The word theology simply means “the study of God.” Good theology always leads to good living when we choose to be led by it. Good theology means understanding who God is and how He wants to relate to us. Good theology accepts our limited ability to comprehend the mind of God, but tells us to trust God anyway, because God can be trusted always, ultimately, to lead us to the good. Good theology accepts that pain, suffering, and evil are inescapable realities of this present world. But it teaches us that because God transcends all evil, and Christ overcame evil by subjecting Himself to its horrors on the cross, so in Christ we will overcome evil when we ascend to heaven.
Good theology means knowing God to the best of our limited human ability. Because God is by nature other to His creation, it is impossible God’s character qualities unless He reveals Himself to us in a way humans can understand. The Bible gives us that authoritative revelation; but how it has been interpreted and applied is a living tradition, mysteriously guided by the Holy Spirit, that has adapted over thousands of years to the times and social circumstances of the people living it. The early Christian faith evolved into what it was, guided by the teaching of the apostles, but always shaped by history and geography.
Today, I would like to revisit a message that I left incomplete a few weeks on “God Revealed to Us.” In that message, I focused on the incommunicable or transcendent attributes of God – attributes which nothing in creation can possibly possess or know intrinsically. God’s separateness from all creation, His intrinsic holiness, is a first order truth that people need to understand and believe. As a Being, God is separated from, and utterly beyond, all He creates. As such, God can never be appraised or judged by what we perceive around us. As magnificent as the stars, sun, moon, and earth are to us, they are at best merely temporal and changeable inanimate works. They are not gods, and certainly are not conscious; for they were created.
Recall that I said there are three incommunicable attributes that set apart God from all creation; and I gave three vowels, in alphabetical order to, describe them: E, I and U.
E stands for…? Eternity. God is eternally self-existent, for there has never been a time where God was not as God now is. The Hebrew covenantal name for God, Yahweh, “He Is” reveals that eternal attribute. God cannot create anything like Him that is eternal or self-existent; that is logically impossible.
“I” stands for…? Infinity. God alone possesses all His attributes in infinite degree and perfection. There can be no greater measure of power, presence, knowledge, or virtue than God already possesses. God also possesses them in simplicity. That is, all of God’s infinite, perfect attributes are present with Him at all times. And God never compromises one attribute to exercise another.
God cannot communicate infinite capacities to anything in His creation, for elevating something finite to the infinite is also impossible. Angels have immense power and knowledge, but can never fill the heavens and the earth the way God does. Nor can their knowledge extend before their creation or to the limits of eternity the way God’s knowledge does.
Angels can clearly fall from their perfection. Lucifer, now Satan, and his host of demons are proof of that. An infinite Being like God cannot increase or diminish in capacity. God wills to be infinitely perfect. As Anselm rightly said, “God is Someone than which nothing greater can be conceived.”
Finally, U stands for…? Unchanging. God never varies in any of His perfect attributes. God is immutable. He cannot increase, because He is already infinite; and He cannot decrease or vary from perfection. That is very good news for the human race. Unlike the fearful gods that haunted the ancient world, there is nothing capricious about God towards us. Life on earth is definitely dangerous and uncertain, but behind it all, God’s will for you and me is always good.
The biblical reason we know that Jesus Christ is fully God is that Scripture testifies repeatedly to His divinity, and specifically to His eternal, infinite and unchanging nature. Yes, the human Jesus was born in time, limited in His natural capacities, and changed as he grew older. Yet all the time He was fully God, but God who laid aside some of His divine prerogatives. His human limitations were essential for our salvation; for God, who is infinite life, could never die for our sins, as Jesus did. Only God in a mortal human body could die for us – a holy mystery that has always evoked wonder and worship in Christ’s people.
I ended my brief exposition on the transcendent attributes of God by mentioning the New Covenant that our Savior birthed for us by His death and resurrection. Hebrews 8:6 says of Jesus: “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is the mediator of a better covenant, which is enacted upon better promises.” The New Covenant represents how a holy, transcendent God connected Himself to mortal, sinful people in a way that He could both save us and satisfy forever His holiness and justice – His unvarying commitment to the good and right.
God the Father made His covenant not with sinful man, but with one perfect man, Jesus Christ, who became sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. Through Christ the Son, God the Father enters into covenant with all who put their genuine faith in Christ. And the Holy Spirit is always the divine Agent who empowers us to believe and then indwells all who embrace Christ as Savior.
Now I want to look at what God has communicated to us that make us image-bearers of God. This is the counterpoint to the transcendent, utterly separate nature of God. God is not just separated from us in His essential nature, He is also wonderfully with His creation down to the tiniest detail. What God has given us reveals His immanence, His will to be forever intertwined with His people.
I will be citing frequently an excellent book, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine by Wayne Grudem in this message.
