THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

4. The Sovereignty of God

The God who is, is the God who reigns. This is the bedrock doctrine of all doctrines. This is the unmovable mountain of God’s right to exercise His sovereignty. It is His right to reign over the heavens and the earth and the entirety of the universe. It is His undisputed right to govern all that He has created in unrivaled majesty. 

DEF:  above or superior to all others; supreme in power, rank power and authority; of God, His absolute right to do all things according to His good pleasure. Royalty.

“The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.” 
–Psalm 103:19  

Psalm 93 to 99 are the “enthronement Psalms” that emphasize our Lord who reigns!

“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad.” –Psalm 97:1

 “Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns." The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”–Psalm 96:10

“The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty;”–Psalm 93:1 

God is sovereign over the kings and rulers of nations. “…he sets up kings and deposes them.” –Daniel 2:21

What a comfort it is to know that those in Washington are not in charge. What a comfort it is to know that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is the one that is presiding. Our Sovereign God is in charge!

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” –Proverbs 16:9

The Spirituality of God

Maizy Goerlitz

3. The Spirituality of God

When our granddaughter gave us this painting several years ago she called it "Creation."  It now hangs in our bedroom beside a window where every morning we see the sunrise. I have come to see God in this piece of art.  Can you see Him?

What do you think about when you hear the word "God"? In your mind's eye, what do you see? Can you visualize God? What is your mental picture of Him?

The fact that God is a spirit means on the one hand that He is immaterial and invisible, while on the other hand, he is a holy being, a person.  He has all the characteristics he created us with, plus He is so far beyond us that it is hard for us to comprehend His greatness.

Immaterial:
God does not have a physical body like we do. He does not have flesh and bones that we could weigh Him. Scriptures say He has eyes, and he has arms… and He has ears.  But He is not limited like we are.
“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”    “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” -Isaiah. 59:1

"Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form -only a voice." -Deuteronomy 4:12

"And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor see his form." -John 5:37

What are we to think, then, of those passages of the Bible which speak of God's hands, eyes, ears, mouth, etc. It appears that God is revealed to us as figures of speech.  It is called an anthropomorphism, and that is a way that God speaks of Himself in human terms that we understand. We don't have any real words to describe what he is actually like.

I see God in every sunrise and every sunset... and I thank Him for another day.

Invisible:
"No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God.” –John 1:18   “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.” –John 6:46   No one has ever seen God at any time. “The Father is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and is invisible to mortal sight.” –p.614 Evangelism

"Who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honour and might forever. Amen." -1 Timothy 6:16

I love the promise in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." -Matthew 5:8  So there will come a time we shall see God. 

Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father. "Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father." -John 14:9

Infinite: 

"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." –Job 5:9 

The word "Infinite" means without limits. There is no limit to His power, to His wisdom, or to his ability to be in all places at the same time. In fact, there is no limit to any of His wonderful attributes, like His love and compassion, His kindess or His mercy.  He has no limits and no boundaries. Nothing is impossible for Him. It is actually quite mind-boggling!

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" 
-Romans 11:33

God Is Self-Sufficient

2. God Is Self-Sufficient – He Has No Needs

“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” –John 5:26

As human beings we constantly have needs. The longer we live the more our body wears out and things stop working properly… and eventually, we die.  But God is totally self-sufficient. He does not wear out or break down and is totally self-sustaining and He will never ever die.

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” –John 1:4  “The true light which comes into the world and lightens every man,” (John 1:9) was through Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." -John 1:14

God has promised that “He will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Jesus Christ.” –Philippians 4:19

And to take it a step further, “Your Father knows what we need even before we ask Him!” –Matthew  6:7,8

“Now to Him who is able to do abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations.” –Ephesians 3:20,21

God Is Infinite

1. God Is Infinite – He is Self-Existing, Without Origin

Before the creation of our world God was in existence! 

There has never been a time when God did not exist.

“And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”–Col. 1:17

“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”–Psalm 90:2

The Aseity of God means that He was created by nothing and has always existed forever. God is the uncaused Cause, the uncreated Creator. He is the source of all things and He sustains everything.

Aseity means originating from and having no source other than itself. It is the quality or state of being self-derived or self-originated. Only He is absolutely self-sufficient, independent and autonomous. 

This attribute of God is the most difficult for the human mind to comprehend. How can we understand that God always was and always will be? How can we understand something that goes beyond our reason?  He is so Great, He is so Awesome! 

God exists on a plane beyond linear time and is without measure, and transcends temporal relationships. Try to get your head around this entire verse, and see how many hats God has. "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." -Isaiah 9:6

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power: for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”–Rev. 4:11

20 Amazing Attributes of God -Intro

Why should we study the attributes of God?

There is no higher subject that any mind can contemplate than the subject of the study of God. 

No other truth is so mind expanding. 

No other truth is so heart enlarging. 

No other truth is so life changing as the study of God.

The higher our knowledge of God the higher our worship of Him will be.  

As your knowledge of God increases so will your understanding of how He wants us to live for Him. It is the knowledge of God that shapes how we think, how we feel and how we act and how we speak. It is our knowledge of God that shapes what we believe, how we see the world around us. The more we understand about God, the greater will be our appreciation of our Creator and our Redeemer. We have to get our picture of God right.  We cannot be wrong about God and be right elsewhere.

In 1855 in London, England, Charles Hayden Spurgeon stood in the pulpit as he began his exposition of Malachi 3:6, and in the introduction, this 20-year old young preacher said these profound words. 

“There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the divinity. It is a subject so vast that all of our thoughts are lost in its immensity. It is so deep that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can comprehend and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self content and go on our way with the thought, ‘Behold, I am wise.’ But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumb line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with solemn exclamation, “I am but yesterday and know nothing.” - C.H. Spurgeon

 And while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect. Nothing will so magnify the whole soul of man as the devoted investigation of the great subject of the deity.

We stand as an insect on the surface of the sun, gazing into the brilliance of the sun… realizing we are but nothing. Apart from Him we could not exist. God had a reason for creating us. And He wants us to love Him and live our life to bring glory to Him.

A study of God's attributes is truly amazing. The attributes of God are inseparably connected to each other. What is true of the Father is true of the Son and is true of the Holy Spirit.  All the attributes are eternally permanent. It is not uncommon for the attributes to overlap and compliment each other. For example, the mercy of God is seen along with the justice of God and they are not at odds with each other.

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 
-2 Timothy 2:15