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Exodus 15:11
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”
Theology proper, otherwise known as the doctrine of God, sits at the heart of the systematic theology of Scripture. Indeed it must, for unless we know God truly, we cannot have eternal life (John 17:3). In our study of the doctrine of the Trinity, we focused on who God is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Without setting aside entirely the question of who God is as the Holy Trinity, we are going to focus our study on what He is over the next several months as we consider the attributes and names of God.
Attributes are the defining qualities that make a particular entity what it is. For instance, a human body is made up of arms, legs, a head, and so on. So when we talk about divine attributes, we are talking about the qualities that make God what He is. We should note, however, that God is not a composition of attributes as other entities are. When we talk about God’s attributes, we are making distinctions to help us understand His being, but these attributes are ultimately identical with His essence and not distinct from it. We will talk about this more fully in a few days when we consider divine simplicity.
Scripture reveals to us many divine attributes, and they can be categorized under two major headings: incommunicable attributes and communicable attributes. Incommunicable attributes are those qualities that are true only of God and are not true in any way of human beings. In other words, our Creator does not “communicate” or share these attributes with human nature in any way. Communicable attributes are those qualities of God that are also true of human nature, though not in exactly the same way, since He is the Creator and we are mere creatures.
Incommunicable attributes, therefore, particularly reveal the difference between God and what He has made. These incommunicable attributes include such things as self-existence or aseity (Ex. 3:13–14), infinity (Ps. 145:3), omnipresence (Ps. 139:7–10), immutability (Mal. 3:6), and impassibility (Acts 14:15). God is dependent on nothing else for His life, He has no external limitations, He is everywhere present in creation, He cannot change, and He is not subject to mood swings. None of that is true of human beings.
The incommunicable attributes of God in particular highlight the greatness of our Maker. They help us see that none is like Him among the false gods of the nations (Ex. 15:11).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Our God is far greater than we can imagine, and in studying His attributes we get but a taste of His greatness. That taste, however, is enough to move us to awe and to worship and praise our Lord for His unsurpassed grandeur. As we reflect on the attributes of God, let us marvel at our Creator and worship Him.
For further study
- Deuteronomy 33:26
- 2 Samuel 7:22
- 1 Chronicles 17:20
- Romans 11:33
The bible in a year
- Numbers 30–31
- Mark 9:30–50