3.2.4 Essence of God
Essence of God
Meaning of ESSENCE: The core substance of anything; the ultimate nature of something; the crucial element; the inherent, unchanging nature of a thing or a class of things.
Who and what is God?,
God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Westminister Catechism
God is the infinite and perfect Spirit in whom all things have their source, support and end. James Strong
Some of the major descriptions of God in the Scripture are: a SPIRIT (John 4:24), LIGHT (I John 1:5), LOVE (I John 4:16) and FIRE (Deut. 4:24, Heb. 12:29).
God is Spirit
God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.- John 4:24
God is not Material
Without material form or substance
Does not have the limitations of a physical body
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. Luke 24:37
Anthropomorphic Representations of God
Anthropomorphic means having to do with human beings. Man is only capable of expressing God in human terms. When we try to bring the infinite within the apprehension of the finite, we cannot perfectly describe the infinite.
Scriptural examples of God represented with body parts
Hands Is. 65:2, Heb. 1:3
Feet Gen. 3: 8, Ps. 8:6
Eyes I Kings 8:29, II Chron. 16:9
Ears Neh. 1:6, Ps. 34:15
Fingers Ps. 8:3
Flesh and Blood Luke 24:39
Compare to Gen. 1:14, Heb. 11:3
God is Invisible (to Natural Man)
No man can see god and live
And He said, thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me and live. Ex. 33:20
No man hath seen God at any time
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him.
1 Timothy 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
The invisible God
Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
God is Alive
Joshua 3:10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you,…
I Samuel 17:26 …for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?
Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
I Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
The idols of the heathen are dead
Life implies feeling, power and activity
God is the source of all life
God is a Person
Characteristics of personality
Intellect Knowledge
Gen. 18:19, Ex. 3:7, Acts 15:18
Sensibility Feeling
Gen. 6:6, Ps. 103: 8:13, John 3:16
Volition Will
Gen. 3:15, Ps. 115:3, John 6:38
Qualities of personality
Speaking Gen. 1:3
Seeing Gen. 11:5
Hearing Ps. 94:9
Being angry Deut. 1:37
Jealous Ex. 20:5
Compassionate Ps. 114:4
God is Infinite
Without boundaries, limitless, immeasurably great or large
The Immensity of God
He contains space; He is not contained by -it
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? I Kings 8:27"But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him? II Chron. 2:6"Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORDo not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LOR Jer. 23:24
God is everywhere present Ps. 139: 7-10
The eternity of God
Without beginning or ending
And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God. Gen. 21:33 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Ps. 90:2"But Thou art the same, and Thy years have no end. Ps. 1027"
God is the cause of time
God is Self-Existent
God has the ground of His existence in
Himself
Man's ground of existence is outside himself
God is not dependent upon anything outside of Himself for His existence
God has life in Himself
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. Ex. 3:14
For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; John #$#REF
God not only exists from eternity, but also exists from Himself." Dr. R.A. Torrey
He is "the first Cause, Himself uncaused." Thomas Aquinas
Exodus 3:14; Exodus 6:3; John 5:26; Acts 17:24-28
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