Divine Attributes – Page 7

This Is Love

God’s first and great commandment is to love Him with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. (Mk 12:30) It’s the mark of every child of God: we love Him. (1Pe 2:7) As in most everything, definitions are critical; they’re particularly helpful here.

Love has many shades of meaning: loving ice cream, a county, a song, a painting, a grandfather, a spouse, a teenage crush … it’s all vastly different. What do we mean by loving God?

Perhaps we have an affection for Him, a sense of loyalty and appreciation, a fondness for Him and a passion to serve Him. This is essential in loving God, but is it sufficient? Can we feel this way about God and still not love Him?

God defines loving Him as obeying His commands (1Jn 5:3); if we aren’t obeying Him the best we know how we don’t yet know Him (1Jn 2:4), much less love Him (Jn 14:21), or anyone else. (2Jn 1:5-6) Apart from obedience to God’s Law, all sentiment and service is nothing. (Mt 7:22-23)

God’s commands are His testimonies, how He reveals Himself and expresses His nature. (Ps 119:18) When we deliberately break God’s Law we grieve Him, and this causes God to suffer. (He 3:17) How can we pretend to love someone, to be caring for them and seeking their good, when we’re wounding them on purpose, for no good reason? It doesn’t make sense; it’s a contradiction.

The new man in every child of God delights in His Law (Ro 7:22), because God’s writing them on our hearts and into our minds. (He 10:16) We meditate on them (Ps 119:97) and rejoice in them (Ps 119:14), being quickened, energized (Ps 119:93) and enlighten e d through them (Ps 119:104); they’re profoundly priceless to us, our litmus test for everything. (Is 8:20)

It’s so easy to deceive ourselves here it’s frightening. (Je 17:9) Our old man hates God’s Law and can’t submit to it (Ro 8:7), so we tend to dismiss it as optional and make up our own way as we go, reinventing Jesus as we wish Him to be, an idol of our own device, and place our affection there.

Let’s prove ourselves the way God says (2Co 13:5), in the light of His commands (Ps 119:105), putting on Christ and asking Him to incline our hearts to His Way (Ps 119:36), to enable us to cleave to Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him. (1Jn 2:28)

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Your Hands

Jehovah made each of us uniquely in His image, a one-of-a-kind expression of His infinitude. He decreed our existence from eternity past (Ep 1:4), and designed every one of us with beautiful precision. (Ps 139:14)

And He didn’t do this from a distance, just by speaking and decreeing: He made each of us individually, personally, with His own hands! (Ps 119:73)

Like an artist skillfully crafting a masterpiece, God engages His entire divine being as He focuses on each person, designing our body, mind, soul and spirit; we each bear a unique fingerprint pattern of God.

Thanking God for His workmanship in each human life is natural then (1Ti 2:1), asking Him to bless (Lk 6:28) and be merciful, and to fulfill the purpose for which He created each and every living soul. (Pr 16:4)

As we recognize the likeness of God in each other, it is also intuitively good to honor all (1Pe 2:17), valuing each person intrinsically, loving them even as ourselves. (Le 19:18)

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Give Them Repentance

Repentance is a change of behavior based on a change of mind (Eze 18:30); it’s believing something different (Mk 1:15) and acting accordingly. (Ac 26:20)

As God commands us to repent (Ac 17:30) it sounds easy enough, but it isn’t actually something we can do on our own (Je 13:23); God must give us repentance (2Ti 2:25), turning us from darkness to light, delivering us from Satanic power and bringing us unto Himself. (Ac 26:18)

In order to repent we must first hear truth, then God must open our hearts to recognize it as truth (Ps 119:18) and help us believe and obey it. (Ps 119:35)

This process generally requires that we’ve already received some related truth that the new revelation connects to and extends; it’s a growth process. Without sufficient context to build on, we can’t always receive new truth. (Jn 16:12) God must help each one of us grow up in Him in a way that’s unique to our own particular frame and disposition. (1Th 2:7)

