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17 of Gods Attributes
Gods attributes define who He is: God. Speaking about the details of God, one's mind can only begin to comprehend the characteristics that define such a great being.
It is first and foremost important to know God on a personal level, then he will begin to reveal many of these traits to you in your own life.
There is still much that I struggle with and my human nature tells me to disregard any of Gods attributes when I find myself walking through life's darkest valleys. This is something I am very eager to work on with God's help.
As you read on, please remember that at some point in your life, you may begin to doubt/forget some of God's traits. Feel free to refer back to this page on a monthly basis.
The Mind of God
Wisdom - Have you ever held your fist to the sky and screamed "WHY GOD, WHY"? I can remember a time when I did. I was doubting Gods judgement. There are times when it's impossible to understand why he makes the decisions He does, but He is the wisest of all time and his planning goes much further than I will ever understand.
Knowledge - When was the last time you tried to hide something from God? Were you successful? Did you think He wouldn't see you? Its one of Gods attributes thats hard to understand, but He just knows! I sometimes entertain the thought of wondering if God learns...but probably not.
Holiness - As christians, our goal is to be as close to the image of Jesus as we can bring ourselves. Without Jesus, where else would you find a real-life example of holiness? It doesn't exist in the real world, and this is one of Gods attributes reserved only for Him and any creature living in His presence.
Gods Strong Hand
Power - Who else can create massive glowing hot bodies of space-fire and direct them where to go and they listen? Who else can stand face to face with lucifer himself and threaten him with his life? God has a power that cannot be contained, controlled, or avoided. Remember that His power is always used for good, and if you are in it's path (for better or for worse), it is demonstrated to accomplish God's will.
Justice - God is just. This means He hates what is unjust. If you die apart from Jesus, you must fall under the wrath of God. Paul Washer paints this picture to the unsaved:
"Do you think that God should 'let you in' to his kingdom in your current state of evil? Life can be very difficult and it's easy to ask God to just wipe the face of the earth clean of all evil so life will be easier. There's just one problem with that: Your evil. It would not be a shot in the dark to expect to find yourself standing naked before God on that great day, and as His mighty hand casts you into the lake of fire, to see a great multitude of angels singing praise songs to God for ridding the earth of somebody as wicked as you." (Not P.Washer's exact wording).
Soverneigty - For those that don't know, soverneigty is "What God says will happen, will happen. But how can we have free will and still end up where God wants us? Imagine this : You are playing a world class chess player. You have the free will to make whatever moves you want, but the outcome will be determined by the world class chess player. That's soverneigty.
Gods Physical Attributes
A Trinity - Did you know that the word "God" is plural? Yep...This is one of Gods attributes that may come across rather confusing. God is made up of something called the trinity. This includes the father, the son, and the holy spirit. I'm still slightly confused with some of the details, but I understand the big picture. They are 3, but 1 undivided.
Infinite Nature - God does not have boundaries. When you speak about His love, wrath, power, wisdom, or any other characteristics of God, can it be measured? He is infinate in his ways.
Eternal Nature - Ok, do you really want to get those brainwaves moving? No, I'm not going to ask you to measure eternity. Think about this...if God is eternal (and we know He is), does this mean he exists outside of time? Is time his creation? What is it like to exist outside of a concept so inescapable? Just figured I'd keep you thinking...
Unchanging Nature - This verse tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Self-Existant Nature - If God exists outside of time, then we can finally lay to rest the question "Who created God?". It's impossible to understand, and kinda funny to think about, but He just exists, period.
Self-Sufficiant Nature - He needs nothing from an outside source.
Gods Inconceivable Love
Grace - Ever hear the term "We live in a grace atmosphere?" Knowing that we have sinned against a living, breathing God, is there anything at all that we deserve? What man can put God in debt to him? Gods attributes of grace go "hand-in-hand with love. I know I frequently take it for granted, but every breath is an undeserved gift. Think about that this week.
Mercy - Any REAL christian understands the reality of hell. Not only has God shown mercy on the wicked, but He shows us this mercy through the death of His son, Jesus when he died on a cross, through a scenario where we had "zero" mercy (they believed he was guilty of blasphemy, but he wasn't) on the very son of God almighty in the flesh. Take a look at where you deserve to be, then look where you are. That's grace.
Love - This is one of Gods attributes that cannot be summed up. I won't even try. I found a really, really great definition of "Gods love" upon reading 1 Corinthians 13. It really puts things into perspective.
Faithfulness - Can you recall the story of God telling Abraham's wife Sarah that she would bear a child in old age? SHE FLAT-OUT LAUGHED AT GOD! If you were God, how would you react? Would you be like "Fine then, have it your way?" Guess what... She had a child. When He says He's gonna do something, expect it to happen. Gods attributes of faithfulness lay the groundword for our faith.
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