Attributes of God, Part 3: The Supremacy of God

Men imagine that the Most High is moved by sentiment, rather that actuated by principle. They suppose that His omnipotency is such an idle fiction that Satan is thwarting His designs on every side. They think that if He has formed any plan or purpose at all, then it must be like theirs, constantly subject to change. They openly declare that whatever power He possesses must be restricted, lest He invade the citadel of man’s “free will” and reduce him to a “machine.” They lower the all-efficacious atonement, which has actually redeemed everyone for whom it was made, to a mere “remedy,” which sin-sick souls may use if they feel disposed to; and they enervate the invincible work of the Holy Spirit to an “offer” of the Gospel which sinners may accept or reject as they please.

The “god” of this twentieth century no more resembles the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ than does the dim flickering of a candle the glory of the midday sun. The “god” who is now talked about in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-called Bible Conferences is the figment of human imagination, an invention of maudlin sentimentality. The heathen outside of the pale of Christendom for “gods” out of wood and stone, while the millions of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a “god” out of their own carnal mind. In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God, and no God at all. A “god” whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits nought but contempt.

The supremacy of the true and living God might well be argued from the infinite distance which separates the mightiest creatures from the almighty Creator. He is the Potter, they are but the clay in His hands, to be molded into vessels of honour, or to be dashed into pieces (Psa. 2:9) as He pleases. Were all the denizens of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth to combine in revolt against Him, it would occasion Him no uneasiness, and would have less effect upon His eternal and unassailable Throne than has the spray of Mediterranean’s waves upon the towering rocks of Gibraltar. So puerile and powerless is the creature to affect the Most High. Scripture itself tells us that when the Gentile heads unite with apostate Israel to defy Jehovah and His Christ, “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh” Psa 2:4). . .

Here then is a sure resting-place for the heart. Our lives are neither the product of blind fate nor the result of capricious chance, but every detail of them was ordained from all eternity, and is now ordered by the living and reigning God. Not a hair of our heads can be touched without His permission. “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps” (Pro. 16:9). What assurance, what strength, what comfort this should give the real Christian! “My times are in Thy hand” (Psa 31:15. Then let me “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psa 37:7) -- A.W. Pink

Attributes of God, Part 2: God's Knowledge

God is Ominscient. He knows everything: Everything possible, everything actual; all events and all creatures, of the past, the present, and the future. He is perfectly acquainted with every detail in every life of every being in heaven, in earth, and in hell. "He knoweth what is in the darkness" (Dan. 2:22). Nothing escapes His notice, nothing can be hidden frm Him, nothing is forgotten by Him. Well may we say with the Psalmist, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain unto it (Psa. 139:6). His knowledge is perfect. He never errs, never changes, never overlooks anything. "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13). Yes, such is the God "with whom we have to do"!

The infinite knowledge of God should fill us with Amazement. How far exalted above the wisest man is the Lord! None us knows what a day may bring forth, but all futurity is open to His omniscient gaze. The infinite knowledge of God ought to fill us with holy Awe. Nothing we do, say, or even think, escapes the cognizance of Him with whom we have to do: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Prov. 15:3) What a curb this would be unto us, did we meditate upon it more frequently! . . . The apprehension of God's infinite knowledge should fill the Christian with Adoration. The whole of my life stood open to His view from the beginning. He foresaw my every fall, my every sin, my every backsliding; yet nevertheless, fixed his heart upon me. Oh, how the realization of this should bow me in wonder and worship before Him.

A.W. Pink, The Attributes of God

Attributes of God, Part 1: God's Solitariness

Along with Grudem, I've enjoyed reading again A.W. Pink's "The Attributes of God." I thought I'd kick off a periodic series of selections from Pink highlighting some of the attributes of God.

So, in this post, consider the solitariness of God . . .

The God who made the world and all things in it,

since He is Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in temples made with hands;
nor is He served by human hands,
as though He needed anything,
since He Himself gives to all people
life and breath and all things . . .
Acts 17:24-25

"In the beginning God"(Gen. 1:1) There was a time, if "time" it could be called, when God in the unity of His nature (though subsisting equally in three divine persons), dwelt alone. "In the beginning God." There was no heaven, where His glory is not particularly manifested. There was no earth to engage His attention. There were no angels to hymn His praises; no universe to be upheld by the word of His power. There was nothing, no one, but God; and that, not for a day, a year, or an age, but "from everlasting." During eternity past, God was alone: self-contained, self-sufficient, self-satisfied; in need of nothing. . . .

God was under no constraint, no obligation, no necessity to create. That he chose to was purely a sovereign act on His part, caused by nothing outside of Himself, determined by nothing but His own good pleasure, for He "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11). That He did create was simply for His manifestative glory . . .

He is solitary in His majesty, unique in His excellency, peerless in His perfections. He sustains all, but is Himself independent of all. He gives to all, but is enriched by none.

Amen!