Light Brings Salt
Volume 1, Issue 21 December 14 , 2004
Dedicated to the
Systematic Exposition of the Word of God
The Impact of Knowing the Character of God!
For a few
moments let us consider a number of ways that knowing the attributes of God
impacts our life as a Christian.
First the way to "see" God is to come to know Him through a study of His
character as revealed in the Scriptures.
No man can see God and live
(Exodus 33:20). No man has seen God at any time (John
In every
instance when God manifested Himself visibly to men, there is only a partial
revelation of His glory, for man could no more look upon the full display of
God's splendor than one can look directly into the sun.
Even in
the incarnation of our Lord, who manifested the Father to men (see John
It was
not the physical appearance of our Lord which impressed men. Indeed, we know absolutely nothing about our
Lord's physical appearance, other than it was not particularly appealing or
attractive so men might not be drawn to him on the basis of His appearance
alone (see Isaiah 53:2).
We are
among those who have not "seen" our Lord physically so our grasp of
the nature of God as revealed through Jesus Christ must be limited to what the
Scriptures teach concerning His character.
In the final analysis, we can "see"
and know God only through the
Scriptures as they reveal His character to us.
(John 20:29-31; 1 Peter 1:8).
Secondly the character of God is the basis and standard
for all human morality. The final verse
of Judges reads: In those days there was
no king in
One might
think the solution to this dilemma was a human king, but it was not. The kind
of "king"
But the
thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And
Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD
said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice
of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected
you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them" (1 Sam.
8:5-7).
Thus when
the Israelites demanded a human king, they were rejecting God as their king. When the Book of Judges informs us the
Israelites had no king, it means the nation did not acknowledge and serve God
as their King (Exodus
God gave the
Law to the nation
Is it any
wonder "every man does what is right in his own eyes" today? Is it so difficult to explain why our culture
rejects and abhors the thought of moral absolutes? Do we wonder why the church
has become so wishy-washy about morality?
The Bible tells us why. We have ceased to ponder and appreciate the
moral perfection of God. And once our view of the holiness of God is
diminished, our moral values decline proportionately. A solid understanding of the character of God
will establish and under gird one's morality.
Need to remember a basic
principle and that is that
our conduct is directly related to our view of who God is!
Third, a failure to think rightly about God is the sin
of idolatry, and it leads to countless other sins. A.W. Tozer
rightly identifies the mistaken or distorted views of God as idolatry:
"Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is
more hateful to God than idolatry, for idolatry is at bottom a libel on His
character. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is .... Let us beware lest we in our pride accept the
erroneous notion that idolatry consists only in kneeling before visible objects
of adoration, and that civilized peoples are therefore free from it. The
essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are
unworthy of Him." Thinking wrongly of God is idolatry and is demeaning to
Him because it always views God as being other than He is. (always
less than He is) But this idolatrous evil of thinking wrongly about God is also
the root of many other evils.
Thinking
wrongly about God leads to sin. Tozer adds: I believe
there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian
ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about
God. i.e.
understanding of God. Wrong thoughts
about God were the root of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden.
In
Genesis 3, the character of God is first demeaned by Satan in his conversation
with Eve. By Satan's devious question and answer tactics, God is portrayed as a
liar ("Has God said...?" vs:1), ("You
surely shall not die!" vs:4). Based upon the assumption that God was less
than He first seemed to be, Eve chose to act independently of God, and she and
her husband thus disobeyed God by eating from the forbidden fruit. The conclusion then is that an inadequate or
distorted view of God is at the root of many sins.
Fourthly knowing God intimately is our calling and
destiny, our future hope, our great privilege and blessing, and thus it should
be our great ambition. (Jer. 9:23,24)
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face
to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have
been fully known
(1 Cor. 13:12).
That I may know Him, and
the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death (Philippians
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has
not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall
be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is (1 John 3:2). What a great promise, knowing that we shall
see Him, that is, really see Him as He is in all of His glory!
Fifth, a study of the attributes of God is the basis
for our enjoyment of God and our spiritual growth. A personal relationship with
God requires that we know God personally, as a Person, who He is. The attributes
of God are descriptions of various aspects of the character of God, and it is
through the knowledge of His characteristics that we come to intimately know
and enjoy God as a Person. By faith in Jesus Christ, we have been saved so
"we might become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).
We have
become a part of the church, the body of Christ, in this relationship we are
growing up "to the measure of the
stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ"
(Ephesians
Sixth, the attributes of God are
foundational to our faith and hope.
Knowing the character of God assures us that He can and will do all that
He purposes and promises. Faith in God
is trusting in God, and His attributes are the basis for that trust because He
is able and willing to do all that He has promised.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
without wavering, for He who promised is faithful (Heb.10:23).
And without faith it is impossible to please
[Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
Therefore, let those also who suffer according
to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is
right
(1 Peter
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Seventh, a study of the attributes of God enhances our
worship. We worship God for who He is. The attributes of God are a description
of who He is. When God is worshiped in the Bible, He is worshiped in response
to His attributes. He is worshiped as the eternal One: And the
four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes
around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY,
HOLY, HOLY, [is] THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO
COME" (Revelation 4:8).
Especially
in the Psalms we find the worship of God linked to an acknowledgment of His
attributes: I will give thanks to the
LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing
praise to the name of the LORD Most High (Psalms