God’s Creation and the Fall (Perspectives Series 4 of 6)

Gospel means “good news,” and the Bible reveals to us the good news that the Father’s creation, ruined by the Fall, is being redeemed by Christ and restored by the Holy Spirit into the Kingdom of God. In the gospel we see the nature and work of the Triune God reestablishing his kingdom on the earth after the Fall.

To help us better understand this, let’s look first at how God’s original mission for humanity and the world was inaugurated by him at creation – which is the way God’s kingdom is supposed to be. Then we’ll examine how God’s kingdom was overthrown by Satan and sin at the Fall – which is not the way God’s kingdom is supposed to be.

The Father’s Creation: The Way God’s Kingdom Is Supposed to Be

The Scriptures teach that God created the world out of nothing, and then he rested. But God’s work in creation did not stop at the beginning, like the deists’ imagined clockmaker who creates a clock, winds it up, and then steps back to allow the clock to work completely on its own.

Instead, as soon as God rested from his original work of creation, he immediately continued his creative work by sustaining and ruling over everything he had created. This is called God’s providence (Prov 15:3, Ps 104:24). God sustains and rules over all creation not only directly as Sovereign King, but also indirectly through his image bearers, as they cultivate and develop his creation on the earth.

Creation in its original state was good, but it was far from complete. So God made humans through whom he would continue to develop his creation and establish his kingdom on the earth.

When God created the world, he designed the way it’s supposed to operate. So God’s creation includes not only the laws which govern the physical and biological world but also a creative order of laws and norms for the way things are supposed to be.

For example, this creation order includes things like the sanctity of life, the Sabbath rhythm, the institution of marriage, the sanctity of work, and even political order as examples of his creative order (Rom 13:1, 1 Tim 4:3-4, 1 Pet 2:13) for the ultimate flourishing of humanity on earth. God’s plan was for Adam and Eve to develop his creation by multiplying and subduing it according to this creative order.

As Adam and Eve learned how to apply these laws and norms in all their spheres of life, God’s plan was to establish his kingdom on earth through their application of  them, developing the whole domain of human relationships and societal organizations for his glory. The result of Adam and Eve developing God’s creative order under their influence is called culture.

The Fall of Humanity: The Way God’s Kingdom is Not Supposed to Be

In the beginning, God created a paradise with a creative order for how things are supposed to be. However, this paradise didn’t last. In Genesis 3 we learn that sin entered the world through Satan, who enticed Adam and Eve to sin.

As a result, humanity became alienated from God and under his just curse. This alienation and curse then flowed, like a polluted river, into all human relationships, including our relationships with God, ourselves, others, and creation.

Because of sin, our original righteous standing before God, which allowed us the blessing of access into God’s holy presence to be loved and cherished by him, is now lost. In its place, we stand condemned, guilty, and forsaken by God.

But sin changes more than our status with God. It also changes our heart, our human nature. We’re not only under sin’s condemning penalty, but also under  its domineering power and  the control of Satan. Sin causes our hearts to be captured by idols that steal our affections away from God.

Our affections and desires are still good, but because of sin we now set our God-given desires on idols that cannot fully satisfy us. Heart idolatry is looking for our true source of greatest happiness in something or someone other than God. It’s trying to make good things and people ultimate, when only God is ultimate. For some it is approval, reputation, or success. For others it includes things like comfort, control, pleasure, power, or possessions.

Sin’s corruption also spread both in individual hearts and in systemic ways throughout society, corrupting institutions God’s ordained such as the family, church, government, business, education, recreation, and the arts. The curse of sin even spread to our physical bodies, resulting in disease, sickness, and death. (Gen. 3:16-19) All creation and nature itself is now subject to decay. (Rom. 8:18-25)

This is why there is so much brokenness in the world, not just spiritually, but socially, culturally, economically, and politically. And this is why there is so much suffering, violence, poverty, disease, and injustice.

This is not the way God’s kingdom on earth is supposed to be. As a result of the Fall, Satan is now ruling over the earth. Jesus calls him “the ruler of the world” (John 14:30), and the Apostle John writes that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)

This does not mean that Satan is the supreme ruler over the earth. There’s only one supreme Lord over all things, and that’s God who has given Jesus “all authority in heaven and on earth.” (Matt 28:18b) Through Jesus, God will eventually defeat Satan and remove all the effects of his rule on fallen humanity and the world.

