Month: March 2017

Some Thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5-7

Last week and this, I encouraged those on our mailing lists to read this passage at least three times each week. I don’t know if you did that reading. I hope you did, since this is important teaching. This section in Matthew’s Gospel follows the call of some of the first apostles to discipleship. Matthew wanted his readers to grasp the importance of this basic teaching of Jesus about true discipleship. Thinking of this, here are a few general thoughts about the Sermon on the Mount.

It is a large section of teaching (5:2; 7:28-29). Since disciples are learners and followers, we need to listen to the teaching of the Teacher we follow; namely, Jesus. Matthew provides us with the opportunity to sit in one of his extended teaching sessions. While they might be the “notes” of what he taught, the three chapters provide us with much to think on. Regardless of how long we have followed Christ, we ought to sit and listen to our Lord’s teaching repeatedly. Make time and read all three chapters in one sitting, so that you receive the impact of the full teaching session.

  • The Sermon begins with the Beatitudes (5:3-10). They describe the happy situation of those who have repented and become part of the kingdom (4:17, 23). Each description is paradoxical and has a promise about the future of Christ’s learners.
  • Christ’s followers have a purpose in this world (5:13-16). By grace, we function as salt and light to the world. The Lord tells us more about our mission. To fish for people (cf. 4:20) is to make more worshipers.
  • Jesus declared his teaching mission in regard to the Old Testament Scriptures (5:17-20). It is very important to understand that “the Law and the Prophets” and “the Law” both refer to the Old Testament in its entirety and not merely to the so-called “moral law”. The latter term is the invention of theologians, and not a correct or useful one at that! Christ asserts that he is the true Teacher of righteousness, and his followers to hold this truth firmly.
  • After that, we have the Six Antitheses (5:21-48) that set forth Jesus’ authority as the Teacher of his people. These declare his authority to direct our relationships with people. He picks six examples (anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and love) and demands that we listen to what he says in each area. Though the particulars are important, let’s not miss the importance of proper personal relationships in general.
  • Next, our Lord talks about three spiritual actions: giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting (6:1-18). In each he highlights our relationship to the Father. It is too easy to get lost in the techniques of these actions. Jesus wants us to focus on our interaction with the Father.
  • True spirituality flows from the priorities in our hearts. Jesus points us heavenward and to God (6:19-24). This is radically different from the people of this world. Yet, there is a struggle: to keep our vision healthy. We must not allow it to be corrupted by amassing worldly wealth. Jesus makes this come alive by telling us to replace anxiety with trust in the Father’s care (6:24-24). We cannot have healthy vision if it is clouded by worry and other priorities besides the kingdom and God’s righteousness.
  • At this point, we can too quickly think of other people rather than ourselves, as if we have our act together and they don’t. So then, Jesus instructs us about the kind of people we must be to give correct judgments about others (7:1-6). Notice that verse one (the favorite Bible verse of sinful people) is balanced by the need to make proper judgments of others in verse six. Always read verses in their context!
  • We also need to have spiritual intensity (7:7-12). The verbs ask, seek, and knock require continual action. To pray requires active trust in the Father’s goodness. We must care for others as we would have them care for us.
  • The Lord concludes this teaching time with a warning that we must be real learners (7:13-27). There are pretenders among God’s people, and we must watch out for them. (This is another time we must judge others.) Being religious is insufficient. Jesus’ followers do the Father’s will, which is also his will. The well-known story of the wise and foolish builders stresses the importance of listening to Jesus’ words and then doing them.

Invest time this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in reading the Sermon on the Mount. Get your Bible and sit in a comfortable chair. Read it three times. Conclude with a prayer for grace to do it. Have a good weekend!

Grace and peace, David

The Holy Spirit (Part 16)

Genesis 1

First on our “tour” of the dimly lit chamber of the Old Testament Scriptures, we view the Spirit of God as Almighty Creator. The first glimpse we have of the Spirit in the Bible is in its second verse. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters (Genesis 1:2 CSB).

