TDOG - The Attributes of God - 1

In our last study, we looked the existence, and the knowability of God. We also looked at two of his very important attributes namely His Sovereignty, and His Holiness.

Today we will delve further into His attributes.

When we say the word “Attributes” what does it mean?

God’s attributes are God’s revealed descriptions of his own nature and character. They are unique to him because he is unique.

Describing the attributes (or characteristics or perfections) of God’s being is different from describing the attributes of any other being because God the Creator has a nature completely different from that of any of his creatures. It is often easier to say what God is not than to say what he is. Many of the attributes of God are therefore expressed as negatives.

For example,

God is Im-mortal - He cannot die

In-visible - He cannot be seen

Im-passible - He cannot be made to suffer (That’s why Jesus took on human flesh...)

Im-mutable - He does not change

In-finite - He cannot be contained by creaturely reality

and so on. All these characteristics distinguish him from his creatures but do not tell us exactly what it means for God to exist in the way he does. The Bible also describes God in positive terms. Christian theology reflects this when we say that he is eternal, holy, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.

Theologians have classified God’s attributes into two general categories:

Incommunicable attributes: These are attributes are those divine attributes that cannot be communicated (i.e., shared) by humanity; they are unique to God’s nature and character. Some of them are:

God’s glory describes his unique excellence. - The glory of God is the splendor and brilliant beauty that shines through all of the divine attributes but is especially evident in the crucified and risen Christ. God’s glory is the manifestation of the perfection of all of his attributes. The doctrine of the glory of God emphasizes his greatness and transcendence, his splendor and holiness. God is said in Scripture to be clothed with glory and majesty (1 Chr 16:27; Pss 29:4; 96:6; 104:1; 113:4). Creation manifests the glory of its Creator (Pss 8; 19:1–2; Isa 6:3).

God’s immutability is his imperviousness to change. - God’s immutability is his freedom from change and his being the same at all times past, present, and future. The doctrine of divine immutability affirms God’s freedom from all change. Existing outside of time, he is all that he is in one unchanging moment, free from the movement and development of history. But within time, his creatures experience him as unchanging in his relations to human beings and therefore perfectly worthy of trust.

God’s omnipotence is his all-mightiness—he has all power. - The attribute of omnipotence refers to God’s unconditioned power to do that which he wills in accordance with his nature. The Bible portrays God as the Lord of both creation and the history of creation. This is so because all that exists owes its reality, integrity, and continuity to the mighty Word of God which founds and upholds it (Ps 33:9). Consequently, there is no created power which can compete with God; his power stands over all. The Latin term potentia means “power” and the prefix omni- means “all”; hence omnipotent means “all-powerful”.

God’s omnipresence describes his relationship to space: he is everywhere. - Omnipresence is the name for the Christian belief that God is everywhere present and is not limited to any location or physical space. 1. God is eternal: he is not bound by time but instead is equally present in all times. 2. God is spiritual*: he is immaterial and not bound by physicality but instead is wholly present in all places.

God’s eternity describes his relationship to time: he is everywhen. - God is eternal in that he does not exist within time but rather exists before and outside of time. While creatures change, improve, and decline within time, God is all that he is in a single, unchanging moment. He did not have a beginning in time, nor will he have an end. As the doctrine of God’s immutability also expresses, God does not change in any way that requires temporal duration. Being perfect, he does not need to grow, develop, or increase, nor is he subject to decline, decay, or death. Being free from all change, he entirely transcends the “before” and “after” of time. Time-bound creatures experience God’s eternity in relation to time. While there was no time before time was created, we cannot but think of God as existing before time. We also experience God’s eternity in this way: that he is who he is at every moment in time. This means that the God who created the world is the same God to whom we pray. While time has passed, God is the same. To God, time is like a great canvas spread before him, every moment of which he can take in simultaneously. To him, all times are present. A thousand years in our experience are as nothing in God’s eyes (Ps 90:4).

God’s omniscience names his all-knowingness; he is ignorant of nothing and never has learned anything new. - The attribute of omniscience refers to God’s perfect knowledge of both himself and that which he has created. The Bible portrays God’s knowledge as unlimited, comprehensive, and perfect in every way; God is omniscient (the Latin term scientia means “knowledge,” and the prefix omni- means “all”; hence omniscient means “all-knowing”). We note from Scripture that God knows not just what is present (Ps 33:13–15) and past (Job 38:4–5), but also that which is to come (Ps 139:4; Isa 46:9–10; Matt 26:34).

