The Attributes of God Part 4

Joey Midgett

The Attributes of God • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

Being and Attributes of God

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The Attributes of God Part 4

Bible Text: John 17:1-3

John 17:1–3

1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Introduction:

Jesus said, That they may know thee… And that’s what we are talking about this morning. That is what this whole series on the Attributes of God is about, to know Him! As Paul said of the Son, the second person of the Godhead, That I may Know Him…, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; And I like how the Amplified expounds on that verse. That verse is Philippians 3:10 And this is how the Amplified expounds on it:

10 [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death,

And that is what we are talking about, getting to know God. Theology!

Theology comes from two words, Theo meaning God and ology meaning the study of, or a branch of knowledge. And that is what we are doing here, we are studying God, getting to know Him, what He is like.

This is the fourth message in this series we have been doing. And just to recap we have already covered nine attributes of God. Well eight and a half because the ninth one we did not finish.

But here is what we have covered so far:

I. The Aseity of God - He is Infinite - From Everlasting to Everlasting

II. The Self-Sufficiency of God - He has no needs

III. The Immutability of God - (Meaning) He Never changes

IV. The Omnipresence of God - He is Always Everywhere

V. The Omniscience of God - He is All-knowing

VI. The Omnipotence of God - He is All-powerful

VII. The Wisdom of God - He Is Full of Perfect, Unchanging Wisdom

VIII. The Faithfulness of God

and

IX. The Goodness of God - God is Good

IX. God is Good (b)

And that’s where we are going to continue today in the goodness of God.

We talked about last time that God is good, not simply because He does good things, but that is who He is in and of Himself. We know that God is sovereign, and we know that bad things do happen in this world and in this life, there is evil present in this world. And therefore we can not say that God is good simply because He does good things, because the question would be raised, “Well if God is all-powerful, He can do anything, and if God is all-knowing, He knows everything that can and will happen, past present, and future, and if God is all-loving, then why does He allow evil and bad things to happen?”

And the short answer to that would be, for His glory.

And again as last time, I am getting some strange looks, “How can evil or bad things happening be for His glory, and how can that be good?”

And I’ll make the statement I made last time for some more raised eyebrows: Although evil is not good, and God is not the author of evil, yet it is good that there is evil, or it would not be.

God is not a helpless God sitting up there in heaven thinking, man I wish I could do something about this evil that is going on down there.

But He allows these things, that His attributes might be seen in and through them.

How could we know God is merciful unless there were something for Him to be merciful toward?

How could we understand the faithfulness of God, unless there was the opposite of that to compare it to?

How could we know the light of God, unless we had known darkness?

We sing many songs about this. One that comes to mind that we don’t sing, but is a great song nonetheless is by Billy Fields, Until He Was All That I Had, the course of the song goes like this:

You’ll never be filled till you’re emptied

Until you’re broken you’ll never be whole

Until the potter has tried your vessel with fire

You’ll never come forth as pure Gold.

I didn’t know how much He loved me

Until I’d passed through the storm and looked back

I didn’t know Jesus was all that I needed

Until He was all that I had.

I didn’t know Jesus was all that I needed

Until He was all that I had.

Friend, God’s goodness is not contingent upon circumstance.

And these things may be hard to grasp, because of our limited view and scope of knowledge, but you can’t even really believe your Bible unless you believe this to be true.

Romans 8:28 , we love to quote it, but let’s understand it.

28 And we know that all things work together for good (Not that they are good)

But All things, Not just some things, not just good things, but that means every bad thing, every evil thing, every circumstance, every situation that takes place or ever took place on this earth is working For good…

to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Now can I fully comprehend that? No! Of course not, I’m not God. But I believe it because I trust the One who did say it.

And it is not on some blind faith that I trust Him, it is because He is trustworthy. Nothing that He has ever said has failed.

God is infinitely good.

I like what Miss Wilma always says, “God is good, All the time! And all the time, God is good.”

X. God is Just

He is infinitely, unchangeably right and perfect in all He does.

Deuteronomy 32:4

4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: For all his ways are judgment (or Justice): A God of truth and without iniquity, Just and right is he.

God’s being just means so much more than God simply being fair. It means He always, always, always does what is right and good toward mankind, in fact toward anything and everything.

The very fact that unrepentant sinners are sentenced to an eternal hell is also right and good, as hard as that may be for us to grasp and understand.

All mankind are sinners, therefore all mankind deserve eternal damnation in hell. And God in His mercy has provided a way that even though my deeds warrant an eternal punishment, He has paid the penalty of that sin in the atonement that Christ has finished on the cross. The Just for the unjust.

But I must understand my sin, and call it for what it is, I must realize I have sinned against a holy God and must repent of that sin and receive that atoning work that Christ has done and be born again by the gospel of His Word.

And if I do that God is just in proclaiming me righteous before Him. I am robed in the righteousness of Christ. And God’s mercy is justified in that His justice is still satisfied.

I like how A.W. Tozer put it, “Through the work of Christ in atonement, justice is not violated but satisfied when God spares a sinner.”

See His mercy does not forbid him to exercise his justice, nor does his justice forbid him to exercise his mercy. He is both fully merciful and fully just.

And for the sinner that does not repent, does not receive the atoning work of Christ as his payment for sin, God can not be just in proclaiming him righteous before Him. He is still in his sin. Therefore, His justice is satisfied not in His mercy toward that unrepentant sinner, but in His wrath toward that unrepentant sinner God’s justice is satisfied.

The repentant sinner receives mercy, and the unrepentant sinner receives justice, neither of them receive injustice.

