THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD (Part 1)
MEMORY VERSE: - “Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or wither shall I flea from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.
INTRODUCTION: - The existence of God needs no proving for the Bible clearly states that only the fool would think (say) in his heart that God does not exist (Psalm 14:1). The Bible explicitly describes the numerous attributes and character traits of God. Many of these are unique to Him only as God, while some others can be seen in human beings as a result of being created in God’s image.
LESSON OUTLINES
God is Omnipresent
God is present everywhere every moment. God is everywhere at the same time, no matter where we go, God is present (Ps.139:7-12, Jer.23:23-24, Acts 17:27-28). This means that He sees and is aware of everything we think or speak or do at any time.
God is Omniscient
This means God knows everything (Psalm 139:1-6; 147:5). He possesses complete and perfect knowledge of all and everything. He knows perfectly the manifest detail of all things. He knows not only our actions but also our thoughts (1Sam.16:7, 1Kgs 8:39, Ps.44:21, Jer.17:9-10). God’s knowledge is infinite. When the Bible speaks of God’s fore-knowledge (Isa.42:9, Acts 2:23, 1Pet.1:2), it means that He knows all possibilities in any situation; He knows precisely what could have happened and what will happen. He declares the end from the beginning. God is aware of everything that has taken place in the past and everything that will happen in the future. Nothing is hidden from Him. All the things God has destined and prophesied have either been fulfilled or will yet be to be fulfilled with absolute certainty (1Sam.23:10-13, Jer.23:10-13, Jer.38:17-20). This does not suggest what some scholars call “Philosophical determination” i.e. God causes everything to happen that He knows will happen, including our choices and actions. God has given us a free will to make our own decisions, which means that people are still responsible for their choices and the consequences of their choices. The fact that God knows everything does not mean that He is limited by His own free knowledge. He remains free to after His purposes in time and history, depending on what He wants to accomplish and what He knows is best (Num.14:11-20, 2Kings 20:1-7).
God is Omni Potent
This means that God is all-powerful and has the highest authority over all things and all creatures (Ps.147:13-18, Jer.32:17, Mt.19:26, Lk.1:37). In practical terms, God has the ability to do anything; absolutely nothing is difficult for Him to do-no impossibility with God. This does not mean, however that God uses all of His power and authority at all times. For example, God has the power to destroy all sin (which require eliminating human imperfection), but He has chosen not to do so until the end of history (1Jh.5:19). This safeguards all of human way of destruction and reject what is right if they so desire. In many cases, God limits His power by working through His faithful people only as they pray and depend on Him (2Corint.12:7-10). In this respect, He exercises His power depending on each person’s degree of availability and submission to Him (Eph.3:20).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
That God is Omnipresent should boost our confidence that He is always with us and such we need not fear anything or anyone (Isa.41:10, Matt:28:20, Heb.13:5-6). And His Omniscience should create in us a godly fear and thereby we run from sin (1Thess.522). While His Omnipotent should stir up our faith that He can do all things for us especially when we seek diligently to do His will at all times (Mark 9:23, Luke 1:37, Eph.3:2).
QUESTIONS
What does the Omnipresence of God teaches you? What does the Omnipotent of God mean to you?