Questions to be answered:

1.      How do we know God exists?

2.      Can we really know God?

3.      How is God different from us?

4.      How is God like us?

A.   The
Existence and Knowability of God.

·
The existence of God.

·
Humanity’s inner sense of God.

Inside each human being is a “God-shaped”
vacuum that only He can fill.

Romans 1:19,
21, 25 – Since what may be known
about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them….For
although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to
him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were
darkened….They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and
served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

Psalm 14:1 – The fool says in his heart, "There is no
God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

This inner awareness of God is
stronger and more distinct in a Christian.

Romans 8:15-16
– For you did not receive a spirit
that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.
And by him we cry, "Abba,
Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's
children.

·
Believing the evidence in Scripture and nature.

The Bible assumes the
existence of God.  Nowhere in
Scripture is there any attempt to prove God’s existence.  This is evident from the very first
verse in the very first book of the Bible.

Genesis 1:1
– In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.

Notice, the Bible
doesn’t start out, “You may find this hard to believe, but in the
beginning God…”

From this verse, we not only
get the fact that God exists, but that He also acts.

Romans 1:20 – For since the creation of the world God's invisible
qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so
that men are without excuse.

Acts 14:17
– Yet he has not left himself without
testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in
their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with
joy.

Psalm 19:1
– The heavens declare the glory of
God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Belief on the existence of God
is not some unfounded, irrational belief, but one that has abundant evidence
from the Bible and nature.

·
The knowability
of God.

·
We can never fully understand God.

God is incomprehensible in the true sense of the word.  What is meant by incomprehensible is
that God is unable to be fully
understood.

Psalm 145:3 – Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.

Psalm 147:5 – Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

Psalm 139:6 – Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Romans 11:33 – Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How unsearchable his
judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

1 Corinthians 2:11 – For who among men knows the thoughts of a man
except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

We cannot only never fully understand God, but
neither can we ever fully understand any single thing about God.  We can never fully understand
God’s love, God’s holiness, God’s righteousness, etc.

·
Yet, we can know God truly.

All that Scripture tells us about God is true.

God is love (1 John 4:8)

God is light (1 John 1:5)

God is spirit (John 4:24)

God is righteous (Romans 3:26)

We do not have to have full knowledge of God to
have any knowledge of God.

Furthermore, we don’t just know facts about
God, we know God.

Jeremiah
9:23-24 – This is what the LORD says:
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his
strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast
about this: that he understands and knows
me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness
on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 – "The time is coming," declares the
LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah.  It will not be
like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to
lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, " declares the LORD.  "This is the covenant I will make
with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will
put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,
and they will be my people.  No
longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, `Know the
LORD,' because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For
I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

John 17:3 – Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
you have sent.

Not only can we know God, but
Christians can know God in a very personal way.

John 14:21, 23 – Whoever has my commands and
obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my
Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him….If anyone loves
me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him
and make our home with him.

B.    The Attributes of God.

·
Introduction
to the study of God’s character:
God’s attributes.

God’s attributes can be
commonly classified into two broad categories (theologians may disagree on the
classifications and the placement of attributes within the classifications, but
they rarely agree on the attributes themselves).

1.      Incommunicable
(those that God does not share with us)

2.      Communicable
(those that God shares to a lesser degree with us)

·
The
incommunicable attributes of God.

·
Independence.

Definition:  God’s independence means that God
does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of
creation glorify him and bring him joy.

Acts 17:24-25
– The God who made the world and
everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples
built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything,
because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.

Mistaken assumption:  God created the universe and humanity
out some sense of loneliness and need.

Psalm 90:2 – Before the mountains were born or
you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you
are God.

If God needed humanity and the creation, this would
imply that there was something lacking in God’s being that humanity and
the creation supplied.

God doesn’t need creation, but creation does
in fact glorify him and bring him joy.
We are meaningful not because of something inherent within us, but
because God has determined that we would be meaningful to him.

Ephesians
1:11-12 – In him we were also chosen,
having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything
in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the
first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

·
Unchangeableness.

Definition:  God is unchanging in his being,
perfections (attributes), purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel
emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different
situations.

God’s unchangeableness is often referred to
as God’s immutability.

Psalm
102:25-27 – In the beginning you laid
the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  They will perish, but you remain; they
will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they
will be discarded.  But you remain
the same, and your years will never end.

Malachi 3:6 – I the LORD do not change.

Psalm 33:11 – But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the
purposes of his heart through all generations.

Numbers
23:19 – God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he
should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not
fulfill?

1 Samuel
15:29 – He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind;
for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.

Does God sometimes change his mind?

Exodus 32:9-14

Jonah 3:4-10

God responds differently to different
situations.  In the first case,
Moses’ appeal on behalf of God’s people prompted God to avert his
wrath toward the Israelites.
Likewise, in the case of the Ninevites, their repentance spared them
from God’s wrath.  When God
“changes his mind,” he is not changing his character or
nature.  Rather he is changing his
disposition based on the situation.
Conversely, if God had refused to spare the Ninevites of his wrath
claiming, “I am the LORD, I change NOT!” he would cease to be a
loving and just God.