If you were reading the Hebrew Bible for the first time, you might wonder what the “Spirit of God” meant. The word translated “Spirit” is ruach, which means at its basic level “the expulsion of wind or breath, the idea of air in motion” (Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, p. 16). The first-time reader, or any perhaps reader unfamiliar with the clearer teaching of the New Testament Scriptures, might think this was merely a poetic way of describing God’s creating work.

The idea of ruach is not so much immateriality as energy or power. See, for example, 1 Kings 10:4-5; Micah 3:8. By his ruach, the Lord, Yahweh, gave power to the judges (Judges 3:10; 14:6), called his prophets to their work (Ezekiel 3:12,14), created the stars (Psalm 33:6) and governs the world (Isaiah 40:7; 59:19). All these verses proclaim an extremely powerful Person. So then, we can learn how irresistible is the ruach of Yahweh. Can you remember the old commercial about EF Hutton? “When EF Hutton speaks, people listen?” Not exactly! But when the Holy Spirit of God speaks and works with his almighty power, people do listen and respond to his gentle whisper.

As you read the text more carefully, you notice something: The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The word for hover is used only two other times. In Jeremiah 23:9 it is used poetically of bones, but significantly, it is used in Deuteronomy 32:11 of God’s caring action over his people Israel. The picture in Genesis 1:2 is of the ruach of God working over the formless creation to form it to be a place where people, who could seek the Lord, would live (Isaiah 45:18).

In addition, we can learn more about the ruach of God from Genesis One. Look at 1:26 carefully. God is speaking on the sixth day of creation, and he says, “Let us make man in our image….” Within the context of this passage, the only possible reference point of creative power is the ruach of God, the Spirit of God, mentioned in verse two. Thus in the first chapter of the Bible, we have witness to the Spirit of God being addressed in a personal way as a divine Person. This alone does not prove the Trinity, but it is a signpost pointing to it. This agrees with other Old Testament references about the Spirit’s work in creation (Job 26:11-14; 33:4) and in his ongoing renewal of creation (Psalm 104:30).

On this first step on our “tour”, we learn that the Spirit of God has divine power to bring God’s plan of creation into full realization. As the Son of God made the world (John 1:3; etc.), the Spirit of the Lord acted with him, bringing all to the Father’s perfect design. We are, therefore, considering someone who is almighty and wise, and we do well to bow before him and worship. He knows the mind of the Lord and has all-sufficient power to perform his will perfectly. He is more than able to help us.

Grace and peace, David

The Holy Spirit (Part 15)

John 14:6-11

Have you ever toured a mansion? Sharon and I have been on several tours. A typical tour goes something like this. You purchase your tickets at a welcome center, walk to the mansion, and then wait. Finally, a tour guide appears, gives a lot of instructions, and walks you through. Some rooms are roped off, so that you can just look in, and of course, you can’t touch anything! Other rooms might be dimly lit, and you wish you could enter fully in with a bright light and really enjoy the riches displayed in such rooms.

The believer in Old Testament times lived in a dimly lit chamber. They had great blessings as God’s people (Romans 3:1-2; 9:4-5). But they could not see them clearly or experience them fully. They had to wait for the coming of a great light, the Lord Jesus Christ (Isaiah 9:1-7). Listen to what the Spirit reveals about the level of insight that the prophets, who spoke the word, had. Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things (1 Pt 1:10-12 NIV). The prophets received and spoke God’s word, but unless the Spirit explained it to them, they could not understand it. They were before the Light of the world came, and lacked events like the resurrection and the Day of Pentecost to understand what was met. They had an ignition key but no car. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets cf. Eph 3:4-5 NIV). Some truths simply were not revealed until the new covenant age began. You might desire the next generation cellphone, but until it’s on the market, you can’t have it or use it. Many of the truths about the Holy Spirit had to wait till after the ascension of Jesus the Messiah.

From these texts, the church has long recognized the truth of the greater light of the New Testament Scriptures. Consider the words of Augustine. “The New Testament is in the Old concealed, and in the New, the Old revealed.”

