The God We’ll Never Know
God is so good!
But you knew that, right?
Even if you didn’t, you’ve probably heard someone say it before. In fact, whether you’re a Christian or not, if you’re in America, you’ve most likely heard a fair bit about God, whether you believe in Him or not.
This is good, because knowing about God is a good thing. It’s a testament to the work that the Christian church has done in getting the name of Jesus and the attributes of God out there. It’s also good because we need to know about God and His Son, so that we might be saved if we call on Him in repentance. However, I think that it can be bad for a very specific reason. Mind you, this isn’t bad enough to change anything, but it’s bad enough to write an article.
Why is it bad that people know the attributes of God? Well, I think that if we grow up and are immersed in a correct idea of who God is, we never stop to consider what life would be like if God was any different. Even if we had no idea who God was at one point, most of what is taught about God is pretty consistent and true in Christianity. While we’re taught to thank God for these divine attributes, we never pause to consider what life would be like if God was any different.
So let’s go there! We’ll look at some attributes of God, and explore the alternative.
Immutability
Malachi 3:6
For I the Lord do not change…
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
You might not have heard of the word “immutable” before, but it is one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith. Immutable means unchanging over time, and these Scriptures confirm that God does not ever change. This means that as we go down this list, we can be secure in the fact that God will always be ______.
Imagine if this wasn’t true. Instead of God IS love and will always be love, it could be “God WAS love.” God’s love could run out or divert elsewhere, and you’d have no control over that.
Praise God for never changing! It means that as we outline who God is, we know that He will always be these things.
Justice
Deuteronomy 32:4
The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
Psalm 89:4
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne…
God is just. He made the rules of the universe, we have to follow them, and when we don’t, He enforces His rules in perfect fairness. So if one of God’s rules is “don’t steal” and you steal something, then you deserve justice. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death, so we deserve death (physical and spiritual) when we sin.
This is why there was a system of sacrifices in the OT, and this is why Jesus came to die for our sins. The only way to have your sins forgiven was to offer a blood sacrifice to God. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the penalty for all of His sins with His perfect, sinless blood so that, when we believe in Jesus and claim His sacrifice, our sins are forgiven. God’s justice isn’t compromised, and we get into heaven.
But what if God was not just? Then God would be no better than a corrupt judge, or a whimsical one. God could be bought or sold, or could forgive or condemn people based on His mood that day. Our Biblical model of justification (being made right before God) could no longer be trusted, and we’d always be afraid that, despite a lifetime of following God and living in His will, we could be denied Heaven just because God didn’t like the way you looked.
Praise God for His justice!
Mercy
Exodus 34:6
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…”
2 Corinthians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies…
When God shows mercy, He shows compassion and kindness. It’s generally associated with forgiveness. Basically, by the laws and justice of God, we would deserve instant punishment for every sin, but God has allowed for atonement by Jesus, and His forbearance means that God is patient with us.
What if God wasn’t merciful? What if he wasn’t “slow to anger and plenteous in mercy” (Numbers 14:18)? Then we could be struck down the instant that we sin. Every time we’d have a bad thought, there would be terror in our heart. Though this would certainly put a good emphasis on the seriousness of sin, it would ultimately hold us to an impossible standard.
Eternity
Exodus 3:14a
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”
Psalm 90:2-4
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!”
4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.
God is eternal. This means that He had no beginning, and He’ll have no end. Within the confines of the universe we live in, God is above everything, including time, something that humans can’t fully grasp. This is why God calls Himself “I AM” - every moment of our world’s existence is in the present with Him!
But what if God wasn’t eternal? That would mean that God had some kind of a beginning, and it would mean that He was somehow constrained to time. He would have had to have been created (undoubtedly by something more powerful than Himself), or he would have somehow appeared into existence, which would certainly undermine His authority. In addition, His promise of eternal life to those who believe in Him would be weakened, if not eliminated, because God Himself wouldn’t be eternal. His power to be everywhere at all times would probably be eliminated as well, effectively incapacitating Him.
Praise God for His eternal nature!
Omnipotence
Genesis 18:14a
Is anything too hard for the LORD?
Matthew 19:26
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Speaking of power, let’s recognize God for that. Omnipotence is a Latin word, so break it down: Omni = all, potent = powerful, so we’re saying that God is all-powerful. God is known as a couple of other omnis: omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipresent (all-present). The idea here is that God can go anywhere, knows everything, and is in control of everything.
What a comfort! Can you even imagine what it would be like any other way? If God wasn’t all-powerful, then there would be situations in your life where you would have to doubt God’s ability to sustain you through them. Miracles would become unbelievable, and we’d have to wonder about the strength of whatever it is that God doesn’t have power over. The fact that God is all-powerful means that He’s better than everything else.
Holiness
Isaiah 6:1-3
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Revelation 4:8b
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
Last but never least is the holiness of God, His moral excellence. Not only does He make all the rules, but He follows them. We’ve already said that God is perfectly just, but He’s perfectly in every attribute ascribed to Him - loving, caring, powerful, provider, and so on. Because He is above everything, perfectly set apart, He is worthy of all of our praise, thanksgiving, worship, and general glorification that we can offer to Him.
Consider the reverse. What if God sinned? What if God lied to us? What if God lusted after someone? Consider the Greek pantheon, a collection of deities who betrayed each other, fought each other, and basically acted like ordinary men and women. What if our God was like that? There’d be no trust, only wariness and fear, and probably a general sense of cynicism about a demanding God who fell short of His own standard.
Conclusion
But take heart! Though we can consider what God would be like if He wasn’t who He is, let’s never call these things into question! God is who He is, and I hope that what this article did was make you appreciate more who God is. Realize, too, that these six attributes are but a few of many ways to describe God. Go deeper and learn more about God! See what it does to your image of Him.
Grace and peace,
Brendan