Since we can’t know the weaknesses of others, or even our own very well, it’s impossible for us to tell for sure what particular truths any given person is able to receive at any given time. (Ga 6:2) Like the layers of an onion, each of us has many issues for God to heal and repair (Is 28:10); only He knows what we can handle and when. (Ps 103:14)

We must bear patiently with one another (2Ti 2:24), and with ourselves, presenting that which is holy to those who are seeking (Mt 7:6), asking God to teach us all His way (Ep 4:21), no t judging anyone (Mt 7:1), and leaving the results to Him. (Ro 12:19)

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Rejoice in the Lord

YHWH. Jehovah God. The infinite, unchanging (Ja 1:17), omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent Creator. Matchless in beauty, infinite in wisdom and understanding (Ps 147:5), unwavering in truth. (Tit 1:2) He cannot learn; He cannot risk in hope: He knows.

He inhabits eternity (Is 57:15), ever present in all places at every moment of time (2Pe 3:8), both within and beyond time and space, knowing all, pervading all, all powerful.

He made the stars (Ge 1:16), arranging them in countless, gigantic, spectacular galaxies, and calls them all by name (Ps 147:4) as they each uniquely proclaim His glory (Ps 19:1), His exquisite, eternal, infinite majesty. (Ps 96:6)

He is infinitely sovereign, in absolute control of everything all the time. (Da 4:35) He always works everything according to His own will. (Ep 1:11)

He’s relational, in Himself a flawless divine community (Ge 1:26), in perfect delight and harmony within Himself (Jn 17:5), needing nothing and no one (Ps 50:12), welcoming every sentient being to come to Him and enjoy Himself. (Re 22:17)

He’s created each of us uniquely in His own image (Ge 1:27) to express some nuance of the divine nature, giving us meaning, purpose and intrinsic value, loving us unconditionally (Jn 3:16) and individually. (Jn 13:1) Though we’re all born at enmity with Him (Ep 2:1), He’s reaching out to every one of us in the mystery of the gospel to reconcile us to Himself, regardless what we’ve thought or done. (2Co 5:19)

He has revealed Himself though perfect Law (Ps 19:7), a living expression of His love and justice (He 4:12) in the context of human brokenness (Mt 22:37-40), revealing and exposing as corrupt all that is contrary to His nature. (Ro 8:7)

He has also revealed Himself through His Son Jesus Christ, Himself the godhead incarnate. (Col 2:9) God Himself condescended to become one of His own creatures, one of us, to show us exactly what He’s like (Jn 14:9), willing to die for His enemies (Ro 5:10), enduring His own justice on our behalf, receiving us into His family and adopting us as His own (1Jn_3:1), if we would just be willing to receive Him. (Jn 1:12)

He’s perfectly just, no respecter of persons (Ac 10:34), and yet He’s infinitely merciful (Ps 103:17), benevolent and kind (Lk 6:35), even offering us the strength to obey Him if we’ll have it; He will never turn anyone away who’s diligently seeking Him (He 11:6), and will eternally terrify (2Co 5:11) all who won’t. (Mt 25:46)

He’s made many, many amazing promises (2Pe 1:4), and He’s never broken one. He’s perfectly faithful; He will never leave us nor forsake us. (He 13:5)

Regardless where I am, who I’m with, or what’s happening to me or around me, I can always rejoice in the eternal infinitude of God, beholding His beauty (Ps 27:4), feeding in His majesty, being delighted in, awed by and overcome with the perfection of His Way.