But since the Fall, there has been a struggle in history and within every person between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. This struggle will continue until Jesus returns as King to bring all things into complete submission to his rule and reign on earth.

The good news of the gospel is that, by his grace, God’s good creation of the world and humanity did not lose its original God-ordained order, structure, and laws. The bad news is that sin has deeply corrupted and distorted all of God’s good creation with evil. Sin and evil have radically twisted every part of our individual and communal lives.

All things God created are still good, but since the Fall they can now be used to serve and honor false gods, instead of the true God. For example, God created sexual union to be good and pleasurable, but only within God’s ordained creation structure of marriage between a man and a woman. But after the Fall, sexual union is often used illegitimately, resulting in fornication and adultery.

Similarly, government, industry, education, recreation, and the arts are all inherently good gifts from God, but after the Fall they’re often used in corrupt and idolatrous ways that God never intended.

Our fallen culture and society is not inherently sinful and evil. It’s the distortion and twisting of our culture away from God’s original design that is wrong. So we’re not to separate ourselves from fallen culture, but instead learn how to engage and redirect it according to God’s original design for ultimate flourishing.

God’s Triune Nature and Work (Perspectives Series 3 of 6)

God’s Triune Nature: Who God Is

The attributes of God’s simplicity and complexity in Scripture reveal his mysterious, triune nature–what is traditionally called the doctrine of the Trinity.

The Bible teaches that God is one God (Deut 6:4, 1 Cor 8:4). But, in many places, the Scriptures also ascribe divine attributes and actions to three divine entities which the church has historically called “persons”, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christian orthodoxy affirms throughout the ages that each of these three is the one true God.

Although the Scriptures teach that God’s being is one, this does not mean that God is only one person who can be described in three ways or forms. The ancient heresy of Modalism (sometimes called Sabellianism) teaches that God is one person who reveals himself in three ways (modes, forms, or manifestations), e.g. the belief that sometimes God reveals himself as Father, at other times the same person reveals himself as Son, and at other times he reveals himself as Holy Spirit.

In the Bible, the three “persons” are always distinct from one another and not interchangeable. The Father sends the Son (John 3:16); the Son prays to the Father (John 17); the Son obeys the Father (John 5:19); the Father and the Son send the Spirit into the world (John 14:26, 15:26); the Spirit speaks on the authority of the Father and Son, not on his own authority (John 16:13).

God’s Triune Work: What God Does

In Scripture, each member of the Trinity reveals unique aspects of his person and work in the history of God’s unfolding plan for the world. For example, in Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul refers to the Father’s will before creation (1-5), the Son’s accomplishment of God’s will in redemption (6-10), and the Spirit’s application of God’s will in sealing believers (11-14).

In this series, we’ll explore what the Bible reveals to us about who God is as Triune Lord (his attributes) and what God does as Triune Lord (his work, his plan) in creation, redemption, and the restoration of all things. Here’s a brief survey:

The Father Establishes God’s Plan for Creation

It is the Father, not the Son or Spirit, whose knowledge establishes God’s plan for the world and authorizes the tasks that the Son and the Spirit will carry out in his plan. In creation, God the Father reveals his supreme authority as Lord over all things, by wisely establishing his eternal plan to rule over all humanity and the world he creates for his glory.

Humanity Rejects God’s Plan in the Fall

But humanity rebels against God’s rule, sinning against him. As a result of the Fall, all humanity and creation come under God’s just curse. Although the Fall resulted in humanity’s condemnation and the corruption and distortion of God’s good creation, it did not destroy it. And by his grace, God determined to redeem and restore all things lost in the Fall.

The Son Accomplishes God’s Plan in Redemption

It is the Son, not the Father or Spirit, whose power accomplishes God’s plan for the world by executing it through his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return. In redemption, God the Son reveals his sovereign control as Lord of all things, by mightily accomplishing God’s eternal plan to redeem all of fallen humanity and creation.

