My favorite line from any book or movie comes from C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.” Susan has just finished a great dialogue with Mrs. Beaver about the majesty, awe, and nervousness about meeting Aslan the Lion and Lucy asks “Then he isn’t safe?” and Mr. Beaver responds “… ‘course he isn’t safe, but he’s good.”
Wow, what a metaphor for the amazing magnitude of God. In modern Christianity, we find it so easy to connect to the person of Jesus, His love, His kindness, His interaction with people. It’s just so much more comforting to focus on the “good” of Jesus, rather than the “unsafe” of Jesus. Yet, we need to be careful not to forget that Jesus is God, just like the Father and Holy Spirit. And, it’s worth pursuing an understanding of God’s attributes, for through it, we come to a greater realization and gratefulness for His grace found in the gospel message.
So, how can we know about God? Well, the Bible gives us glimpses of who God is…as it is His special revelation to us. No, it doesn’t tell us everything about God, for that would be impossible, but everything it tells us, is true. Scripture affirms that God is Spirit (other than human), that He is Personal, Infinite, Constant, Self-Sustaining and Immanently Self-Existent, He is Holy, Righteous, Just, Faithful, Benevolent, Merciful, Gracious, Persistent…and so much more. These are all attributes of God and apply to the entire Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and should not be confused with properties, as they are the roles and activities of the person’s of the Trinity.
Yes, I realize these attributes about God might seem overwhelming, as they should…for what sort of God would He be, if He were comprehendible? We can read throughout the books of Genesis, Job, Psalms, the Gospels, Romans, 1 Corinthians, and others that God is outside of our understanding. But, something special happens as we pursue Him through the Bible. Through Scripture, we begin to stand more and more in awe of Him, to know Him better, and to grow in our love for God and the gospel. Ironically, as we wrestle with understanding God, we grow in our admiration and love for Him. So, it is a very worthy pursuit to begin to dig into knowing as much as we can about the God of the universe.
If this interests you, then stay tuned to SKOPOS and check us out online as we begin to dig into the specific attributes of God and prayerfully, together, grow closer to our loving and gracious Savior.
