|
|
Post by Admin on Jan 6, 2024 21:17:55 GMT -5
2/1/1949
The Attributes Of God (Communicable): God’s Knowledge & God’s Wisdom
VELDMAN, HERMAN
Our Doctrine
Home / Archive / Volume 25/1949 / Vol 25 Issue 09
SHARE IT
God’s Knowledge
In the third place, the knowledge of the Lord differs from our knowledge because His knowledge is a knowledge of eternal, perfect consciousness. How different, also in this respect, is our knowledge from the knowledge of the Lord! We distinguish, among men, between consciousness and subconsciousness. Our subconsciousness is far greater, richer in content than our consciousness. Our life is like unto an iceberg; only a very small part of it extends into our consciousness. Our hidden thoughts surely exceed the thoughts whereof we are able to give an account. This distinction, however, between consciousness and subconsciousness does not apply to the living God. There is in God no subconsciousness. His knowledge is eternally perfect and complete. Thus He knows, first of all, Himself. All the infinite life of the living God is eternally and completely known to Him. And thus the Lord also knows all things. The entire panorama of all things, from the beginning to the end of the world, also as all things are related to each other, is constantly before the Lord. This eternal “blue-print” is ever before Him.
Finally, whereas our knowledge is temporal the knowledge of the Lord is eternal. Our knowledge is temporal, subject to development. We learn, increase in knowledge. Our knowledge of the things round about us grows, is subject to and determined by our own natural development. The Lord, however, never learns—His knowledge is eternal and complete.
In conclusion, one question remains in connection with this attribute of the Knowledge of God: How must we view this knowledge of the Lord in connection with the moral actions of man, man’s responsibility? The Scriptures surely teach both. On the one hand, the Word of God certainly maintains the responsibility of man. We are held accountable for all the things we do in the flesh: “For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad”—2 Cor. 5:10. And, on the other hand, the Word of God also maintains the truth that God’s knowledge is sovereign and all-comprehensive. Thus we read, e.g., in I Sam. 23:10-13: “Then said David, O Lord God of Israel, Thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech Thee, tell Thy servant. And the Lord said, He will come down. Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up. Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.” And in Jeremiah 2:2-3; 38:17-20 this Word of God is recorded: “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord. . . . Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shaft live, and thine house: But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee and thy soul shall live.” And in Acts 2:22-23 we read these well-known words: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know.” We understand, I am sure, that these Scriptural passages which teach and set forth the sovereignty and all-comprehensiveness of the knowledge of the Lord can easily be multiplied.
The Jesuits and Remonstrants (Arminians) attempted to solve this problem of man’s responsibility and God’s sovereign and all-comprehensive knowledge by means of their theory of “Scientia Media”. This theory is called “Scientia Media (Middle Knowledge)’’ because it stands between God’s sovereign knowledge of all things and man’s freedom to choose his course of action. God’s knowledge of our actions is not such, according to a leading exponent of this theory, “That the Lord attains unto this knowledge directly by knowing His own purpose to effect it,” but indirectly by His infinite insight into the manner in which men will act under various circumstances; the Lord sees beforehand what man’s reaction and choice will be and He knows accordingly. That the Lord knows all things is only because He sees beforehand what man will do, so that it is not the Lord but man who determines and controls his course of action. This solution of the problem, we understand, is no solution whatsoever. Firstly, if the acts of men must be viewed as independent of God’s sovereign decree, no knowledge of these actions is possible. It must be obvious that if man, and not God, determines man’s course of action, then these actions must first occur before the Lord can have any knowledge of them. Secondly, this solution is a denial of the sovereignty of God. ‘Not God, then, but man determines what shall be. And this is a direct denial of Acts 2:23: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain”; of Rom. 9:16-21: “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew My power in thee, and that My Name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto Me, Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that impliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus? Hath not the patter power over the clay, of the same !ump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonour?”; of Eph. 1:11: “In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will”; and of Phil. 2:13: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” . Thirdly, this attempt of the Jesuits and remonstrants proceeds from an erroneous conception of man’s freedom and responsibility. It is true that naan ds morally free. From the viewpoint of his objective, spiritual life, man is free. He never sins because he is driven to sin. The Lord never violates his nature, never acts contrary to our inner, spiritual life. Man always sins because he seeks and desires the ways of evil and corruption. This constitutes man’s responsibility. However, this moral freedom of man must never be confused with sovereign freedom, a freedom which is independent of the Lord.
Hence, as far as this problem is concerned, man’s responsibility and the Lord’s sovereignty, we must maintain, on the one hand, that the Lord is wholly sovereign. God determines all things. This must be maintained in the all-comprehensive sense of the word. One cannot emphasize this truth too strongly for the simple reason that it must be maintained in the absolute sense of the word. The Scriptures use terms in this connection which a timid soul, I am sure, would not dare to use. The Lord controls every word we speak, every step we take, every thought which we think, every movement and inclination and thought of our inner life. There is nothing we do or think but it is the fruit of the operation of God as He, and He alone, realizes His counsel and does all His good pleasure. Nothing is excluded from the realm of the Lord’s sovereign activity. Secondly, as we have already stated in the preceding paragraph, man’s responsibility must never be confused with sovereign freedom. That man is morally free never means that he is sovereignly free. Man’s moral freedom is rooted in his very being. I am morally free because I sin, never as driven to it, never as contrary to my inner desires, but always as in harmony with my will and desires. And inasmuch as I know the difference between good and evil, choose the evil and reject the good consciously and willfully, I am responsible and will be held accountable for all my actions. And, thirdly, the Lord controls all my moral actions, has sovereignly willed all my actions, and realizes His will and counsel with respect to me and all the children of men.
God’s Wisdom.
God’s wisdom we define as that attribute or virtue of the Lord whereby He attains unto the greatest glorification of His Name through the best divinely ordained means.
Wisdom is practical knowledge, the ability to use one’s knowledge to the best advantage. This is also true among men. A learned man is not necessarily a wise man. This is taught us, e.g., in a passage such as Matt. 7:24-27: “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” Apart from the spiritual significance of this passage, as it applies to the godly and the ungodly, the significance of wisdom is clearly set forth here. A foolish man builds his house upon sand; a wise man builds his house upon rock. A foolish man does not consider the future and does not build accordingly; a wise man does consider the future and he builds accordingly. A foolish man does not reckon with the rains and floods and winds; the wise man does reckon with these natural phenomena. The wise man, therefore, is he who uses the best means unto the best end. See also Proverbs 6:6.
This definition of wisdom is surely applicable to the living God. Of Him we read in I Tim. 1:17 that He is the only Wise God: “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” That the Lord seeks the best end through the best means implies, of course, that He seeks Himself and the glory of His Name. All Scripture surely holds before us that God seeks Himself. This is literally taught in the Word of God. We read in Rom. 11:36 the well-known passage: “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever.” Twice in Eph. 1:1-12 the expression occurs: “That we should be to the praise of His glory,” and once in this same passage we read: “To the praise of the glory of His grace.” In Isaiah 42:8: “I am the Lord: that is My Name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images.” The same prophecy declares in Isaiah 43:21: “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall shew forth My praise.” And in the verses 22-25 that follow we read: “But thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of Me, O Israel. Thou hast not brought Me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured Me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought Me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled Me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made Me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. When the prophet writes in this passage that Israel did not serve the Lord, did not bring unto the Lord the small cattle of their burnt offerings, etc., he does not intend to emphasize that Israel’s offerings were corrupt and that in that sense they did not serve the Lord. But the main thrust of this passage is that we never serve the Lord, never bring anything unto the Lord. We do not serve Him; He serves us. All our offerings and sacrifices (to use Old Testament terminology) are of Him. Besides, all we do is weary the Lord with our sins and iniquities. And it is the Lord, only the Lord, who blots out our iniquities, and this He does for His own Name’s sake. In behalf of the glory of His Name the Lord has willed for us a night of sin and guilt, has willed for us a guilt and debt which we could never pay, in order that He might appear as the sole Savior of His people; fact is, He does all things, also the work of our salvation, for His Name’s sake, as an everlasting memorial unto the greatness of His grace and Name. These passages, which speak of the glory of God’s Name, can easily be multiplied. How often do we not read this refrain in the book of Psalms!
