ATTRIBUTES OF GOD - INTRO 3
The
solitariness of the God of the Bible is awe-inspiring. As a solitary figure He
stands alone, no other even remotely like Him. Few there are who are
sufficiently familiar with the Bible to bring to the forefront of consciousness
the splendors of divine perfections. Yet the Bible is replete with reference to
His glory, majesty, power, and lovingkindness, all of which sets Him aside in a
class all by Himself. This is the One "who
is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords; who
alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has
seen or can see" (1 Tim.
6:15-16 NASB).
This One existed in solitary splendor in that
period before creation came into being. In the beginning God already existed. "Before the mountains were brought
forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God" (Psa.
90:20). He was as much God then as now or ever shall be. Even though there
was no heaven where God could be localized and His
glory manifested, even though there was no earth to serve as His footstool,
even though there were no angelic hosts to sound His praises, even though there
was no universe to be upheld by the word of His power, even though there were
no hosts of humanity upon which to bestow His grace, He was in every sense God.
This God is self-existent,
self-contained, self-sufficient, and self-satisfied. He is self-existent in
that He is not dependent upon anything external to Himself for originating or
continuing existence, for "the
Father hath life in himself" (John
5:26). He is self-contained in that He is complete within Himself and in no
sense dependent upon anything external to Himself, "as though he needed any thing" (Acts 17:25). He is self-sufficient in that He possesses all
fullness and is therefore the fountain source for everything else, "seeing He giveth to all life, and
breath, and all things" (Acts
17:25). And He is self-satisfied in that there is no reason external to
Himself why He performs as He does. "He
works all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11).
There is an oceanic expanse
which lies between the things of creation and the God of the Bible. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a
bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold he taketh up
the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, or the
beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as
nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom
then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?...It is he
that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as
grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them
out as a tent to dwell in" (Isa. 40:15-18,22). In the light of what
is known today about the dimensions of the universe, this description takes on
even greater proportions.
All this can be comprehended in
a refrain that runs through the Bible that "there
is none like unto the Lord our God" (Exod. 8:10). This refrain is used when by the hand of Moses God
exhibited to Pharaoh His uniqueness in the midst of Egypt (Exod. 9:14). Moses pointed out to the people of Israel on the
plains of Moab that God had through forty long years displayed this fact to
them (Deut.4:35). Hannah rose in her
prayer to that height when she exclaimed, "there
is none beside thee" (1 Sam.
2:2). When David ascended the throne he too acknowledged this distinction. "For there is none like thee, neither
is there any God beside thee" (2
Sam. 7:22). In the midst of those trying hours when Jeremiah beheld his
people completely turned to idolatry, he took refuge in the fact that "there is none like unto thee, O Lord;
thou art great, and thy name is great in might" (Jer. 10:6).
The unfolding revelation of
this God confirms the fact that He is perfect, that is, there is nothing
lacking in Him that ought to be present in the one and only God of the
universe. In His person or being He is perfect (Matt. 5:48). In His will or purpose He is perfect (Rom. 12:2). In His word or
pronouncements He is perfect (Psa. 19:7).
In His work or performance He is perfect (Deut.32:4).
In His way or procedure He is perfect (Psa.
18:30; 2 Sam. 22:31). And in His gifts or presents He is perfect (James 1:17). The multiplicity and
infinity of His splendors so far exceed anything that man can ask or even think
that Paul is moved to exclaim, "O
the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out" (Rom.
11:33).
When all these perfections of God are
gathered into one grand picture displaying the solitariness of God, the
rational creature that in some sense comprehends them in part is moved to
spiritual and physical prostration in His presence. He is moved to exclaim that
God is "terrible," to use
the term of the King James Version. More correctly, the word means awesome or
awe-inspiring, that is, humbled to the point of worship or consuming adoration.
Moses encouraged the people of Israel with this term (Deut. 7:21). Bowed in prayerful worship, Nehemiah used this term
in a pagan court (Neh. 1:5). The
psalmists in their songs of praise resorted to this expression (Psa. 47:2; 76:12).
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