The almighty, eternal God repeatedly commands me to rejoice in Him, and to persist in this, always. (Php 4:4) He will have it no other way; He’s made me to exult in Him: enjoying God is the singular fuel of the human soul, joy unspeakable and full of glory. (1Pe 1:8)

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The Election of Grace

Election is the teaching that God chooses (elects) who will be justified (saved) by and through grace (divine enablement) (Ro 11:5), independently of human works or merit (unconditionally). (Ro 11:6) This is predestination, a pre-choosing of our destiny (Ep 1:5) before the world began (Ep 1:4) based on God’s own will (Ja 1:18) How this relates to free will is certainly a mystery; we cannot produce the new birth entirely through our own will (Jn 1:12-13), though this election may not be entirely independent of our will and choices. (1Ti 1:13)

Since Man is desperately wicked (Total Depravity) (Je 17:9), we may only become truly good through the grace of God. (1Co 15:10) We’re able to consider moral perfection, but we’re unable to perform it (Ro 7:21) without God’s aid (2Co 3:5); without Him we can do nothing truly good. (Jn 15:5)

While infallibly saving only a few, God mysteriously offers salvation to all (1Pe 4:9), inviting all to come to Him and be saved (1Ti 2:4), refusing no one who repents and turns to Him. (Is 55:7) Yet no depraved soul will ever come to God Himself, merely for the sake of being with God (Ro 3:11) unless He first moves in them to do so. (Jn 6:65) This is implied in Man’s nature when left to himself (Ro 1:20-21); it isn’t God’s fault. (Ro 3:4)

God forces no one against their will; He allows the wicked to sin according to His purpose (1Pe 2:8), while irresistibly and graciously working in and through His elect to will and to do good as it pleases Him (Php 2:13), guiding and enabling our will so that we seek Him, believe on Him, obey Him and follow Him. (Ro 8:29-30)

All the Father ordains to come to Christ will come to Him and be saved eternally. (Jn 6:37) Our election, salvation, and sanctification are all ultimately due entirely to God, not ourselves. (1Co 1:30-31)

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God Is Kind

God is good, benevolent and merciful to all (Ps 117:2), so it’s tempting to confuse answered prayer and temporal blessing with divine approval, thinking God’s kindness implies His validation. We may be like that, but not God.

God loves His enemies; He’s kind to the unthankful and to the evil (Lk 6:35), and often showers the wicked with earthly blessings and health. (Ps 73:3-7) There’s no real correlation between God’s provision for us and His approval of us.

God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished. (2Pe 2:9) By afflicting the righteous He teaches us His ways (Psa_119:67, 71), so it would seem that one way He reserves the wicked for judgement is by blessing them and giving them what they want in this life.

If God is answering the prayers of the wicked, we shouldn’t be envious (Ps 37:1-2), nor find satisfaction in Him paving their way to destruction. (Pr 24:17-18) God takes no pleasure in the ruin of the lost (Ez 33:11); we should be kind, weeping for them (Php 3:18-19), esteeming others better than ourselves.

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Inhabiting Eternity

YHWH is eternal, having neither beginning nor end (He 7:3): He inhabits eternity. (Is 7:15) He’s outside time and space, being ever present in every moment of time, and continually abiding beyond the boundaries of time. (Jn_8:58)

It’s difficult to fathom the nothing elseness of only God, when there was nothing but God … no time, no space, no light or dark … just the self-existent eternal Being. The instant of the beginning, the great I AM Who never began … created space and time, Earth and Heaven. (Ge 1:1) If we can say “before” this instant, when there was no space or time, the triune God was, and only God.

And as YHWH is ever present in every moment of time, in every place with everyone, He is spending eternity with you, and with me, in this very instant. For an infinite past, and an infinite future, God is experiencing you, and me, in each moment of our existence. This experience never began in God, and it will never end in Him.

As YHWH is infinite in His existence, He’s also infinitely infinite in every facet of His being, as He infinitely occupies all of space and time. He is infinitely beautiful, infinitely majestic, infinitely holy, infinitely just, infinitely wise, infinitely merciful, infinitely loving. He is infinitely perfect in an infinite number of ways … the ultimate expression of infinitude.

How does one not worship a timeless Being! Sit back in awe at One so majestic, so mysterious, so altogether immense and powerful! How can we doubt His wisdom, goodness or faithfulness? Getting lost in the infinitude of God, let’s feed on His majesty, finding all that’s worth finding in the grandeur of the timeless One.

