Welcome back, my friends. Have you ever thought about how big God is and what he is really like, including His defining attributes or characteristics? In past lessons, I’ve talked about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit — our Godhead three in one. This month, I want to spend our time together talking about the Godhead, one in three.
If you’re like me, you may have often tried, with limited knowledge and understanding of the God of the Universe, to think about just how big He is. I even tried to mathematically figure it out. Let me explain. Consider the universe God has made. According to the American Astronomical Society, our own sun is one star out of an estimated four hundred billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, which is just one galaxy out of an estimated 240 billion galaxies in the known universe.
- If there are 400,000,000,000 stars in our galaxy and 240,000,000,000 galaxies in the universe with the same number of stars, then how many stars would be in the universe? The answer is 96,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or 96 sextillion stars in the universe.
- Let’s say for argument’s sake that each star had eight planets like we do, then how many planets would there be in the universe? There would be 768,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or seven hundred sixty-eight sextillion planets.
That’s a lot of planets for one God to oversee, yet in Matthew 10:29, God’s Word tells us “But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” How is that possible if He has so many planets to look after?
My dear friends, this example is just a drop in the bucket of what the Godhead, the God of the Universe can do. Let’s take our journey together as we contemplate the Attributes of God.
If the God of the Universe is invisible, and He is, how can we see and understand His characteristics so that we can get to know Him in a more personal way that will increase our love for Him? We need only to begin outside with nature that surrounds us all.
The Nature of God
For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made] Romans 1:20 (AMP)
The Books of Genesis and Job are full of wonderful examples of God’s creation in nature for us to consider:
- He created the universe with all the planets.
- He created the earth we stand on.
- He created the sun, moon and stars to hang in the sky (which He created).
- He created every sort of seed-bearing plant and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit.
- He created the seasons, time, days and years.
- He created the waters to swarm with fish and other life and let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.
- He created every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.
- He created the horizon when He separated the waters to create land.
- He set the boundary between day and night.
- He set the boundaries of the oceans.
- He created rain and lightning, snow and ice.
- He created the beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
- He created us, human beings, in His own image with His very own hands.
In my first lesson on “Who Am I Really”, I talked about what went into the creation of man’s body by the hands of God.
- You are made up of 206 bones that are connected by tendons, ligaments, and cartilage, with over half of your bones in just your hands and feet.
- You have twelve complex biological systems working together inside of you, including:
- Circulatory — moves blood, nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hormones, around the body.
- Digestive — consists of a series of connected organs that allow the body to break down and absorb food and remove waste.
- Respiratory — allows you to take in vital oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.
- Nervous — controls both voluntary action (like conscious movement) and involuntary actions (like breathing), and sends signals to different parts of the body.
- Muscular — consists of about 650 muscles that aid in movement, blood flow, and other bodily functions.
- Immune — the body\’s defense against bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens that may be harmful.
- You have five vital organs that are essential for survival:
- Your brain is the body\’s control center, receiving and sending signals to other organs through the nervous system.
- Your heart is responsible for pumping blood throughout your body.
- Your kidneys remove waste and extra fluid from the blood.
- Your liver has many functions, including detoxifying harmful chemicals, breaking down drugs, filtering blood, and secreting bile and producing blood-clotting proteins.
- Your lungs are responsible for removing oxygen from the air and transferring it to our blood where it can be sent to our cells, and removing carbon dioxide.
Did you know…
- The human body contains nearly 100 trillion cells.
- The average adult takes over 20,000 breaths a day.
- Your heart averages 103,680 beats every 24 hours and beats between 2.5 and 3 billion times in an average lifetime.
- You’re made up of approximately 100,000 miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries, which if placed end to end could go around the world four times.
- Your brain is made of approximately 100 billion nerve cells called neurons that gather and transmit electrochemical signals telling different parts of your brain to carry out different tasks.
Isn’t it amazing how all of these functions and parts work together in harmony, without you even thinking about it? God is amazing isn’t He?
