By Gary Ray Branscome

 

          It would be difficult, if not impossible, to compile and exhaustive list of God’s attributes. Not only because we know so little, but also because human language uses synonyms to describe things. For example: The words, “He, [God] being full of compassion,” reveal God as compassionate, while the words, “Blessed is the LORD: for He has shown me His marvelous kindness,” tell us that God is kind (Psalm 78:38, Psalm 31:21). The question is: Do we treat kindness and compassion as two separate attributes, or as synonyms? Or do we treat God’s kindness as one aspect of His compassion? Since the purpose of this Theology is to look at what God says in His Word, not what men think, I will not attempt to answer those questions, or make an exhaustive list of attributes. Instead I will focus on attributes that are fundamental to our knowledge of God.

The attributes that I have listed as passive are those that have to do with who God is, rather than what He does. They are His eternity, unity, omnipresence, infinity, glory, inscrutability, perfection, immutability, and indivisibility.

 

ETERNITY – The words, “From everlasting to everlasting, you are God,” tell us that God has always existed, and will always exist (Psalm 90:2). The words, “Thus says the LORD the King of Israel, and His redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God,” tell us that no God existed before God (Isaiah 44:6). And, the words, “Now to the eternal King, the immortal, invisible, and only wise God, be glory and honor for ever and ever. Amen,” tell us that God  is eternal, immortal, invisible and wise which are all attributes of God (1Timothy 1:17). [See Psalm 102:27, Deut. 33:27, Isaiah 9:6, Gen. 21:33, Isaiah 40:28, 2Cor. 5:1.]

 

UNITY – The words, “There is no God but Me,” tell us that there is only one God (Isaiah 44:6). The words, “God is a Spirit,” tell us that the One God is “a Spirit” — singular (John 4:24). And the words, “I am He: no God was formed before me, and there will be none after me,” tell us that no God came into existence before God, and none ever will (Isaiah 43:10).

 

OMNIPRESENCE – The words, “Can anyone hide himself in a secret place where I will not see him? asks the LORD. Don’t I fill heaven and earth? asks the LORD,” tell us that God is present everywhere (Jeremiah 23:24). The words, “Where can I go to escape your spirit? or where can I flee to escape your presence? If I go up into heaven, you are there: if I make the grave my bed, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and stay at the most distant parts of the sea; Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me,” tell us that there is no place where God is not present, and nothing that He does is done without Him being present (Psalm 139:7-10). And, the words, “In Him [God] we live, and move, and have our being; and some of your own poets have said, We are His offspring,” tell us that He is with us at all times (Acts 17:28). And, because God is present everywhere, He cannot be measured or confined. However, even though God is present in all of His creation (including in us) the creation is not joined to Him, or a part of Him as pantheists imagine. Instead God is distinct and separate from His creation as the Bible plainly says.

 

INFINITY – The attribute of infinity tells us that God is not only eternal and present everywhere in space, but that He transcends both space and time. The words, “In the beginning [of time] God created the heaven [space] and the earth,” tell us that God created space and time (Genesis 1:1). The word “heaven” is not referring to the sun, moon and stars, because they were not created until day four. The words, “You, even you, are LORD alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are in it, the seas, and all that is in it, and you preserve them all; and the host of heaven worships you,” tell us that God made heaven [space] so His dwelling place transcends space (Nehemiah 9:6). The words, “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,” tell us that God is not bound by time (2Peter 3:8). The words, “The angel… swore by Him who lives for ever and ever, who created heaven, and everything in it, and the earth, and everything in it, and the sea, and everything in it, that time should be no longer,” seem to be saying that time will end (Revelation 10:6). And, the words, “So shall we ever be with the Lord,” tell us that our life with God will never end (1Thessalonians 4:17).

 

GLORY – The words, “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? who is like you, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?” speak of God’s glory and holiness, both of which are attributes (Exodus 15:11). The words, “I will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and of the wonderful things you have done,” tell us of God’s glory and splendor (Psalm 145:5). The words, “May His glorious name be blessed for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with His glory,” tell us that God’s name is Glorious (Psalm 72:19). And, the words, “Be watchful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD YOUR GOD,” again tell us that God’s name is a glorious name (Deuteronomy 28:58).

 

INSCRUTABILITY – The word “unsearchable” is sometimes used for this attribute of God. The idea is that God is unfathomable, that our minds are too little to fully understand Him, His thoughts, or why He does what He does. The words, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” Tell us that God’s judgments are unsearchable (Romans 11:33). The words, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is beyond our comprehension,” tell us that God’s greatness is beyond our ability to comprehend (Psalm 145:3). And, the words, “I realized that a man cannot find out the meaning of all the work God requires under the sun: because even though a man works hard to discover it, he will not find it; yea even though a wise man claims to know it, he is not able to discover its meaning,” tell us that we cannot understand why God does what He does (Ecclesiastes 8:17).

 

PERFECTION – The words, “Be perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect,” tell us that God is perfect (Matthew 5:48). God’s perfection includes His attributes of righteousness and holiness. However, it also includes what are sometimes called God’s negative attributes — the fact that He does not have any of the faults we see in men. For example: The words, “God is not a man, that He should lie,” tell us that God will not lie (Numbers 23:19). And, the words, “The LORD redeems the soul of His servants: and none of those who trust in Him will be condemned,” tell us that God will not betray our trust (Psalm 34:22).

 

IMMUTABILITY – The words, “O my God… Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure: yea, all of them will grow old like a garment; you will change them like clothes, and they will pass away: But you are the same, and your years will never end,” tell us that God does not age, or change with time as the things He has created do (Psalm 102:24-27). The words, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, who does not change, or shift as the shadows,”  tell us that God does not constantly change like we do (James 1:17). The words, “A man has many plans in his mind; nevertheless the LORD’S plan will stand,” tell us that nothing can stop what God has determined to bring to pass (Proverbs 19:21). And, the words, “I am the LORD, I do not change; that is why you sons of Jacob have not been destroyed,” tell us that Jahweh [He Who Is] does not change, either according to His existence or the plan being carried out by His divine will (Malachi 3:6). Therefore, whenever the Bible speaks of God changing His mind, such as when it says, “I am sorry that I made Saul king,” those statements need to be understood in a way that is consistent with God’s divine foreknowledge and eternal purpose (1Samuel 15:11).

 

INDIVISIBILITY – The attribute of divine indivisibility (sometimes called divine simplicity) affirms the fact that God does not consist of matter and form, as created things do. While a man is the sum total of his parts, eyes, ears hands etc., “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24). And, because God is a Spirit, He is invisible. As it is written, “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever” (1Timothy 1:17). Therefore, it would be wrong for us to portray God as some sort of exalted man consisting of parts (hands, eyes etc.) In fact, the words, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man,” condemn those who portray God as an exalted man (Romans 1:22-23). That being the case, whenever the Bible speaks of God’s hands or eyes etc., we need to realize that His hands and eyes are not just parts of God, but are everywhere He is. So, when the Bible says, “The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth,” it is not saying that God has two eyes, but that He sees everything (2Chronicles 16:9). Moreover, because the eyes of God are everywhere He is, He sees every person on earth at the same time. And, He sees each person in such detail that “the very hairs” of their head “are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30). Likewise, when the Bible says, “This comes from the hand of God,” it is not saying that God has two hands (Ecclesiastes 2:24). On the contrary, because God’s hands are wherever He is, when He created the stars there were not just two hands at work. In fact, if we speak of hands at all we would have to say that when He created the stars trillions upon trillions of microscopic hands were at work fashioning subatomic particles from nothing, atoms from subatomic parts, and stars from atoms.