And then, there are some that would raise the question, “Well what about those that have never heard the gospel? Surely, God will not condemn them?”

First, I would like to say, if that were true, then let’s shut the Churches down, please I beg of you, shut them down, and keep your religion to yourself. Don’t you dare tell anyone of Christ and what He has done.

In doing so, we could save millions upon millions of people through their ignorance.

But friend, it simply isn’t so.

First off, the Bible tells us that there is not an ignorance problem, but there is a rebellious problem.

Romans 1:18–25

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth (to hold down, to suppress) in unrighteousness;

19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

So this is talking about natural revelation. All of nature declares God. But man does not want God, they want their sin, so they suppress that natural revelation that God has given to all so they can indulge in their sin without remorse.

Secondly, or maybe really firstly, God is sovereign. He knows the end from the beginning. Friend, if there be some tribe in the remotest part of the earth, and one is seeking God, because His Holy Spirit is drawing them, do you not think that God can not send some missionary there to give that man, that woman the gospel of life?

Isn’t that what He done with the Ethiopian eunuch, when the Holy Spirit sent Philip unto him to show him the gospel that he was seeking?

Nobody, friend, will ever get injustice from the God of justice.

Ecclesiastes 3:17 “I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

Hebrews 10:30 “For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.”

Psalm 37:27-29 “Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell for evermore. For the Lord loveth judgment (or justice), And forsaketh not his saints; They are preserved for ever: But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell therein for ever.”

Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

Isaiah 30:18-19 “And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, And therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: For the Lord is a God of judgment (or justice): Blessed are all they that wait for him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: Thou shalt weep no more: He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; When he shall hear it, he will answer thee.”

Micah 6:8 “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; And what doth the Lord require of thee, But to do justly, and to love mercy, And to walk humbly with thy God?”

Isaiah 61:8 “For I the Lord love judgment (or justice), I hate robbery for burnt offering; And I will direct their work in truth, And I will make an everlasting covenant with them.”

And on and on we could go with Bible verses that speak of God’s justice, His being just, and His judgment.

And just so you understand when I read those Old Testament verses that say God is a God of judgment or loves judgment and I added or justice there, it is because it is the same thing. The word is the Hebrew Mishpat and it means judgment and justice, the two are interchangeable. When we speak of God’s judgment, what we tend to think about is His wrath or the punishment that He dishes out, but that is really the sentencing after the judgment, the judgment is the act of judging rightly, or justice.

If Jimmy thinks I wronged him in some way, and he takes me before the judge in a court of law, whether wrong or right, the judge is either going to make the judgment that I am right and exonerate me, or he is going to make the judgment that I am wrong, and the an act of recourse or sentencing will take place for me to make restitution for the wrong I have done.

But God is always just in His judgment. He never makes the wrong call.

XI. God is Merciful

Exodus 34:6 “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,”

And once again, I have to proclaim like I have in every one of these messages on His attributes, that all of His attributes are all together tied to all His other attributes.

His mercy is an infinite mercy, it is a holy mercy, it is a just mercy, it is a good and loving mercy. It is an all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful mercy.

His mercy is also an undeserved mercy. Because that is what mercy really is, it is undeserved pardon for a wrong that we have done.

I love how Spurgeon, the prince of preachers put it:

“It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the sinner's part, to the saving mercy of the Most High God. Had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire — he would have justly merited the doom; and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a cause, for there was none in the sinner himself.”

Friend, were it not for the mercy of God, you and I would have no hope of heaven. No hope of eternal life. No hope of a better day, of better things to come. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. The verdict and the sentencing.

And the verdict would be just because the Bible tells us that All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

How many of us do that?

All! All of us have sinned and rebelled against a holy and just God.

But because of His mercy, we don’t get what we deserve, but we get eternal life through faith in Christ Jesus His Son, which came and paid the price for your injustice toward God.

Tozer writes this about the mercy of God.

“As judgment is God’s justice confronting moral inequity, so mercy is the goodness of God confronting human suffering and guilt. Were there no guilt in the world, no pain and no tears, God would yet be infinitely merciful; but His mercy might well remain hidden in His heart, unknown to the created universe. No voice would be raised to celebrate the mercy of which none felt the need. It is human misery and sin that call forth the divine mercy.”

In a real sense God is even merciful to the ungodly in that His judgment is delayed on them. He could in all righteousness pronounce judgment right now. And sometimes He does. But often His judgment is delayed and His mercies are showered even on the vilest of sinners.

But His ultimate mercy of pardon is only reserved for those that by faith have trusted in the finished work of Christ for their pardon.

Ephesians 2:4–5

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Here in this verse we see His mercy and His grace working in unison. Which His grace is the next attribute we will be looking at next time. And often people will get the two mixed up as they are so closely related.

But mercy is the act of not receiving what we do deserve, ie. God’s wrath;

And grace is the act of receiving what we do not deserve, ie. God’s favor, and even His mercy.

Conclusion:

In closing,

God’s greatest act of mercy is found at the cross. In fact it is where His mercy and His justice meet.

Were it not for the cross there would be no ultimate mercy for Him to extend toward us.

And were it not for the cross there would be no way that His perfect justice could be satisfied.

In fact, His greatest act of mercy involves all three attributes we talked about here today.

It was because of the goodness of God that He would provide a way for sinners such as us to be justified before Him, and in satisfying His justice in Christ, the perfect, sinless sacrifice for sin, He extends His perfect mercy for all that will call upon Him for salvation.

The name of Christ!

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Perfect mercy in a perfect name.

If you need to, would you call upon Him today?

That’s the message!

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