Why study the Attributes of God? Daniel 11:32 says that “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.”
Omnipotent
Omnipresent
Omniscient
Immutable
Eternal
Faithfulness
Love
Goodness
Holy
Impartial
Incomprehensible
Infinite
Jealous
Justice
Longsuffering
Mercy
Righteous
Self-existent
Self-sufficient
Sovereign
Transcendent
Truth
Wise
Wrath
Foreknowledge
That is just a few for His attributes are myriad as He is infinite and many faceted. God is infinite in the sense He has no up, down, left, right, front, nor back, six directions all at once, all the time.
Along with these attributes, 7 are immutable (unchanging) characteristics of God: truth; faithfulness; mercy; steadfastness; justice; righteousness; goodness.
There are attributes of God that He does not share with us, they are exclusively His, and His alone. Omnipresence, Omniscience, Omnipotence are 3. Although, in their personal form, as in the attributes of His personality, they are exclusively His, God does give to us a certain sense of participating with Him in being Omnipresent, Omniscient, and Omnipotent, in that we, as believers can forgive sin which is dealing with someone’s past, or we can speak a prophecy of destiny over someone as God gives it to us, thus dealing with someone’s future.
God’s attributes in us are the core features of His heart which builds us as leaders and His people. His attributes are our defense, they are our calling, they are our strength, and our prayer declaratives. His attributes are what make us to be the people of such exemplary and godly conduct, conversation, and character, that others want to be like us, the exemplary people called Leaders. Eph5:1 “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” We are more able to deal with sin, not by discovering and handling the attributes of sin and iniquity, but by discovering and handling the attributes of God. Our destiny more readily comes into view when we handle the attributes of God
2Cor10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God”. Where do we get these highly effective weapons? In the Christ of God, because His attributes ARE the weapons of our warfare!
Through the understanding of God’s attributes, the difficulties of providence (hard questions), which seem otherwise unsearchable, may be somewhat resolved into this—God intends in those hard questions to show himself, to declare His glory, to make himself to be taken notice of. “The fall of man was permitted, and the blindness that followed it, that the works of God might be manifest in opening the eyes of the blind.” (M. Henry)
Of what do we reckon the armor of God is made? What sort of material is it made of that it would withstand the attacks of the enemy? The material our armor is made of, i believe, is the very attributes of God Himself! Eph 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” Eph 6:14 “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;”
Omnipotent
The quality of being all-powerful, normally understood as the power to perform any action that is logically possible and consistent with God’s essential nature. Omnipotence is one of the traditional attributes of God, exclusive to God, an attribute He does not share, except metaphorically or indirectly. Omnipotence means God is all powerful and has unlimited authority & influence. He has the ability to do whatever His will dictates as He sees best. Man may have the authority but not the ability to carry through. The term “omnipotence” is not found in scripture but clearly is declared in scripture, Matthew 19:26, Job 42:2. His unlimited authority & influence is seen in His act of creating, Psalm 33:6, in His relation to man, in His ability to sustain all things, and over satan. Jesus said “All authority (exousia = authority and power to act) has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Mt 28:18).
Many attempts to analyze this property have been made, centering on the “paradox of the stone”—a vivid illustration of the logical difficulties raised by omnipotence. The paradox of the stone begins with the question “Can God create a stone that he cannot move?” If so, there is something God cannot do (move the stone). But if God cannot create such a stone, then there also appears to be something God cannot do. The source of the paradox is the question as to whether it is possible for an omnipotent being to limit itself. Example of paradoxical questions like “This product is new AND improved!”, or “We need scripted spontaneity!”, or “This sentence is false.”
See Luke 1:37, Jeremiah 32:17,27.
Conclusion: There is nothing that God cannot do except that which goes against His nature. God alone has the power to conquer sin and death. He even created Satan who disobeyed and fell, therefore, He has power over him. He promised to give us the power to overcome the world.
Omnipresent
The quality of being present at all places—one of the traditional attributes of God. Omnipresence is an attribute which is exclusively God’s, and He does not share, although we do possibly enter in metaphorically or indirectly, this characteristic is exclusive to Him. Those who believe God is independent of or unaffected by time extend this concept and think of God as present at all times. Traditional theists (theist -believer in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of the human race and the cosmos) do not think of God as occupying, or having the character of space at all and therefore do not think of omnipresence as existing or being everywhere at the same time as in His physical presence, but as God’s being present at all places by virtue of His knowledge and power to act. God is aware of what is happening at every place and has the power to act directly at any place. Which is your view? Does this impact anything we hold as true?
See Psalm 139:8, Jeremiah 23:23,24.
Conclusion: There is no place to go where God is not already there.
Omniscient
The quality of being all-knowing. This is one of the traditional attributes of God. Omniscience is usually analyzed as knowing the truth value of every proposition. Controversy has centered around the compatibility of divine foreknowledge with human free will, though many defend the claim that there is no inconsistency. However, some argue that God’s omniscience does not extend to all future actions, either because the propositions about such actions are as yet neither true nor false or else because it is logically impossible to know their truth.
See Isaiah 46:10, Romans 4:17.
Conclusion: God knows everything that has happened and everything that will happen, although His knowing is not His determining. He knows when we do things for the wrong reasons and when we do things for the right reasons. All things we do should be to serve Him and bring glory to Him.
Immutable
Consider what thou owest to His immutability. Though thou hast changed a thousand times, he has not changed once; though thou hast shifted thy intentions, and thy will, yet he has not once swerved from His eternal purpose, but still has held thee fast. – Charles Spurgeon
The immutability of God means that God is unchanging. More specifically, “God is unchanging in His character, will, and covenant promises. Theologically, immutability is defined as ‘that perfection of God by which He does not change in His being, perfections, purposes, or promises.’ God is a spirit, whose being, wisdom power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. Those things do not change. A number of Scriptures support this idea (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Ps. 102:26; Mal. 3:6; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 6:17-18; and Jam. 1:17 “”the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning“).