Moreover, to attain unto the highest glory of His Name the Lord has adapted all things. Also in this the Scriptures abound. In Ephesians 1:8-12 we read: “Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself; That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: That we should be to the praise of His glory, who trusted in Christ.” And in Rom. 8:28 we are told that all things work together for the good of them who are called according to God’s purpose.
The wisdom of God is that virtue of the Lord whereby He seeks the best end, the greatest glory of His Name, through the best divinely ordained means. The Lord is Himself the only wise God. Everlastingly within Himself, as the Triune and infinitely blessed covenant God, He is eternally motivated and prompted by the divine desire to rejoice in His own infinitely blessed glory and fullness. And in all His works, in nature and in Christ Jesus, He reveals Himself as the God of infinite wisdom. Of this wisdom the psalmist sings in Ps. 19: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.” Also the one hundred and fourth psalm is a eulogy on the wisdom of the Lord, reaching its climax in verse 24: “O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches.” Indeed, all the works of God’s hands proclaim the wisdom of their Creator! How wonderfully all things are adapted to each other! Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth. He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. He watereth the hills from His chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart. The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted; Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies. He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches.”—Ps. 104:9-24. Indeed, all things are marvelously adapted to each other, and proclaim the wisdom of their Creator.
Especially in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the great work of redemption did the Lord reveal Himself as the only wise God. Well may the apostle exclaim in Rom. 11:33-36: “O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen.” For, according to this same apostle in I Cor. 2:7-9: “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Seeking the greatest glory of His Name in the antithetical revelation of His Name in the eternal renewal of all things the Lord surely uses all things as means, also the night of sin and death.
This surely must lead us to that conception which would include all things under the sovereignty of God and render them subservient to His good pleasure. The infralapsarian view of things, which would begin with the phenomenon of sin and make no effort to explain it, must surely be discarded in the light of the supreme wisdom of God. The Lord’s purposes and results are always identical. He always accomplishes His good pleasure and no creature is able to resist His will. Hence, the eternal glory of His Name in the heavenly renewal of all things, in Jesus Christ our Lord, surely constitutes the Lord’s eternal purpose. This is the undeniable testimony of the Word of God in Eph. 1:9-10. Unto the realization of that eternal goal all things must serve. Adam’s sin, this present night of sin and death, the devil and all his host and all the powers of hell and darkness, the children of iniquity and all their evil devices and plans, the intense raging of the heathen against the Lord and His Anointed, all the wars and rumors of wars,—all these things are but means in the hand of the Lord whereby He is accomplishing His purpose and attaining unto His eternally ordained end.
Practically, this truth is of the greatest significance for the child and the church of God. The Lord can never do things differently. He is always prompted by the highest wisdom, the desire to seek the greatest glory of His Name through the best adapted means. Nothing happens by chance. And nothing is irrelevant. Everything occupies its own place in the divine scheme of things. The wisdom of God makes all things a “must”. And the new heavens and the new earth will eternally proclaim this adorable wisdom of our God; then we will forever praise the God of our salvation and thank Him for every step of our present way; then we will fully realize and understand that “unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jan 6, 2024 21:19:45 GMT -5
2/15/1949
The Attributes Of God: Communicable (cont.)
VELDMAN, HERMAN
Our Doctrine
Home / Archive / Volume 25/1949 / Vol 25 Issue 10
SHARE IT
God’s Goodness
The Goodness of God could conceivably be defined as that virtue of the Lord whereby He is the implication of all infinite virtues and perfections, and therefore is also the highest and only good for all His creatures. Dr. Hepp of the Netherlands has defined this attribute of God as the Lord’s “self-desirability”. The undersigned would refer all our readers to a beautiful, clear, concise exposition of the “Goodness of God” by the Rev. H. Hoeksema in his book, “God’s Goodness Always Particular”—every Protestant Reformed home should have this book and make a thorough study of it.
The goodness of God is generally treated as a generic conception. This implies that it is a conception which includes several shades and varieties, such as: love, friendship, mercy, grace, righteousness, holiness, etc. This explains why the goodness of the Lord has been defined as the implication of all infinite virtues and perfections. That the Lord is good signifies, therefore, that He is love, mercy, pity, longsuffering, righteousness, holiness, etc.
The late Dr. H. Bavinck, as one might expect, discusses this attribute of God in his Reformed Dogmatics on page 176-178 of Volume II. This writer introduces this subject by declaring that the word “goodness”, as far as its original and first significance is concerned, expresses a relation rather than an inner quality. We, according to this learned and eminent theologian, speak, e.g., of a good home, a good friend, etc., and thereby express the thought that that home or friend is good for us, is good in relation to us. Besides, what is good for one might not be good for another. Hence, the word “good” expresses in this connection a relation rather than an Inner quality. However, Dr. Bavinck thereupon proceeds to show that the word “goodness”, as it appears iii the Scriptures, expresses more than a mere relation. The Word of God, he declares, speaks of goodness as an inner quality, as something which is good in itself, apart from and irrespective of any relation. He writes: “According to Scripture God is the implication of all perfections. All virtues are present in Him in the absolute sense. In this absolute sense Scripture calls Him good only a few times, OUDEIS AGATHOS El MEE HEIS HO THEOS (No one is good but one, namely, God), Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19. He is TELEIOS (perfect), Matt. 5:48. But whatever virtue the Scriptures may ascribe to God, they always proceed from the assumption that this virtue belongs to Him in the absolute sense. Knowledge, wisdom, power, love, righteousness, etc., are ascribed to Him in a unique, that is, Divine sense. His goodness, therefore, is one and the same with His absolute perfection. He is pure EIDOS, purest action. He need not become anything but is what He is eternally. He has no purpose outside himself, but is self-sufficient,—Ps. 50:9, f.f., Is. 40:28 f.f., Hab. 2:20. He receives nothing, He only gives. Everything needs Him, He needs none or nothing. He always purposes Himself, because He cannot rest in anything less than Himself. Whereas He is Himself the absolute good, the perfect one, He can and may not love anything else except in and for Himself. He can and may not be satisfied with anything less than absolute perfection. When He loves others, He loves in them Himself, His own virtues, works, gifts. . . . Therefore He is absolutely blessed in Himself, as the implication of all good, of all perfection.” Thus far Bavinck.
Prof. L. Berkhof, in his Reformed Dogmatics, pages 70-71, describes the goodness of God as follows, and we quote him in full: “The Goodness of God. This is generally treated as a generic conception, including several varieties, which are distinguished according to their objects. The goodness of God should not be confused with His kindness, which is a more restricted concept. We speak of something as good, when it answers in all parts to the ideal. Hence in our ascription of goodness to God the fundamental idea is that He is in every way all that He as God should be, and therefore answers perfectly to the ideal expressed in the word “God”. He is good in the metaphysical sense of the word, absolute perfection and perfect bliss in Himself. It is in this sense that Jesus said to the young ruler: None is good save one, even God,” Mark 10:18. But since God is good in Himself, He is also good for His creatures, and may therefore be called the fons omnium bonorum. He is the fountain of all good, and is so represented in a variety of ways throughout the Bible. The poet sings: “For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light shall we see light,” Ps. 36:9. All the good things which the creatures enjoy in the present and expect in the future, flow to them out of this inexhaustible fountain. And not only that, But God is also the summum bonum, the highest good, for all His creatures, though in different degrees and according to the measure in which they answer to the purpose of their existence. In the present connection we naturally stress the ethical goodness of God and the different aspects of it, as these are determined by the nature of its objects.
a. The goodness of God towards His creatures in general. This may be defined as that perfection of God which prompts Him to deal bountifully and kindly with all His creatures. It is the affection which the Creator feels towards His sentient creatures as such. The Psalmist sings of it in the well known words: “Jehovah is good to all; and His tender mercies are over all His works. . . . The eyes of all wait for Thee; and Thou givest them their food in due season. Thou openest Thy hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing,” Ps. 145:9, 15, 16. This benevolent interest of God is revealed in His care for the creature’s welfare, and is suited to the nature and the circumstances of the creature. It naturally varies in degree according to the capacity of the objects to receive it. And while it is not restricted to believers, they only manifest a proper appreciation of its blessings, desire to use them in the service of their God, and thus enjoy them in a richer and fuller measure. The Bible refers to this goodness of God in many passages, such as Ps. 36:6; 194:21; Matt. 5:45; 6:26; Luke 6:35; Acts 14:17.” Thus far Berkhof.
