Attributes of God

God is not “mixed with” heaven and earth. He “fills,” as in wholly occupies and possesses, heaven and earth! This is not a statement of pantheism, where a bit of the divine is infused in created animals, plants, birds, and trees. Rather, He is distinct and separate from it. Just as the light of the sun fills the air but it is not mixed with the air, so God fills all the universe without mixture.

Have you ever considered the full impact of these words—“The LORD your God which goeth before you”? This statement asserts that you cannot go anywhere that God Himself has not already been! He fills the earth with His glorious presence, and although a pathway through a wilderness may be unknown to us, it is not unknown to God.

Do you lack wisdom? Are you facing a challenge that is beyond your experience or your own limited store of knowledge? You serve the God Who knows all things! Ask Him for wisdom, and He will graciously bestow it. Sometimes it may come in a form that you don’t like or appreciate, for wisdom often comes packaged as reproof (see Proverbs 1:23). But a man who is humble enough to discern the Lord’s answer to prayer and receive reproof with gratitude is one who has the potential to be a wise man in the days ahead.

To some extent though, while Jesus walked on earth, He chose to limit the independent use of His divine attributes and relied on the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer to His Heavenly Father to perform miracles. Throughout the Gospel record, we see time and time again that Jesus knew and did things that only God could know and do. This truth should bring great peace and assurance to our hearts; we can rest in the fact that Jesus knows and cares about every circumstance of our lives. He is the ever-present Friend Who supports us with His grace in every hour of need.

Every day when we awaken, we have certain intentions and plans for that day. Some plans are very narrow in their focus. For example, you may think: “What am I going to do first today? Will I eat breakfast, make coffee, check the news and weather, and open my computer to check my emails? Or will I first take a moment to pray, give God thanks for a night of rest, and open my Bible to seek His guidance upon the activities of the coming day?”

One astonishing fact about God’s knowledge is its totality: He not only knows all things that are; He also knows all things that would be if something else happened! He knows the end of every choice and the result of every action. God knew that if Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, his action would bring death upon all mankind. Similarly, the Lord in His omniscience knows the consequences of our sin and gives us warnings by His Word and Holy Spirit.

The word “omnipotent” appears in our English Bible only one time. The reference is found in the Book of Revelation at the climactic, glorious proclamation of the universal reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is very fitting that this one time that the English word “omnipotent” appears is immediately before the glorious vision of our Lord Jesus crowned with many crowns and riding His white horse in victory and triumph.

One of the more surprising places to see the omnipotence of God is when it is displayed in the lives of His children. In and of ourselves, we are weak and helpless. But it is precisely when we recognize this inherent weakness of our own that we can experience the omnipotent power of God mightily displayed in our lives.

One of the greatest displays of God’s omnipotence in all of history was the incarnation of the Son of God. Colossians 2:9 makes a profound statement: “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” This means that all attributes of the Godhead were manifested in the Son.

The Lord made a declaration of His own omnipotence to encourage a faithful prophet who lived in a very dark day. Jeremiah would be an eyewitness to the overthrow of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple.

The term "Almighty" is used 57 times in the Hebrew Bible. It denotes God’s omnipotence — that He and He alone is all-powerful. Animals may be strong; men may be mighty. Kings may have authority. But only God is almighty, possessing all authority in Heaven and on earth!

Because God is a Spiritual Being and true worship is spiritual worship, it should not surprise us at all that the Bible, the Word of God to man, is a spiritual book. It cannot be comprehended or appreciated by natural man apart from the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit.

The Samaritans did not worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, but rather at the twin mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, where Jacob had dug a well nearby. Jesus gently but firmly pointed away from the natural to the spiritual, from the outward to the inward.

God’s spiritual nature was emphasized over and over by the prophets. Men of God, such as Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah, earnestly sought to turn the attention of God’s people away from the outward requirements of religion and to the spiritual nature of true worship that God delighted to see.

God’s spiritual nature is emphasized throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. This set the God of the Bible apart from the false gods of antiquity.

The New Testament deals very seriously with practical daily holiness. This is not a worked-up holiness produced by special effort or by performing religious duties. Rather, holiness is an internal work of God’s Holy Spirit.

While the question Jesus asked is familiar to many, the answer to the question is not as familiar. Psalm 22, which Jesus was quoting in His agony, reveals the answer to the mystery of why God forsook His only Son.

A proper response to many of God’s attributes involves joy, adoration, singing, and praise. But there’s another kind of response that the Bible commands, particularly connected to holiness: reverent silence.

God expressly defines Himself as holy. When God called Israel to make a distinction between clean and unclean and to set themselves apart from the world, He based this command upon the divine attribute of holiness.

Psalms 22–24 are all strongly Messianic in theme and show an exquisite, complete picture of the coming work of the Lord Jesus Christ.