First, we considered what we
believe about Scripture and now we turn to consider what we believe
about God. The Shorter Catechism says, “The Scriptures principally teach what
man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.” What,
then, do the Scriptures teach concerning God? First and foremost, Scripture
affirms that there is only one living and true God. This proclamation is found
early in the Old Testament in the Shema—“Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the
LORD is one.” That there is only one true God that we should worship and obey
is reiterated time and again in many and various ways in the Ten Commandments,
in the teachings of the judges and the prophets, and finally in the teaching of
Jesus, God’s only begotten Son. Moreover, Scripture calls us again and again to
turn our backs on any and all other gods.
Religious belief in other gods is seen throughout the Old Testament as
well as the New, yet God declares that it is he, YHWH, the God who entered into
covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and with Moses to deliver a people unto
himself out of Egypt, who alone is to be worshiped (Exod. 20:1-3).
Scriptures also teach us the character
and characteristics of the living and true God. Again, the Shorter Catechism
says that God “is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being,
wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.” The truth is that God
has some characteristics that are unique to God and others that he shares with
us human beings because we are created in his image. Let’s look briefly at a
few of these characteristics.
God is a Spirit. We need to understand
that God is not in his being a physical creature like you and I. He is not
composed of material elements or limited by the restrictions imposed by a
material existence. He also cannot be perceived by any of our five human
senses. This teaching contradicts any idea that God has an actual body and
helps us to recognize that when we talk about God having eyes, ear, a strong
right arm, we are speaking in ways that
help us to understand and relate to God.
That God is infinite, eternal and
unchangeable further emphasizes the ways that God is distinct from you and I.
God is self-sufficient. He is perfectly complete and fulfilled in his triune
being. He did not create anything because he needed to but because, out of the
abundance of his love and grace, he wanted to.
God is infinite—he is not subject to
the limitations of space. God is present everywhere and in everything, but
everywhere and everything IS NOT God. God is the Creator and creation is not
God. God is everywhere and in everything, but God is also more than and greater
than everywhere and everything. God is distinct from all that is because he was
before everything and everything was created through him. God is creator and is
in no way created.
God is also eternal so he is not
subject to the limitations of time as we creatures are. God stands outside of
time, but he chose to enter into time and space for the salvation of his creation.
Before anything was created and time was called into being, God eternally
existed. With creation and the calling of space and time into existence, God
both stood over all things as Lord of time and entered into all things in
upholding them and acting so that his purpose for creation to would come to
full fruition. God stands outside of time and is able to see it all as present.
He knows everything from the beginning to the end and vice versa and he knows
it all at once, because he eternally is!
Finally, God is unchangeable. Because
God is complete and perfect, there is no need for God to change as we creatures
do. There is no sense in which God could improve or grow or in any way become
more God than he already is.
We also discover in Scripture the
triune nature of God. In other words, in the divine being of God, there are three
“persons”. Attempts to explain the mystery of the Trinity in human terms always
fall short, but some can be helpful. The triangle is particularly useful for demonstrating
the oneness within the Trinity. There are three persons in the Godhead, but one
essence in which all three relate and share. In the same way, the whole undivided
essence of God belongs equally to each of the three persons of the Trinity. The
divine being is not divided up among the three persons, but is wholly in each of
the three persons, so that they have a complete unity of essence, being one
God.
It is important to realize also that
Scripture teaches that there never was a time when each of the three persons of
the Godhead did not exist; all are eternally existent persons within the
perfect communion of the Godhead. Moreover, while each of the persons has a particular
focus in the Trinity’s relation to creation, the Father as Creator, the Son as
Redeemer, the Spirit as Sanctifier (see, for instance, 1 Pet. 1:2), each
participates in the work of the others, because all are fully God. It is
because God is unchanging in his being, perfection, purposes, and promises,
that we can trust him completely and know that his word is sure.
These are the unique aspects of God,
but there are also characteristics of God that we share as men and women
created in God’s image: wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
These were characteristics of God given originally to humanity for our relationships
with each other and stewardship over all of creation (Gen. 1:28); however, by
our fall into sin, these characteristics were twisted and bent to selfish purposes.
In Christ and by the Holy Spirit we are renewed in these attributes. Wisdom comes from following
the will of God in everyday life. All our power is derivative, given by God not as an end in
itself, but as a means for serving others. Holiness is God’s expectation that his people will be
like he is, pure and righteous. Justice
is the practical ramification of holiness—when we act upon the
righteous demands of the holy God for equity in personal relationships and the
care especially of the poor. Goodness
is the quality of being loving, gracious and kind and flows from and
has its source in God. Truth is
living within the reality of God’s Word and will. In each of these ways, God bestows
upon us his own characteristics by the work of his Spirit to make us more like
himself.
I know that seems mighty deep and
complicated, but that is really as short and sweet as I
know how to make it. As together we read through the Bible this year, I hope
you will keep your eyes and heart open so that you can discover these truths
about God for yourself.
+In Christ+
Pastor Jill
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