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To Reconcile All Things

When two accounts of the same thing differ they must be reconciled. Whether it’s numbers that are off somewhere, wrongs that haven’t been righted, or truth that’s not yet been told … to have perfect closure everything’s gotta make sense. ‘Til then there’s waiting, anticipation, unrest … hope.

Like a Cosmic Accountant, Jehovah’s keeping track of everything, and as of now, things aren’t adding up. There are vast gaps between what should be and what is. The former is grounded in God’s nature and will, the latter in the free will of Man.

But this present conflicting experience is temporary: one Day it will end. God, the great Reconciler, is “pleased … to reconcile all things unto Himself.” (Col 1:19-20) One way or another, everything and everyone will eventually align with Him. (Ro 14:11)

“Everything will be alright in the end; if it’s not alright, then it’s not the end.” Only God sees the end from the beginning and He, for One, is pleased with how it all turns out. For now we endure, believing God is good; we patiently await that Day, when justice will prevail, when all will finally be well in the universe. Our hope will be sight; our anticipation reality.

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Lord Knows

Back in the late 80’s Bo Knows ads featured my favorite athlete, Bo Jackson, whose seemingly superhuman feats awed both baseball and football fans for years: Bo could do anything.

But saying “Lord knows” (2Pe 2:9) seems like such an understatement … His understanding is infinite. (Ps 147:5)

YHWH is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient: infinitely present in all places at all times, infinitely powerful, infinite in knowledge and wisdom. (Is 40:28) How can He try? or learn, or hope or grow? We can’t measure anything about Him. Saying He “knows how” suggests He developed a capability or acquired a challenging skill … an anthropomorphism that just won’t fly; He’s infinitely infinite.

God has always known everything about everything (Ac 15:18), so saying “the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished” (2Pe 2:9) is indeed stating the obvious. But it’s evidently an obviousness worth pondering.

God knows how … knows how to deliver the godly, those that are becoming more and more like Himself, out of temptations: He doesn’t spare us life’s trials and testings but forms us into His likeness through them. God knows how … and He does it with style. We count it all joy to be His workmanship (Ep 2:10), growing stronger under His loving hand and watchful eye through all our difficulties. (Ja 1:2-3)

But this omniscient, omnipotent God also knows how to reserve … to preserve, keep in store … the unjust, the biased, who judge inconsistently and selfishly … setting them aside unto the Day of judgment when He will expose all wickedness for what it is, and deliver them over to be punished. God knows how … and He’ll do it in righteous vengeance. (He 10:30-31)

God is good; God is just; God is faithful: I rest in His perfect knowing, in His faithful timing, in His awesome, righteous power.

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God Is Just

The human heart longs for justice, to see evil punished: we say, “Don’t get mad; get even!” We demand that wrongs against us and our loved ones be righted, that sin be paid for, that the crooked be made straight. Our sense of injustice, that evil goes unpunished in this life, can be maddening, driving us to both wrath and bitterness.

Our instinctive longing for justice is beautiful; it’s God’s image at work in us, even proving His existence, but there’s a problem: we’re unjust. We seldom see our own sins rightly, and our response to evil is usually warped; we exact more than we should.

So God says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” (Ro 12:19) He wants perfect justice more than all the rest of us combined, but only He knows what it looks like.

God is perfectly just, and only God is perfectly just; He will make all the crooked places straight (Is 40:4); He will right all wrongs … even our own. It’s an awesome mystery how God’s justice and mercy work together (Ps 89:14), how He can offer eternal salvation to sinners, His own Son taking our place and satisfying His own indignation against us. We do well to receive His mercy rather than the second death, and to rejoice when others do … especially our enemies. (Mi 6:8)

How and when God makes everything right is up to Him; when He does it will be supremely satisfying, beautiful beyond thought! (Re 15:3-4) Enjoying it now in hope, before He does, glorifies Him and gives us peace.

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