Enjoy the Attributes of God – Session 6

God’s Communicable Attributes, Part 3

Reading: Isaiah 6: 1-7 (God’s holiness & glory)

AUDIO

Lecture Handout

Handout – Session 6

Lesson Notes

• Moral Attributes(continued)
  • Holiness
    • What exactly is holiness? We so intermingle it with God and church that we may struggle to understand what it really means
    • Holiness is to be set apart form the ordinary, worldly, and sinful
      • Sabbath was holy because it was set apart from worldly activities and dedicated to God’s service
      • The tabernacle where God’s presence rested had a holy place and a most holy place, set apart by a veil
      • Aaron and his sons were made holy – set apart from ordinary work, evil, and sin of the world and dedicated to God’s service
      • Clothing rules, dietary restrictions, and circumcision were part of holiness – not because they were morally necessary, but to make Israel distinctive (set apart) from all nations around them
    • God is the Holy One of Israel
    • Grudem, “God’s holiness means that he is separated from sin and devoted to seeking His own honor.“
    • God is eternally separate and distinct, in particular disctinct from all impurity, and He demands purity from His moral creatures
      • Exodus 15: 11
      • Revelation 4: 1-11
    • Israel was set apart, by God for His purposes – Exodus 19: 4-6
    • That didn’t work well; all Christ-followers are set apart – 1 Peter 1: 13-16
    • We must separate ourselves from the ungodly influences of the world and understand Christ died to make us holy, to set us apart – 2 Corinthians 6: 17 – 7: 1
    • The church is called to be holy – Ephesians 5: 25-27
    • In the new heaven and earth, all will be  holy! – Zechariah 14: 20-21
  • Righteousness
    • God’s righteousness and justice are incredibly intertwined.
    • In the original languages, righteousness and njustice are the same words
    • English has two words that help us draw out some finer nuances
    • Grudem, “God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with what is right and is Himself the final standard of what is right.“
    • God’s own perfect conformity to His intrinsic holy nature
      • God’s own nature is righteousness and He never violates the standards of His holy nature in word, thought, action, or attitude
      • His word and actions come from what accords with His holy, moral nature
      • These are right because they conform with who He is intrinsically as a holy God – Isaiah 45: 19, “…I declare what is right.”
      • Psalm 119: 137-138
    • God’s righteousness is revealed at the cross where Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins, because God is righteous and cannot let sin go unpunished – Romans 3: 21-26
    • We can be confident all of God’s choices are right, even if we don’t understand them!
      • There can be no standard outside of God by which we measure righteousness or justice
      • Whenever God’s righteousness is questioned in the Bible, God responds not with an explanation to satisfy humans, but with declarations of His own majesty and power (Romans 9, Job)
      • God’s righteousness is so good He gave His own begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall n ot perish but have everlasting lfie!
  • Justice
    • God establishes standards for His moral creatures that are in accord with His intrinsic holy moral nature and He judges His creatures by their conformity to those standards
      • He establishes standards – from His character
      • He judges His moral creatures by these standards – because He is righteous and just, God must treat people according to what they deserve – sin deserves punishment
    • Legislative justice – God as law-giver – His commands are extension of His holy nature
    • Distributive justice – God gives rewards and punishments to people
      • We’ll give an accounting for all we’ve done (good and bad)
      • Jesus spoke often of rewards and punishments
      • 2 Timothy 4: 7-8 – the crown of righteousness
      • 2 Thessalonians 1: 5-10 – punishment on the disobedient
    • We can have confidence in God’s ultimate justice despite the obvious injustice of this fallen world! Bible speaks of this repeatedly!
  • Peace (order)
    • Grudem, “God’s peace means that in God’s being and in his actions he is separate from all confusion and disorder, yet he is continually active in innumerable well-ordered, fully controlled, simultaneous actions.“
    • God is not a God of confusion – 1 Corinthians 14: 33
    • He is repeatedly called the God of peace
    • The Old Testament frequently contrasts God’s power and work to the natural forces of chaos in the world
    • Peace and self-control are part of the fruit of the Spirit
    • Speaking of God’s Wisdom – Proverbs 3: 17, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.“
  • Jealousy
    • In contemporary culture, jealousy is bad – that is NOT what the Bible means when it describes God as a jealous God
    • He’s deeply protective and watchful over His people and His glory
      • Grudem, “God’s jealousy means that God continually seeks to protect his own  honor“
      • When we want that, it’s ugly; when God wants it, it’s beautiful, because He is worthy and it’s ultimately for our good!
      • Exodus 20: 1-5 – worshiop is to be given to Him, not false gods – because He is worthy of worship
      • He alone is infinitely worthy of being praised – to know and delight in this truth drives us to deep worship
  • Wrathful
    • God loves all that is right and good and conforms to His moral character
    • Logically therefore, He hates everything opposed to His moral character
    • Grudem, “God’s wrath means that he intensely hates all sin.”
    • Both Old and New Testament speak extensively of God’s wrath
      • John 3: 36
      • Romans 1: 18-32
    • This sounds awfully harsh, but…
      • Would we want a God who enjoyed sin? Or didn’t care?
      • Would we want a God who was fine with injustice?
      • It is right to hate evil and sin – Hebrews 1: 8-9
      • And so we must learn to carefully hate evil, injustice, and sin
        • Hate those things, not the people behind them
      • We should not fear God’s wrath as Christians – 1 Thessalonians 1: 9-10
• Attributes Describing His Being
  • Perfection
    • Grudem, “God’s perfection means that God completely possesses all excellent qualities and lacks no part of any qualities that would be desirable for Him.“
    • Matthew 5: 48 – be perfect as God is perfect
  • Glorious
    • The glory of God – honor and excellent reputation
    • In Hebrew, it describes weightiness; in Greek it describes outshining
    • But more specifically the visible display of God’s pure excellence
    • Grudem, “God’s glory is the created brightness that surrounds God’s revelation of Himself“
    • Moses and the veil – Exodus 34: 29-35
    • God’s glory belongs to Him alone – He does not share His glory
    • Luke 2: 9
    • Revelation 21: 22-27
    • The brilliance of radiance of the perfection and excellence of all these attributes we’ve been discussing and celebrating these weeks
    • We are made to reflect God’s glory in Christ – 2 Corinthians 3: 18
      • We may not literally glow, but our relationship with God should become so full of love, joy, delight that it’s clear to all we meet
      • There should be a God-derived brightness and beauty about our life and demeanor

Closing Praise & Prayer

Psalm 19 – 

The Law of the LORD Is Perfect

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pour out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and dripping of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sigh, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.