I am not much of a video game player. However, when I was growing up, I did enjoy playing some of the sports games. Most of these games had modes that allowed you to create your own player and play singularly as that player. It was as if you were able to enter in to the game and play along with some of the greats. It’s always fascinating when you can yourself play on the same team as Micheal Jordan or Peyton Manning. Part of creating that player was giving them specific attributes: certain traits or behaviors that made the player who they were. You could make your basketball star faster and better at defense or slower and better at three-point shooting. You could make your football player a running back that plows through the defense or runs quickly around them. You could make your baseball player a Hall of Fame slugger or have a golden glove in the field. In a much greater sense, God also has attributes. These attributes are revealed to us in Scripture and show us the traits and nature of the God of the universe. They are what make God, God. These not only help us know God more but they also should drive us to love and delight in Him for all that He does and is. Most of these attributes are contained to God Himself. Those are called incommunicable attributes. There are some attributes that, however, that God has shared with man as being made in His image. These are called communicable attributes. This blog will cover the incommunicable attributes. Next week we will look at the communicable.
1. The Aseity and Eternality of God
Isaiah 43:10-11 ““You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He.
Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from Me there is no savior.”
The aseity of God means that God is self-existent and self-sufficient. God does not depend on anyone or anything for His being or His existence. This will not settle well with some, but this means that God does not need us. The eternality of God means that God has always been. There was never a time when God was not God. He is outside of space and time, from everlasting to everlasting He has been, is, and will be (Psalm 103). These attributes set God apart: they establish the distinction between creation and Creator. These attributes are clearly incommunicable, as human beings are temporal and depend on God for their existence.
2. The Sovereignty of God
Romans 11:36 “For from him and through him and for him are all things.To him be the glory forever! Amen.”
The sovereignty of God means that He is supreme over all things. There is no higher authority than that of God. From Him come all things. Through Him go all things. And for Him are all things. There is not a single leaf that falls from a tree that God has not sovereignly ordained to fall. All things find their being from God and for His glory. R.C. Sproul famously quoted: “If there is one maverick molecule in all the universe, then God is not sovereign.” This attribute puts a clear distinction between God and man.
3. The Immutability of God
“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.”
The immutability of God, as this verse so clearly puts it, means that God is unable to change. We as human beings grow, mature, and change over time. We make certain decisions that lead to certain outcomes for who we will become. God has no need to grow, mature, or change because He is God. If he could change, if there were no absolutes when it came to God, what hope would we have for life? The fact that God does not change means that we have hope, security, and assurance.
4. The Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence
Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”
Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in the heavens; He does all that he pleases.”
Psalm 139:7-10 “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.If I take up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will take hold of me.”
The Greek root omni means all. The omni attributes work in unity to show the power and nature of God. Omniscience means that God is all-knowing (omni = all, science = knowledge), . There is nothing that is outside of God’s sight. God has foreordained all things to happen, therefore nothing can possibly catch Him off guard. Omnipotence means that God is all-powerful (omni = all, potence = power). God does what He wants, when He wants, how He wants, where He wants, with who He wants. His omnipotence means that He is able to do all things within His will (He cannot sin or contradict Himself, therefore we don’t say He can do all things). And the incredible thing is that He does this all without breaking a sweat. Omnipresence goes right along with omniscience. The fact that God is present everywhere implies that He sees all things. There is nowhere we can hide from God, for He knew where we would go before we went. The fact is, there is no plan B, C, or D with God. There is only plan A: the way that He has predestined to happen before the foundation of the earth.
Soli Deo Gloria