Rose Publishing - Attributes of God: Basic Beliefs about Who God Is

The printed version of this eBook is the Attributes of God pamphlet, ISBN-13: 9781596364844

Contributing Authors: Shawn Vander Lugt, MA; Benjamin Galan, MTS, ThM, Professor of Old Testament Hebrew and Literature.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

It is illegal to photocopy, transmit electronically, post on the internet, or reproduce this pamphlet in whole or in part in any form.

2012 Bristol Works, Inc.
Rose Publishing, LLC
Published by Rose Publishing
An imprint of Hendrickson Publishing Group
Rose Publishing, LLC
P.O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 019613473 USA
www.HendricksonPublishingGroup.com

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• Covers 20 of Gods traits, such as Immutable (He never changes), Omnipotent (He's all powerful), Loving, Jealous, and more!
• Features an incredible life-application sectionpacked with over 20 reflection questions such as How is Gods changelessness a comfort to you? under Gods immutability.
• Includes thought-provoking activities that are great for object lessons or devotions.

Finally, it is important to remember that God is spirit. It means, first, that God does not have a body. When the Bible speaks of Gods face, hands, or any body language, it is using comparison with our bodies that we can understand and relate to. It also means that God is the source of all life. Whereas God is spirit, humans have both a spirit and a body. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and truth (John 4:24; 1:18; Acts 17:24; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16).

• How does creation point you toward the invisible God?
• How has the physical human being, Jesus Christ, helped you develop your relationship with God, who is spirit?

God created humanity for relationships: relationships with each other, with nature, and with God. However, human sin separated us from God, turning what should have been a loving relationship into one filled with hate and disobedience (Rom. 5:10). Yet, God has reached down to us to deliver us from sin and death because he wants to have a relationship with us. In Christ, God has built a bridge that allows us to relate to him.

Deep, meaningful relationships require knowledge of the other person. The more we know God, the more our love can grow and mature. Also, our obedience and service will spring forth from this knowledge and love of God.

Then, how do we get to know God? Our relationship with God begins and ends with Jesus. We get to know God as we know Jesus. His death and resurrection have given us direct access to God. We now know Jesus and God in two ways:

1. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in each believer
2. Through the revealed Word of God

This is what the L ORD says: Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the L ORD , who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the L ORD . Jeremiah 9:2324

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

It is good for us to be near unto God. It is eternity to know him intimately in our daily lives... Thats the mark of believers. They know what joy there is in being near unto God, and they want nothing else. Abraham Kuyper, Near Unto God

Knowing who God is, his character and his nature, can be discovered through learning about his attributes. One way to think about Gods attributes is by distinguishing between the attributes that belong only to God and the attributes that we also share with himwe share these attributes with God because he made us in his image. The first kind of attributes is called incommunicable , while the second kind is called communicable . In God, no attribute is more important than the others are. All of them, in conjunction, make God who he is.

The attributes of God provide us with a window through which we can contemplate who God is. As we contemplate and learn about Gods character, we begin to grasp the glorious, loving, awe-inspiring, and holy person that is the only one worthy of our allegiance. Jesus modeled these characteristics in his life and ministry. By learning what they mean and how they apply to our lives, we can grow in our faith by being imitators of God.

God is spirit. We can discern some of his attributes in naturefor example, his power in the storms, his goodness in the bounty of the earth, his love in the loving actions of people around us. We also know about Gods attributes through the Scriptures.

The book of Hebrews teaches us that In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of Gods glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word (Heb. 1:13). Jesus models the attributes of God, especially the communicable attributes.

• Jesus showed his love for all people (Luke 7:47; Mark 10:21). His love is especially clear in his sacrifice: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters (1 John 3:16).
• Jesus demonstrated a life without sin (Heb. 4:15)he was holy . His sacrifice on our behalf was perfect and sufficient because: Such a high priest truly meets our needone who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Heb. 7:26).
• Throughout his ministry, Jesus showed compassion and mercy : for the multitude (Matt. 9:36), for the unfortunate (Matt. 20:34), for Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37), for the leper (Mark 1:41).
• Jesus is faithful . He promised to be with us always (Matt. 28:20), and we can rest knowing that the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one (2 Thess. 3:3). For this reason, we can be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6).

While being one, God is triune. Its easy to see that these two attributes exist in tension with each other. We know both are correct, but its not easy to understand how they exist together.