The Trinity 18
The Deity of Christ 7
The Attributes of God
3/10/13
This past week there was the start of a what the History Channel defined as an “Epic mini-series” called “The Bible”. I did mention last Sunday that if you did watch it, do so cautiously. I personally did get to watch some it this week, well actually I watched about 5 minutes total. I watched a part of the section on Abraham, then a part dealing with Moses. It was for me, anyway, too painful to watch.
I don’t want to stand up here and make anyone feel bad for watching it. If you are watching it strictly for its entertainment value I guess that is one thing, but if you are watching it for some theological value, that is quite another. The parts that I watched certainly contains elements that were not only foreign to the Bible, but contrary.
Let me tell us this, if you want to know what the Bible teaches, read the Bible, don’t wait for the movie or epic mini-series. One of the problems with what is on the History Channel is that a lot of folks who watch that will come away thinking there is all kinds of stuff in the Bible that just is not there. Personally, and this is just me speaking, I believe it will do more harm then good.
You see by calling it “The Bible” they give the impression that what they are showing is in the Bible. I would be much happier if they called it something like, “Stories based on the Bible, with stuff taken out, and stuff thrown in.”
For so many folks it will be much easier to watch a TV program then to take the time to read through God’s Word.
My point is this, and it goes along with our study into the Trinity. Just because they call this series “The Bible” does not mean that it will be true to God’s Word.
And as I said at the beginning of our series, just because someone calls God, God, just because someone calls something Jesus, does not mean that they worship the God of the Bible. Calling something by some name does not make it so.
In our study of the Trinity we have been looking at the deity of Christ. As stated we have broken it down to six categories, which are; 1. The Pre-existence of Christ as the Son of God 2. The Deity of Christ in the OT 3. Names of God ascribed to Christ 4. Attributes of God ascribed to Christ 5. Works of God ascribed to Christ 6. The worship of Christ
Today we will be covering the attributes of God that are ascribed to Christ. May we understand that the attributes that we will be looking are attributes that belong to God alone. These are not qualities that belong to man, they do not belong to angels or any of the heavenly hosts - they belong exclusively to God. Therefore if that are ascribed to Christ, then Christ must be divine.
The first attribute I want to look at is the eternal nature of Christ. We spend sometime in looking at the pre-existence of Christ, which of course also demonstrates His eternal nature.
Before we look at some passages I just want to stress that an eternal nature is not something God can bestow upon a creature. Just by the very fact something is created precludes it from being eternal.
God can give us eternal life, but that is not the same as an eternal nature. As Christians our eternal life, goes in one direction, that is forward. There is point it begins.
But God’s eternity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, goes both ways, back and forward. There never was a time when He was not, nor will there be a time when He is not.
Let us turn to a couple of passage to reinforce this.
Turn over to John 1:1-2; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” We discussed these verses when we looked a the prologue of the gospel of John.
But I want to emphasis to you what they say about Jesus, who is the Word, eternal nature. We see here just how important this doctrine is to John. He begins his gospel with it’s declaration. In the beginning was the Word. That is to say that there was never a time when the Word was not. No matter how far back you push this “beginning” the Word is there. You can go back to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. The Word is there. You can go back to Moses, the Word is There. You can go back to creation itself, the Word is already there. John’s point is that there was never a time when the Word was not.
And just in case you missed it in verse one, John repeats himself in vs. 2, “He was in the beginning with God.” I think that fact that John repeats himself here is quite telling.
John wants to be crystal clear. Just as God is eternal the Word is eternal. There was never a time when the Word and God did not have this fellowship.
Look over to 1 John 1:1-2. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life–– the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us––”
John begins this epistle just as we began his gospel, with the pronouncement of the eternal nature of Christ. Christ, he says, was from the beginning, again never a time when He was not. Notice was well He states that the Christ was “with the Father”. John here brings into sharper focus what He was stated in John 1:2. “He was in the beginning with God.” It is very apparent that John wants us to understand that Jesus Christ was from the beginning with the Father and that they both are God. Because they are both eternal.