So when someone asks you to prove there is a God, just tell them to look around and then tell them to look in a mirror.
Our God is truly the God of the Universe, the creator, provider and sustainer of the Heavens and Earth. He is “the governor among the nations” Psalm 22:28 (KJV), setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining all things as He pleases. He is our King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
I could stop here and we would have enough evidence through nature to understand His power and majesty and to satisfy most of our questions about the Godhead.
But, there is so much more we need to know if we are truly going to understand all of His characteristics and what they mean to you and me, His beloved children.
Job declares in the Word of God;
Do you think you really understand God? Do you completely understand God All-Powerful? That knowledge is higher than the heavens and deeper than the place of death. So what can you do? How can you learn it all? Job 11:7-8 (ERV)
The one thing Job did not have when he asked that question, was the complete Word of God like we have. God has revealed Himself in His Word and in creation so that we can grasp the Supremacy of the Godhead. The Bible provides more than enough scripture verses to describe His characteristics and declare His Sovereignty over every living thing in the universe.
As we look at the attributes of the Godhead, the God of the Universe in our Journey together to Eternity, my prayer is that the Holy Spirit will shine His light in our hearts (not intellects).
The God who said, “Out of darkness the light shall shine!” is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God\’s glory shining in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 (GNT)
The Apostle Peter exhorts us to continue our journey so that our regenerated souls will continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus:
But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, now and forever! Amen. 2 Peter 3:18 (GNT)
The Solitariness of God
Let’s start “In the beginning God” (Gen 1:1). There was no heaven, no earth, no angels or humans to sing His praises, and no universe; there was nothing, no one, but God. He dwelt all alone (though existing equally in three divine persons).
God was alone: self-contained, self-sufficient, self-satisfied; in need of nothing. God was under no restriction, no obligation, and no necessity to create anything. That He chose to do anything was purely a Sovereign act of His own choosing.
The Lord does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth, and on the seas and in their depths. Psalm 135:6 (NLT)
I am the Lord, your savior; I am the one who created you. I am the Lord, the Creator of all things. I alone stretched out the heavens; when I made the earth, no one helped me. Isaiah 44:24 (GNT)
If it was necessary for God to have a universe, angels, the earth and human beings as part of His Solitariness, they would have existed from the beginning.
We may think that God needs us to make Him complete in His Holiness, but the truth is that God gains nothing from our worship. He is not and never will be in need of our external glory. Listen to Elihu’s response to Job concerning how both good and sinful behaviors affect God:
Job, I want to answer you and your friends here with you. Look up at the sky. Look at the clouds, which are so much higher than you. If you sin, it does not hurt God. Even if your sins are too many to count, that does nothing to God. And if you are good, that does not help God. He gets nothing from you. Job, the good and bad things you do affect only other people like yourself. Job 35:4-8 (ERV)
So why did the Godhead create everything if He was in no need of anything? The simple answer is found in Ephesians 1:5 “And he did this because he wanted to! It is as simple as that.
The Knowledge of God
God is omniscient (all-knowing). He knows everything — everything possible, everything actual, all events, all creatures, and God the past, the present and the future. He is perfectly acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in heaven, on earth and in hell. Nothing escapes His notice, nothing can be hidden from Him and nothing is forgotten by Him. His knowledge is perfect. He never errs, never changes and never overlooks anything.
He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from him to whom we must explain all that we have done. Hebrews 4:13 (TLB)
The Foreknowledge of God
In his omniscience, God knows what the future holds both for individuals and for nations. He knows and sees everything in advance and his will is carried out in accord with his plans and purposes. God foreknows what will be because He has decreed what shall be. The foreknowledge of God always deals with individuals, not events.
this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. Acts 2:23 (NET Bible)
because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:29 (NET Bible)
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Romans 11:2 (NET Bible)
The Supremacy of God
The absolute and universal supremacy of God is plainly and positively affirmed in many scriptures. Before Him, presidents and popes, kings and emperors are less than grasshoppers.
