Our Absolutely Awesome God - Part Two

This is the fourth sermon in a ten-part series regarding the attributes of God. This message speaks about more of God's "absolute attributes."

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Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

We are continuing our series of messages on the attributes of God as we try to emphasize the importance of having a proper concept of God.  Are you ready to have your mind stretched today?

We talked about the fact that it is impossible to truly worship God (i.e. ascribe worth, honor, value and importance to him), if we do not really know him.

The first category of attributes we started discussing last time was:

I.    Absolute Attributes

We already talked about two of the absolute attributes.

A. Spirituality - God does not possess a physical body. He is spiritual, not material substance. “God is spirit and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (Jn. 4)

B. Immutability - God does not change in His nature or essence. “Every good and perfect gift comes down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.” (Jas.1)

Today, we are going to talk about the remaining absolute attributes:

C. Infinity – Infinity is the quality of having no bounds or limits in any aspect of the divine nature.

There is only one passage of Scripture that uses the word infinite in the KJV, and that is in reference to God’s knowledge.

Psalm 147:5 “Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”

A.W. Tozer says, “Infinitude can belong to [only] One. There can be no second.” “All that [God] is, He is without growth or addition or development.”

This attribute forms the ground for understanding all of the other attributes. God is infinite in every aspect of his being; infinite with regards to time, space, knowledge, love, holiness, etc., etc.

As one reads through the Bible and learns more and more about the nature of God we understand that God is infinite in all his qualities or he isn’t God.

There are two aspects of infinity that we want to cover within the discussion of absolute attributes.

1. Eternity – The quality of infinity with regards to time. It is the quality of not being limited or bound in any way by time. God exists beyond the realm of time.

Before time began, God was. After time ends, God will be.

Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (A Psalm of Moses)

A. W. Tozer – “ ‘From the vanishing point to the vanishing point’ would be another way to say it quite in keeping with the words as Moses used them. The mind looks backward in time till the dim past vanishes, then turns and looks into the future till thought and imagination collapse from exhaustion; and God is at both points, unaffected by either.

2. Immensity – The quality of being infinite with regards to space. God is above and beyond the limitations of space.

Immensity does not refer to the mere extension of space without end, but it refers to being above and beyond it.

Some have said that space is born out of immensity just as time is born out of eternity. Both eternity and immensity are beyond time and space.

Two parallel passages in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles recording the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple relate this concept about God. In his prayer, Solomon prays, “… will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built?”

D. Perfection – That attribute which describes the quality of absolute flawlessness in every respect. It represents the condition that can never be improved upon.

Matt. 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

I quoted Tozer earlier as saying, “All that [God] is, He is without growth or addition or development.”

If God could grow, develop or be added to in any of His being and nature, then God would not be perfect and would cease to truly be God.

E. Self-Existence / Self-Sufficient – Because God is infinite, perfect, eternal and unchangeable, He is also self-existent and self-sufficient. He is the only one that has always been or has always existed, and therefore He is the One who causes or brings about the existence of everything else.

He is the un-derived source of every perfection shared with His creation. The source of life, love, goodness, holiness, etc. etc.

His absolute self-sufficiency means He is in need of nothing from anyone to satisfy any lack or deficiency.

Conclusion:

This survey today pretty well sums up the attributes that we have categorized as “Absolute Attributes.” That is, those qualities that reflect on God’s mode of existence rather than His mode of operation and activity. It refers to those qualities that do not speak of His interaction with His created order.

Before we close this morning, let me just summarize what we have been saying by again proclaiming that OUR GOD IS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME AND AMAZING!

The next sermon in this series is: The Omni Traits of God http://waysidepastor.blogspot.com/2011/02/omni-traits-of-god-32mb.html