Through nature and sound reason, some of God’s essential attributes are made known to us and confirmed through sacred Scripture. Let’s see what we can learn about God from what we know about our world.
Essential attributes of God revealed by nature and reason.
The divine being, whom we call God, has made Himself known, in part, through what He has made. When we consider the immense diversity of creation, we stand in awe! So, what can we learn about God from general revelation?
God is a unity, who is eternal, infinite, and not dependent on anything
First, He must be the One and only One who needed no start, because He alone had no beginning. He always existed. If anything exists now, something must have always existed since out of nothing, nothing comes. Therefore, He is infinite, having pure actuality, which is not dependent on anything for His existence.
God has the power to bring everything into existence and sustain it
We also know, this God must have the power needed to produce everything that has come into being since everything owes their start to Him. He may choose to work through secondary causes, but as He is the primary cause for all things, even the secondary causes trace their beginnings back to Him.
And since everything other than God is finite, the essence of “being” is a quality that does not inherently belong to them; Therefore, they’re always undergoing change. God must sustain them in their being for their existence to continue. He gives life, He sustains it, and He can take it away.
God is all-knowing, sovereign over all, and partially knowable
God must also know all things; He must be all-wise. Humans have wisdom. So, if we who are created by Him have wisdom, it could have only come from Him. Otherwise, wisdom would have had to come from nothing, which is impossible.
His sovereignty over all of His creation is also evident. His power must be directed by Him according to His wisdom. He has no one in which to consult, no influences He would have to consider, and no counter forces He would have to balance. Therefore, anything that has ever existed at anytime must have been by His choosing.
God must be knowable to a degree in order that He can relate as the Sovereign over His creation, but He cannot be fully comprehended since He is infinite and we are finite. We may have an idea of the infinite, but does any finite person really understand what infinity is? We can only know Him through the perspective of our finitude.
God is a Personal God
God is a personal God. He exhibits all the characteristics of what we know about a person. He thinks; He feels; He decides; He judges; He deliberates; He plans; and He is morally sensitive. We’re persons too, and that’s the highest aspect of our being. If it didn’t come from Him, where could it have come from? That we would have a higher form than our creator is an unthinkable thing. He must be like us in this respect.
These characteristics of God are considered “mixed articles“, which means they’re taught through both nature and the Bible. As Scripture says, there is no excuse for any of us to be agnostic about God, because He has made His power and divine nature clearly seen and understood. We must acknowledge Him for who He has revealed Himself to be and always give Him thanks!
We will discuss what general revelation reveals about God’s moral, virtuous, and holy nature in an upcoming post.
Discover more about this God and our relationship to Him
For a summary of other attributes of His nature, go to our Posts Directory web page. These posts are listed by major topic for your convenience.
But, if you’re now ready to know what your relationship is before God, Ask yourself two very important questions. First, are you sure that you’ll go to heaven when you die? Secondly, are you certain why God should let you into heaven? If you don’t know for sure, you can settle that matter today. Visit my post, How to Begin Your Life Over Again and you’ll know where and how you’ll spend eternity.
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