Conclusion: When things are going bad I won’t blame God, asking why He has changed and doesn’t seem to be living up to His promises. Since He doesn’t change, I will look at my life and see where I have deviated from the path He wants me to follow. I will change my direction toward the right way and follow Him.
Eternal
Eternal refers to the endless past, the unending future, or to God’s present experience of all time. God has no beginning as man can understand beginning and no ending either, but God exists now and knows both the beginning and the end as we perceive them.
As someone has said “God is the great I Am, not the great I was!” A W Tozer adds that, “In God there is no was or will be, but a continuous and unbroken “is”. In Him History and prophecy are one and the same. Whatever God is He is infinitely.”
The great Puritan writer Stephen Charnock wrote that, “The eternity of God is nothing else but the duration of God, and the duration of God is nothing else but His existence enduring.”
See Isaiah 57:15, I Timothy 1:17.
Conclusion: God has always existed and He always will. Nothing can resist Him and nothing will ever be able to bring an end to Him.
Faithfulness
Spurgeon: “So great that there has never been an exception. Through the ages, our God has had billions of people to deal with. Yet there does not stand under heaven’s cover, or above the stars, or in hell itself a single soul who can say that God is not absolutely faithful.”
2Tim2:13 “If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.” (Amp)
Heb10:23 “So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.” (Amp)
Conclusion: Whatever God says He will do, He will do. Therefore, when He says those who believe in Jesus shall have eternal life, you can rest assured that will take place. Just as sure is His providing a way out of temptation, protection from the flaming arrows of the enemy, and Satan’s eventual demise by being thrown into the Lake of Fire forever.
Love
אָהַב, aleph, hey, beit. “Love” is spelled, “הַאָהַב” which is pronounced, “Ahava” and is made up of three basic letters, “אָהַב”. Aleph, the sound made before a sound is made – intent, “hey”, the letter representing God’s creative power … it is said that the “breath of His mouth” refers to the sound of the letter Hey – the outbreathing of Spirit. And “beit”, “the House”.
Not only is love giving, but the actual process of giving develops the very connection between the giver and the receiver. God is the source, and not only does He possess it, but He shares it with us, for us to share with others.
Love, therefore, needs to be prevalent in our lives if we are to be called Christians. For how else can love be the greatest of Christian virtues if non-Christians cannot see love being demonstrated in our lives.
Love, the very nature of God, and the greatest of the Christian virtues. Attributes of love include patience, kindness, protection, trusting, hoping, and persevering. Love is not envious, boastful, proud, rude, self-seeking, easily angered, a recorder of wrongs or does it take delight in evil.
The theme of the entire Bible is the self-revelation of the God of love.
In the heroes of the faith, love was a passion with them of such a vehement and all-consuming energy, that it was visible in all their actions, spoke in their common talk, and looked out of their eyes even in their commonest glances. Love to Jesus was a flame which fed upon the core and heart of their being; and, therefore, from its own force burned its way into the outer man, and shone there. Zeal for the glory of King Jesus was the seal and mark of all genuine Christians. Because of their dependence upon Christ’s love they dared much, and because of their love to Christ they did much, and it is the same now. The children of God are ruled in their inmost powers by love – the love of Christ constrains them; they rejoice that divine love is set upon them, they feel it shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto them. He has kissed us with the kisses of His mouth, and killed our doubts by the closeness of His embrace. His love has been sweeter than wine to our souls. (C. Spurgeon)
See Romans 8:35-39, I John 4:12-16.
Conclusion: God loves us more than we can ever know. However, His love for us is to fill us so much that it overflows from us to others, so they can begin to know and experience God’s love. Yes, He sent His Son to die for us, but He did so for others as well.
Crown Him With Many Crowns, The Lamb upon His throne.
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns, all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing, of him who died for thee,
and hail him as thy matchless King, through all eternity.
Goodness
The goodness of God is a life-transforming truth, and is one of His 7 immutable characteristics. He is Just, but His Goodness makes His Justice, righteous! His “rightness of character” is the source of His goodness. These two hold hands, and we never get one without the other. We cannot be “Good” without being “Righteous”.
“This aspect of God is one of several important features of His character: truth; faithfulness; mercy; steadfastness; justice; righteousness; goodness. The classic text for understanding the significance of this word is Psalm 136 where it is used twenty-six times to proclaim that God’s kindness and love are eternal. The psalmist made it clear that God’s kindness and faithfulness serves as the foundation for His actions and His character: it underlies His goodness (Ps. 136:1); it supports His unchallenged position as God and Lord (Ps. 136:2, 3); it is the basis for His great and wondrous acts in creation (Ps. 136:4-9) and delivering and redeeming His people from Pharaoh and the Red Sea (Ps. 136:10-15); the reason for His guidance in the desert (Ps. 136:16); His gift of the land to Israel and defeat of their enemies (Ps. 136:17-22); His ancient as well as His continuing deliverance of His people (Ps. 136:23-25); His rulership in heaven (Ps. 136:26). The entire span of creation to God’s redemption, preservation, and permanent establishment is touched upon in this psalm. It all happened, is happening, and will continue to happen because of the Lord’s covenant faithfulness and kindness.” The Complete Word Study Dictionary
Our personal goodness is not constant, it appears and leaves as the morning mist even though God desires this from His people more than sacrifices. He is looking for people who have a marked devotion to worship, who would perform deeds of faithfulness, and kindness, the Lord desires people who will maintain covenant loyalty and responsibility so that He can build His righteous community.