“The Old Testament may be likened to a chamber richly furnished but dimly lighted: the introduction of light brings into it nothing which was not in it before; but it brings out into clearer view much of what was in it but was only dimly or not at all perceived before. The mystery of the Trinity is not revealed in the Old Testament; but the mystery of the Trinity underlies the Old Testament revelation, and here and there almost comes into view. Thus the Old Testament revelation of God is not corrected by the fuller revelation which follows it, but is only perfected, extended and enlarged” (Warfield).

Our next subject in our series on the Holy Spirit is the Person of the Spirit of God in the dimly lighted chamber of the Old Testament Scriptures. Obviously, we cannot speak in detail about this. Whole books address this theme! But in some glimpses of his glory as God that the Spirit gave in the Old Testament Scriptures, we may learn more of God and all that he is for his people. So then, we’ll take the rope down and with the light of Christ explore a little of this dimly lighted room.

Grace and peace, David

Psalm Nineteen (Part Three)

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth (Psalm 19:4c-6 NIV).

In this stanza, David teaches from a more particular example about the heavens. He says, “Consider how the sun is God’s servant to proclaim his glory!” With the poetic language of appearance (how things look to us in a figurative sense—this is not a science lesson), he compares the heavens to a tent that God has pitched for the sun. What a picture! The vast heavens are like a little tent for the little sun (which is really very large) to use. If you want to see a dynamic presentation of this, on YouTube watch “How Great Is Our God?” by Louie Giglio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azFFc20_Ub4&t=601s).  If this is so, then how great must be the God who pitched the tent for the sun!

The sun is compared to two people: a bridegroom and a champion runner. Everyday day the sun appears with the virile strength of a newly-married man. He is strong and happy. How much more so the Lord of creation! I used to run cross-country in high school. Yes, I find that surprising also. The most I would run a day was five miles and rather slowly. But I liked to watch truly skilled runners seemingly glide through the course. A high school race is far short of a twenty-six-mile marathon. The sun is also like a marathon runner. Look how effortlessly he runs his racecourse everyday. He enjoys the run, though his circuit is from one end of the heavens to the other. How much more vigorous and joyful is the Creator! And think, this bridegroom/runner has been doing this for thousands and thousands of years without rest for one moment. What then is God who made the sun?

David concludes this description of the sun with a telling phrase: “nothing is hidden from its heat.” Yes, all people everywhere understand the might of the sun. Ninety-three million miles away, and it still sufficiently warms our planet to sustain life! If this is so, then how much more powerful is the One who is Lord of all, who could make such a powerful servant? The calm consideration of this ought to drive all people everywhere to their knees before their Creator.

The sun may be like these things to us, but it is in fact just a very small part of the infinite God’s handiwork. What is so incredibly large to us is extremely small to him. It is his servant to proclaim the extent (“one end of the heavens … to the other”) and penetration (“nothing is hidden”) of his ruling power. Now if you cannot escape from the sun, how dare try to you hide yourself from the Holy One?

The sun with royal splendor goes forth to chant thy praise,
and moon beams soft and tender their gentler anthems raise;
o’er every tribe and nation the music strange is poured,
the song of all creation, to thee, creation’s Lord.
(Trinity Hymnal, #113)

 

Grace and peace, David

The Attributes of God (Part Two)

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14 NIV).

God is self-existent. God “has life in himself” (John 5:26). This means that he is absolutely independent of all other being. There is nothing that he depends upon for existence. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:25). God often is called “the living God”, which brings out this characteristic (Deuteronomy 5:26; Joshua 3:10; 1 Samuel 17:26; Psalm 42:2; Isaiah 37:4; Jeremiah 10:10; Matthew 16:16; Acts 14:15; 2 Corinthians 3:3; 6:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; Hebrews 3:12; 10:31).

