Three Sundays ago, we looked at the fact that God is self-existent. In other words, God is the first cause of all there is. The Bible tells us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God existed before there was anything.
God’s self-existence also means that He did fine before we came along, and that God will do fine after we are gone. He has no need of anything to sustain His existence. We on the other hand are not self-existent. Before 1968, I didn’t exist. And without oxygen, food and water, I cannot continue to exist.
We also talked about why we should care what God is like. We should care what God is like because the Bible tells us we are made in God’s image. Although certain characteristics of God are not reflected in mankind, such as God’s self-existence, certain other characteristics of God are reflected in mankind, such as the moral and relational traits of God. Therefore, if we know what God is like, we will know what we were meant to be like.
We should also care what God is like for the same reason that we care what our boss or our President is like. God has great control over our lives, not limited to our work and government. Our understanding of God influences our attitudes toward all of life and our actions in all of life.
Finally, what God is like will either encourage or discourage us to relate with God. Many people have the wrong picture of God, and they waste time, energy and emotions running away from God. While those who know the true God enjoy friendship with God and fulfillment in life.
This morning we’ll look at two more characteristics or attributes of God. I thought I could cover four, but there is just too much, and you’ll be hungry when lunch time comes.
The first attribute of God that we’ll look at this morning is that God is one. In other words, there is only one true God, however He reveals Himself. Other people may refer to this oneness of God as the simplicity or the unity of God.
Genesis 1:26 reads, "Then God said, ’Let us make man in our image, in our likeness....’" Here, one God who speaks and reveals Himself to be plural, "us" and "our."
Deuteronomy 6:4 affirms, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." Again the Bible affirms that God is one or united, no matter how He reveals Himself.
Isaiah 46:9 reads, "Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me." The uniqueness of God is affirmed here. There is only one true God.
Jesus says in Matthew 28:19, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...." Jesus mentions the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the same breath, identifying their equality.
Paul writes to the Corinthians, "We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live (1 Corinthians 8:4-6)." Paul tells us that other gods are man-made, while the God who made man is one, revealed in the Father and the Son.
There are many other passages in the Bible where the oneness and unity of God is revealed. The Athanasia Creed around 500 A.D. affirmed, "...the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy [Spirit] is God, and yet there are not three gods, but one God."
To ask how can the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be one God is like asking how can water be wet and how can fire be hot? Wetness is an attribute of water and hotness is an attribute of fire. And existing in three Persons is the attribute of the one true God.
But why should you care that there is only one God. First, if there is only one God, you and I are not God. That means we don’t have to pretend to be God. We can relax. We can be human.
Some people see the pastor as having semblance to God. And some pastors believe it. I’m one of them. It’s not healthy, but I believe that if I don’t live a perfect life, I will discredit the existence of God. The truth is, there is only one perfect God and no perfect pastors.
In fact there are no perfect human beings. The next time your husband forgets your birthday. The next time your wife says something disrespectful to you. The next time I do something that disappoints you. Get over it. There is only one God, who is perfect, and you’re not married to her, and you’ve not hired him to be your pastor.
Steve Brown has inside his Bible written the following, "I wouldn’t be so shocked at my own sins if I didn’t have such a high opinion of myself." Now, this is not an excuse for sin, neglect, disrespect or irresponsibility in your work, family or church. But we need to allow for imperfections in imperfect human beings.
Second, if there is only one God, He is our ultimate concern. We need to find out what He is like, what He requires of us and what plan He has for our lives. Put away the kitchen god, the moon goddess, the Greek gods, the Hindu gods and all the other little gods. We don’t live to appease these man-made idols and images.
The only true God is the God of creation, and He doesn’t need anything from us. He made us and will provide for us. Knowing that God is one relieves mankind of two great burdens, the need to be God and the need to appease gods.
But what does it matter to me that God is three Persons, yet one God? We can learn from the unity of God to live with internal harmony. God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit are equally God, yet they carry out distinct roles in creation and redemption, and all three relate harmoniously with one another.
The Bible gives indication that mankind is threefold: Body, soul and spirit. I bring this up not to be controversial or Freudian, but I bring this up because I believe it’s biblical (see John 3:6; John 4:23-24; 1 Corinthians 2:11; 5:5; Hebrew 4:12, etc.). When we have this biblical view of mankind, we can better understand how to return more to the image of God.
The spirit of man is the part of man that communicates with God, and is awaken by God’s Spirit in believers. The soul, which is present in all people, not just believers, is also an unseen part of human beings. The body is the visible material part of the human being. All three, body, soul and spirit, have influence over our entire who we are and how we live.
Unless we learn to submit the body to the spirit and the soul to the spirit, just as Jesus the Son submits to the Father and the Holy Spirit submits to the Father, we will live with constant internal conflict. If we learn to submit our body and soul to our spirit, we can live with internal harmony, just as the three Persons of God live in harmony.
The second attribute of God that we’ll look at this morning is that God is victorious. In other words, God is able to do whatever He wants. Other people may refer to this attribute as omnipotence or all-powerful.
Psalm 115:3 reads, "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." Our God is not frustrated by limitations. He can have His way when He wants to.
Job 42:2 tells us, "I know that [God] can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." Nothing can interfere with God’s plan.
Daniel 4:35 records the confession of Nebuchadnezzar, "All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. [God] does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ’What have you done?’"
Zephaniah 3:17-18 reads, "The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Not only is God able, He’s willing to help us.
Acts 17:26-27 reminds us, "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." Even where we live, whether in America, Africa or Asia, is determined by God, so that we might come to know Him.
Babe Ruth said, "It’s not bragging if you can do it." Listen, God is not bragging about His power. All of creation and all of life reflects God’s amazing power. He can do what He said in the Bible He can. But why should we care that God is victorious or all-powerful?
Last Sunday, someone asked me at the Easter Brunch, "If there is a God, why didn’t He stop the war in Iraq and the spread of SARS?"
Listen, God’s first priority is not keeping people alive on earth. Everyone who is alive today will die eventually. It’s one out of one. None of us will escape physical death.
God does protect us from harm and heal us of diseases for the purpose of bringing credit to Himself or extending our lives for His use. But the greatest demonstration of God’s power is not the extension of our physical life, but the destruction of the permanence of death. Easter was the sneak preview of God’s power to raise Jesus from the dead, and the same power that will raise every believer from the dead.
We worship a God who is victorious over death. He’s taken care of the greatest fear and the biggest obstacle of mankind. Are you worried about when and where the next paycheck will come? Listen, God has overcome death. Do you have an illness that may lead to your death? Listen, God can raise you from the dead. Everything else is small stuff.
CS Lewis wrote in his book, The Problem of Pain, "We want, in fact, not so much a father in heaven as a grandfather in heaven: a senile benevolence who, as they say, ’liked to see young people enjoying themselves’ and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, ’a good time was had by all.’"
The one true God who is victorious not only makes a difference at the end of each day, but a difference at the end of our lives. He has conquered death, that we might have eternal life.