The Spirit Applies God’s Plan in Restoration

It is the Spirit, not the Father or the Son, whose presence fulfills God’s plan for the world by applying Christ’s redemptive work to all things lost in the Fall. In restoration, God the Spirit reveals his transforming presence as Lord in all things, by graciously applying God’s eternal plan to restore all of fallen humanity and creation for his glory.

God’s Triune Gospel: Who God Is and What God Does

The gospel is the revelation of who God is and what God does in creation and redemption. The gospel story begins with the person and work of God the Father in creation. After the fall of humanity into sin, it’s the story of the person and work of God the Son in redemption. And it reaches its climax in the person and work of God the Holy Spirit restoring the fullness of God’s kingdom on earth.

While no single definition of the gospel can do it justice, the gospel can be summed up as the good news that the Father’s creation, ruined by the Fall, is being redeemed by Christ and restored by the Holy Spirit into the Kingdom of God. In the gospel we see the nature and work of the Triune God reestablishing his kingdom on the earth after the Fall.

The Revelation of God (Perspectives Series 1 of 6)

By Steven L. Childers and John M. Frame

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1). Genesis begins with creation as a magnificent act of God that reveals God to us as the creator of everything that exists.

The world God created consists of personal and impersonal beings and things. Humans are personal beings with names. Impersonal things include matter, space, time, motion, energy, the law of gravity, thunderstorms, oranges, and bicycles.

Many believe that humans are ultimately just impersonal matter that has come into being through a mysterious and random convergence of mass and energy over billions of years for no apparent reason and for no purpose.

The Bible teaches that humans are created by God in his image with intrinsic worth and dignity (Gen 1:28). All matter, space, time, motion, and energy are tools created and used by God to organize and rule over his creation and humanity to accomplish his purposes.

But how can we know all this? How can we really know what God is like?

We can’t think or reason our way to God

First, we can’t merely think or reason our way to God. When Moses writes the first verse of the first book of the Bible, he begins with a faith statement: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1).” Moses does not first prove scientifically that God exists.

Instead, he makes a huge theoretical assumption with the full knowledge that everyone who reads this verse may not share this assumption. Saying that our beliefs about God are based on a faith premise, however, does not in any way mean our beliefs are not scientifically and intellectually credible.

But we must be on our guard against anyone who claims to know the answer to how the world and humanity began without having a faith basis. Even the most atheistic scientists have at the core of their strongest beliefs about the origins of the universe—a faith premise. And it’s a very religious faith premise no matter how non-religious they may consider their premises to be.

This is because it takes religious faith to believe that the origins of the universe and humanity somehow mysteriously came into being through a “big bang” followed by even more mysterious processes over billions of years.

It takes as much, or more, religious faith to believe that everything that exists is only material or energy that has existed forever in some form and has been mysteriously shaped into all of its present complex forms, including humanity, only by pure chance—than to believe the historic Judeo-Christian account that it’s all the work of a personal, infinite, creator God.

It is dishonest to present a view of the origins of the universe and humanity and to claim that this view does not have a deeply rooted faith premise at its very core. And it’s even more dishonest to somehow try to position one view of origins as being scientific and not faith-based and others as being faith-based and religious.

So our faith premise is that there is an infinite, eternal, unchangeable God who exists and has created everything that exists. This means that reality is not limited to the physical but expands into the metaphysical, the spiritual. We do not live in a closed system but an open system.

To know God, he must reveal himself to us

This leads us to our second point, that for us to know anything about God he must take the initiative and reveal himself to us. The good news is that God has graciously broken through and revealed himself in several ways, including nature, the Bible, and the human conscience.

For example, we learn in Exodus 3 that when God appeared to Moses he revealed his personal name YHWH (Yahweh) or LORD. By revealing his personal name, God reveals that he is a person and not an impersonal force or higher power.

In Exodus 3:15, the word LORD is often translated with all capital letters to indicate the divine name YHWH (Yahweh). With this personal name, God reveals himself as a personal, faithful, covenant-keeping God of grace who promises to deliver his people by his great power.

