God's Incommunicable Attributes #1: Unity
Much of these posts are due to the wonderful work previously done by Wayne Grudem in Systematic Theology
Unity: God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times.
God is whole. Sometimes, so that we can understand God, we break Him down into pieces. His Holiness, Justice, Knowledge, Mercy, Love, Wrath, Truthfulness, and Wisdom...but in reality all of theses things and many more are wholly God.
God is not all of these separate attributes put together. He also is not a central being that these attach to.
Each and every attribute that God is described by in Scripture is Wholly who He is!
1 John 1:5
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
1 John 4:8
"Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
Is John contradicting Himself? First He says that God is Light, then God is love...well John which one is it?
Imperfect Analogy:
It is both! Picture a circle and everything within that circle is who God is. Let's say that Light is represented by Yellow. Now the entire Circle is Yellow. Love is represented by Red. Now the entire Circle is Completely Yellow and Completely Red.
This is hard for our finite minds to understand, but God is fully every single one of the attributes that are ascribed to Him in Scripture.
Our capability of understanding these different attributes is limited, this might be a reason that only one or two attributes are described to us at a time. We cannot grasp all that God is, it takes us time to even grasp one attribute of God let alone all of who He is at one time!
"In terms of practical application, this means that we should never think, for example, that God is a loving God at one point in history and a just or wrathful God at another point in history. He is the same God always, and everything he says or does is fully consistent with all his attributes. It is not accurate to say, as some have said, that God is a God of justice in the Old Testament and a God of love in the New Testament. God is and always has been infinitely just and infinitely loving as well, and everything he does in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament is completely consistent with both of those attributes." Wayne Grudem
Every time we see God act we can be sure that each and everyone of His attributes are being fully displayed. Some may be emphasized more than others but there is not any attribute missing.
I.E. in the Cross we see God's Love and Justice. His Love for His creation and Justice that sins be punished. Also we see Wrath in the punishment. But where is Mercy or Jealousy or Blessedness or Wisdom? They are all reflected!!! Take a moment to think about how each and every attribute that you can think of is reflected at the Cross, Creation, and that wonderful moment where God changed your life forever...the moment of surrender to His control...your salvation.
No one attribute of God is more important than another! Some may say that God's love is His most important attribute, however this implies that would suppress or ignore His wrath so that He could show love. This could not be farther from the truth...
At the Cross God showed us Ultimate Love,
John 15:3
"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends."
1 John 3:16
"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."
At the Cross God showed us Ultimate Wrath,
Read through the Crucifixion accounts, watch the scourging and the Crucifixion in "The Passion", that is what we deserve, not him!
At the Cross God showed us Ultimate Wisdom,
This was His plan from the very beginning...there was no plan B
In everything that God does, each and every attribute is displayed fully. We have a hard time seeing it because we are finite, but God is One and there is no other!
Can you say that you always act according to every single one of your attributes? I know I can't! There are times where I completely suppress my Love for someone because at that moment I am angry...God doesn't act like this, He may be angry and judge us justly, but it is always for our own good. Where when I act in anger it is for my benefit and not the benefit of the one I am angry with.
It is very humbling to know that God always acts according to all of His attributes and that the best we can do and the closest we can come to that is genuine Love. And even that falls short.
In Christ,
David
Unity: God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times.
God is whole. Sometimes, so that we can understand God, we break Him down into pieces. His Holiness, Justice, Knowledge, Mercy, Love, Wrath, Truthfulness, and Wisdom...but in reality all of theses things and many more are wholly God.
God is not all of these separate attributes put together. He also is not a central being that these attach to.
Each and every attribute that God is described by in Scripture is Wholly who He is!
1 John 1:5
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
1 John 4:8
"Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
Is John contradicting Himself? First He says that God is Light, then God is love...well John which one is it?
Imperfect Analogy:
It is both! Picture a circle and everything within that circle is who God is. Let's say that Light is represented by Yellow. Now the entire Circle is Yellow. Love is represented by Red. Now the entire Circle is Completely Yellow and Completely Red.
This is hard for our finite minds to understand, but God is fully every single one of the attributes that are ascribed to Him in Scripture.
Our capability of understanding these different attributes is limited, this might be a reason that only one or two attributes are described to us at a time. We cannot grasp all that God is, it takes us time to even grasp one attribute of God let alone all of who He is at one time!
"In terms of practical application, this means that we should never think, for example, that God is a loving God at one point in history and a just or wrathful God at another point in history. He is the same God always, and everything he says or does is fully consistent with all his attributes. It is not accurate to say, as some have said, that God is a God of justice in the Old Testament and a God of love in the New Testament. God is and always has been infinitely just and infinitely loving as well, and everything he does in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament is completely consistent with both of those attributes." Wayne Grudem
Every time we see God act we can be sure that each and everyone of His attributes are being fully displayed. Some may be emphasized more than others but there is not any attribute missing.
I.E. in the Cross we see God's Love and Justice. His Love for His creation and Justice that sins be punished. Also we see Wrath in the punishment. But where is Mercy or Jealousy or Blessedness or Wisdom? They are all reflected!!! Take a moment to think about how each and every attribute that you can think of is reflected at the Cross, Creation, and that wonderful moment where God changed your life forever...the moment of surrender to His control...your salvation.
No one attribute of God is more important than another! Some may say that God's love is His most important attribute, however this implies that would suppress or ignore His wrath so that He could show love. This could not be farther from the truth...
At the Cross God showed us Ultimate Love,
John 15:3
"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends."
1 John 3:16
"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."
At the Cross God showed us Ultimate Wrath,
Read through the Crucifixion accounts, watch the scourging and the Crucifixion in "The Passion", that is what we deserve, not him!
At the Cross God showed us Ultimate Wisdom,
This was His plan from the very beginning...there was no plan B
In everything that God does, each and every attribute is displayed fully. We have a hard time seeing it because we are finite, but God is One and there is no other!
Can you say that you always act according to every single one of your attributes? I know I can't! There are times where I completely suppress my Love for someone because at that moment I am angry...God doesn't act like this, He may be angry and judge us justly, but it is always for our own good. Where when I act in anger it is for my benefit and not the benefit of the one I am angry with.
It is very humbling to know that God always acts according to all of His attributes and that the best we can do and the closest we can come to that is genuine Love. And even that falls short.
In Christ,
David
posted by Mark 1:17 at 9:47 AM
2 Comments:
I'm enjoying this new series so far!
I agree with Kelli B.
Someone once used a diamond as an example of God and His attributes. Each facet of a diamond refracts light differently (each facet = an attribute of God). Each facet is no less a diamond, but we are seeing just a part of the diamond as a whole. - BUT, if only one facet is open to light, it does not refract light. In other words - it takes the whole of the diamond with all of its facets together at the same time for a single facet to refract light. It is an imperfect analogy, but it might help.
In Christ
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