God's Incommunicable attributes #5: Independence

Independence, Self-Existence, Aseity: God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify him and bring him joy.

Acts 17:24-25
“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

We see from Acts that Paul understood that God “made the world and everything in it” and from John that “all things were made through him [Jesus Christ], and without him was not any thing made that was made.” God existed from all eternity past, he created us and does not depend on anything for His existence. He is the definition of Independence!

Job 41:11
“Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.”

Psalm 50:10-12
“For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.”

Many people think that God created Humans because He was lonely and needed people to keep Him company. This could not be farther from the truth. Do you see the implications here? God was lonely so He “needed” to create us so that He wouldn’t be lonely. The truth in this is that God did create us, but it was not because He was lonely. People have come up with that because we were created with a need to be significant. However this significance does not come from God being lonely. He chose to create us, He chose to make us the pinnacle of His creation, He chose to Love us, He chose to send His only Son to die for us. This is what makes us significant: God’s Grace! He pours out His Grace upon us everyday by giving us breath and life, giving us the sleep that we need to restore ourselves, and by revealing Himself to us so that we might know Him.

John 1:3
“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Romans 11:35-36
“’Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Isaiah 43:6-7
“I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Ephesians 1:11-12
“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”

God is Independent! Self-Sufficient! He does not need anyone or anything else for Him to exist and be completely happy. However, God did create us in such a way that we can bring Him Glory and Honor…and He can take pleasure in that. Also on the flip side, if we can Glorify and Honor Him, we can also take His glory and dishonor Him and that brings Him sorrow. This in no way takes away from God being Independent.

John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

This verse shows us two things:
1. That God was not lonely, Yes God is one, but also 3 persons that completely shared and loved.
2. That God’s Glory does not depend upon us, it was with Him before the foundations of the world!

Our significance can be summed up in this verse: Isaiah 62:3-5 “You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”

“God does not need us for anything, yet it is the amazing fact of our existence that he chooses to delight in us and to allow us to bring joy to His heart. This is the basis for personal significance in the lives of all God’s people: to be significant to God is to be significant in the most ultimate sense. No greater personal significance can be imagined.”
Wayne Grudem

In Christ,

David

God's Incommunicable Attributes #4: Unchangeableness

Unchangeableness: God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations.


Psalm 102:25-27 “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.”

God created everything therefore existed before everything. He will also exist long after all has been destroyed! The universe and everything that is within changes, but God doesn’t change, He is not a part of the created order.

James 1:17
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

It is important to note that God is unchanging in respect to His “being” and His “perfections” and “purposes” and “promises”!
Above we have seen “being and “perfections”, now let’s look at “purposes” and “promises”.

“The doctrine of God’s immutability is of the highest significance for religion. The contrast between being and becoming marks the difference between the Creator and the creature. Every creature is continually becoming. It is changeable, constantly striving, seeks rest and satisfaction, and finds this rest in God, in him alone, for only he is pure being and no becoming. Hence, in Scripture God is often called the Rock…” Herman Bavinck, The Doctrine of God.

Psalm 33:11 “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”

Isaiah 46:9-11 “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”

Numbers 23:19
“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

But does God sometimes change his mind?

In Exodus 32:9-14; Isaiah 38:1-6; and Jonah God says that He will punish a people. But, when they repent and turn away from their sins, God does not punish them. Did God change his mind?
Also, in Genesis 6:6 “And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.”

Let’s take a look back at the definition that was set forth at the beginning: God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations.
God does act and feel emotions, and he ACTS and feels DIFFERENTLY in response to different situations.

Let’s focus on Jonah for a minute: If it was Gods desire to whip out Nineveh, why did he send Jonah to warn them? The purpose for sending Jonah, the purpose of proclaiming Gods word is repentance! The purpose for any type of warning is to bring about repentance! Did God want to destroy Nineveh? NO! Would he have destroyed Nineveh had the people not repented? YES! Gods ultimate purpose was fulfilled in that people were brought to repentance.
Also in Genesis 6:6, this is to be understood only as Gods displeasure. In the short term God was sorrowful about His creation, but in the long run, God was not willing to destroy every part of His creation.

Why is this so important?

At first glance this may not seem all that important, but let’s think about this for a moment.

If God changed:
What if God changed for the better?
1. He would not have been perfect

If God is not perfect, but like man, how can you trust Him?

YOU CAN’T!!!!

2. What if God changed for the worse?

Would you want that?
What is to prevent Him from becoming completely evil?
NOTHING!!!

3. What if Gods purposes changed?

The promise of eternal life in Christ might become void!
His death may be for nothing.
We would be absolutely HOPELESS!!!

Gods unchangeableness is of the utmost importance!
He is both infinite and personal! He is far above all of His creation yet completely intimate with us…
As we give our lives to God, we declare ourselves bondservants, this process takes place: Exodus 21:2-6 “When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.”

If we say to God: “I love my master”
Greek: “Ahavti et Adoun”
We become bonded with Christ and serve Him out of our love for Him.

But Christ not only calls us His bondservants, He also calls us something more personal: He calls us Friends!

John 15:15

"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."

And not only that, but we are also His Bride!!!

Ephesians 5:25-33

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."

How much more personal can you get?


If any part of God changed, we would stand the chance of loosing these relationships! Christ’s sacrifice might become nothing and we could loose our most presious position: Eternal Life with God through Christ Jesus!

Aren’t you glad that God does not change?

I am too!

In Christ,

David