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We know that God exists because:
Inner sense of God – all people have a deep inner sense that God exists, that he is the creator
Yes, the scripture – assumes God exists
By HIS CREATIONS – only someone like God can create humans and rain and fruitful seasons
Knowability of God
We can never fully understand God because God is infinite and we are limitedÂ
God is INCOMPREHENSIBLE
But we don’t need to know EVERYTHING about God for us to know what kind of being he is – he is good, loving, and merciful and gracious and we can have PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS with him
Like Mr. Nelson!
Not being able to fathom him is how we will never run out of things to learn about him
Incommunicable attributes of God
 attributes that God does not share or communicate to others
Even if they are communicable (shared with us), we are never ….
FULLY EXEMPLIFYING of the trait as much as God (ex. wisdom)
Independence
God does not need us or the res of creation for anything
Yet we and the rest of creation glorify him and bring him joy
God WANTS us to build a relationship with him and would like us to follow him, but he gave us free will to choose and not force
Unchangeableness/immutability
God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises
BUT he acts and feels emotions and feels differently in response to different situations (both infinite and personal)
Why can’t God change?
If God DID change (for the better), he was not the best possible being when we first trusted him
But if God could change for the worse, then what kind of God might he become? (not 100% good)
Eternity
God has no beginning, end of succession of moments in his own being
Sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time Â
3000 years is relevantly and vividly the same to him because it’s continuous for him
BUT he sees and acts in time
Omnipresence
God does not have size or spatial dimensions, and is present at every point of space with his whole being, yet God acts differently in different places
CANNOT be contained in a space – he exists in an infinite. Uncontained space
God can be present to punish, sustain, or to bless EVERYWHERE AT ONCE
Unity
God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different timesÂ
Different attributes are emphasized at different times because we can’t comprehend it all at once
Not one attribute is more important than the others
Incommunicable attributes
IIEOU
Independence
Immutability
Eternity
Omnipresence
Unity
Communicable attributes have 5 main categories:
Attributes describing God’s being
Mental attributes
Moral attributes
Attributes of Purpose
“Summary” attributes”
Attributes regarding God’s being
Spirituality and invisibiliity
Spirituality
God exists as a being that is not made of any matter, has no parts or dimensions, is unable to be perceived by our bodily senses, and is more excellent than any kind of existence
Invisibility
God’s total essence and all of his spiritual being, will never be seen by us, but God still shows himself to us through visible, created things (burning bush)
Knowledge/omniscience
God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple eternal act
What does it mean that God knows all things possible and actual?
THIS MEANS God knows everything that exists, everything that happen, and everything that may happen
God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple eternal act – what does he mean by simple and eternal act?
Simple act – Not divided in parts
Eternal act – Knowledge never changes or grows
Wisdom
God always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals
Wisdom is communicable but…
Although it is communicable (we can ask for wisdom when we need it, can come from living a life pleasing to God) we cannot fully share God’s wisdom and we won’t know why something happened or why God allowed it
Truthfulness/faithfulness
He is the true God (REAL AF)
all his knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth.
Why is truthfulness/faithfulness communicable?
Communicable in that we can imitate it by striving to have true knowledge about God and his world
Goodness
God is the final standard of good, and that all that God is and does is worthy of approval
Goodness is All that God is worthy of approval – but only GOD APPROVES so he is self-approving
Mercy
God’s goodness towards those in misery and distress
Not getting something you do deserve
Grace
God’s goodness toward those who deserve only punishment
Getting something that you don’t deserve
Love
God eternally gives of himself to others (love is patient kind)
We can imitate his love (patient and kind) by:
Loving God in return
Loving others in imitation of the way God loves
Holiness
He is separated from sin and devoted to seeking his own honorÂ
Seeking his own honor: devotion to the good of God’s glory
Jealousy
God continually seeks to protect his own honor
Why is God’s jealousy justified?
He wants worship to be given to himself and not false gods because he knows only he can fill the spiritual void in our hearts
He deserves this because the world was created for his glory but he should not need to share it
Wrath
God is a God that loves us and wants us to worship him, but to love someone is to hate things that cause us harm and lead us the wrong way
Patience
He waits to execute the wrath in order that yet more people may be saved
Why is God patient?
Delay of his execution is for the purpose of leading people to repentanceÂ
Attributes of purpose
will and omnipotence
Will
attribute of God whereby he approves and determines to bring about every action necessary for the existence and activity of himself and all creation
Omnipotence
means that God is able to do all his holy will
BUT God cannot do anything that would deny his own character (all his holy will)
Perfection
God completely possesses all excellent qualities and lacks no part of any qualities that would be desirable for him
Blessedness
 God delights fully in himself and in all that reflects his characterÂ
Beauty
God’s beauty is the attribute of God whereby he is the sum of all desirable qualities
Beauty vs. Perfection
Perfection means that God does not lack anything desirable
Beauty means God has everything desirable
Attributes describing God’s being
Spirituality
Invisibility
Mental attributes
Knowledge/Omniscience
Wisdom
Truthfulness/faithfulness
Moral attributes
Goodness (mercy grace)
Love
Holiness
Righteousness/justice
Jealousy
Wrath
Attributes of purpose
Will
Omnipotence
Summary attributes
Perfection
Blessedness
Beauty
Chief end of men
to glorify god and to enjoy him forever
Revealed will
God’s declared will concerning what we should do or what God commands us to do
Secret will
Has to do with his decreeing of events in the world, his hidden decrees by which he governs the universe and determines everything that will happen