2-Minute Theology - TRINITY BIBLE CHURCH

The Divine Attributes of Christ: Part 3 - Immutability

11/14/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Divine Attributes Of Christ: Part 3 - Immutability

The next attributes that Christ shares with God is immutability. Immutability, according to Louis Berkof, “is that perfection of God by which He is devoid of all change, not only in His Being, but also in His perfections, and in His purposes and promises…”(1) Thus, immutability means that God does not change.

For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. - Malachi 3:6
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. - James 1:17

God’s immutability also guarantees that what God says, He will do.

God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? - Numbers 23:19
In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. - Hebrews 6:17-18

As God, Christ does not change.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. - Hebrews 13:8

However, immutability is not immobility. Consider the incarnation of Christ. At a moment in time, the second person of the Godhead took on human flesh and nature. However, nothing changed in regard to His deity. He remained one hundred percent God, while becoming one hundred percent human.

ENDNOTES:

Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1941), 58.

The Divine Attributes of Christ: Part 2 - Omnipresence, Omniscience, and Omnipotence

11/11/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · New The Divine Attrributtes Of Christ: Part 2 - Omnipresence, Omniscience, And Omnipotence

The next attributes that Christ shares with God is omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. Omnipresence means that God is all-present or present everywhere at once. Because God is eternal (not bound by time), self-sufficient (not bound by limitation), and Creator (not bound by space), He can be present to the entirety of creation and its various parts. However, when Christ took on flesh, He limited His humanity to the time, space, and matter, but His deity remains omnipresent. Hence, Christ could promise the disciples that He would be with them always.

teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. - Matthew 28:20

Omniscience means that God knows all things actual, possible, past, present, and future in one moment before they occur. As God, Jesus knew what was in the heart of man.

and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. - John 2:25

Though having never met, Jesus knew the Samaritan woman’s past.

for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly. - John 4:18

The disciples recognized Christ’s omniscience.

Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God. - John 16:30

Omnipotence means that God is all-powerful and can to do whatever He wills so long as it conforms to His perfect nature. Jesus, as God, had all authority or power.

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. - Matthew 28:18

His authority included the power to forgive sin.

And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. […] Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone? - Mark 2:5, 7

The Divine Attributes of Christ: Part 1 - Eternality

11/11/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Divine Attributes Of Christ: Part 1 - Eternality

Christ is not simply God-like, He is undiminished God, absolutely equal with the Father.

who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, - Philippians 2:6

Being equal with God, He shares all the attributes of God.

The first attribute which Christ shares with God is eternality. Micah 5:2 prophecies that while Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, He existed throughout eternity. That Christ is eternal means that He is not beholden to temporal limitation. In other words, something that it eternal has no beginning or end. Only God possesses eternality.

Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever, - Deuteronomy 32:40
But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end. - Psalm 102:27

The Apostle John stated that in the beginning… [Christ] was with God (John 1:1). In the beginning refers to the beginning of the time, space, and matter. The verb was (eimí) is in the imperfect tense, which communicates continual existence in the past. The verse could be rendered that Christ (i.e., the Word) was continually existing with God in the beginning.

Christ, Himself, stated, “before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58). This statement is a declaration of existence before Abraham. Again, note the use of the verb was (eimí). The verb was is in the imperfect tense indicating continual existence. Thus before Abraham was born, Christ was continually existing. As well, note the Christ statement of existence — I am. This is a reference to Exodus 3:14 when God declared to Moses, “I am Who I am.”

Christ is before all things (Colossians 1:17). The verb is (eimí) in the present tense means to exist. The term before (pró) is a temporal preposition meaning at an earlier time. It conveys the sense that Christ existed at an earlier time than all things. All things, including time, space, and matter, were created during the six days of creation. That Christ existed before time, in particular, indicates that He is without temporal limitation ergo eternal.

The Attributes of God: Part 16 - Veracity

9/19/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Attributes Of God: Part 16 - Veracity

The fifth of God’s Relative Attributes is veracity. Veracity means that God does not lie.

in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, - Titus 1:2

If God is a liar, He cannot be God. God’s very nature is holiness. Holiness means that God is the standard of absolute purity. If God were to lie, then He would not be absolute purity. Instead, He would be Satan. However, God is unchanging.

For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. - Malachi 3:6

Since He is unchanging, God has not lied nor can He ever lie. It is impossible for God to lie.

it is impossible for God to lie - Hebrews 6:18

As well, not only does veracity mean that God cannot lie, it means that He is Truth.

Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. - John 14:6

Louis Berkhof states that truth is “that perfection of His being by virtue of which He fully answers to the idea of the Godhead, is perfectly reliable in His revelation, and sees things as they really are.”(1) That God is Truth means that He speaks the truth and does what He promises to do.

God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? - Numbers 23:19

ENDNOTES:

Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1941), 69.

The Attributes of God: Part 15 - Righteousness

9/19/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Attributes Of God: Part 15 - Righteousness

The fourth of God’s relational attributes is righteousness. God’s righteousness communicates that He is fair and impartial in all His dealings. God is perfectly righteous in the treatment of His creatures.

Opening his mouth, Peter said: I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, - Acts 10:34

God communicates His righteousness as justice through His Law. Thus, God’s Law is the standard of what is fair and impartial. As well, God is completely just to judge someone when they violate God’s Law. God’s justice is twofold — rectoral and distributive. Rectoral justice identifies God as the source of morality, who in turn imposes His morality (i.e., Law) on the world.