This quotation of Prof. Berkhof is merely another example of the confusion which exists in the Christian Reformed Church today in connection with the goodness of the Lord. On the one hand he would maintain the Scriptural truth that God is truly God and He alone. He emphasizes this in the following words, does he not (and we underscore): “In our ascription of goodness to God the fundamental idea is that He is in every way all that He as God should be, and therefore answers perfectly to the ideal expressed in the word “God”. Notice also this statement of the professor, and again we underscore: “He is good in the metaphysical (here ‘supernatural’) sense of the word, absolute perfection and perfect bliss in Himself. And on the other hand we read of the same writer, and again we underscore: “All the good things which the creatures enjoy in the present and expect in the future, flow to them out of this inexhaustible fountain”—notice that, although this is true in itself, the way is hereby opened to a conception of God’s goodness which must be understood as a kindness toward all men. It is, of course, in itself true that the things as such which the creature receives are good and that these things flow unto him out of this inexhaustible divine fountain. But that the professor is opening the way unto a conception of the goodness which must be interpreted as a general kindness toward all men is evident from the following words which he himself underscores: “The goodness of God toward His creatures in general may be defined as that perfection of God, which prompts Him to deal bountifully and kindly with all His creatures.” And the following Scriptural passages are mentioned as proof for this conception of the general goodness of the Lord: Ps. 36:6; 104:21; Matt. 5:45; 6:26; Luke 6:35; Acts 14:17. Later, when he discusses the love of God, which is one of many aspects of this goodness of God, the professor quotes John 3:16 as a proof of his contention that God’s love also extends to the sinner in general.
The late Rev. D. Zwier, for many years a writer in the “Wachter”, one of the official organs of the Christian Reformed Churches, prefers the definition of the goodness of God as given by Prof. Hepp of the Netherlands. Dr. Hepp defines God’s goodness as His self-desirability. Indeed, the Rev. Zwier, when writing of the goodness of God (see the book of Rev. Hoeksema to which we have already referred) writes concerning this goodness in a manner which is thoroughly Reformed. He writes (Rev. Hoeksema quotes him on page 86 of his book, “God’s Goodness Always Particular”): “When, however, we speak of God’s goodness as His self-desirability, all emphasis falls on the fact that God’s goodness is absolutely unique in character, that it cannot be measured by any human standard, that it far transcends all creaturely goodness. And to mention no more this definition of God’s goodness places on the foreground that which for us must be of supreme importance, namely, God Himself. When we think of God’s goodness, we may not in the first place aim at ourselves, but God must be our purpose. God is good in Himself, apart from all creatures. He does not need the creature to manifest His goodness. When we hear mention of God’s goodness, we are so easily inclined to think immediately of His disposition to the creature. And, indeed, we may not forget this. Usually this is called the outgoing goodness of God. And when we speak of this the question is: Who and what is God for us? But when we understand that God’s goodness is His self-desirability, we place on the foreground that God is good in Himself, apart from the creatures. This idea must precede all others and receive all the emphasis. In dogmatical works this goodness of God is usually denominated His in-dwelling goodness. And when we treat of this the question is: Who and what is God in Himself? Even though God had never made any creature, it would have been eternally true: God is good, absolutely good, His goodness endureth forever. He does not need the creature to become good. For He is the implication of all good, of all perfections. He desires Himself, and cannot desire anything else than Himself as the highest good.” And attend to this of the same writer, which the Rev. Hoeksema quotes of him on pages 87-88 in the same book: “When we speak of this we must bear in mind that by the outgoing of God’s goodness to the creature this virtue of God does not change its character. God is the unchangeable, also with respect to His goodness. His goodness before the creation of the world does not essentially differ from His goodness after the creation of the world. His goodness remains essentially the same from eternity to eternity. Also when after creation His goodness proceeds to the creatures, it still remains essentially self-desirability. In the creature He desires Himself, and Himself only. When He loves the creatures, He loves in them His virtues, works, and gifts. This it is that Scripture teaches us when it says that the Lord has wrought all things for His own sake (also the ungodly to the day of evil; this belongs with it and the Rev. Zwier should not have forgotten this. This is exactly the point at issue, for this is also God’s goodness, His self-desirability, H.H.), that He formed for Himself a people to proclaim His praises. In all that He does, in the realm of creation as well as in that of redemption, He seeks Himself as the highest good.”
On the other hand, the Rev. Zwier would also generalize the matter and speak of the goodness in general. He prefers the term, “general goodness”, to the term, “general grace”, because it is broader and includes such virtues as grace, mercy, pity, compassion, longsuffering, etc. Hence, as soon as he views the goodness of the Lord from the aspect of the relation of the absolute good to His creatures, he speaks of that goodness as mercy, kindness, pity, longsuffering, love, compassion, benevolence, etc.
The serious mistake is made in the above reasoning that God’s goodness, when viewed in His relation to the creature, is no longer regarded as God’s self-desirability. This is truly a serious mistake. The determining factor is no longer the Lord but it has become man. The goodness of the Lord is viewed as a generic concept but merely as including such virtues as mercy, kindness, pity, compassion, longsuffering, benevolence, etc., and that from the viewpoint of the creature. However, the goodness of Jehovah also includes His holiness, righteousness, wrath, indignation, etc. It is forgotten that the Lord seeks Himself. He now seeks man, and man has become the center in the revelation by the Lord of His goodness. The exponents of a general goodness may then assert, as we noticed in the above quotation, that “For He is the implication of all good, of all perfections. He desires Himself, and cannot desire anything else than Himself as the highest good”, but, in their interpretation of the attitude of the Lord toward all His creatures in general, this maintaining of the absolute and unique goodness of God has become an idle and empty sound. And one may well wonder how the following statement of Prof. Berkhof can be true, which we quoted in this article: “This may be defined as that perfection of God which prompts Him to deal bountifully and kindly with all His creatures”. How is it possible for God, who is perfect and therefore hates the wicked every day, to deal bountifully and kindly with the wicked, who are surely also included in “all His creatures”? Do we not have a spiritual monstrosity here? The Lord, then, showers good gifts upon the children of men; they continue to use them against the cause of God in the midst of the world; and yet the Lord continues to shower these gifts and talents upon them every day in His kindness and benevolence. This, in the light of what the Scriptures teach us about the living God, is surely an attack upon the goodness of the Lord, upon the truth that He is in every way all that He as God should be, the God of infinite and eternal perfection. The defenders of “common grace” have forgotten that the goodness of the Lord include all the perfections of God, also His righteousness, holiness, justice, etc.
Significance of God’s Goodness.
In the first place, the goodness of the Lord is that virtue of God whereby He is the implication, the sum-total of all infinite perfections. God Himself is good, This is certainly the teaching of Holy Writ. We read in Exodus 38:19: “And He said, I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the Name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will show mercy.” It is evident from this passage that the goodness and Name of the Lord are synonymous. The Lord’s goodness is His Name. The Lord will reveal Himself in all the beauty of His perfections to Moses. Notice also the connection between the first and second parts of the text. It is exactly because of the goodness and Name of the Lord that He will not be merciful and gracious to all but only to some, and that according to His sovereign good pleasure. Because the Lord is infinitely perfect He is merciful and gracious only to the people of His sovereign choice. This is also the teaching of the Word of God in Nehemiah 9:20 and Psalm 25:8: “Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. . . . Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will He teach sinners in the way”. That the Lord Himself is good, according to these passages, is evident from the word “instruct” which appears in these texts. And in Matt. 19:17 we read: “And He said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Indeed, the Lord is the God of infinite perfections. All of Scripture, declares the late Dr. Bavinck, is an anthem of praise on the goodness of the Lord. He is the absolute good, the God in infinite light and beauty and perfection, who also is the Triune Lord and as such knows Himself, eternally seeks and desires Himself. In this sense, proceeding from the thought that the Lord is the God of infinite perfection, we may speak of the goodness of God as His self-desirability, if we only bear constantly in mind that He eternally seeks and desires Himself exactly as the only absolute good.
Secondly, this significance of the goodness of God must and does determine the significance of this divine attribute as far as the Lord’s relation to the creature is concerned. To be sure, the Lord is good in the sense that He is the highest and only good for the creature. To know Him is eternal life, and to experience His love and fellowship fills us with peace and joy and blessedness. This applies to God alone. His fellowship alone gives life and joy.