·
Eternity.

Definition:  God has no beginning, end, or succession
of moments in his own being, and he sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees
events in time and acts in time.

·
God is timeless in his own being.

Psalm 90:2 – Before the mountains were born or
you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you
are God.

Revelation
1:8 – "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God,
"who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

·
God sees all time equally vividly.

Psalm 90:4 – For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that
has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:8
– But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is
like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

·
God sees events in time and acts in time.

Galatians
4:4-5 – But when the time had fully
come, God sent his Son, born of a
woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the
full rights of sons.

·
Omnipresence.

Definition:  God does not have size or spatial
dimensions, and is present at every point of space with his whole being, yet
God acts differently in different places.

·
God is present everywhere.

Jeremiah
23:23-24 – "Am I only a God
nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away?  Can anyone hide in secret places so that
I cannot see him?"  declares the LORD.
"Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.

Psalm 139:7-10 – Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee
from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed
in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle
on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

·
God does not have spatial dimensions.

1 Kings 8:27
– But will God really dwell on earth?
The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this
temple I have built!

Acts 17:24
– The God who made the world and
everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples
built by hands.

God is a being who exists without size or dimension
in space.

·
God can be present to punish, to sustain, or to bless.

God is present in different ways in different
places.

To punish:

Amos 9:1-4
– I saw the Lord standing by the
altar, and he said: "Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds
shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I
will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape. Though they
dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them. Though
they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down. Though they
hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize
them. Though they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command
the serpent to bite them. Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix my eyes upon them for
evil and not for good."

To sustain:

Colossians 1:17 – He is before all things, and
in him all things hold together.

To bless:

Psalm 16:11
– You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy
in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

·
Unity.

Definition:  God is not divided into parts, yet we
see different attributes of God emphasized at different times.

God’s whole being includes all of his attributes (God is not part
love, part wrath, part holiness, etc.), and every attribute of God also
qualifies every other attribute (God’s love is a holy love,
God’s wrath is a righteous wrath, etc.)

·
God’s communicable
attributes.

·
Attributes describing
God’s being.

·
Spirituality.

Definition:  God exists as a being that is not made
of any matter, has no parts or dimensions, is unable to be perceived by our
bodily senses, and is more excellent than any other kind of existence.

John 4:24
– God is spirit, and his worshipers
must worship in spirit and in truth.

Exodus 20:4 – You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form
of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

God commanded Israel not to make any idols because
he is not a being that can be represented by anything that exists in all
creation.

·
Invisibility.

Definition:  God’s invisibility means that
God’s total essence, all of his spiritual being, will never be able to be
seen by us, yet God still shows himself to us through visible, created things.

John 1:18
– No one has ever seen God, but God
the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

John 6:46
– No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has
seen the Father.

1 Timothy
6:16 – [God] who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light,
whom no one has seen or can see.

God has appeared in physical form from time to
time.  These appearances are called Theophanies.

1.
To Abraham (Genesis 18:1-2)

2.
To Jacob (Genesis 32:28-30)

3.
To Israel (Exodus 13:21-22)

4.
As Jesus Christ (John 14:9)

·
Mental attributes.

·
Knowledge (Omniscience).

Definition:  God fully knows himself and all things
actual and possible in one eternal act.

Job 37:16
– Do you know how the clouds hang
poised, those wonders of him who is perfect
in knowledge?

1 John 3:20 – For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

God fully knows himself
despite the fact that he is infinite.

1 Corinthians 2:10-11 – The Spirit searches all things, even the
deep things of God.  For who among
men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of
God except the Spirit of God.

God knows all things actual (i.e., everything that is).

Hebrews 4:13
– Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is
uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom
we must give account.

God also knows all things that
are possible (i.e., all things that
could have happened).

Matthew
11:21 – Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that
were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

God knowing all things in one simple, eternal act
implies that God doesn’t have to reason or come to conclusions; he knows
that answers to all possible questions instantaneously.

·
Wisdom.

Definition:  God’s wisdom means that God always
chooses the best goals and the means to those goals.

God’s decisions are always the wisest
possible decisions.

Psalm 104:24
– How many are your works, O LORD! In
wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Romans 8:28
– And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love
him, who have been called according to his purpose.

We can (and are encouraged) to ask God for wisdom.

James 1:5
– If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to
all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

·
Truthfulness (including faithfulness).

Definition:  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.

God is the true
God.

Jeremiah
10:10-11 – But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath.
"Tell them this: `These gods, who did not make the heavens and the
earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.' "

God’s knowledge is true
and the standard of truth.

Job 37:16
– Do you know how the clouds hang
poised, those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge?

God’s words are both true and the final
standard of truth.  God always does
what he promises (this is God’s faithfulness).