The strength of the King loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. - Psalm 99:4

Distributive justice is God’s execution of His Law in terms of rewards and judgment.

Say to the righteous that it will go well with them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions. Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him, For what he deserves will be done to him. - Isaiah 3:10-11

The reward aspect of distributive justice is known as remunerative justice. It is a reflection of God’s love.

Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; - Deuteronomy 7:9

The judgment aspect of distributive justice is known as retributive justice. It is a reflection of God’s wrath.

Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them. And all the people shall say, Amen. - Deuteronomy 27:26

The Attributes of God: Part 14 - Mercy

9/16/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Attributes Of God: Part 14 - Mercy

The third of God’s Relative Attributes is mercy. God’s mercy or goodness is the demonstration of His kindness to those in distress irrespective of whether or not they deserve it.

For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. - Romans 9:15, 18

It is God’s mercy which cancels the debt of sin through the sacrifice of His Son.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, - Ephesians 2:4-6

Grace gives individuals blessing they do not deserve, but mercy withholds the punishment they do deserve. God doles out His mercy according to His sovereign choice. God demonstrates His mercy, as well as grace, by meeting both temporal needs and spiritual needs.

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:16

Obtaining God’s forgiveness and favor in times of need means that God gives help at the precise moment it is needed. When temptation comes, God provides His mercy and grace to find an escape from the temptation.

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13

The Attributes of God: Part 13 - Love

9/16/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Attributes Of God: Part 13 - Love

The second of God’s relational attributes is love. God is love and demonstrated that love by sending His Son as the atonement for sin.

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. […] In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. - 1 John 4:8, 10

His love is not an emotional feeling or response but rather a reasoned-out love. According to Henry Thiessen, God’s love is “that perfection of the divine nature by which God is eternally moved to communicate himself. It is not a mere emotional impulse, but a rational and voluntary affection, having its ground in truth and holiness and its exercise in free choice.” (1)

God’s love is sacrificial, springing from a deliberate choice regardless of what it is given in return. The choice is rational and voluntary. Because God's love is bound by His holiness and perfection it is discriminatory. It is not equally disseminated to all. God loved Jacob and hated Esau. The term hate (miseo), as used in this context, means to love less.

Just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. - Romans 9:13

As well, in His love, God allows those He loves to suffer pain, tragedy, and loss. Again, because His love is bound by holiness, His holiness demands that God judges sin. That judgment results in pain, tragedy, and loss.

ENDNOTES:

Henry C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 86.

The Attributes of God: Part 12 - Grace

9/12/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Attributes Of God: Part 12 - Grace

The first of God’s Relative Attributes is grace. God’s grace is His unmerited favor to those deserving judgment. Grace is God’s benevolence or lovingkindness to the undeserving. God’s grace delivers one from affliction and adversity.

Return, O Lord, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness (i.e., grace). - Psalm 6:4
I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness (i.e., grace), Because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul, And You have not given me over into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a large place. - Psalm 31:7-8

His grace provides believers with daily guidance.

Let me hear Your lovingkindness (i.e, grace) in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul - Psalm 143:8

By God’s grace, His people are comforted.

O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant. - Psalm 119:76

God demonstrated grace by choosing to bless humanity with the offer of salvation despite deserving the penalty of death and Hell.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; - Ephesians 2:8

God’s grace provides the believer with his or her positional standing before God — justified.

through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. - Romans 5:2

The Attributes of God: Part 11 - Unity

9/12/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Attributes Of God: Part 11 - Unity

The tenth of God’s Absolute Attributes is unity. Unity underscores the oneness of God — YHWH our God is one YHWH (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4). The unity of God is not numerical, but integral. Though three Persons, God is one and cannot be divided.

Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. […] yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. - 1 Corinthians 8:4, 6
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, - 1 Timothy 2:5

Unity also underscores the uniqueness of God — there is no other being like Him.

Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? - Exodus 15:11
Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none. - Isaiah 44:8
I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; - Isaiah 45:5
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? - John 5:44

Because there is only one God there is only one Law, one Gospel, one body (i.e., the Church), one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. - Ephesians 4:4-6

Additionally, the unity of the Godhead — three persons, yet one God — argues against false beliefs such as polytheism, tritheism, or dualism. In fact, the unity of the Godhead guarantees the doctrine of the Trinity. Unity holds the divine nature shared by three persons is numerically and eternally one.

The Attributes of God: Part 10 - Spirit

9/9/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Attributes Of God: Part 10 - Spirit

The ninth of God’s Absolute Attributes is spirit. Spirit means that God does not have a corporeal or physical form.

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. - John 4:24

This is to say that God is not dependent upon matter and has no connection to matter.

…a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. - Luke 24:39

Flesh and bones are matter, which a spirit does not have. Hence, He is not simply a spirit, God is pure spirit. As such, He is invisible to the naked eye.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. - Colossians 1:15
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. - 1 Timothy 1:17

Hence, no one has seen God at any time (John 1:18).

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. - John 1:18

As a spirit, God is not localized to one place. He is everywhere (i.e., omnipresent) and unlimited. It is the attribute of God that underscores the prohibition of Exodus 20:4 — You shall not make for yourself an idol. Because God does not have a physical body, it is immoral to make a physical image of Him. God must not be conceived in the form of anything which the human mind can conceive.