Moreover, it is also true that God is good to all in the sense that He gives good things to all. This does not mean that this is necessarily the interpretation of Ps. 145:9, where we read: “The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.” For a clear refutation of the error of “common grace” as applied to this particular passage we refer the reader once more to the book of Rev. Hoeksema, “God’s Goodness Always Particular”. Nevertheless, it is true that God is good in the sense that whatever He gives to the creature is good. Notice, however, that this emphasizes the truth that the Lord Himself is good. The rain, sunshine, bread, are good, not merely in the sense that the Lord simply bestows things upon the creature for his own carnal enjoyment, but in the sense that they are perfectly adapted unto the purpose which they must serve. They are good because they are adapted to the strengthening of our bodies and therefore to the service of the living God. But, is God not also good, then, when He visits floods, calamities, wars, eternal hell upon wicked men?
Does this, however, imply that the Lord is good to all men in the sense that He is kindly and benevolently disposed to all? Let us remember in this connection that God is good in the sense that He eternally seeks Himself as the absolute good. Consequently, this goodness of the Lord also implies His righteousness, holiness, justice, etc. Because the Lord is God and seeks exclusively Himself, He blesses those who bless Him, is merciful to the merciful, satisfies those who come to Him for aid in time of need, hearkens unto them who cry unto Him in their distress; but, also because He is the good God, He hides His face from the ungodly, hates the wicked every day, is filled with wrath toward the profane, has no fellowship with the sinner, is unto the wicked a consuming fire. In the description of this antithetical attitude of the living God toward the godly and the ungodly the Word of God abounds. The Psalms and Proverbs are full of this presentation of the goodness of God. Continually the people of God are contrasted with the ungodly, and continually the antithetical attitude of Jehovah toward the righteous and the unrighteous is set forth. This will become clearer as we continue our discussion in subsequent articles of the attributes of God. We conclude, therefore, that God’s goodness is that perfection of the Lord whereby He eternally seeks and desires Himself as the absolute good and as such always reveals Himself toward the children of men. This goodness of God which is constant and operative throughout the ages, for God is the unchangeable God also in His love and wrath, will ultimately be fully revealed in the new heavens and the new earth, when He shall take His own people unto Himself in everlasting glory for the sake of Jesus Christ, His Son and our Lord, and will visit eternal ruin and desolation upon those whom He has not known from before the foundation of the world.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jan 6, 2024 21:21:04 GMT -5
3/1/1949
The Attributes Of God: The Holiness of God
VELDMAN, HERMAN
Our Doctrine
Home / Archive / Volume 25/1949 / Vol 25 Issue 11
SHARE IT
Its Idea.
The principal words in Scripture for the concept, “holiness”, are KADOSH in Hebrew and HAGIOS in the New Testament Greek. These words mean fundamentally “purity”, either physical or moral, and particularly “freedom” from moral defilement. However, the root meaning of the word is closely associated with “cutting, separating”, so that “holiness” refers to a separation from evil and corruption and consecration to the Lord.
Its Prominent Mention in Holy Writ.
That “holiness” occupies a prominent place in the revelation of the Scriptures can hardly be questioned. This applies particularly to the Old Testament, due undoubtedly to Israel’s unique position in the midst of the world, although the word also appears prominently in the New Testament. Israel’s position in the midst of the world was unique; the people of God during the Old Dispensation lived a life of separation from the world and unique dedication unto the Lord. Israel was not separated from the nations round about her as one nation was separated from another nation. Israel was separated from all the nations of the world. It alone did not serve idols. And, Israel alone was dedicated unto the Lord, the living God. All the other peoples of the earth served idols, such as Baal, Baalim, Moloch, Bell, Ashteroth, etc. But Israel’s God was Jehovah, the I AM, the Rock, who is what He was and shall be what He is, the only and absolute reality, of whom and through whom and unto whom are all things, who alone does all things and who does all things for His Name’s sake. This God, the only God, was the God of Israel and of Israel alone, and they were His people, they alone. Hence, Israel’s position in the midst of the world was unique. The eyes of all the peoples of the earth were upon her. One need not, therefore, be surprised because of the prominent mention of “holiness” in the Old Testament. The fundamental significance of this concept is that of separation and consecration. Whatever is holy is surely unique. Israel’s peculiar position in the midst of the world, and Jehovah’s revelation to them that He was their God, only their God, that He alone is God and that no other god (and every other “god” is vain) can be compared unto Him must unquestionably explain the oft repeated occurrence of the concept “holiness” in the Old Testament. This, as we have already remarked, does not mean that this emphasis upon the word, “holiness”, must be confined to the Old Testament. It also appears throughout the New Testament.
No attribute of the Lord is mentioned more prominently in the Scriptures than that of “holiness”. And although one cannot separate the attributes of God and ascribe more significance to one than to another, yet the Word of God surely lays emphasis upon this virtue and presents it as the peculiar divine virtue. How often do we not read in the Scriptures (as, e.g., in the prophecy of Isaiah) that the Lord is holy! It is a fact that He is repeatedly called “the Holy One of Israel, de Heilige Israels.” Thus the Lord reveals Himself to Isaiah in the sixth chapter of that prophecy, and thus the prophecy continually speaks of Him. How often the word occurs with respect to the ceremonial, civil, and religious life of the people of God in the Old Dispensation! Everything is holy in connection with the life of the covenant people of the Lord. How often does it not occur that the people of God themselves are called holy! And we are all acquainted with the fact that the third Person of the Trinity is called by this name, “The Holy Spirit.” It is clear, therefore, that the word “holy” occupies a very prominent place in the revelation of Holy Writ. God is holy; His Spirit is holy; Jesus is called “holy”, both as the Son of God and as the Lord’s holy Child; His calling is holy and, because this calling of God is holy, we are called “called saints (called holy ones).” Indeed, “holiness” is a very important aspect of the goodness of God.
“Holiness” Also Expresses a Position or Relationship.
It is unquestionably true that the concept “holiness” expresses a position or relationship. The question has been disputed at length whether holiness emphasizes a moral, ethical quality or merely a position or relationship. Is a “holy” person primarily one who is characterized by ethical perfection, or is he “holy” because he has been separated from and consecrated unto something or someone? Is a person holy in himself or because of a relationship wherein he stands to another? Is holiness, therefore, primarily a relative concept, a concept which emphasizes a position or relationship?
That the concept “holiness”, in Holy Writ expresses a position or relationship is plain. We read of an holy land (Ex. 3:5), a holy convocation (Ex. 12:16), a holy sabbath (Ex. 16:23), a holy people (Ex. 19:6), a holy place (Ex. 29:31), a holy oil (Ex. 30:25), a holy linen coat (Lev. 16:4), a holy jubilee (Lev. 25:12), a holy house (Lev. 27:14), a holy acre (Lev. 27:21), a holy tithe (Lev. 27:30), holy water (Num. 5:17), holy vessels (Num. 16:37), a holy firstling of a cow or of a sheep or of a goat (Num. 18:17), a holy army (Deut. 23:14), holy gold (Joshua 6:19), holy bread (I Sam. 21:4), holy ark (II Chron. 35:3), holy seed (Ezra 9:2), holy city (Nehemiah 11:1), holy covenant (Daniel 11:21), holy word (Ps. 105:42). Besides, we read of the temple as a sanctuary (holy place), in Exodus 15:17, with its Holy Place and Holy of Holies; and in many passages of the Word of God the angels and the children of Israel are declared to be holy. The Bible speaks of holy prophets, priests, and kings, of holy cups and spoons and knives as they were used in the tabernacle and later in the temple. And it is evident from all these passages that the concept “holiness” here does not emphasize any inner, spiritual attribute, but a relationship—all these persons and things are “holy” because they have been separated from common use and consecrated unto the peculiar service of the living God.