In the New Testament, God translates his personal name YHWH as Lord (kurios) and connects it with the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil 2:9-11). And there is a new personal name for God added by Jesus. It’s the name “Father.” Since the Father is made known to us by Jesus through the Holy Spirit (John 16:13), the full, abundant revelation of LORD’s name is now Trinitarian: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19).

God has revealed his personal qualities

When the historic Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647) answers the ancient question, “What is God?”, the answer contains a list of God’s personal attributes found in the Bible: “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”

Theologians often use the word attributes to describe God’s personal qualities. After defining God as “a Spirit,” i.e. not having a physical body like humans, God’s being is described as infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. Theologians sometimes classify these kinds of attributes of God as incommunicable attributes that only God can possess.  

God’s infinity means his being is not confined by any limits. God’s eternality means he has no beginning and no end, no before or after. And God’s immutability means it is not possible for God to change.

However, the attributes of God we share more fully are called God’s communicable attributes, including his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

God’s revelation is limited but true

We must be careful in how we describe God’s attributes and how we describe the way in which we share any of God’s attributes. It can be helpful to think of God’s incommunicable attributes in a separate category from God’s communicable attributes. But we must do so with great care and wisdom or we’ll be thinking of God in an unbiblical way.

This is because there is a sense in which we, as limited, created beings, don’t have the capacity to understand or share fully any of the attributes (including the communicable attributes) of an unlimited, uncreated, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable God. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts

 But not being able to know God as fully as he knows himself does not mean we can’t know him at all, or that all our knowledge of God is false. Instead, we must understand that, although our knowledge of God is limited, it’s still true, trustworthy, adequate, and good knowledge.

Knowing God as LORD in All Areas of Life (Essentials Series 6 of 6)

The desire to do justice to all the attributes of God revealed in Scripture and maintain a biblical view of God’s transcendence and immanence led the Christian church to do more than emphasize that God’s word reveals him in analogies. This desire also led the Christian church to make a distinction between two groups of attributes of God. These groups of attributes have received different names throughout history. We will use the names incommunicable and communicable attributes.

The primary purpose of the two categories has been to distinguish between the bible’s teaching on God’s transcendence, as his distinction from and elevation above the world, and God’s immanence, as his distinction with and presence in the world. Although the bible does not present these two categories of God’s attributes as standing rigidly against each other in total separation, it is important to affirm “that God possesses all of his incommunicable attributes in an absolute way and to an infinite and therefore incommunicable degree.”[1]

God’s Incommunicable Attributes

God’s incommunicable attributes are unique to him and cannot even be found in humans or be shared by humans, though humans, made in his image, reflect them in ways appropriate to their created status. These attributes include:

• God’s absolute independence, he is determined by nothing, and everything else is determined by him (Acts 17:25, Rom 11:36). Humans are relatively independent, in that they can think and act for themselves, but only within the limits of their place in God’s plan.

• God’s immutability, i.e. God cannot change, he remains the same eternally (James 1:17). Human beings also remain themselves after they are created; but they undergo constant change, from forces within them and outside them.

• God’s simplicity, i.e. God’s being is free from composition and parts, he is one whole (Ps 36:9, Jn 5:26, 1 Jn 1:5). Human beings think and act as whole persons but they are dependent on the parts of which they are composed.

• God’s eternality, i.e. God transcends time and yet penetrates every moment of time with his eternity (Ps 90:2). Human beings gain some transcendence over time through their God-given memory, and through their ability to accept God’s revelation of the future. But unlike God they are time-bound.

• God’s omnipresence, i.e. God’s being transcends all space and yet bears up all space by his omnipotence (Ps 139:7, Acts 17:27-28). Humans gain some transcendence over space by moving here and there, inhabiting widely different parts of creation, and learning to communicate over wide distances. But they are always located in one particular place.

When the historic Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647) answers the ancient question, “What is God?,” the answer is: “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” After defining God as “a Spirit,” i.e. not having a physical body like humans, God is described as being infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. These are incommunicable attributes of God that we, as humans, do not have the capacity to share with him.