“The ground of God’s being is not in others, for there is nothing more ultimate than himself. God is uncaused, the one who always is (Exod. 3:14). To ask who caused God is to ask as self-contradictory question in term’s of Jesus’ view of God. Another term conveying the concept of God’s self-existence is ‘aseity’. It comes from the Latin a, meaning from, and se, meaning oneself. God is underived, necessary, nondependent existence” (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p.453). “God’s self-existence means that he is not answerable to us or to anybody, and we don’t like that. We want God to give an account of himself, to defend his actions. Although he sometimes explains things to us, he doesn’t have to and often he does not. God doesn’t have to explain himself to anybody” (Boice, The Sovereign God, p. 128).

Since God is self-existent, he is also self-sufficient. God does not need anything in or from creation. Instead, God chose to create and to preserve and to direct what he created for the praise of his glory (Romans 11:36). This means that God does not need worshipers, helpers or defenders. God is self-reliant. In contrast with God, humans are created and dependent. We must rely on God for everything (Acts 17:25,28).

This, like everything other attribute God, should cause us to humble ourselves in his presence, as Job did when he realized God’s majesty (Job 42:1-6). We serve the very independent God. He needs nothing from his creation. “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them” (Romans 11:35 NIV)? Admittedly, this is difficult to comprehend, because even those who boast of their self-reliance and freedom are dependent on others. The supposedly great rulers of the earth must rely on others for protection, food, and assistance. For example, the President does not pilot Air Force One; he does not go anywhere without Secret Service agents around him. A rich woman might have money, but she can’t eat unless someone supplies her food in one way or another. Who makes their own clothes? Even if they do, they’re not making all the components necessary to make clothes. We are pitifully dependent. The next time you lose power, and I’m not wishing this on anyone, you will discover your dependence on electricity. I cannot write these blogs unless I have electricity, the internet, and some form of computer. We are shockingly dependent. We ought to humble ourselves before the living God.

So then, let us praise God for his surpassing greatness. God doesn’t need us, yet he calls us to draw near to him, to experience his love, compassion, joy, and peace, which flow from the overflowing fountain of his self-existence and self-sufficiency. Let us praise the living God!

Grace and peace, David

A Frowning Providence (Part Two)

Genesis 37:12-36

In part one, we saw how the life of Joseph and his family was about to change through a seemingly insignificant and harmless event: his trip that his father Jacob sent him on out of concern for Joseph’s older brothers. In Genesis 37:18-28, we see how an act of malice started them all on the path to lasting change.

They were intent on venting their wrath wrath against Joseph. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams” (Genesis 37:18-20 NIV).

Their hatred had brewed for so long that the mere sight of Joseph brought them to the verge of murder. Sin long nurtured in the heart waits only for an appropriate moment to wreak destruction. Sin causes hardening of heart. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Hebrews 3:13 NIV). Hatred and jealousy made them want to murder, but sin did not stop there. For they planned to lie to cover their murder, and pride made them dream of boasting they had defeated Joseph’s dreams.

No person is strong enough to hold the reins of sin. That lusty stallion can drag any presumptuous man or woman off to certain ruin. The wise course of action is to flee from sin, seek cleansing from its guilt and influence by the blood of Christ, and to put it death with the help of the Holy Spirit.

However, while Joseph’s brothers plotted evil against him, the living God was also at work. He acted behind the scenes to restrain their wrath (37:21-28). There are three clear ways that the Lord did this.

  • God worked through Reuben’s intervention. Reuben was an unlikely deliverer (see Genesis 35:22), but for some reason (perhaps fear of further offense against his father or qualms of conscience), he schemed to prevent the murder of his brother.
  • God worked through the appearance of the merchants. In this way, God permitted the hatred of Joseph’s brothers to go unchecked, but refused to allow Joseph to be killed. The Lord allows people to act freely, unless when he intervenes to accomplish his will. He lets people act as free agents, while maintaining his sovereign rule. Wise parents allow their children freedom to act and to fail many times, while stepping in at important times for godly discipline, instruction, and protection. If you were Joseph being handed over to the traders, you would be thinking that it’s better to be a living dog than a dead lion. Yes, he had reason to be thankful. Remember also that he did not have the rest of his life story to read at this point. It seemed that his life was ruined and his dreams vanished. The Lord does not consult us about the details of his plan, nor does he make sure that all will tend toward a life of ease for his children. Sometimes it is impossible to discern how a course of events will be for our good (Romans 8:28).
  • God worked through the greed of Judah. Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed (Genesis 37:26-27). There are alternatives in a course of sin. It does not always take the worst path. After all, if you can make a few shekels and still have your malice vented, what’s the problem. I seriously doubt anyone wants to award Judah a medal for his suggestion. However, let’s not deceive ourselves if we do the same thing; namely, leave one path of sin only to pursue a less offensive sin.