However, this does not necessarily prove the contention that this idea of position or relationship constitutes the essence of “holiness”. On the one hand, we must bear in mind that the Israel of the Old Dispensation was a mighty type. Its vast and intricate, complex ceremonial and religious and civil life spoke a mighty symbolical language. Why were all these vessels and cups and spoons, etc., holy? Why do we read of the holy city, land, acre, etc.? Why does the Word of God reveal to us all the intricate and complex details of the tabernacle and the temple? What may be the meaning of all the couplings and brackets and sockets and colors of the temple service? Why is it that this entire system of worship, in all its minutest details, has been prescribed by the Lord, so that, in the book of Leviticus, these words recur repeatedly: “As the Lord commanded Moses”? Why is it that nothing was left to the ingenuity of man, even such a man as Moses? Is it not because our service of the Lord is purely of the Lord? Is it not because the establishment of the covenant, the relationship of living friendship between us and Jehovah, is exclusively of Jehovah? And if, then, this temple service is recorded in the Old Testament in minutest detail, so that we read of the vessels, spoons, cups, snuff dishes, sockets, couplings, brackets, etc., is it not because it is our calling to be a consecrated people unto the Lord in all the minutest details of our lives? If in the Old Dispensation everything belonged unto the Lord and must be dedicated to the Lord, also of us it is true that we must be a people of the living God and that we must be dedicated unto Him and His service with all that we are and possess. Israel of the Old Dispensation was, therefore, a mighty type, and its vast and intricate, complex mode of living likewise spoke a mighty symbolical language.
Besides, that the concept “holiness” must not be understood as merely emphasizing a position or a relationship also appears from another observation. If a holy person be merely a person who has been consecrated unto the service of another, would sinners, then, not also be holy? They are consecrated to the devil, are they not? Would they, therefore, not also be holy, if to be holy merely emphasizes a relationship? Whether we are devoted to the Lord or to the devil, we stand in a relationship. Holy we are, then, whether we serve the Lord or Mammon, if we understand, to be holy merely implies a relationship. Yet, we do not read of a “holy sinner.” That would be a contradiction in terms. Holiness and sin exclude each other. It must be obvious, therefore, that the concept, “holiness”, also has a spiritual, ethical content in Holy Writ. Only that which is related and consecrated to the Lord is holy. Obviously, therefore, God determines a person’s “holiness”.
“Holiness” Also Implies an Ethical, Spiritual Quality.
That the concept, “holiness”, also has an ethical content is plain from Holy Writ. This appears not only from the passages which refer to the living God (to which we will call attention presently in this article) but also from passages which refer to Christ and His people. Christ, e.g., is called “holy” in Mark 1:23-25. We quote: “And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.” It is clear from this passage that this evil spirit recognizes the Christ. It is also clear that the recognition with which he recognizes the Christ is also a spiritual recognition; i.e., he recognizes the spiritual contrast between himself and the Christ. He calls Jesus the “Holy One of God”. And the holy writer refers to this spirit as an “unclean” spirit. The “holiness”, therefore, of the Christ stands over against the uncleanness, corruption of this “evil” spirit. Christ tis the “Holy One of God” because He is supremely and perfectly devoted to God; this spirit is unclean because he is the very opposite of this holiness of the Christ, stands opposed to God and all that pertains to His Name and Kingdom. And we must also notice from this account in the gospel of Mark that this recognition of the Christ by the unclean spirit is immediate and spontaneous.
In Acts 4:27-30 we have another reference to the holiness of Jesus Christ. We again quote: “For a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, Whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together. For to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy word, by stretching forth Thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the Name of Thy holy child, Jesus.” Notice the contrast in this passage between the “holy child, Jesus”, and wicked men who have threatened the Church of God. The reference here to the “holy child Jesus”, surely explains the wicked action of these men. Their hatred of Jesus is rooted in the fact that He is God’s “holy child”. And as God’s “holy child” He was supremely dedicated unto the living God. These words of Acts 4, which constitute a part of that beautiful prayer of the Church, are a quotation of Ps. 2:1-3 where we read of the raging of the heathen against the Lord and against His Anointed. God’s “Anointed” is he who has been ordained and qualified by Jehovah to be His party and servant in the midst of the world. Also Acts 4:27 speaks of this anointing of the Christ in the words: “Whom Thou hast anointed”. To be “anointed” by the Lord and to be “His holy child” are synonymous, identical in meaning. ‘Christ is the Lord’s “holy child” exactly because He loved the Lord with all His heart and mind and soul and strength and was His Servant in the midst of the world. Therefore wicked men hated Him; and for this reason the wicked world has always hated His Church because that Church represents and reveals Him. It is evident also from this passage that this “holiness” of Christ is contrasted with the wickedness of evil men and, therefore, must have an ethical content here.
Moreover, the word “holiness” is also used with respect to the people of God and as denoting a setting apart for the purpose of honoring and reverencing that which is holy. In this sense, e.g., the word appears in John 17:19, where we read: “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” We should notice in this passage that the people of God are sanctified through the truth. To be sanctified through the truth signifies that the truth renders them an apart people in the midst of the world. God is the truth; He is the absolute reality. Whatever would vainly oppose the living God is the lie, is the denial of the reality, lives without God. Christ lived and revealed the truth because He was the party of the living God in the world and revealed and testified of Him. And He sanctified His people through the truth, through His atonement and Spirit, when He causes the truth of the living God to be poured out into their hearts, to become part and parcel of their life and being. Hence, “holiness” has a spiritual, ethical connotation in John 17:19.
This also applies to I Peter 1:14-16. We read there: “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” This passage clearly teaches us that the living God, Who called us to be holy, called us out of the former lusts of our ignorance. Our “holiness” is contrasted here with our former lusts. Formerly, we were disobedient children, children of pride and rebellion, children characterized by the former lusts which consisted of the hatred and enmity against the Lord, when we were ignorant of His fellowship and grace and love. Then we loved ourselves, were consecrated unto ourselves, and lived apart from the Lord and His service. But God called us to be holy, even as He Himself is holy. He called us unto Himself. He called us irresistibly, by the almighty power of His Spirit and Word. And the result of this calling was that we became holy. Here, too, “holiness” has a spiritual meaning.
In I Peter 3:15 we read: “But sanctify (render holy—H.V.) the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” Notice in this text that we must sanctify the Lord God in our hearts. Another and undoubtedly proper reading of this text would be: “But sanctify Christ, as Lord, in your hearts”. The apostle, Peter, in this context, is exhorting the Church of God to suffer for righteousness’ sake and admonishing her to trust in their risen Lord in the midst of trouble and persecution. The heart, in Scripture, is the center of our spiritual life, and, in the words of this particular text, it is the center of our conscious life. To sanctify Christ, as Lord, in our hearts signifies that, in the midst of all our troubles and afflictions, we may trust in Him as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, that we may regard all our enemies in the light of His majesty and power, that we may sanctify Him, set Him apart, and that so all our woes and sufferings may concentrate, as it were, in the one all-important point of His majesty and dominion. That the concept, “holiness”, means separation from and consecration to is beautifully illustrated in this word of the apostle, Peter; with all our heart and mind and soul and strength we must be devoted and consecrated unto Him, who bled and died and is even now exalted at the right hand of divine power, in order that, in the midst of our greatest troubles and afflictions, we may have perfect peace.
Finally, in connection with this Scriptural proof for the assertion that “holiness” also has spiritual connotation in Holy Writ, we would point to the Scriptural truth that this sanctifying (this rendering holy) always occurs through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is clearly taught in Heb. 13:12, where we read: “Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.” It is evident from this text, first of all, that our sanctification, as according to this text, could occur only through Christ’s blood. This implies that we are by nature sold under sin, objects of God’s wrath and estranged from the communion and fellowship of God’s covenant. To be sanctified through the blood of Jesus implies that we are sanctified through His blood, not only centrally upon the cross, but also by the Spirit of the risen and glorified Lord. Such a sanctification (a being rendered holy) surely signifies that we are separated from the power and the dominion of sin and consecrated unto the living God. Also Hebrews 13:12 establishes the truth that “holiness” does not merely refer to a relationship but that it also denotes a moral, ethical quality.
God is Holy.
It is obvious that God determines a person’s holiness. This is evident from a passage which we have already quoted, I Peter 1:14-16, where the apostle writes: “But as He which hath called you is holy, etc.” What, then, is the significance of holiness as an attribute of God?
That the Lord is holy is repeatedly and emphatically taught in Holy Writ. This applies particularly to the prophecy of Isaiah. We read in Isaiah 6:1-3, 5-7: “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered His face, and with twain he covered His feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. . . . Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged.” In this vision the prophet beholds the glory of the Lord. And he cannot endure this radiation of the Lord’s glory because he is a sinful man. The prophet’s sin, therefore, is in contrast to the incomparable glory, perfection of Jehovah. And this perfection of the Lord is proclaimed by the seraphims when they cry unto one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” How often the expression, “The Holy One of Israel”, occurs in this prophecy! We read in chap. 10:17: “And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and His Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.” See also Isaiah 29:19, 30:11, 41: 16, 47:4, 54:5. In Isaiah 57:15 we read: “For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Surely, in the light of this text, there is little support for the theory of “Common Grace” which would have us believe that God also exercises friendship with and is kindly disposed to the ungodly and the sinner. And in John 17:11 we read: “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own Name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as we are.”
