inclined to overflow.” John Piper
God by nature is love and his love overflows, and he wanted to share it with others.
God wants to share his love with you.
It’s not something that you can give to change God but we all know that it is something that has completely changed us.
God’s love is overflowing.
So why do we exist?
“We exist to bring our lives into alignment with the purpose of God in creation — namely, his purpose to communicate his glory in the overflow of his God-exalting, soul-satisfying love. And what that alignment looks like is this: our magnifying God’s glory by finding him to be the most satisfying reality in the universe.”—John Piper
I am so thankful that God created me, and I love God and I am so blessed by what he has given and I know I will never be able to give back to him what he has give to me.
And because of the love that he has poured out to me— I believe one of the best ways to honor the Lord is to share that love with others, so that they can experience what we have.
Homework: for next time:
Memory Verse: Rev 4:11
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
Read Acts 17:16-34 and see how Paul describes God as Aseity.
Write down your thoughts or answers to this question:
How can I be encouraged that God is not depended on me?
Write a prayer how God is independent on you and how that is a good thing.
That is what I have for this evening.
Let me pray for you all— and you all can head out.
I will stick around for a few and answer questions that you may have.
Pray with me as I wrote about how I would pray about God Aseity.
God you are outside of time and creation.
You are above all things and all things work together for your glory.
God I know that you do not need anything but I am beyond grateful and thankful that you chose to create life.
That the overflow of your love is why we are here today.
To bring you glory and joy that you deserve.
Father thank you for your son— who take my place on the cross— a plan that was spun before the dawn of the first light.
I am grateful that you do not depend on me for anything.
I would let you down daily.
I am overwhelmed by your grace and love.
Father I pray that this week I can express love like you have.
That I can love people out of the overflow of love that you have given me.
God your love for me is what called me into your grace.
It is because of your great love that I can even be here today transformed— I pray that I continue to renew my mind daily to be a light and witness for all of your good works, not because you need it but because I truly want lost people to experience the same joy that I have in you.
Thank you God for loving us and for not be dependent on us.
It is in your holy name
Amen.
See you all next week!