The Lord God acts in many ways to accomplish his will. As has been said, God uses crooked sticks to draw straight lines. Our responsibility by grace through faith in Christ is to be “straight sticks” ready for God’s use.  As we read in the New Testament Scriptures, Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work (2 Timothy 2:21 NIV).

Grace and peace, David

A Frowning Providence (Part One)

Genesis 37:12-36

The Lord God has revealed in his word, the Bible, that he is in charge of all things. He is sovereign; he is the Boss (Psalm 115:3; 135:5-6; Proverbs 16:4, 9; Isaiah 46:8-11; etc.). Listen to Romans 11:36: For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen (NIV). Providence is God’s direction and care of his creation. The story of Joseph is an important study of how God directs various events in our lives for his glory and the good of his people. Individual events can seem counterproductive to God’s plan; in fact, some seem wrong and we don’t like them. But we must wait in faith for God’s wise result.

In God’s providence, great changes can flow from apparently insignificant and benign events. We can plan to help others and even to advance the cause of God and truth, and then everything blows up in our faces. I know this from sad experience. And it hurts. But the Lord of all can be working a better plan. We see all of this in the life of Joseph.

The game changer for Joseph, his father, his family, and seriously for the whole world came from an act of concern by his father Jacob. Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied. So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron (Genesis 37:12-14 NIV).

Compassion and prudence directed this plan. On Jacob’s part, he was concerned for the welfare of his sons and their family’s possessions. On Joseph’s part, obedience to his father motivated him. Notice how determined Joseph was to carry out Jacob’s orders (37:14-17).

However, right motives could not prevent trouble. Jacob was seemingly unaware of the hatred of his ten older sons for Joseph. He might have known there was no love lost between them, but he didn’t realize how thoroughly jealousy ruled their hearts. We have to face the truth that loving parents are rarely the best judges of their children’s character. We love them very much, so that we fail to see what they actually are and do.

Joseph walked on the path of obedience. He honored God by his choice. But the next events demonstrate that neither faith nor good character are shields against trouble. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12 NIV). Watch out for the trap of second guessing a correct course of action when trouble comes during it and after it. You can do the right thing and experience much grief. Please make God’s glory rather than your happiness the standard of your actions.

Grace and peace, David

Thinking about God and His Friendship with His People (Part Three)

Psalm 25:12-15

Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being,  and his offspring shall inherit the land.  The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net (ESV).

How did David find forgiveness for his confessed great sins? How did he light the way for others in the same kind of difficulties? David traced forgiveness back to its real source. He does not say “for my sake” nor “for the sake of what I have earned or deserved”. Instead, he looks to God’s name—his true character. He believed what God said about himself—that he forgives sinners. He believed that God would forgive even great sin, in order to show the greatness of his glory. “To forgive a great sinner like me will bring you great glory, Lord; therefore, for your name’s sake forgive me.”

Learn well how this verse is contrary to a legalistic attitude. A mentality of salvation by works looks at the man or woman and their indebtedness and actions to find mercy, but salvation by grace through faith looks higher to the goodness of God. Instead of being staggered by how much he or she owes, faith looks to the precious blood of Christ and pleads more vigorously for forgiveness for the sake of God’s name.