God is Immanent. The word immanent, comes from the prophetic name for Messiah from Isaiah 7:14, correctly interpreted in Matthew 1:23, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel”, which translated mean, “God with us.” God lives among us. God is with us and wills for us to be with Him, now and forevermore, in the most intimate love relationship that will ever exist between the Creator and His creatures.
The Bible reveals to us an infinite-personal God. God’s infinity reflects His holy transcendence and incommunicable attributes. God’s personality speaks of something intimately connected to us. Nothing distinguishes us from others more than our unique personality. Other mammals may have personalities, but nothing approaching humans. We are of a higher order of personhood than any other animal.
God revealed Himself to us by giving us many of His own attributes. Every human reflects the glory, the inner beauty, of an infinite-personal God in finite measure. The Bible, not nature, affirms that we are God’s image bearers; and that means that human worth is immeasurable, because every soul reflects the imprint of an infinitely good Creator. As Grudem rightly says, we are significant, because God says we are.
The divine imprint in human character is what theologians call “the communicable attributes of God.” God has given, or communicated, to each of us in some measure attributes that originated in Himself. God possesses in infinite perfection the attributes that we possess finitely and imperfectly.
Wayne Grudem divides the communicable attributes of God into five areas. I will briefly expound on three of these areas today.
Attributes Describing God’s Being. God’s being has attributes that only humans possess in the natural realm: spirituality and invisibility.
God is Spirit, and spirit is of a different dimension of reality than the material. It is not subject to the physical laws of this universe. God’s Spirit is invisible to the natural senses. So are angels. However, God’s Spirit is even imperceptible to angels, unless God reveals Himself. God possesses higher dimensions of reality than anything in creation.
Humans also possess a spirit that is invisible to our natural senses, though not to God. Our spirit is immortal and indestructible, except for the “eternal destruction” of hell. Whether human spirits in hell will ever be wholly destroyed or changed in any way is a subject of debate. However, our spirits in heaven will never change in their substance. God gives us everlasting life in a glorified spirit body.
There is some debate whether there is a difference between our spirit and the immortal soul. That is, are humans two parts: soul and body, or spirit, soul, and body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says “may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete”, suggesting a tripartite division. Hebrews 4:12 says the word of God is piercing “as far as the division of soul and spirit”, implying a distinction between the two.
I regard the soul, psyche in Greek, as consisting of our mind, will and emotions. Our personality goes with our spirit into eternity when we die. In that sense, our soul is inseparable from human spirit; and it is just for the Church to talk of our immortal soul. But the soul, mysteriously operates through our brain in our mortal body; and the physical body definitely affects how we think, feel and act. So in that sense, the soul can be distinguished from our spirit, which doesn’t age with time.
Mental Attributes. God possesses mental attributes that he also gives us. One of these is knowledge.
Knowledge. “God’s knowledge may be defined as follows: God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act.” The Bible says that “The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” (This is all an attribution of divinity to the Holy Spirit who searches the depths of the Father and Son.)
God is omniscient; He possesses infinite knowledge. Nothing that can or will be known is not already known to God. God knows all things actual – those that already are. But He also knows all things possible. The late theologian, R.C. Sproul said, “God knows all contingencies; but knows nothing contingently.” God never has to say to Himself, “If this man does this, then I will do that.” That’s contingent thinking.
Describing God’s knowledge as a simple act means that God’s omniscience is “not divided into parts. God is always fully aware of everything.” And everything is always present in His consciousness. Some people argue that God forgets our sins. But God never forgets any detail in the slightest; rather, He chooses never to remember our sins once they’re forgiven. As Supreme Judge, God never allows our past sins as evidence against us. His consigns them to judicial oblivion.
God’s knowledge is also an eternal act because it never changes or grows. All knowledge is ever-present to God.
Wisdom. “God’s wisdom means that God always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals.” His wise decisions always produce the best results from God’s eternal perspective. God makes no mistakes with Providence. Everything that occurs in the earth fits into God’s eternal purpose the way God intended it. William Cowper said it beautifully,
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
God’s wisdom is seen in the unfolding of sacred history, culminating in the life of Christ. Paul said that, to the elect, “Christ crucified [is]… the power of God and the wisdom of God.” For it was the simplest, surest, and most complete redemptive act possible to atone for humanity’s iniquity and reconcile us to God. Christ’s passion transformed the basest and cruelest form of execution ever into the noblest and greatest demonstration of justice, wisdom and love ever enacted. It cannot be surpassed; so it is manifestly the wisdom of God.