John does not say that the Father was, and then there was Christ, it is clear that both are from the beginning, both eternal.
Looking at another passage that speaks to the eternity of Christ. In fact we looked at this passage briefly last week, but it is worth a second look.
Rev. 1:17-18; “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
There can be no doubt that it is the Lord Jesus who is speaking these words, we see that through the reference to the Lord’s resurrection. But notice what else is stated. Jesus state plainly that He is the first and the last. As orthodox Biblical scholars will tell you this is a claim to an eternal nature. For it is a way of saying that as the First, Christ precedes all things, thus he is creator. But as last He also supersedes all things, thus He is God.
If there is any doubt of this, all we need do is look to Isaiah 44:6, “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”
Being first and last is not something that is transferable from God to creature. Therefore we have a clear declaration of the fact that Jesus Christ has an eternal nature, and therefore must be deity.
The second attribute of God that is assigned to Christ that I want us to look at is immutability. That is just a fancy way of saying that Jesus Christ does not change. Some may say, well Christ did change, He became a man. However, when we speak of the immutability of Christ, we are speaking about His nature. In other words Jesus did not cease to be God when He took on flesh. His God nature did not change. When the Bible states that “the Word became flesh” is not the same as saying that the Word ceased to be God, His nature did not change.
We also need to understand the immutability of the Christ, in light of the doctrine of the Trinity as a whole.
Let us look at a passage that tells us that Christ does not change. That is His character, knowledge and existence are without variation.
In looking to the OT there is perhaps no clearer declaration of the immutability of God then in Malachi 3:6; ““For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”
The Lord gives a very blunt statement regarding His nature and character, that is it does not change.
Compare that with what we read in Hebrews. 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Once more we have very blunt statement regarding the fact that Jesus Christ does not change. This verse is clear that Jesus was not different then He was yesterday, and He will not be different than He was today.
We should derive great comfort from this. You see Jesus is perfect in love, and grace, and mercy, and compassion, in loving kindness. As He directs those things towards us His children, He does so perfectly. They will not get any better than they are right now, though we will experience them in a greater way when we stand before His presence. But they will not get any better. Also realize they will never lessen either. No matter what we do, no matter how we fail, Christ's love and grace toward us do not change, they do not waiver, the stay the same as yesterday, today, and forever. We should derive great comfort in that.
But may we understand that God alone, as creator and sustainer of the universe, can said to be immutable, for He is perfect in all ways. He cannot get any less perfect, or any more perfect. Again we see that this is a nontransferable attribute. God cannot give it to a creator, for if He could it would mean that that creature would now be something He was not before, so you cannot become immutable, one must be immutable, thus Christ must be God.
The third attribute of God attributed to Christ is omnipresence. The attribute of omnipresence is the teaching that God is everywhere at all times. That is His presence fills all of creation. He is not limited to one place at one particular time. God is presence in all places and at all times.
This doctrine is directly stated in several passage in the OT and the NT. A clear example is found in Jeremiah 23:23-24; ““Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.”
In other words there is no place you go and not have God there.
The Word of God also tells us that Christ is also omnipresent. Turn over to Matthew 18:20, this is a passage most of you are familiar with; “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Jesus is speaking here of the importance of getting together for prayer. His point is, is that He is always there whenever we seek Him in prayer.
The words He uses here denote that He is present in very real way. This is not like me saying to my wife, “well you go to parents, and I will be with you in spirit.” No, Jesus is talking about being present with believers in the Spiritual realm, He is present with us right here, and right now. He is present with our brothers and sister in Christ over at Main Street Baptist, He is present with our brothers and sisters in Christ on the west coast and around the world. His presence fills the heavens and earth.
This teaching, in my view, does away with the teaching that Jesus is an angel. Angels are created being and cannot fill more then one place at more the one time. Many folks believe that Satan is omnipresent, that he is at different places at the same time. As a fallen angle this is not the case. He can only be at one place at any given moment of time.
Because Jesus is said to be many places and the same time He must be omnipresent, and therefore must be deity.