The more we see how serious and hideous our sins are, the closer we are to forgiveness. We wrote in our previous post on this psalm about calling our sins by biblical names, like rebellion, trespass, and missing the mark. Now, we need to see that all of our sins are great, because they are against the great God. In every sin we despise God’s greatness, mock his wisdom, twist his love, and make something else our god (cf. Col 3:5).

So, where is our hope when we admit that we are great sinners? When God interacts with those who repent and believe, all he does is in conformity with his love and faithfulness (25:10). He shows the mercy of his purposes and the truthfulness of his promises.

The Lord confides in his people. The Hebrew is well-translated by the NIV here (cf. Proverbs 3:32). It means “confidential speech”. It is the speech of one friend to another (Psalm 55:13-14). This has been God’s way with believing people from long ago. He wanted to tell Abraham what he was going to do with Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:17). God chose not to act until he told his servants the prophets what he was going to do (Amos 3:7). So over the course of thousands of years, as God prepared to send his Son when his time had fully come, God gave increasing revelation to his people about the Messiah. And so that his people did not miss the Messiah, he sent John the Baptist to point him out clearly (John 1:29-31).

It is in Christ that God confides in us most closely. The Messiah is our covenant. The Lord said to his Servant, the Messiah: “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness (Isaiah 42:6-7 ESV, my emphasis). Christ our covenant calls us his friends, assuring us of a hearty welcome into his company (John 15:15). And since we are in Christ, we have the source of all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). God’s invitation is now to lay hold of his deep friendship by faith (Ephesians 3:14-19).

Our tragic problem as sons and daughters of God is that we settle for far too little. God has provided the way to know him in Christ, and has promised a warm welcome in him, yet we stand at a distance, imagining that God doesn’t really like us that much! We go on a wild goose chase for intimate friendship, when God invites us to draw near to him and promises that he will draw near to us (James 4:8). Dear friends, the way to friendship with God is wide-open and near. We need only approach the Father by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace, David

The Attributes of God (Part One)

He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37 CSB).

The life of the believer is to be about knowing God. I have written on other occasions that true knowledge of God involves a knowledge of facts, a knowledge of skills, and a knowledge of God’s triune person. We definitely need the knowledge of skill, about how God tells us to interact with him. Such skills are usually called “spiritual disciplines”. But to my mind anyway, to join “discipline” with a personal relationship sounds strange and very impersonal. We don’t refer to the husband-wife relationship as “marital disciplines”, do we? “Hi honey, I want to do some ‘marital disciplines’ with you!” Even the illustration is laughable at best. We know a person by interacting with him or her, by sharing life with those we love.

The true knowledge of any person requires accurate facts about him or her. My wife is not married to a tall, handsome, athletic, wealthy, charming guy; she is married to me, and any distortions of the facts about me would disrupt our relationship. It would set her up for countless disappointments. This is one reason why we need accurate truth about God.

What do we mean by the phrase “the attributes of God”? The attributes of God are those characteristics or qualities that mark or define God’s mode of existence or constitute his character. Before we consider God’s attributes, we need to keep certain preliminary points in mind:

  • Since God actually exists, he has attributes and we can discuss them (Romans 1:20).
  • When we consider God’s attributes, we are not talking about some made up ideas, because God has revealed himself so that he (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) might be known (Romans 1:19-20; cf. Acts 17:27).
  • What God has revealed himself must be accepted on faith (Hebrews 11:6). Limited creatures cannot possibly search out and comprehend God in all his majesty. But we can know the truth that he has revealed about himself.

What is God? The Lord God tells us that he is the Creator of all things and that he is living, triune, unlimited, personal spirit. From these words, we at once understand that his being is on a higher level than ours. God’s revelation of his attributes helps us to know more of his being. (The names of God also help us understand God better, but the study of God’s name is a different subject.) As Christians have studied what God makes known about himself in the Scriptures, various attempts have been made to classify God’s attributes to guide our understanding. Most attempts have divided them into two categories, such as metaphysical and moral or incommunicable and communicable. But it is difficult to sort all into just two types. We will choose another approach to find out what he tells us about himself as a living, triune, personal spirit.