God’s Communicable Attributes

But, as God’s image bearers, we do have the capacity to share, in a limited way, God’s communicable attributes of his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

This list of three incommunicable attributes and seven communicable attributes are not meant to be seen as exhaustive but representative. Notice God’s attribute of love is not even listed in this definition, even though we read in Scripture that “…God is love (1 John 4:8b).” This catechism answer reveals how God’s attributes can be seen in relation to each other. God is presented here as a Spirit who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable (incommunicable attributes), in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth (communicable attributes). Practically speaking this means:


• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, referring to God’s nature as being without limitation, everywhere, in all of time, and always the same.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his wisdom, referring to God’s omniscience in knowing all things.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his power, referring to God’s omnipotence in being all powerful.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his holiness, referring to God’s transcendence from creation, perfect purity and righteousness.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his justice, referring to God’s just nature by which he maintains ethical justice and righteousness over against every violation of it.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his goodness, referring to God’s radical grace, love, and mercy toward fallen humanity in sin.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his truth, referring to God’s perfection that assures us of the ethical reliability of his revelations and promises.

As divine image-bearers, we can reflect these communicable attributes of God. But we must always remember there is a sense in which even these attributes are uniquely peculiar to God in an absolute way that cannot be shared by us. This means there is a divine being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth that is so absolute, independent, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable with God that humans cannot even share it.

As God’s image-bearers, we are not merely a reflection of God’s attributes, but a reflection of God himself, whose being cannot be separated from all of his attributes. As humans, we can make a distinction between having human attributes and being human. We can lose our attributes of wisdom, power, and holiness and still be human. But this is not possible for God because the bible describes every attribute of God as also a description of God’s personal essence and being.

This is why God’s attributes must not be understood as mere characteristics of God or impersonal forces but as reflections of his being and person. God is not only wise, he is wisdom. God’s power is not only a force but the power of a real person exerting his will. God is not only holy, he is holiness. God is not only just, he is justice. God is not only good, he is goodness. And God is not only truthful, he is truth. So, when you obey Jesus’ command to seek first God’s righteousness this means you are to seek first God himself in Christ who is righteousness.

Because God’s attributes of wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are not composite parts of him that can somehow be separated from the others, this also means that we must not see them as separated from each other. We can summarize this complex integration of God’s attributes by saying that all of God’s divine attributes have divine attributes. Practically speaking this means:

• God’s wisdom is a powerful wisdom, a holy wisdom, a just wisdom, a good wisdom, and a truthful wisdom.

• God’s power is a wise power, a holy power, a just power, a good power, and a truthful power.

• God’s holiness is a wise holiness, a powerful holiness, a just holiness, a good holiness, and truthful holiness.

• God’s justice is a wise justice, a powerful justice, a holy justice, a good justice, and a truthful justice.

• God’s goodness is a wise goodness, a powerful goodness, a holy goodness, a just goodness, and a truthful goodness.

God reveals himself to us in Scripture so we might glorify and enjoy him forever. The word glory, from the Latin Gloria, “fame, renown,” is used to describe the beautiful, radiant display of God’s attributes as the most glorious being in existence. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word kabod, translated glory, originally means “weight” or “heaviness.” The New Testament word for glory, doxa, continues to express this meaning of importance, honor, and majesty.

God’s attributes reveal to us that he alone is in a category of greatest importance, honor, and majesty. As God’s image-bearers, we are designed by God to bring him glory by reflecting the beauty of who he is and what he does in all his magnificent works of creation and redemption. We are called to magnify the radiance of his perfections that reveal his infinite, eternal, and unchangeable being in the fullness of his wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, etc.

In his treatise, “Concerning the End for which God Created the World,” Jonathan Edwards concludes, “It appears that all that is ever spoken of in the Scripture as an ultimate end of God’s works is included in that one phrase, “the glory of God.” The Apostle Paul confirms Edward’s conclusion when he writes, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen (Rom 11:36).”

Knowing God’s Attributes (Essentials Series 5 of 6)

The desire to do justice to all the attributes of God revealed in Scripture and maintain a biblical view of God’s transcendence and immanence led the Christian church to do more than emphasize that God’s word reveals him in analogies. This desire also led the Christian church to make a distinction between two groups of attributes of God. These groups of attributes have received different names throughout history. We will use the names incommunicable and communicable attributes.