It is God who sits above the circle of the earth. (The people below must seem to him like grasshoppers!) He is the one who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. Isaiah 40:22 (TLB)
Yours is the mighty power and glory and victory and majesty. Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as being in control of everything. Riches and honor come from you alone, and you are the ruler of all mankind; your hand controls power and might, and it is at your discretion that men are made great and given strength. 1 Chronicles 29:11-12 (TLB)
The Sovereignty of God
Divine Sovereignty means that God is God, in fact as well as in name, that He is on the Throne of the universe, directing all things, working all things. There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s Sovereignty.
All things are done according to God\’s plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning. Ephesians 1:11 (GNT)
O Lord God of our ancestors, you rule in heaven over all the nations of the world. You are powerful and mighty, and no one can oppose you 2 Chronicles 20:6 (GNT)
The Immutability (not changing) of God
God is eternally the same and subject to no change in His being, attributes, or determinations. Therefore, God is compared to a rock which remains immovable.
No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. 1 Samuel 2:2 (NLT)
God never changes. Because God has no beginning and no ending, He can know no change. He is everlasting.
Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning. James 1:17 (GNT)
The Holiness of God
The Holiness of God is the very excellency of His Divine nature:
Lord, who among the gods is like you? Who is like you, wonderful in holiness? Who can work miracles and mighty acts like yours? Exodus 15:11 (GNT)
God’s holiness is what separates Him from all other beings and what makes Him separate and distinct from everything else. God’s holiness is more than just His perfection or sinless purity; it is the essence of His “other-ness” — His divine existence. God’s holiness symbolizes the mystery of His awesomeness and causes us to gaze in wonder at Him as we begin to comprehend just a little of His majesty.
No one is holy like the Lord; there is none like him, no protector like our God. 1 Samuel 2:2 (GNT)
Praise the Lord our God; worship before his throne! Holy is he! Psalm 99:5 (GNT)
The Power of God
We cannot have a right conception of God unless we think of Him as all-powerful (omnipotent) as well as all-wise (omniscient). As God has a will to resolve what He considers good, He also has the power to execute His will.
How often have you witnessed a tragedy and wished there was something you could do? You had the will to help, but you lacked the power to do anything.
We find an example of the power of God in Matthew, chapter 9, where Jesus is healing a paralyzed man. The townspeople brought this paralyzed man to Jesus. They had the faith that Jesus could heal the man, but there was nothing else they could do for him.
When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the paralyzed man, “Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven.” Then some teachers of the Law said to themselves, “This man is speaking blasphemy!” Jesus perceived what they were thinking, and so he said, “Why are you thinking such evil things? Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your bed, and go home!” The man got up and went home. When the people saw it, they were afraid, and praised God for giving such authority to people.” Matthew 9:2-8 (GNT)
God’s power is like Himself, self-existent and self-sustained. Not only does He have the will, He also has the way.
The Faithfulness of God
By our worldly standards (who’s in charge of the world), unfaithfulness is one of the most outstanding sins of these evil days. In the business world, a man’s word is, with rare exceptions, no longer his bond. In the social world, marital infidelity abounds on every hand; the sacred bonds of wedlock are being broken with as little regard as the discarding of an old item of clothing.
How refreshing, and unspeakably blessed are His children — you and me — that we can lift our eyes above this worldly ruin and behold the One who is faithful in all things and faithful at all times. For God to be unfaithful would be to act contrary to His nature, which is impossible. Faithfulness is one of the glorious perfections of His being.
Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is the faithful God who for a thousand generations keeps his promises and constantly loves those who love him and who obey his commands. Deuteronomy 7:9 (TLB)
Join me next month as we continue our journey through the Attributes of God. My prayer is that with this lesson and the next you will comprehend just how awesome and praiseworthy our All Powerful God of the Universe truly is. Next month in The Attributes of God Part 2, we’ll look at His Goodness, Patience, Grace, Mercy, and Loving kindness as well as His Wrath. We will have the entire picture of the Godhead and all that He has done for us and will continue to do for those that love Him and follow His commands.
Until next month, my friends, may His mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.