(to be continued)
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jan 6, 2024 21:22:44 GMT -5
12/15/1948
The Attributes Of God
VELDMAN, HERMAN
Our Doctrine
Home / Archive / Volume 25/1949 / Vol 25 Issue 06
SHARE IT
In our previous article we began our discussion of the attributes of God. We concluded the article by calling attention to the distinction between the incommunicable and communicable attributes of the Lord. The incommunicable attributes are the virtues of God which can be ascribed to the Lord alone. The communicable attributes of God are the virtues of the Lord which are reflected in man; there is a creaturely likeness, reflection of them in man. Strictly speaking, we understand, all the attributes of God are incommunicable. God is His attributes. God, of course, cannot be imparted to the creature. He alone is and always remains God. Hence, also His attributes are necessarily incommunicable. As God is wise, righteous, holy, good, etc., He alone is wise righteous, holy, good, etc. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that when we speak of the communicable attributes of the Lord, we emphasize that they are creaturely reflected in the creature. These incommunicable attributes of God, to which we first call attention, are: independence, immutability, simplicity, oneness, infinity (eternal perfection, eternity, omnipresence).
God’s Independency.
The Independency of God we define as that attribute of God, whereby He has the ground and cause (or source) of His Being in Himself, and not in any being or essence outside Him.
This attribute, synonymous with the name, Jehovah, is commonly and properly treated as the first incommunicable attribute. The first truth which the Scriptures reveal of the Lord is surely that He has His own existence, is wholly self-sufficient, and completely independent of all that moves, lives, and has being. His being and life is wholly unique; the Lord cannot be defined for the simple reason that He cannot be classified (to define anything implies that that thing be placed in a certain genus, and then that it be distinguished from other species in that particular genus—e.g., a horse is an animal but then it must also be distinguished from other animals). The Lord is the alone absolute God. Also His names are unique; and of all the names of God, Jehovah is preeminent—this name declares of the Lord that He is the I Am, who is what He was and shall be what He is, who is the Rock, unchangeable within Himself and in all His dealings with His people.
The Lord is independent, Self-sufficient and Self-existing, first of all within Himself. He is God Who is before all things and all things exist through Him— Ps. 90 :2: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God”; see also I Cor. 8:6; Rev. 4:11. He is in the absolute sense of the word the Lord of the whole earth—Deut. 10:17: “For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, Which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward”; see also Joshua 3:13. He owes His existence to nothing, and all things are dependent upon Him—“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen.”, Romans 11:36. He is the living God who possesses His life within Himself (“For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself”, John 5:26), and the Lord is the all-sufficient one who is not worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing—“Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things,” Acts 17:25.
However, the Independency of God also implies that He is the independent one with respect to and in connection with all things. He is not an Arminian God who is dependent upon a creature, a god who must rely upon the will of a man, a god who is willing and eager to save all, but is frustrated by the refusal of countless thousands whom he would save but who refuse to be saved. He is not a god, who merely offers His salvation to all men who come within the range of the gospel, who must wait until man either accepts or rejects this offer of salvation. God is the independent God, wholly self-sufficient and sovereign, the God who is always first, also in all His dealings with the children of men. He killeth and maketh alive, creates the light and the darkness, peace and evil—“I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things”, Is. 45:5-7; see also Deut. 32:39, Isaiah 54:16. The Lord does with the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth according to His will (“And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?”—Daniel 4:35), so that the children of men are in His hand as clay in the hand of a potter—“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it. Why hast thou made me thus: Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”, Romans 9:20-21; see also Isaiah 64:8; Jeremiah 18:1ff. His counsel, His good pleasure is the ground, the basis for all that is and for all that occurs—“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure”, Isaiah 46:10; “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. . . . Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed, in Himself: …. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will:”, Eph. 1:5, 9, 11; see also Ps. 33:11; Prov. 19:21; Matt. 11:26; Acts 2:23, 4:28. The Lord does all things for His own sake, His Name’s sake, His glory’s sake—“For the Lord will not forsake. His people for His great Name’s sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make, you His people.”, I Sam. 12:22; “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy Name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for Thy Name’s sake.”, Psalm 79:9; see also Deut. 32:27, Joshua 7:9, Ps. 25:11, 31:4, 106:8, 109:21, 143:11, Prov. 16:4, Is. 48:9, Jer. 14:7, 21, Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22, 44. The Lord needs nothing, is all-sufficient—“Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth to all life and breath, and all things.” Acts 17:25. And thus He is the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who shall come—“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and Which is to come, the Almighty.” Rev. 1:8, see also Is. 41:4, 44:6 48:12. This God is therefore also independent in all His attributes and perfections, in all His decrees and actions. This applies to His will, as in Rom. 11:34, 35: “For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?” Also His will is independent, as in Romans 9:19: “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will?”; see also Daniel 4:35, Eph. 1:5, Rev. 4:11. His counsel, too, is independent, according to Is. 46:10 and Ps. 33:11. Of the love of God we read that it is first and therefore independent and not dependent upon the will of a man, as in I John 4:10: “Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” And we would conclude with the words of the psalmist in Ps. 115:3: “But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.” The Lord our God is truly the independent Jehovah.
God’s Simplicity.
The Simplicity of God we define as that perfection of the Lord whereby He is indivisible and not composed and that all His attributes are one in Him. The word, simplicity, as used in the discussion of the perfections of God, is the state of being simple, of being free from division into parts, and therefore from compositeness.
That God is simple implies, therefore, that He is eternally one within Himself, is not divided into various parts, so that the one part of His being is e.g., grace and another part a different virtue; God’s essence and His virtues or perfections are not distinct so that, instead of saying that He is His attributes, we would then confess that He possesses attributes; God and His attributes are eternally one; the Lord is His perfections. Simplicity we understand, is the contrast, the opposite of being composed, “made-up” into various parts.
The attribute of God’s simplicity implies, of course, that He is a spiritual being, even as we are taught in the well-known words of Christ in John 4:24 where we read that God is Spirit (not a Spirit, but Spirit). Whatever is physical is composed, constituted of parts. It is true that the Scriptures speak of God in human fashion, but even then the Word of God is characterized by definite limitations. Of the internal organs of our body only the heart and the bowels are attributed to the Lord; nowhere does Scripture ascribe to God such organs with which nourishment, consumption, and development are associated. We read of the Lord, to be sure, that He sees, hears, smells, but never that He tastes or handles. A body is never attributed to Him; and although we read often that the Lord reveals Himself unto His people in a human appearance, yet, throughout the Scriptures, He is Elohim, the God that is to be feared, and who is far exalted above all that is creature. We read of Him that He exists of Himself (Ex. 3:13-14: “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”), is eternal Ps. 90 and Deut. 32:40: “For I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.”), is omnipresent (Jer. 23:23, 24: “Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.”; Deut. 10:14, Psalm 139), is incomparable (Ps. 89:6, 8: “For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord: who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? or to Thy faithfulness round about Thee?”; Is. 40:18, 25: “To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto Him? To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.”; see also Is. 46:5), is invisible (Ex. 38:20, 23: “And He said, Thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live. And I will take away Mine hand, and thou shalt see My back parts: but My face shall not be seen.”), is God of whom no image or likeness con and therefore may not be made (Ex. 20:4: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”) And although He repeatedly reveals Himself in appearances, dreams, visions, yet He is omnipresent, the Lord Who created and sustains all things.
The incommunicable attribute of simplicity is taught in the Word of God. Having emphasized the utter vanity and foolishness of idols in verses 1-9, which idols are hewn out of the trees of the forest and bedecked with gold and silver and cannot speak or go, the holy writer in Jer. 10:10 writes: “But the Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting King: at His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation.” Literally we read in this passage that “the Lord is the God of truth.” Substantives as well as adjectives are ascribed to the Lord. God is not only truthful, does not merely speak the truth; God is truth. And the same thought is expressed in the Word of God in I John 1:5 4:8: “This then is the message, which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all . . . He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” Hence, we confess the simplicity of God, also according to Article I of our Confession of Faith, and thereby declare that the Lord is indivisible, not constituted of any parts, or composed, and that all His attributes are one In Him. God is, with His entire being, all His virtues, the highest and absolute good, and therefore the God of infinite, sovereign, and unchangeable perfection.