The primary purpose of the two categories has been to distinguish between the bible’s teaching on God’s transcendence, as his distinction from and elevation above the world, and God’s immanence, as his distinction with and presence in the world. Although the bible does not present these two categories of God’s attributes as standing rigidly against each other in total separation, it is important to affirm “that God possesses all of his incommunicable attributes in an absolute way and to an infinite and therefore incommunicable degree.”[1]

God’s Incommunicable Attributes

God’s incommunicable attributes are unique to him and cannot even be found in humans or be shared by humans, though humans, made in his image, reflect them in ways appropriate to their created status. These attributes include:

• God’s absolute independence, he is determined by nothing, and everything else is determined by him (Acts 17:25, Rom 11:36). Humans are relatively independent, in that they can think and act for themselves, but only within the limits of their place in God’s plan.

• God’s immutability, i.e. God cannot change, he remains the same eternally (James 1:17). Human beings also remain themselves after they are created; but they undergo constant change, from forces within them and outside them.

• God’s simplicity, i.e. God’s being is free from composition and parts, he is one whole (Ps 36:9, Jn 5:26, 1 Jn 1:5). Human beings think and act as whole persons but they are dependent on the parts of which they are composed.

• God’s eternality, i.e. God transcends time and yet penetrates every moment of time with his eternity (Ps 90:2). Human beings gain some transcendence over time through their God-given memory, and through their ability to accept God’s revelation of the future. But unlike God they are time-bound.

• God’s omnipresence, i.e. God’s being transcends all space and yet bears up all space by his omnipotence (Ps 139:7, Acts 17:27-28). Humans gain some transcendence over space by moving here and there, inhabiting widely different parts of creation, and learning to communicate over wide distances. But they are always located in one particular place.

When the historic Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647) answers the ancient question, “What is God?,” the answer is: “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” After defining God as “a Spirit,” i.e. not having a physical body like humans, God is described as being infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. These are incommunicable attributes of God that we, as humans, do not have the capacity to share with him.

God’s Communicable Attributes

But, as God’s image bearers, we do have the capacity to share, in a limited way, God’s communicable attributes of his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

This list of three incommunicable attributes and seven communicable attributes are not meant to be seen as exhaustive but representative. Notice God’s attribute of love is not even listed in this definition, even though we read in Scripture that “…God is love (1 John 4:8b).” This catechism answer reveals how God’s attributes can be seen in relation to each other. God is presented here as a Spirit who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable (incommunicable attributes), in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth (communicable attributes). Practically speaking this means:


• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, referring to God’s nature as being without limitation, everywhere, in all of time, and always the same.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his wisdom, referring to God’s omniscience in knowing all things.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his power, referring to God’s omnipotence in being all powerful.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his holiness, referring to God’s transcendence from creation, perfect purity and righteousness.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his justice, referring to God’s just nature by which he maintains ethical justice and righteousness over against every violation of it.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his goodness, referring to God’s radical grace, love, and mercy toward fallen humanity in sin.

• God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his truth, referring to God’s perfection that assures us of the ethical reliability of his revelations and promises.

As divine image-bearers, we can reflect these communicable attributes of God. But we must always remember there is a sense in which even these attributes are uniquely peculiar to God in an absolute way that cannot be shared by us. This means there is a divine being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth that is so absolute, independent, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable with God that humans cannot even share it.

As God’s image-bearers, we are not merely a reflection of God’s attributes, but a reflection of God himself, whose being cannot be separated from all of his attributes. As humans, we can make a distinction between having human attributes and being human. We can lose our attributes of wisdom, power, and holiness and still be human. But this is not possible for God because the bible describes every attribute of God as also a description of God’s personal essence and being.

This is why God’s attributes must not be understood as mere characteristics of God or impersonal forces but as reflections of his being and person. God is not only wise, he is wisdom. God’s power is not only a force but the power of a real person exerting his will. God is not only holy, he is holiness. God is not only just, he is justice. God is not only good, he is goodness. And God is not only truthful, he is truth. So, when you obey Jesus’ command to seek first God’s righteousness this means you are to seek first God himself in Christ who is righteousness.