God’s self-existence points to his independence: he needs no other beings and exists to and for and by himself. - God is self-existent in that he has no cause or source but is, unlike all else, uncreated. God is self-existent. “I AM WHO I AM,” he told Moses; he is the “I AM” (Exod 3:14–15). This means that God’s existence is not caused by, or in any way dependent on, anything else. God is not from anything, through anything, or to anything. Rather, “from him and through him and to him are all things” (Rom 11:36). While created things exist according to God’s power, purpose, and plan, God exists of himself. Created things are dependent on other things and, ultimately, on God; God depends on nothing. Before every created thing is some other thing, but God is first. Every created thing exists for the sake of some later thing, but God is last of all, the one for whom all things exist. God is utterly independent.

God’s spirituality (God is a Spirit) reveals his nature as nonphysical. - God’s spirituality is the divine attribute that states that God’s being is spiritual, thus God is neither material nor composite in nature. To proclaim with Jesus Christ that “God is Spirit” (John 4:24) is to assert that God’s being is immaterial, invisible, and simple. God has no body, no composite parts, and no physical dimensions. Therefore, God is present everywhere and can be worshiped anywhere. As Spirit, God cannot be destroyed, contained, or controlled by any creature.

God’s unity points to the biblical teaching that God is one, unique and undivided. - God’s unity is an incommunicable attribute of the divine essence that refers to the absolute oneness and uniqueness of God (unity of singularity) and to the utter simplicity of his essence (unity of simplicity). Divine unity is an attribute of God which affirms God’s uniqueness and absolute oneness (unity of singularity) as well as the qualitative unity of the divine essence (unity of simplicity). The former implies that there is only one divine being. God is numerically one, not in the sense that he is one among others, but exclusively and solely the one God. All other beings exist from him, through him, and to him. Scripture attests to God’s utter uniqueness and numerical oneness throughout; Scripture is rigorously monotheistic. There is only one God (Deut 6:4; Gal 3:20). He is the Lord alone, and there are no other gods besides him (Deut 32:39; Ps 18:31). As such, he is the sole object of worship (Exod 20:3–6; Deut 5:7–10; 1 Cor 8:4). Furthermore, God is the one and only creator and sustainer of the world (Gen 1–2; Acts 17:24); all things come from him and are sustained by him (Acts 17:28; Col 1:15–17). God is the only savior of his people (Isa 43:11). Far from contradicting God’s singularity and utter uniqueness, the work of Christ and the Spirit confirm and clarify it (John 17:3; Rom 3:30; Eph 4:5–6; 1 Tim 2:5). God is one, triune, divine being.

God’s infinity is his quality of being unlimited, by time or space or anything. - The perfection of God by which God is not bound by any limitation; no limit can be applied to his being or his attributes. God’s infinity is an incommunicable attribute, or perfection, of God that denies any limit to God’s being or perfections and affirms that God transcends the categories of finite creatures. It means that whatever God is, he is perfectly and eminently. He has every degree of perfection without any limitation. None of God’s attributes can be considered “in progress” or “not yet complete.” As such, divine infinity qualifies all the other attributes. Whatever God is, he is infinitely.

Communicable attributes: These are attributes that describe God in relation to His creatures. Mankind, made “in God’s likeness,” was created to reflect certain divine attributes, such as goodness, love, and wisdom. Finite humanity can imitate God in only a limited way.

The communicable attributes of God uniquely display his deeply personal nature. Every attribute of God is equally an attribute of each of the triune persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Also, God’s graciousness and faithfulness and love speak to us of his personal character in a way that his omnipresence or simplicity do not speak as readily. Because God created human beings as an analogical image of himself, ascribing communicable attributes to God is not an anthropomorphic projection of our image upon God but a theomorphic projection of God’s image upon us. It is therefore with special reference to the communicable attributes that human beings are said to be created in the image of God, and likewise, in God’s work of redemption, to be recreated and conformed to the image of Christ.

Strictly speaking, all God’s attributes are incommunicable or proper to his unique nature as God. But many of them refer to God’s activity toward creatures and also have correspondences in the created order.

Human beings are not divine, but in many ways we reflect his character as his image-bearers.

For example, God knows and understands all things; he is omniscient.

Human beings also have minds and can know many things, but in a finite way rather than in the infinite way God knows all things. Similarly,

God is eternal, and he gives human beings something that we call eternal life, but our eternal life has a beginning, but God has no beginning, and no end. Eternal life is a gift of his grace to us, whereas His life belongs to him by nature.