Truthfulness (and Faithfulness). “God’s truthfulness means that he is the true God, and that all his knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth.” Since God alone is the Creator of the universe, He is ultimate reality and the only One able to say what is really true. God therefore must be true to Himself. He has no rival in authority or judgment; so He must not permit anyone else to elevate himself to his level. And only God could properly reveal Himself truly to His creation. This is why he chose to reveal himself distinctly to one man, Abraham, and his descendants. And it is why He culminated His self-revelation by becoming incarnate in the Person of Jesus Christ. There can be no better or truer revelation of God to humanity than for God to become one of us.
Consistent with God’s truthfulness is his faithfulness or fidelity. God cannot lie or be untrue to Himself. Also, God never speaks anything that is inconsistent with ultimate truth; therefore, His words are the final truth. The Bible gives us God’s ultimate truth about Himself and how we are to relate to Him.
So far, I’ve described attributes of God’s Being – his Spirit and invisibility – and His mental attributes. The final area I want to discuss to today that God communicates to us are His moral attributes.
Moral Attributes. First is goodness.
Goodness. “The goodness of God means that God is the final standard of good, and that all that God is and does is worthy of approval.” God is the only Being in existence who must rely upon Himself for the approval of His actions as the ultimate standard of goodness.
Genesis 1 states at the culmination of creation, when God made man in His image, “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” Here human authors express God’s perspective that everything He made was very good. Psalm 119:68 says, “You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.” So God is not only good by nature, and the judge of what is good; but everything He does is ultimately good by His standard.”
This assertion clearly runs into the problem of theodicy, the justice of God, since we live in a world that has many natural dangers, predators, diseases, and predatory, evil people. All these cause human victims of tragic events to question God’s goodness. Genesis 3, describing the fall of man, gives a simple answer to that question. Whether one sees that story as literal or mythological, the end result is the same. We live in a fallen, deadly world and must learn to live with the paradox that God is good, even when the world around us is not always so.
Humanity had to be subject to evil; otherwise, God’s eternal purpose in revealing the fulness of His glory would be incomplete. An uncorrupted world would have no need for Christ the Savior; and Christ is the highest self-revelation of God possible to the creation.
Love. Another moral attribute of God is love. “God’s love means that God eternally gives of Himself to others. This definition understands love as self-giving for the benefit of others.” Love is at the core of God’s identity. It is the driving force behind everything God does. God’s love is always consistent with His holiness and wisdom, justice, and goodness. John tells us that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8).
Jesus’ culminating prayer in John 17 reveals that the Father and Son loved each other before all creation. Consequently, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand” (John 3:35).
If love is so central to the motivation of God’s actions, it is right that we should love God fervently in return. Amazingly, God has given us the capacity to love Him and others in return. Selfless Love is rightly recognized as the highest of all human ethics.
What did Jesus say are the great commandments found in the Law of Moses? (Matthew 22:37-40: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”)
The Apostle Paul prayed for us to be “rooted and grounded in love [so that we might be able] to comprehend the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you might be filled up to all the fulness of God.” Paul’s prayer expresses God’s will and intent for us – truly one of the most stupendous promises in the Bible!
Not surprisingly, living with love consistently can be exceedingly difficult – as when Jesus commanded, “love your enemies and pray for those persecute you and despitefully use you.” In fact, living by love is impossible apart from God’s grace; but that’s the point. God made this world impossible to navigate righteously without His grace and truth continually enabling us.
Consistent with God’s love is His mercy, grace, and patience.
Mercy, Grace, Patience. These may be seen as separate attributes or as specific aspects of God’s goodness. These three work together. “God’s mercy means God’s goodness toward those in misery and distress. God’s grace means God’s goodness toward those who deserve only punishment. God’s patience means God’s goodness in withholding of punishment toward those who sin over a period of time.” We come to God’s throne by mercy, not by merit. God’s grace is His unmerited favor in all aspects of life; such that when we rely upon another’s favor, we are exercising faith that we will receive it.
As to God’s patience, Peter says “The Lord… is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 P. 3:9)
Holiness. Holiness is a third divine, moral attribute. “God’s holiness means that he is separated from sin and devoted to seeking his own honor. This definition contains both a relational quality (separation from) and a moral quality (the separation is from sin or evil, and the devotion is to the good of God’s own honor or glory).”
I’ve already preached on the incommunicable attributes of God that make Him transcendent to or beyond all creation. That’s one aspect of God’s holiness. This definition, however, connects with a quality that can be given to us – the will to separate ourselves from sin and live for the glory of God. If you read the New Testament, it is evident that this is how Jesus lived and taught His disciples to live as well.
The pattern of God’s holiness was clearly given in the Law of Moses. Everything therein set a pattern to honor God’s holiness and set apart the people of Israel as holy unto God. Paul wrote, that “the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” The Law prepared people to understand what set Christ apart as holy and how He revealed God to us in Himself. If you study the book of Hebrews you will get a brilliant brief use of typology to understand how God used the Old Covenant patterns to prepare us for the sublime intertwining of holiness, love, and wisdom in the New.