Because God’s attributes of wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are not composite parts of him that can somehow be separated from the others, this also means that we must not see them as separated from each other. We can summarize this complex integration of God’s attributes by saying that all of God’s divine attributes have divine attributes. Practically speaking this means:

• God’s wisdom is a powerful wisdom, a holy wisdom, a just wisdom, a good wisdom, and a truthful wisdom.

• God’s power is a wise power, a holy power, a just power, a good power, and a truthful power.

• God’s holiness is a wise holiness, a powerful holiness, a just holiness, a good holiness, and truthful holiness.

• God’s justice is a wise justice, a powerful justice, a holy justice, a good justice, and a truthful justice.

• God’s goodness is a wise goodness, a powerful goodness, a holy goodness, a just goodness, and a truthful goodness.

God reveals himself to us in Scripture so we might glorify and enjoy him forever. The word glory, from the Latin Gloria, “fame, renown,” is used to describe the beautiful, radiant display of God’s attributes as the most glorious being in existence. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word kabod, translated glory, originally means “weight” or “heaviness.” The New Testament word for glory, doxa, continues to express this meaning of importance, honor, and majesty.

God’s attributes reveal to us that he alone is in a category of greatest importance, honor, and majesty. As God’s image-bearers, we are designed by God to bring him glory by reflecting the beauty of who he is and what he does in all his magnificent works of creation and redemption. We are called to magnify the radiance of his perfections that reveal his infinite, eternal, and unchangeable being in the fullness of his wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, etc.

In his treatise, “Concerning the End for which God Created the World,” Jonathan Edwards concludes, “It appears that all that is ever spoken of in the Scripture as an ultimate end of God’s works is included in that one phrase, “the glory of God.” The Apostle Paul confirms Edward’s conclusion when he writes, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen (Rom 11:36).”

Knowing God’s Being (Essentials Series 4 of 6)

1. God’s Transcendent and Immanent Being

In our last session we learned one of the ways God chooses to reveal what he is like is through the meaning of the names he gives himself. By referring to himself with the general Hebrew name for God, Elohim, he was revealing his nature as a divine, powerful being whose essence is high and lifted up from humanity and the world he created. Theologians often refer to this revelation of God as his transcendence, emphasizing that God’s being is wholly independent and separate from his creation. But later we saw that God revealed his name to Moses as YHWH, or LORD, whose essence is near to the world he created and present with his people. Theologians often refer to this revelation of God as his immanence, emphasizing that God is also a very personal, faithful, covenant-keeping God of grace who promises to deliver his people by his great power.

To have a biblical understanding of God requires a diligent effort to maintain both a transcendent and an immanent understanding of his attributes revealed in Scripture. It’s been said that “The challenge to theology is to do justice to all the attributes of God revealed in Scripture.”[1] The Bible clearly presents the fullness of God’s being and attributes as both transcendent and immanent. In fact, one of the great dangers in the history of Christianity is when followers of Christ fall prey to sacrificing the biblical teaching of God’s transcendence on the altar of God’s immanence, or sacrificing the biblical teaching of God’s immanence on the altar of God’s transcendence.

Herman Bavinck writes,

“If God is not held to be independent and unchangeable, eternal and omnipresent, simple and free from composition, he is pulled down to the level of the creature and is identified with the world in its totality or with one of its powers.”

Then he goes on to say,

“What good would it do us to know that God was independent and unchangeable, eternal and omnipresent, if we had to do without the knowledge that he was compassionate and gracious, and very merciful?[2]”

If we deny the absolute transcendence of God’s being above all his creation and humanity, we are at risk of falling into forms of what we’ll study later called Pantheism, believing that everything is God, or Polytheism, believing there are many gods. The opposite is also true. If we deny the immanence and nearness of God’s being to his creation and humanity, we are at risk of falling into forms of what we’ll study later called Deism, believing that God does not intervene in the world, or Atheism, the denial of the existence of God in the world.