  • Metaphysically – God is self-existent, infinite (eternal, omnipotent and omnipresent), invisible, immutable and incomparable
  • Ethically – God is holy, righteous (just), faithful and good
  • Intellectually – God is omniscient and wise
  • Emotionally – God is loving, gracious, merciful, patient and jealous
  • Relationally – God is transcendent, immanent and sovereign

As we study God’s attributes, we will seek to understand (truly though not exhaustively) the ideas about God that each attribute conveys. Next, we will contrast God’s being with ours, and finally briefly think about the significance of each attribute to our worship and way of life. Clearly in a short study like this, we will only be able to touch the surface of God’s revelation of himself. But hopefully this will whet our spiritual appetites to search the Scriptures more deeply.

As we study God’s revelation of his attributes, we must not forget reverence. We cannot put God under the microscope, view what we see, and then coldly catalog our observations. If we do not worship, we have not seen him and have become proud in our minds. Nor may we criticize God. We cannot call him to account or dare to “remake God” according to our opinions. The human mind is limited and twisted by sin. We only think clearly when we think in conformity with the Scriptures!

Grace and peace, David

Psalm Nineteen (Part Two)

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (19:2-4b NIV).

People like to gaze up at the sky and into the heavens above. Sharon and I live in a suburban area, and we rarely can see many stars. There are too many lights around us. At such times, we miss upstate New York. When we can be out in the country, we like to star gaze. I suspect you do, too. In these verses, David considered the revelation that God has made in nature, specifically, in the sun and the stars.

Day after day they pour forth speech…. David next entered into a more particular explanation of the principle stated in verse one. We might picture a storyteller starting at first light with his tale, continuing it until the sun sets, but then another storyteller comes on the scene to continue the same story! “They ‘pour forth’ or literally ‘bubble forth’ their information. As someone has rightly remarked, it is as though their eloquent testimony bubbled forth at every crack and cranny of the universe” (Leupold). Speech: David emphasizes that everyday the creation communicates with mankind about their Creator. God has a twenty-four hour “TV station or web page” that only broadcasts commercials—messages about his glory. The creation says to mankind, “Stop, listen to my voice, and think about what I am telling you about the glory of God.”

Night after night they reveal knowledge. The night is usually the time for rest, sleep, and the pursuit of pleasure. The creation, however, is always at work preaching the glory of God. What an advantage may be received by people from this preacher! Until recently, people were unable to know little about the universe around him during the daytime. Sometimes the moon is still visible early in the day, and there is the occasional morning star or supernova, but it is the night that reveals the immensity of the universe. It displays knowledge not easily received otherwise; even the most illiterate can look up and read a vast library regarding the glory of the Lord.

They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Since the Tower of Babel, mankind has been under the judgment of many different languages, which has hindered human progress and frustrated mankind’s pride. How difficult it can be to understand someone from another language! Yet God is not frustrated in communicating with people. His creation speaks to people of all languages, so that all are without excuse (Romans 1:20). Observe that there are no “innocent heathen”, but that all are responsible to God because of the message of creation. They all are able to hear the language that the heavens speak.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Verse four is quoted in Romans 10:18, in that great passage about the sovereignty of God in the spread of the gospel (good news). No one will be able to say on that day of judgment that he or she never heard about the Creator, because the Lord has had his words about his glory and his work proclaimed to the ends of the world. But someone may object, “But this message tells nothing about the way of salvation! That doesn’t seem fair!” However, God is most just. Since they refuse to listen to the message of his glory and suppress it constantly (day after day… night after night), God cannot be blamed for not sending another message, the good news of his Son.

When we tell others the good news, we do not go among those who have never heard, but among those who refuse to listen—a hostile audience. Don’t be surprised when they will not listen to you. To turn someone from darkness to light requires the action of the Holy Spirit with God’s word. We can and should tell others the word, and at the same time, we must pray for the Holy Spirit to produce spiritual life as they hear the word. For whom are you praying?

Grace and peace, David