This is the ninth sermon in a ten-part series on the attributes of God. This message concludes the category of attributes that some theologians refer to as Moral Attributes, and it discusses the attributes of truth and sovereignty.
Written Excerpts:
Exodus 34:6 “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”
Introduction:
We are nearly finished with our series of messages on the attributes of God. Today, I expect to finish speaking about the attributes of God, with a possible final summary message to wrap up the series next week.
Remember that our aim in getting to know God is to take the information we have learned and use it for meditation. Meditation is more than simply casual review, but truly “ruminating” [chewing] on it, thinking of all implications and ramifications, and then applying it personally to my own life.
Let us continue our discussion of the “moral attributes.”
III. Moral Attributes
Defined as those qualities in the nature of God that He shares with moral beings who are created in His image, and those qualities that refer to His government over free, intelligent and moral beings.
A. Holiness, Righteousness and Justice.
We talked about the holiness, righteousness and justice of God; the absolute purity of God’s nature.
B. Love, Mercy and Grace
We also spoke about His everlasting love that prompts Him to freely give mercy and grace. Grace means giving of favors that we do not deserve, and mercy means withholding of punishment that we do deserve.
C. Truth
Today we are going to speak to you about God’s nature of truth.
Truth is another of those words that has endured a great deal of decay and manipulation in meaning. I read a little story that sort of illustrates the kind of thing that has been happening.
1. Definitions of Truth
(Ronald Nash, Life's Ultimate Questions) “…a property of propositions [claims] that correspond to the way things [actually] are.”
Someone else has said that truth is: “The best explanation of the facts that exist.”
Truth is the quality of being consistent, genuine or authentic, and without contradiction.
(J.I. Packer, Knowing God) Truth in the Bible is a quality of persons primarily and of propositions secondarily: it means stability, reliability, firmness, trustworthiness, the quality of a person who is entirely self-consistent, sincere, realistic and undeceived.
(H.O. Wiley, Christian Theology) Truth includes both veracity and faithfulness.
2. Observations about the truthfulness of God from Scripture.
a. Truthfulness is essential to the nature of God.
Exodus 34:6; Numbers 23:19a; Deut. 32:4; Ps. 31:5; Daniel 4:37; Romans 3:3-4a
These and other passages found throughout the Scriptures teach us that the very nature of God is truthfulness and all His actions and works are consistent with His nature, and therefore are also true. His nature is consistent and without contradiction. There is no insincerity, hypocrisy, or deceit in His divine nature.
God is often described in stark contrast to the sinful, fallen nature of man who is prone to deceitfulness and lying. This trait started in Adam and was passed on through generation to generation.
The Devil is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
b. Truthfulness is eternal (just as God is eternal).
Exodus 34:6; Psalms 57:10; 100:5; 146:6
There is as much of a chance that God will cease to be true as there is for God to cease to exist. Remember that God is immutable (unchanging) in His essential nature.
c. God’s commands are true. (Packer)
Ps. 119:151 “Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.”
Everything God requires of mankind in the form of commands and ordinances are exactly consistent with the divine nature of God and the nature of man as we were meant to be.
Dr. James Packer says that the commandments of God are defined as truth for a couple of reasons:
1) God’s design for human life and behavior as defined in His commandments will never deviate. In other words they possess a permanence about them.
2) The commandments tell us the unchanging truth about ourselves.
He goes on to explain that by following the commandments of God, which are truth, we develop our souls and lives into the moral image we were created to be. But, if we do not follow His commandments we destroy our souls and character until we de-humanize ourselves in spiritual death.
d. God’s judgments are true.
Romans 2:2 “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.” [i.e. those things described in the closing verses of chapter 1.]
When anyone chooses to violate the commandments of God, then judgment is proclaimed and executed in exact accordance with the nature of the offense and the nature of God who has been offended.
e. God’s promises are true. (Packer)
This aspect of truthfulness has more to do with the idea of faithfulness which we already discussed in an earlier message.
To review, however, let me just say that God can no more fail to keep His promises than He can cease to be God. Truthfulness and faithfulness are two aspects of the same character trait or attribute.
f. Truthfulness is expected of God’s people.
Exodus 20:16 “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
I will probably come back to this point again in some future sermon, but let me just say that God expects truth in His people. That means there is no place in the Christian’s life for any hypocrisy or insincerity regarding the practice of faith and obedience.
D. Sovereignty
The final attribute of God that we wish to briefly discuss today is the attribute of sovereignty. We are including this under the heading of moral attributes as well, because it relates to God’s rule or government over the creation and over free, intelligent, moral beings.
1. Definition
Sovereignty is related to the attribute of omnipotence or almighty power that we discussed several weeks ago. It simply means that God is the only absolute ruler over all of the universe.
Ex. 15:18 “The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.”
2. Observations
Based on several of the previous attributes and qualities we have already studied about God, and in conjunction with them, we believe that the sovereignty of God means that:
a. God does not control nor decree everything that happens.
We really do not have the time to dig too deeply into this issue today, but we believe the Scriptures proclaim that God made man in His image, and that image includes the aspect of free-will. Therefore we believe that God voluntarily structures His sovereign rule and control in such a way so to allow mankind the ability to exercise free choices.
b. God does know everything that happens.
We have already talked about the omniscience or unlimited knowledge of God. There is nothing that free individuals can do that is outside of the scope of God’s infinite knowledge.
Yet, we have clearly stated that God’s awareness of everything actual and everything potential does not cause it to take place. He does not exercise control in that sense.
c. God never loses control of His overall purposes for the world and mankind.
Even though individuals who are created with a free will in the image of God do sometimes make decisions and choices that are opposed to the will of God, yet none of them can frustrate the overall plan and purposes of God for the world and for the rest of humanity.
For example, there is no human being that had the ability to thwart God’s plan of redeeming fallen humanity. There is no human being who has the ability to thwart God’s coming judgment day. God is truly the only absolute ruler of the universe and He is still in control today.
God isn’t wringing His hands and worrying about what the Republicans or Democrats are going to do that might mess up His purposes.
God has repeatedly shown throughout Scripture and human history that He has the ability to take really messy situations and the horrible choices and actions of wicked, disobedient people and turn them completely around and use them for something beautiful and good in the long run or in the final analysis.
I’m happy to know that I serve the Lord God, who is the creator, sustainer and ruler of this entire universe. He is not only my sovereign Lord, but He is my Savior, Redeemer and Friend!
Conclusion:
As I stated at the beginning of the message, I plan to finish this series of messages next Sunday by summarizing what we have been learning and making some final applications.
But I hope this message today has helped you to better understand the nature of God. I hope something was said to not only enlighten your understanding, but to encourage your heart in faith.
The final sermon in this series is: The Pursuit of God (link is available in the blog archive on right)
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