We will see that the bible presents God as not only a transcendent, eternal being who is high and lifted up, but also a very immanent being who has somehow mysteriously broken into time and revealed himself in astonishing “figures and images which sparkle with life:”

Bavinck writes,

“It speaks of his eyes and ears, his hands and feet, his mouth and lips, his heart and bowels. It ascribes all kinds of attributes to him—of wisdom and knowledge, will and power, righteousness and mercy, and it ascribes to him also such emotions as joy and grief, fear and vexation, zeal and envy, remorse and wrath, hatred and anger. It speaks of his observing and thinking, his hearing and seeing, his remembering and forgetting, his smelling and tasting, his sitting and rising, his visiting and forsaking, his blessing and chastising, and the like…In short, all that can be found in the whole world in the way of support and shelter and aid is originally and perfectly to be found in overwhelming abundance in God.”

The big idea here is that the same bible that reveals God as incomparable and lifted up in his transcendent greatness and majesty, also speaks of him in all these, sometimes shocking, immanent “figures and images which sparkle with life.”

So, how do we reconcile the bible’s transcendent and imminent images and descriptions of God?

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2. God’s Analogical Language


To help us do justice to all the attributes of God revealed in Scripture, theologians often refer to the concept of analogy; our human knowledge of God as being necessarily analogical in character. Calvin describes this adjustment like someone adjusting themselves to the limitations of a baby they’re caring for, talking in baby-talk to be understood. When God reveals himself to humans using human language he has to adjust himself to our limitations as his creatures by using some form of analogy to his creation.

Examples include the bible’s descriptions of God as a rock, a light, a fire, an eagle, a father, a king, a judge, a warrior, a shepherd, and many other analogies. It is good for us to understand God’s being in all these ways. But, in doing so, we must be very careful to realize that all biblical analogies, and descriptions, and words ultimately fall short and that’s because it is not possible to use analogies and words drawn from God’s finite creation to fully reveal the infinite, uncreated God.

Similar to the concepts of God’s transcendence and immanence, there are two common errors to avoid here as well. The first error is the false belief that the biblical descriptions of God mean the exact same thing as biblical descriptions of God’s creation or humanity. As an example, when the bible reveals to us that “God is good,” that is not exactly the same meaning of good as when the bible reveals to us that other aspects of God’s creation are good.

God’s goodness is infinitely greater than any goodness found in his creation or humanity, because his goodness is the source and criterion of all finite goodness. Many fail to understand this important distinction because the same Greek word used in the New Testament to describe God’s goodness, agathos, is also used to describe man (Matt. 5:45), gifts (Matt.7:11), trees (Matt. 7:17), conscience (Acts 23:1), God’s Law (Rom. 7:13), the will of God (Rom. 12:2), and even an unbeliever in authority (Acts 23:26).

A second common error is the false belief that God is so different from his creation and humanity that it is not even possible to understand what he is like. This is the opposite extreme view that there is no similarity between God’s goodness and man’s goodness. If such a view is believed, then meaningful speech about God is actually not even possible. This view is in direct contradiction with the Apostle Paul’s strong declaration that God’s attributes have been clearly understood by humans, when he writes these words, “For his (speaking of God’s) invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, (and then he uses the phrase) have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made (Rom 1:20-21).”

So what’s the solution to this dilemma?

It is to understand that, although the descriptions of God’s being revealed in Scripture are different and infinitely greater than what we mean by them, as mentioned above, there are still strong and true similarities in the meaning.

For example, it is good for you to see God like a father, but not exactly the way you think of a father. God is infinitely greater than that. He is the Father that measures all other fatherhood (Eph. 3:14-15).

And, it is good for you to see God like a judge, but God is more than that. When you see in Scripture that God is joyful, you should know that God’s joy is beyond the realm of human joy. And, when you read in the bible that God is angry you should not think of God’s anger being exactly the same as human anger, it’s not. And when you read in Scripture that God repents or changes his mind, you should not think of God changing his mind like you would.

But just because our knowledge of God is limited does not mean it is not true and good knowledge. Not knowing God as fully as he knows himself, doesn’t mean we can’t know him at all. Even though God must condescend to reveal himself to us, using words and analogies drawn from his creation, the good news is that the knowledge of himself that he does reveals to us is true, trustworthy, and perfectly adequate for us to “...proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9).”