We ought to be careful in limiting Jesus to places where two or more are gathered. These words do not limit Jesus to a place that has a least two believers, that is not the intent of the context. He is talking about the need for us to gather for prayer, and the fact that He is with us when we do.
For Jesus also tells us in Matthew 28:20; “…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” That is a promise that He has given to each one of us who have our faith in Him. He is will each of us all the time. Therefore He is omnipresent, and He is deity.
Moving now to the forth attribute of God assigned to Christ, and that is omniscience. Omniscience simply stated is knowing all things. When we talk of the omniscience of God what we are saying is that God knows all things, in the past, in the presence and in the future. There is nothing that is unknown to God. God cannot take in more knowledge.
It has been said by some that God looks down the corridors of time to see what will happen, that is how God knows all things. However, such a view teaches that He gained knowledge that He did not have. That sometime in the past, God gain new knowledge by looking through time. This view simply is not Biblical.
God created the universe knowing everything that would happen throughout the history of time and it is Biblical to say that God in fact decreed all things that do happen to happen, thus all things have purpose.
But we must do away with the idea that God gained new knowledge at some point in time, for that would mean that God is NOT all knowing, because who is to say that some knowledge could come along in the future.
A couple of passage from the OT that teach this; 1 Kings 8:39 states; “…(for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind),”
Listen to Psalm 139:1-4 “…O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.”
God knows all there is to know about us, all that we have done, all that we will do, His knowledge is complete.
What we have just learned about God in the OT is stated about Jesus in the NT. John 2:24-25; “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”
In Luke 6:8 we read; “But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there.”
In John 21:17 Peter plainly states, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
The gospels are replete with statements about Jesus knowing things about people he had never meant, things that would happen in the future, what people would do and say.
From the scripture we can see that this is an attribute that is no where given to angels or creatures, but to God alone.
The final attribute of God assigned to Christ is absolute sovereignty and power, that He is almighty. There can be no doubt that absolute sovereignty and power belongs to God.
A very powerful verse that states this is 1 Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.”
A couple others to consider; “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”
And Daniel 4:35 “all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?””
I could give passage after passage that testify to the absolute power and sovereignty of God. God is in control, God will do what He pleases, and will do it how He please to do it.
Yet when we turn to the NT we see this of Christ as well. We see that He has ALL authority.
Matthew 28:18; “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
When we read that we may want to carry this too far. That is to say that Jesus was “given” something He never had before. Here Jesus is speaking in regards to His human nature.
I think we can associate this with John 17:5 “when Jesus states And now, Father, glorify Me in your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.”
This authority and this glory was something Jesus emptied Himself of when He took on flesh, but now He once more has both.
We also read of Jesus authority in Ephesians 1:20-21; “that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”
There is no doubt that Jesus is said to have all authority and power, that He is almighty.
We also read in Rev. 11:15-17; “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty–four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.”
Notice here who it is that reigns forever and ever, it is Christ. And here He is worshipped as Lord God Almighty.
There can only be one who is ALL MIGHTY, there can only be one who has ALL authority, only one who has ALL power and that is God.
You may have heard the old question, if God can do anything, can He make a rock so big that even He can’t move it?
This question starts with a wrong premise and that is God can do anything. There are something’s that God cannot do. He cannot sin, He cannot lie, He cannot create a being that is almighty, all powerful and has all authority. For that would entail God creating a God, which by its very definition cannot be done.
God cannot create Himself or something exactly like Himself, because God Himself is not a created being.
So if Christ is almighty, all powerful, if He is absolutely sovereign and in control, He must be God, for those very things define who and what God is. A creature cannot have authority over it creator.
I believe we have clearly seen that Jesus Christ must be deity in the fact that we have attributes that belong solely to God, yet they are attributed to Christ.
Today we have learning much about our Lord Jesus Christ, but may we understand that our knowledge of God must begin with belief in the gospel. We must see that we are called to repent and believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that He was buried and that He rose again according to the Scripture, and as the eternal Son of God, sits at the right hand of the Father. That belief will only come through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. And I pray that His power would be upon you through God’s grace.
LET US PRAY.