Peace (or Order). Along with holiness is peace. Paul said that “God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” “God’s peace means that in God’s being and in his actions he is separate from all confusion and disorder, yet he is continually active in innumerable, well-ordered, fully controlled, simultaneous actions.” God’s order is clearly revealed in the unvarying physical laws of the universe that have allowed life on earth to flourish.
The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, reveals why peace is so central to God’s character and orderly kingdom. Shalom means harmony, tranquility, well-being, health, prosperity, order, and the absence of strife. Shalom is what we all want in our society, but never fully attain. Heaven, on the other hand, will be suffused with peace.
John 14:27 is one of the most precious promises of God: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” His peace, therefore, is always there for you. Simply claim it by faith.
Righteousness, justice. “God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with what is right and is himself the final standard of what is right.” Moses said of God, “His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.” Abraham said to the pre-incarnate Messiah, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The expected answer is Yes, God will always do what is right!
This raises an important question that arises in everyone’s minds – most often as an accusation from the devil accusing God of injustice. How do we reconcile the justice of God with the evident injustice in this world? Theologians call this subject theodicy – “the justice of God.” Theodicy is something I hope you read about and ponder concerning God and His ways in the world. It is truly profound. I assure you as a Ph.D. researcher of the doctrine and praxis of reconciliation in a terrible, sectarian ordeal – Northern Ireland in the 20th century. There are satisfying answers to the questions revolving around God’s justice.
Martin Luther King Jr. was correct when he said poetically, “The arc of the universe bends toward justice.” Justice in social divisions are the most difficult to resolve, as this year’s protests and riots over “Black Lives Matter” evinces. Typically, they take generations to develop a new social synthesis that increases the boundaries of justice and acceptance in a nation. And these only occur when societies apply the principles of justice God has given us.
Jealousy. Although jealousy is generally used in a negative sense as it applies to human reactions, it can have a positive connotation. “God’s jealousy means that God continually seeks to protect his own honor.” It is necessary for God to protect His honor because all existence must revolve around God as the Supreme Benefactor for the creation to be His orderly kingdom.
Paul told the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:2) “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy.” Paul used jealousy in the sense of “earnestly protective and watchful.” God also protects his honor to protect His kingdom from anarchy. The angels also defend God’s honor by identifying and punishing offenses against God’s glory. The angelic Watchers who punished King Nebuchadnezzar or King Herod Antipas for their hubris are biblical examples of this.
Wrath. Grudem says, “It may surprise us how frequently the Bible talks about the wrath of God. Yet if God loves all that is right and good, and all that conforms to his moral character, then it should not be surprising that he would hate everything that is opposed to his moral character. God’s wrath against sin is therefore closely related to God’s holiness and justice. God’s wrath may be defined as follows: God’s wrath means that he intensely hates all sin.”
One frightening example of God’s wrath was when the Lord told Moses to step aside so that He might consume Israel for its idolatry. Moses instead interceded for Israel, on the basis of God’s covenant promises; so Israel was spared. But Moses was also jealous for God’s holiness and unleashed righteous wrath upon those who worshiped the golden calf. He called for the Levites to slay the idolators. Three thousand people died on that day, rather than three million.
The balancing truth to God’s wrath is his patience. The Bible repeatedly says that God is slow to anger and great in lovingkindness (or chesed, His covenantal loyalty to His people.) Even so, people come into this world as “by nature children of wrath.” Yet when we trust in Jesus, says 1 Thess. 1:10, he “delivers us from the wrath to come.”
The glory of the gospel of Jesus is magnified in contrast to God’s promise to pour out His wrath upon those who reject His salvation. The flip side of God’s promise to bless forever those who are in covenant with Him is His vow to punish those who are not.
Brethren, our spiritual nature, our mental capacities, and the many moral attributes we may possess all directly stem from a generous God who possesses all these in infinite measure. Knowing that we share so many attributes with God should ennoble us to imitate Him.
We do this by becoming sincere Christ followers, since Jesus set the perfect example of what God in human form is like. Like God, Christ leads us to integrate all of the qualities we receive into a simple, consistent representation of His life in us. Like Jesus we are fully human; unlike Him, we are not fully God, but the fulness of God dwells in our Spirit by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we can live godly lives.
My challenge to you today is to be genuine as a Christ follower. If you have not fully dedicated your life to Him, do so today. Ask Jesus to be both Lord and Savior in your life, and then develop the daily habits of godliness, relating to Christ inwardly as your ever-present Friend. He wants to be that in your life, as well as your mentor and guide. Will you entrust yourself freely and completely to Him?
Let us pray.