Our Eternal God
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God’s Attributes
God’s Attributes
God’s Attr
1. We study God’s attributes because we are called proclaim them to those around us.
2. We study God’s attributes because we want to worship God in spirit and in truth.
3. We study God’s attributes because it guides our actions.
Types of Attributes: Incommunicable and Communicable Attributes
The incommunicable perfections are those characteristics unique to God (e.g., self-existence, simplicity, immensity), whereas the communicable perfections are those characteristics transferable in part to humans (e.g., goodness, righteousness, love). - John MacArthur
Transcendent and Immanent
Genie: sometimes small sometimes large.
The Problem with Time
The Problem with Time
** My kids often ask me, "When are going to do [some thing]?" "Can we [whatever] this afternoon?" I hate these questions. I hate them because I don't know. I don't want to promise them something and then not come through on it. I want to be able to tell them, but I have done so enough times when something came up that kept me from doing it. I hate that because I want them to be able to count on their dad. But the reality is, I don't know the future. God does though.
But our problem goes a lot deeper than knowing if we will be able to play on the slip ‘n slide this afternoon.
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
or
Ps 90
Our Eternal God
Our Eternal God
Scriptural Evidence. The following list presents scriptural evidence for God’s eternity:
1. He is the first and the last at once (; ).
2. He existed before creation (; ; , ).3. He will endure forever ().
3. He will endure forever ().
4. He is God from everlasting to everlasting (; ).
5. The number of his years cannot be discovered ().
6. One thousand years in his sight are as a day, due to his immediate experience of all time (; ).
7. He is God eternal ().
8. He inhabits eternity ().
9. He lives forever (; ; ).
10. He is incorruptible and immortal (; ).
11. He was, is, and is to come all at once (; , ).
12. His purpose is eternal ().
13. He is the eternal King ().
14. He existed and acted “before the ages began” (; ).
John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue, eds., Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), 171.
God - Unlimited by Time
God - Unlimited by Time
How is God’s relationship to time different than your own?
What aspect of God’s eternality are you most thankful for?
What aspect of God’s eternality is most incredible to you?
Timely Timelessness: Psalm 90
Timely Timelessness: Psalm 90
An Eternal Dwelling
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
God’s timelessness is a comfort and a safe haven.
I can have confidence in God because he knows the end of the story.
He is always there for us.
2. An Eternal Perspective
Understanding God’s eternality changes how I see myself and my world
You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
3 You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
Understanding God’s eternality changes how I see myself and my world
Ps. 90.3-4
Ps 90.3-4
I live in humility before a God who can see all of time in a single moment.
5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Ps 90:5-10
I recognize that I can’t hide my guilt from God.
I don’t have all the time in the world.
The reality is that we get as reach our peak, we begin to lose our strength.
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Ps 90.12-
We ask God for wisdom to use our time well.
Our satisfaction is in our eternal God, not in this fading life.
3. An Eternal Hope
Ps. 90:15-17
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
We don’t look for satisfaction in our work, but in God’s work.