2. RELATIVE ATTRIBUTES. The relative attributes of God are those that are seen because of God’s connection with time and creation. (1) Eternity. This means that God had no beginning and that He can have no end. It also means that He is in no way limited or conditioned by time. A. H. Strong says: God is not in time. It is more correct to say that time is in God. Although there is logical succession in God’s thoughts, there is no chronological succession (Systematic Theology, p. 130). God sees events as taking place in time, but from all eternity those events have been the same to Him as after they have taken place. Eternity has been described as follows: Eternity is not, as men believe, before and after us, an endless line. No, ‘tis a circle, infinitely great—all the circumference with creation thronged; God at the center dwells, beholding all. And as we move in this eternal round, the finite portion which alone we see, behind us is the past; what lies before we call the future. But to Him who dwells far at the center, equally remote from every point of the circumference, both are alike, the future and the past (Murphy, Scientific Basis, p. 90). (2) Omnipresence. By the omnipresence of God is meant that God is present at the same moment throughout His creation. The omnipresence of God is beautifully and strikingly declared in Psalm 139:7-10 and in Jeremiah 23:23, 24. Those passages that speak of God as being present in special places are to be understood as referring to God’s special and transcending manifestations. Thus He is spoken of as dwelling in Heaven, because it is there that He makes the greatest manifestation of His presence. (3) Omniscience. From all eternity God has possessed all knowledge and wisdom. John declares that God knoweth all things (1 John 3:20). God’s omniscience may be argued from His infinity. Everywhere in the Bible He is pictured as an infinite being. Thus His knowledge must he infinite. Omniscience may also be argued from immutability. If God changes not, as the Scripture declares, then He must have possessed all knowledge from the beginning; for otherwise He would be learning all the while, and that would of itself constitute a change in Him and would necessarily lead to even more manifest changes. Moreover, the necessity of omniscience on the part of God may be seen from Ephesians 1:11, which says that God worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Only an omniscient being could work all things after the counsel of his own will. It will be seen from the foregoing discussion that God’s omniscience includes perfect foreknowledge. From eternity God has known all things that have come to pass and all things that shall yet come to pass. Moreover He foreknew from eternity all things that would have come to pass if He had not prevented them. He has ever known exactly what things would have come to pass if His immutable purpose had been different from what it is at any point. The basis of God’s foreknowledge of all things that come to pass is His own purpose. God could not have known that a thing would come to pass unless it had been certain to come to pass. God’s eternal, immutable purpose is the only scriptural basis for the certainty of future events. As to the manner in which God knows all things, perhaps we cannot do better than to take a brief quotation from J. J. Rousseau, as found in a A Savoyard Vicar (Harvard Classics, Vol. 34, p. 267): God is intelligent; but in what manner? Man is intelligent by the act of reasoning, but the supreme intelligence lies under no necessity to reason. He requires neither premise nor consequences; nor even the simple form of a proposition. His knowledge is purely intuitive. He beholds equally what is and what will be. All truths are to Him as one idea, as all places are but one point, and all times one moment. (4) Omnipotence. God possesses all power. In Gen. 17:1 God declares: I am God Almighty. The title Almighty is applied to Him over and over in the Scripture. This title signifies that He possesses all might or power. Again we read in Matt. 19:26: With God all things are possible. Many other passages declare God’s omnipotence. The omnipotence of God does not mean, of course, that He can do things that are logically absurd or things that are against His will. He cannot lie, because the holiness of His character prevents Him from willing to lie. And He cannot create a rock larger than He can lift; nor both an irresistible power and an immovable object; nor can He draw a line between two points shorter than a straight one; nor put two mountains adjacent to one another without creating a valley between them. He cannot do any of these things because they are not objects of power. They are self-contradictory and logically absurd. They would violate the laws that God has ordained, and thus cause God to cross Himself. (5) Veracity. By the veracity of God is meant His truthfulness and faithfulness in His revelation to and dealings with His creatures in general and His redeemed people in particular. Some of the passages setting forth the veracity of God are: John 9:33; Romans 1:25; 3:4; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; 1 Peter 4:19. (6) Love. Love is used in different senses in the Bible when attributed to God in His dealings with His creatures. Sometimes it refers to mere goodness in bestowing natural benefits upon all men (Ps. 145:9; Matt. 18:33; Luke 6:35; Matt. 5:44,45). God’s redeeming love, on the other hand, is sovereign, discriminating, and particular. He says: Jacob have I loved, but Esau have a hated (Rom. 9:13). And of God it is emphatically declared: Thou hatest all workers of iniquity (Ps. 5:5). (7) Justice. The justice of God is taught in Genesis 18:25; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 7:9-12; 18:24; Romans 2:6. It was the justice of God that made it necessary for Christ to die in order that men might be saved. The justice of God makes it impossible for God to let sin go unpunished. The death of Christ made it possible for Him to be just and yet the justifier of believing sinners. (Rom. 3:26). In the sacrifice of Jesus the Scripture was fulfilled which says: Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Ps. 85:10). The salvation of believers is an act of grace toward them; yet it is an act of justice to Jesus Christ who died in the stead of all who will ever believe.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 14:35:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015