Attributes of God: Part 2
Do you remember the popular Third Day song “God of Wonders”? The chorus went something like:
And God of wonders beyond our galaxy
You are holy, holy
The universe declares Your majesty
What about the Chris Tomlin song “Indescribable”? The lyrics of this one include:
Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing, God
All powerful, untameable
Awestruck, we fall to our knees
As we humbly proclaim
You are amazing, God
How often do you sit and consider how awesome God is? When you read His Word, do you pause and consider how God is being described in each passage you come to? I wish I could say I do. But I can say that I want to get to the place where it is second nature for me to read a part of the Bible and automatically be able to recognize what attribute of God is being referenced so I can praise Him for that, right then and there. Yet, as with every skill, we must learn the basics and practice in order to be proficient.
Previously we had a post on 3 incommunicable attributes of God. These are some of the aspects of God that we humans cannot ever attain or mimic. Today we’re discussing 5 attributes of God that we humans (as flawed as we are) CAN share. These communicable attributes are ways that God created us to be LIKE HIM. (Remember back in the beginning of Genesis where it said that God created us in His image?)
God is Holy
This means that God is pure. He is completely set apart from anything and anyone who isn’t perfect.
But the Lord of Armies is exalted by His justice, and the holy God demonstrates His holiness through His righteousness. Isaiah 5:16 CSB
God is righteous. He does nothing wrong, ever. Even in things we may be confused about, God has done nothing wrong. The Bible tells us that God never tempts us or causes us to sin. Because of His holiness, He literally cannot be in the presence of sin.
But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. 1 Peter 1:15-16 CSB
While we know that all of us are imperfect in many ways, we are called to mimic this quality of God. Your immediate response may be “uhhh how?? How can I be holy when I am so messed up and sin all the time?” One way is to purposefully avoid evil things. Set up guardrails and ways to keep you from the sinful things that tempt you.
Think about how you can praise Him today for His Holiness. Come up with at least one way you can also be holy.
God is Faithful
God is devoted to His plan and His purposes. He is always completely and unwaveringly loyal.
Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands. Deuteronomy 7:9 CSB
God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19 CSB
God is completely and wholeheartedly devoted to righteousness and His ways. Oftentimes we think of the word faithful to mean someone who is devoted to us and will walk alongside us no matter if we are in the right or wrong. You know the phrase “ride or die”? While God IS with us through it all, He is also constantly urging us along the path of righteousness and because God is Holy, He will never sin alongside us like the phrase “ride or die” would insinuate.
We see the picture Jesus gives us of a husband and wife relationship. Jesus is the groom and we (as the universal church of believers) are the bride. He remains faithful to us and walks both in front and beside us through every trial. We are also to remain faithful to Him through all of life’s struggles and strife. But even when we fail and commit spiritual adultery, God is still faithful to His plan and His ways.
For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for he cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 CSB
How often do you think of your relationship with God as similar to a marriage relationship? Do you consider yourself as having created that covenant of faithfulness with Him?
God is Just
God provides the perfect justice. Because God defines what is moral, He also acts accordingly.
The Rock—his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true. Deuteronomy 32:4 CSB
He will repay each one according to his works: eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness. Romans 2:6-8 CSB
How many of us had to take an ethics course or philosophy course in school? I know I did. They made us learn all about the famous philosophers who tried to define morality. Remember Plato? Aristotle? Socrates? All these poor guys needed to do was read and believe in the Bible. God lays it out fairly clear for us because God defines morality- what is good and what is bad. And obviously if He defines it, He acts in a moral way.
God also acts with perfect justice. His punishments are always perfect, even if we may not agree. God never goes overboard or overreacts or exaggerates the truth. We flawed humans do not always see it this way, but when we recognize that God is just and at the same time perfectly holy, we must acknowledge the truth.
I have a huge sense of justice. When something is done wrong, I expect the consequences to be swift and effective. So obviously I love this attribute of God. We can be just by attempting to act according to God’s ways and following reasonable laws and rules given to us by our government.
God is Patient
God is enduring and long-suffering. He is able to endure all things without change in His demeanor. He gives plenty of opportunity for people to turn to Him.
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth. Psalm 86:15 CSB
The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 CSB
Because God is omniscient and omnipresent (all knowing and everywhere), He knows the beginning from the end. He is never in a rush because He knows what tomorrow holds. I love how 2nd Peter reminds us that the reason God is patient is because He is so gracious. He desires for all to know Him and experience His life-changing power.
When we commit the same sin over and over and over, God isn’t thinking “dang, girl. Get it together. Hurry up, let’s go.” He patiently guides us back into right living until we make the same sin again. I am so incredibly grateful for our God being patient.
Ponder on patience. Would you consider yourself patient? Do others see you as a patient person? Sadly, for most of us, especially living in the United States, we are not patient. We stay busy with both planned activities or time-wasting fillers like phones and social media. And because of this constant busyness, we are so attached to every minute of our lives, not wanting to waste any minute to things we deem unworthy, like traffic or waiting on hold with the bank. I even find myself becoming irritated with people or toddlers who take too long to verbally get an idea out of their brains and think (or sometimes say) “C’mon spit it out. Just say it already.” Boy am I grateful God doesn’t feel that way about me!!
This is definitely an attribute of God that I need to work better on mimicking; I suspect you do, too.
God is Loving
God is eternally and enduringly loving. His love will not betray or give up.
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17 CSB
God loves YOU so much that He sent his baby, His own Son, to DIE for you. Yikes, I’m not sure I love anyone that much. Granted, I don’t have any biological children like Mel does, but I do have some very precious children in my life that I love an abundant amount. I would die for them in an instant. But sacrifice them for someone else I love? Nope. Especially not for a perfect stranger, ya know? But God loved you enough. Crazy, right?
Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 CSB
I’m sure we have all heard the “love chapter” read at weddings or preached on Valentine’s Day. I have this chapter memorized. (Slight rabbit trail- I was the epitome of a Bible Thumper as a child and teen. I became a believer at 6 and wanted everyone to know and follow Jesus, too. My 7th grade teacher had talked a lot about drinking wine [“ooooh so bad” I thought being the Southern Baptist that I am]. So when we had the assignment to choose any poem to memorize and recite, I chose chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. If my memory serves me correctly, I got an A on that assignment, too.) I also have the final verse of this chapter as the Bible verse on my parents’ tombstone, but that’s another story for another day.
I wouldn’t be shocked if someone had given you these verses in 1 Corinthians and told you to replace each “love” with God’s name to help us understand His character more. Or had you replace each “love” with your own name to see how you are lining up with the Biblical definition of love.
God is patient… yes! DeeDee is patient…no
God is kind… yes! DeeDee is kind… sometimes.
God does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs… YES! DeeDee? Not always.
God finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things… ABSOLUTELY. DeeDee? Most of the time.
Try this exercise yourself by placing your name in the scriptures. It’s so convicting every time.
God is perfectly holy, always faithful, forever patient, righteously just, and incredibly loving. He made us in His image, so we can also exhibit these attributes, with His help of course. Take some time to think about how well you are doing in these five areas…
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