Numbers
23:19 – God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he
should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not
fulfill?

·
Moral attributes.

·
Goodness.

Definition:  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.

Luke 18:19
– "Why do you call me
good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.”

All that God does is worthy of approval.

Genesis 1:31
– God saw all that he had made, and it was very
good.

James 1:17
– Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Good is anything that conforms to God’s
standards.  Things are good because
God says they are good, and God can say they are good because he is the final
standard of goodness.

Does this make
“goodness” (as well as truth) arbitrary, since things are good only
because God says they are?  Again,
goodness (along with all of God’s attributes) should not be separated
from his other attributes.  If God
calls something good, he does so in all truth, justice, and knowledge.

·
Love.

Definition:  God’s love means that God
eternally gives of himself to others.

God is love.

1 John 4:8
– Whoever does not love does not know
God, because God is love.

God shows this love to
mankind.

1 John 4:10 –
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as
an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Romans 5:8
– But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16
– For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life.

·
Holiness.

Definition:  God’s holiness means that he is
separated from sin and devoted to seeking his own honor.

God is the most holy one.

Isaiah 6:3 – And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD
Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."

God’s holiness cannot
tolerate sin.

Habakkuk 1:13 – Your eyes are too pure to look
on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.

Proverbs
6:16-19 – There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable
to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart
that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false
witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

·
Righteousness (or justice).

Definition:  God’s righteousness means that God
always acts in accordance with what is right and is himself the final standard
of what is right.

Righteousness and justice, although two words in
English, are in Hebrew and Greek effectively synonymous.

Deuteronomy
32:4 – He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

Genesis 18:25
– Far be it from you to do such a
thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the
wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Isaiah 45:19 – I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a
land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob's descendants, `Seek me in vain.' I,
the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.

If God is so righteous and
just, what about all the sin that obviously goes unpunished?

Romans
3:25-26 – God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in
his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance
he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to demonstrate
his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus.

What is considered right?  What ought to happen and what ought to
be?  Whatever conforms to
God’s moral character is right.
This is true because God is the final standard of what is right (and
what is good, and what is true…).

Job 40:2, 8
– Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who
accuses God answer him!… Would you discredit my
justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

·
Jealousy.

Definition:  God’s jealousy means that God
continually seeks to protect his own honor.

Exodus 20:5
– You shall not bow down to them or
worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the
children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those
who hate me.

Exodus 34:14
– Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a
jealous God.

Jealousy for God should not be considered wrong or sinful
because his character is pure and holy.
It should not be considered wrong for God to seek his own glory and
protect his honor.  However, for
mankind, jealousy is wrong because the protection of our own honor is usually
born out of pride.

·
Wrath.

Definition:  God’s wrath means that he intensely hates all
sin.

Exodus 32:9-10
– "I have seen these
people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked
people.  Now leave me alone so that
my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make
you into a great nation."

John 3:36 – Whoever believes
in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for
God's wrath remains on him.

Romans 1:18
– The wrath of God is being revealed
from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the
truth by their wickedness.

God’s wrath should never be isolated from his
holiness and justice.  God’s
wrath is a holy and just wrath against sin.  In contrast, human wrath frequently originates
from pride and selfishness.

·
Attributes of purpose.

·
Will.

Definition:  God’s will is that attribute of
God whereby he approves and determines to bring about every action necessary
for the existence and activity of himself and all creation.

·
God’s will in general.

God’s will is frequently cited as the reason
for everything that happens.

Ephesians 1:11
– In him we were also chosen, having been predestined
according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

All things were created by God’s will.

Revelation
4:11 – You are worthy, our Lord and
God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have
their being.

Human government is brought about by the will of
God.

Romans 13:1
– Everyone must submit himself to the
governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities
that exist have been established by God.

·
Distinctions in aspects of God’s will.

God’s secret will and God’s revealed
will.

Deuteronomy
29:29 – The secret things belong to
the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children
forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

God’s revealed will is sometimes also called
God’s will of precept or will of command.  This encompasses all the things that we
should do or are commanded to do.

God’s secret will is sometimes also called
God’s will of decree.  These are the hidden decrees by which
God governs the universe and determines everything that will happen.  The elements of God’s will of
decree are sometimes revealed through prophecy.

·
Omnipotence (or power, including sovereignty)

Definition:  God’s omnipotence means that God is able to do
all his holy will.

Genesis 18:14 – Is anything
too hard for the LORD?

Jeremiah 33:27 – I am the
LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

Matthew 19:26
– Jesus looked at them and said,
"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Ephesians 3:20
– Now to him who is able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at
work within us.

However, God cannot will or
do anything that is contrary to his own holy character.

1.      God cannot lie (Titus 1:2)

2.      God cannot be tempted with
evil (James 1:13)

3.      God cannot deny himself (2
Timothy 2:13)

God’s infinite power, again, is qualified by
all his other attributes.