In
our column today we wish to briefly look at some of the traits that
make up the
nature of God with which we will in part answer the question, “What
kind of God
is the One whom we affirm exists?”
We
wish to point out that he is the God of the Bible. If one were to
desire to
know all the traits that God has revealed concerning himself, he must
go to the
Bible and study those things. When one does so, he will find that a
study of
each of the characteristics contributes something to his total
knowledge of
Yahweh. To express this same truth in another way, one may say a study
of all
the Bible reveals about God forms a picture that will fit the only
true
and living God of our universe.
The
first trait we wish to review is his power. Our God is all powerful; he
is
omnipotent! The argument for the existence of God based on the creation
of our
universe proves not only that God exists, but that he is all powerful.
Only a
God of incredible power could create and sustain the whole universe, as
well as
those that scientists claim exist beyond ours. His power and energy
would have
to be greater than all the energy that exists, or that is available in
the
whole of creation, for he not only caused all things to come into
existence but
he sustains them by the word of his power. Not only does he sustain all
that he
created, but he sustains his own existence at the same time. That is
power that
cannot even be imagined.
In
pointing out the second trait of God that we will mention in this
article, we
point out that a God who has such power as that just described must
also be
intelligent. Even Carl Sagan freely admits that the design of the
universe is
far beyond anything man could devise. God knows all things—things we
cannot
even begin to understand. When we look upon the universe in which we
live and
learn from it as much as we can know, we must admit that our knowledge
is so
scant that we cannot possibly know everything. Yet, God knows
everything! His
knowledge is unsearchable. For example, God knows all there is to know
about
the human mind and the function of the brain because he made both. We
know very
little about either of these entities and do not yet understand the
relationship between the mind, which we cannot see, and the brain,
which we
cannot comprehend.
The third trait of God we wish to emphasize is
that he is moral. The existence of moral law in the mind of man demands
a moral
Lawgiver. God is by nature moral! He is neither beyond morality, as
some world
leaders seem to believe they are, nor is he beneath morality like
animals and
inanimate things. This means that God always knows the difference
between right
and wrong, and he is incapable of doing wrong. He is not only moral, he
is good
and stands alone in perfect goodness. We can know that in part from his
creation
of people, at least some of whom are good and want to be better. The
fact the
people always expect to be treated better than things shows that they
value
goodness. Even someone who denies people have any intrinsic value
expects
others to value his opinions and rights as a person. If there is no
God, there
is no good reason for “human rights” to exist. Whatever creates good
must
himself be good, for a Cause cannot give what it does not have. So, God
is both
moral and good and calls upon his creation to be as he is. If it is
right for
man to be moral and good, then God is necessary as well as moral and
good. All
men demand a certain level of morality in others because our Creator is
both
good and moral.
Characteristics of
God