God’s Infinity.
We define God’s Infinity as that virtue or attribute of God whereby He is free from all limitations in all His perfections. This attribute, therefore, denies that there are or can be any limitations to the divine being or perfections.
Two scriptural passages which are commonly quoted to confirm this virtue of the Lord are Job 11:7-9 and Psalm 145:3. In the first of these passages we read: “Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.” And the latter passage reads: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.”
God’s Infinity is commonly distinguished as: His absolute perfection, eternity, and omnipresence. The latter virtue is again subdivided into: transcendency and immanency. Let us look into these attributes of the Lord a little more closely.
God’s Absolute Perfection.
We have already quoted Job 11:7-9 and Ps. 145:8. To these Scriptural passages may be added Matt. 5:48: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” If one looks at God’s perfection in the light of His Infinity, bears in mind that the perfect God is also the infinite God, the emphasis must necessarily fall upon the truth that the Lord’s perfection is absolute. God is infinite. The creature, man, is finite. The word “finite” means literally: that which is bounded, limited. We are finite because we are limited, are characterized by boundaries, have an end. That applies to our entire existence, the physical but also the psychical. We have a beginning and, as far as our present existence is concerned, also an end. We were born and must die. But we are also limited as far as our thinking and willing, etc., are concerned. We can think only of finite things. It is impossible for us to conceive of anything, understand anything that is infinite, without beginning or end, limitless. Does this, then, necessarily imply that therefore the infinite, the limitless does not exist? That would be absurd. Am I not the creature and is not the Lord the Creator? Is it strange that the creature does not understand the Creator, that the finite does not fathom the Infinite? The Creator is surely exalted above the creature, also above that which is finite. The Lord is the infinite God. He is without boundaries, is limitless, boundless.
This implies, of course, that Jehovah is infinite in His perfections, is the God of absolute perfection. Fact is, the infinity of the Lord reveals Him unto us as free from all limitations, as in no sense of the word limited by the universe or confined to the universe. The infinite God is surely the absolute God, who is never limited or determined by anything outside Him, who has no bounds, beginning or end of any nature, who owes His existence eternally unto Himself, and who is therefore the absolute, infinite, non-related, not related to or bound by any creature, and therefore the God of absolute perfection. Indeed, the Lord is great and His greatness is unsearchable.
God’s Eternity.
God’s eternity we define as that virtue or perfection of God whereby He, negatively, is not limited to or by time, and, positively, continuously lives His infinite and perfect life with perfect and complete consciousness.
The Word of God teaches us throughout that God is eternal. We read in Ps. 90:1-2: “Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” In Ps. 102:11-12 we read: “My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever; and Thy remembrance unto all generations.” In Eph. 3:21 we read: “Unto Him (God) be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” And in II Peter 3:8 we read these well known words: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” We conclude with the words of the Lord Jesus in John 8:58: “Jesus saith unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
In the light of these passages from the Word of God we are able to make a few observations. On the one hand, the Scriptures seem to leave the impression that “eternity” is endless time. The word itself means a long, long time. We often think of “eternity” as a period of time which is indefinitely prolonged, forwards and backwards; that God is eternal means then that He is without beginning and without end. Besides, could we conceive of “eternity” any differently? This also applies to the other virtues of the Lord. We speak of His infinity. This means literally that He is not finite. However, it must be perfectly clear to us that God is not merely negative, is not merely different from us. God’s infinity must mean more than that He is not finite. This also applies to the Lord’s eternity. But, we cannot think of this virtue of the Lord except in contrast with our own existence. Moreover, do not the Scriptures which we have quoted speak the same language? Do we not read in Ps. 90 these words: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting. . . .” And in the words of Ps. 102 these words occur: “My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. But Thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever; and Thy remembrance unto all generations.” In Eph. 3:21 the apostle speaks of the endless life of the church, and we quote: “Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.”
Obviously, therefore, the Scriptures do speak of the “eternity” of God in the sense of “endless time”. Does this necessarily mean that Eternity is therefore to be identified with time, only time as indefinitely prolonged, without beginning or end? Not at all. The Word of God also employs other language, as we shall presently see. In fact, this is even true of the passages we have already quoted. Negatively, however, the eternity of God signifies that He is not limited by the laws of time, and this truth is emphasized in these passages from Holy Writ.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jan 6, 2024 21:24:07 GMT -5
1/1/1949
The Attributes Of God (Incommunicable)
VELDMAN, HERMAN
Our Doctrine
Home / Archive / Volume 25/1949 / Vol 25 Issue 07
SHARE IT
We concluded our previous article with the remark that, negatively, the Eternity of God signifies that He is not limited by the laws of time, and that this truth is emphasized in the passages which we quoted in that article. We also made the observation, however, that this attribute of the Lord must not be identified with time, that it is not merely time as indefinitely prolonged, forwards and backwards. Even as the Infinity of God means more than mere “non-finiteness”, so also the Eternity of God is not to be identified with endless time.
That Eternity is more than “endless time” is surely supported by the Word of God. Fact is, this is already true of the passages we quoted in our preceding article, namely: Ps. 90:2, John 8:58, and 2 Pet. 3:8. We quote Ps. 90:2 again: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” Notice the words: Thou art God. The same expression occurs in John 8:58: “Jesus saith unto them, Verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was I am.” And in 2 Pet. 3:8 we read these remarkable words: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” This last passage from the Scriptures simply emphasizes the thought that the laws of time do not apply to the Lord. With Him a thousand years are as one day and a day is as a thousand years, i.e.: with the Lord there is no time. However, as we remarked in our preceding article, the Scriptures also employ other language. I refer particularly to the revelation of the name, Jehovah. God, we read in Holy Writ, is the I AM. He is, as the Holland expresses it, the “Zijnde”. He is the Rock, everlastingly the same. He knows no increase or decrease, no progress or development. He lives in an everlasting present, Who knows no past or future, Who “from moment unto moment” lives on in an everlasting present, Who knows no past or future, Who “from moment unto moment” lives an infinity of life and perfection. Time, therefore, is not applicable to the Lord. And this lies in the nature of the case. He is the Creator, is He not? As such, He is also the Creator of time. He made the moments, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months; years, etc. He is the Almighty Maker of time and therefore stands infinitely above that creature which He has made.
What is the creature we call “time”? It is a creature. The Lord created it. Yet we cannot see it, touch it, handle it, feel it. Yet, it is there, all around us, in a very realistic sense of the word. Time we would define as the necessary mode of existence for the ever becoming and developing creature. We cannot notice Time in its progress; yet, if we look at ourselves a year or a few years hence, we can readily discern the effects of it upon our features. “Time marches on” is a well-known saying. We were infants, became children, young men and women, men and women, and are soon replaced by others who take our place in the changing drama of this world. This is the inevitable operation of what we call Time. It is the necessary mode of existence for the ever becoming and developing creature. “Change” is its watch-word. God, however, is eternal. This means, negatively, that He is not limited by time. Eternity has been defined as the virtue of God whereby He possesses the whole of His existence in one indivisible moment or present. Positively, however, the eternity of the Lord means much more. That the Lord is eternal also implies that He continuously lives His infinite and perfect life with perfect and complete consciousness. God’s infinite life is lived by the Lord perfectly and completely. There is in Him no succession of events or moments, no yesterday and today and tomorrow, no past and present and future. All His life and thoughts and emotions and purposes and acts are without succession, one and inseparable, the same even forever.
If then the acts of the Lord are mentioned in Scripture as past, present, and future (God Who is and Who was and Who is to come—Rev. 1:4), this cannot and does not mean that the acts of God are past, present, or future in God Himself, but only in respect to His revelation, as they are revealed unto the creature, and realized in time. In God everything is eternal; the event, as revealed unto us, takes place in time, and is thus past, present, or future, to our observation.
God’s Omnipresence.
God’s Omnipresence we define as that virtue or attribute of God whereby He is exalted above all space and laws of space and nevertheless completely fills with His Being as well as His power that space, the entire universe. It is evident from this definition that the Omnipresence of God consists of two parts: God’s Transcendency, that He is above all, and His Immanency, that He is in all things.
