ATTRIBUTES OF GREATNESS
1. Spirituality
God is Spirit, not physical except for Jesus in His second nature as Perfect Man (Athanasian Creed above).
John 4:23-24
23…..the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
God the Father, Jesus’ Glory, His Divinity and the Holy Spirit is Invisible.
John 1:18
18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
John 9:3
3 ….. said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
1 Timothy 1:17
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 6:15-16
15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honour and might forever. Amen.
God is not limited by a physical body nor the limitations of the geographical location.
John 4:21
21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
Acts 17:24
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
God is not limited by flesh and bones (except Jesus second nature as above).
Luke 24:36-39
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.
38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?
39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
2. Personality
The One True Lord God of the Holy Scripture is a personal God. A Triune God of three Persons in perfect unity – again see Creeds above. As a personal God He has self-conscientiousness and a will. (See Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6). God has Names. In this passage-
Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Here we see the Name – God
God (Hebrew is Elohim – a Plural noun)
Created (Hebrew is bara – a singular verb)
In Holy Scripture God has several Names – His important Name is taught:
Exodus 3:14
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Commentary on His Name follows under the sub-heading: Life.
Exodus 20:7
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
God, emphasizing The Person of the Father, is personal and warm in relationships of love and obedience.
3. Life
Here we simple say – God is
Exodus 3:14
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
God says “I AM WHO I AM”. The Hebrew for this phrase is YAHWEH. This word is not printed in our Bibles and is translated for us as “LORD”. Throughout Holy Scripture this word means the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit acting in perfect unity.
God is always living:
Jeremiah 10:10-12
10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.
11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”
12 But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
John 5:24-27
24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
I Thessalonians 1:9-10
9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
God needs nothing.
Acts 17:25
25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
God chooses to use us. As elect we are part of His Life, for His perfect purposes. God first chooses and calls the elect and then chooses to use us.
John 6:37-40
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:44
44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:65
65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
Ephesians 1:3-6
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love
5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Ephesians 2:10
10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
4. Infinity
In our humanity with finite minds I find it totally beyond my powers of reason to think of this.
In this attribute or quality, God is:
- Unlimited;
- Unlimitable;
- Boundless;
- Not subject to limitations of space;
- Before space;
- He who brought space (the Firmaments) and time into being.
Psalm 139:7-12
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
Jeremiah 23:23-24
23 “Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?
24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD.
Acts 17:24-25
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
In relation to the above qualities God is in charge of all time and all the ages.
Matthew 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The One True God of the bible The Holy Trinity is infinite over all false gods:
1 Kings 18:20-39
20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.
23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it.
24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire— he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.”
26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “O Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”
28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.
29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins.
31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.”
32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
34 “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time.
35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.
37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”
Confirming other attributes already mentioned, God of the Bible is always being. He is YAHWEH – I AM who I AM, I will be who I will be. God was, is and will be.
Psalm 90:1-2
1 LORD, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Ephesians 3:21
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Jude 25
25 to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
God is before all things and at the end of all things.
Isaiah 44:6
6 “This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.
Revelation 1:8
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 21:5-7
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.
7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Revelation 22:13
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
A further dimension in God’s quality of infinity is the truth that His understanding is immeasurable.
Psalm 147:4-5
4 He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.
God is all-seeing, He sees everywhere.
Proverbs 15:3
3 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
Matthew 10:29-33
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.
33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
God sees our hearts.
Hebrews 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
The reality is simply that God knows.
Psalm 104:24
24 How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
In the above verse – God knows, and wisdom is His actions of being totally successful in His knowledge and sustaining of His creation. Further this is expanded with His New Covenant Truth –
Romans 11:33-12:2
11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
This truth is true wisdom in action – the action of being successful – not only now in this life, but through faith of Jesus the gift of God -faith in Jesus – successful for all eternity! (Romans 3:22).
In this study of the attributes of God’s Glory, there are further considerations concerning the infinite or unlimited power in God’s Name. The power in a Name –
Genesis 17:1
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
Here God is called “God Almighty”. In Hebrew, this is “El Shaddai”, emphasizing God’s invincible power and requiring us to acknowledge our faith and obedience to Him as LORD. God is almighty and nothing is “too hard” for Him for He has determined His will.
Genesis 18:10-14
10 Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.”
This happened! Nothing is too hard for God’s limitless or infinite power. Nothing impossible.
Jeremiah 32:15
15 For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’
Jeremiah 32:17
17 “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and out-stretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
Matthew 19:26
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Further concerning God’s attributes and qualities especially in limitless power –
2 Kings 6:1-7
1 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us.
2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live.” And he said, “Go.”
3 Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?” “I will,” Elisha replied.
4 And he went with them. They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees.
5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water. “Oh, my lord,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float.
7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Matthew 14:22-33
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Mark 4:35-41
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”
36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
When we read the truth of Lazarus we are amazed at the limitless power of God. There are over 300,000 sub-systems in the human body – and all were restored perfectly by a word from Jesus “come out”. Lazarus was dead for 4 days and this was a type-foretelling of Jesus teaching on His own resurrection. Awesome limitless power!!
5. Constancy
God’s constancy describes His endurance and eternal faithfulness and changelessness and awesome power to stand firm eternally.
Psalm 33:10-12
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Psalm 102:12
12 But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.
Psalm 102:26-28
26 They will perish, but you remain, they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.”
And again, the LORD does not change for He keeps His promises unlike those who are disobedient.
Malachi 3:6-7
6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
James 1:16-18
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
It is important to add to the above truth that where God seems to change, His final decision is not actually altered, but rather He is waiting for a change of heart by those needing to be obedient in the working of His commands and plan. This is seen clearly in the truth about Jonah when he went finally in obedience to God and saw the LORD’s compassion on the city which repented.
Jonah 3
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days.
4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”
5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.
7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.
9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.