The Lord is, first of all, the Transcendent One. This truth is taught throughout the Word of God and especially in passages such as I Kings 8:27, Isaiah 66:1-2, Acts 7:48, 49, and II Chron. 2:4-6. We read in I Kings 8:27: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” In Isaiah 66:1-2 we read: “Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool: where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest? For all those things hath Mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to Him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word.” In II Chronicles 2:4-6 this same thought is expressed: “Behold, I build an house to the Name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, and to bum before Him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt-offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel. And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods. But who is able to build Him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? who am I then, that I should build Him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before Him? And in Acts 7:48-49 we read these words of Stephen: “Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool: what house will ye build Me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of My rest?”
What do we mean by the Transcendency of God? God’s Transcendency or Immensity must not be understood in the local sense of the word. He is not the transcendent God in the sense that He is physically, locally above us. That God is exalted above us would signify, then, that between Him and us is this world, the universe, that somehow the Lord “begins” where this world ends. God’s Transcendency is understood, then, in a physical, local, material sense of the word. This conception of God’s Transcendency, we understand, is impossible. The Lord is the Transcendent One. And He will ever remain the Transcendent One. Also in the eternal realization of the Kingdom of Heaven, when all things shall have been gathered together in one and the distinction between heaven and earth shall have fallen away, God will remain highly exalted.
The Lord is the Transcendent God within and as He is in Himself. If His Omnipresence in the sense of Immanency refers to God from the aspect of His relation to His creatures, His Transcendency or Immensity refers to God as He is His own Being. The Transcendency of God implies that He is not subject to the laws of space or time, is never to be identified with the creature, anything that He has made, is not merely locally above us but essentially and absolutely to be distinguished from all the works of His hands, is God and He alone, the highly exalted and absolute God, the Incomparable One.
This Transcendency of God has been zealously maintained by the Church of all ages, particularly in refutation of the error of Pantheism. Pantheism (the word itself means literally: All is God) would have us believe that God is all things. It identifies the Lord with the creature. This heresy, we can easily understand, is the deathblow to all true religion. If God be the world and the world be God the inevitable conclusion must be that we have no God. All we have then is a world. And without God there can be no religion. If there be no God, then there is necessarily no sin; there is none against whom we can sin. And, for the same reason, the consciousness of sin and a life of prayer will be impossible. In other words, religion is simply impossible. We, therefore maintain and confess the Transcendency of God, that He is God alone, infinitely and absolutely exalted above the creature, and distinguished from all the works of His hands.
The Omnipresence of God does not only teach us, however, that the Lord is the Transcendent One, but also that He is Immanent, in all things. This, too, is taught throughout the Word of God and especially in passages such as Psalm 139:7-10, Jer. 23-24, Acts 17:24-28. We read in Ps. 139:7-10: “Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.” In Jeremiah 23:23-24 the prophet writes: “Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” And in Acts 17:24-28 we read: “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bonds of their habitation: That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us: For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.”
The Immanency of God is of great importance to the Church of God. We must not have a Deistie conception of God as if He beholds the world from afar, is, therefore, in remote control, or even that He created all things but then has left and still leaves the world to itself. The world may, then, be likened to an alarm clock. God wound it up in creation-week and it has been running ever since. We must maintain the Immanency of God, that He is constantly in all, things, and in every minutest part of everything. This does not mean, of course, that the Lord is all things. Space and time are not merely (matters which exist in our minds, so that we cannot possibly know what the actual reality is (Kant did not deny the reality of things but the possibility of our knowledge of them); space and time themselves are creatures; it lies, therefore, in the nature of the case that God, Who is the Creator of all things, is also the Creator of time and space, stands therefore absolutely above them and is not to be identified with them.
Confessing this attribute of the Lord we do maintain however that all things move and live in God and have their being in Him. There is essential distinction between God and the world, but no separation between Him and His creation or any part of that creation. God fills the universe, yet is essentially distinguished from it. He is not as a captain of his ship or a king in his kingdom who rules his kingdom from a certain vantage point; He is in heaven and also in hell, in the godly but also in the ungodly, in the places of purity but also in the places of impurity. To be sure, this does not mean that He is equally present and present in the same sense in all His creatures. The nature of His indwelling is in harmony with the nature of His creatures. He does not dwell on earth as He does in heaven, in animals as He does in man, in the inorganic as He does in the organic creation, in the ungodly as He does in the godly, in the world as- He does in the Church, in an angel as He does in man or an animal, in a tree as He does in a flower. Hence, separation from the Lord is strictly impossible. God is also in hell. It is true that to be apart from the Lord is death, but one can be separated from Him only in an ethical sense of the word; this ethical separation implies that one is the object of His wrath and indignation, has been separated from His love and communion and fellowship. Local separation from God, however is impossible. The Lord constitutes; hell as well as heaven. God is in heaven; the Lord is also in hell. Without God there would be no heaven; without Him there would be no hell. The very presence of God, the awful nearness of the Most High, the seeing of Him, face to face only as a consuming Fire, will constitute hell for the wicked. While in this life and in this world the ungodly is able to clench his fist, can say in his heart that there is no God, is able to deny, the living Lord and teach the theory of evolution, and makes full use of the opportunity to persecute the people of the living God and to destroy His cause and Church. In hell, however, he will be eternally confronted by the living Lord as a consuming Fire, and experience forever and ever the awfulness of his unspeakable misery, that he is forever separated from the love and fellowship of the Lord Whom to know is life eternal. To be sure, this separation from the Lord’s love and communion does I not begin for the ungodly in hell; already in this life the Lord is angry with the wicked every day, His eye is upon the godly, and He is far from those who do iniquity. But, whereas in this world the ungodly pursue after the things of sin and evil, have the opportunity to seek the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes, in hell their opportunity to sin will forever be a thing of the past and they will know no other experience than the conscious tasting of the wrath and indignation of the Lord. Local separation from God is impossible; God, we understand, will constitute hell as well as heaven.
God’s Immutability.
God’s Immutability or Unchangeableness is that Divine perfection whereby He is the Eternally Perfect One, in His own Being or Essence, and in all His works, and, therefore, is and remains the same continuously supremely exalted above all things without increase or decrease, growth or diminution.
The virtue of the Lord’s Immutability follows necessarily from the fact that God is God and eternally independent and Self-sufficient. Any change, we understand, is necessarily a change for the better or the worse. In either case, the Lord is unchangeable. He cannot increase or decrease. He cannot increase because He is the God of infinite perfections; and He cannot decrease or diminish because He is the overflowing Fount of all good.
The truth of God’s Immutability is Scriptural. We read in Malachi 3:6: “For I am the Lord, I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” And in James 1:17 we read: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Resides these oft- quoted passages are several others. We read in Ex. 3:14: “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Or, in Ps. 102: 26-28: “They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end. The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before Thee.” And in Isaiah 41:4 the prophet writes: “Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I am the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am He.” In Romans 1:23 we read: “And changed the glory of the uncorruptible (the undersigned underscores) God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” And the text of Ps. 102:26-28 is quoted by the apostle in the epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 1, verses 11-12.
However, are there not several passages in the Word of God which seem to ascribe change to the Lord? Did not the Lord in the beginning create the heavens and the earth? Did He not therefore change from non-creating to creating, front a God Who was no Creator unto a God Who becomes the Maker of all things? And is it not true that, from the” beginning of this world, He lives, as it were, the life of the world and associates, particularly with His people Israel? He comes and He goes, He reveals Himself and hides Himself, He turns away His face and reveals His face unto us. He repents Himself of an action taken (Gen. 6:6: “And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth and it grieved Him at His heart”; I Samuel 15:11: “It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following Me, and hath not performed My commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night”); changes His purpose (Ex. 82:10-14: “Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, which Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people. Remember, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou swarest by Thine own Self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people.”; Jonah 3:10: “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.”), becomes angry (Numbers 11:1, 10: “And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and His anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.”; Psalm 106:40: “Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against His people, insomuch that He abhorred His own inheritance.”), lays aside His wrath (Deut. 13:17: “And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand; that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His Anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as He hath sworn unto thy fathers;”, II Chron. 12:12: “And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that He would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.”, Jer. 18:8, 10: “If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto thee. . . . If it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.”). The Lord differs in His attitude toward and dealings with the godly from His attitude toward and dealings with the ungodly.
(to be continued)
|
|
