On Sunday morning, if the Lord wills, we will continue our theme of “I Believe God” by considering God’s nature. We will ask the following question: who is God? If we are going to truly believe God, we need to understand, to the best of our ability, the nature, character, and identity of the One whom we are trusting and putting our faith in. While completely comprehending the nature of God is impossible for us as limited human beings, I believe that we can understand Him based on how He has revealed Himself to us in the Bible. As we study together on Sunday, we will direct our attention to Exodus 34:6-7, which describes to us so powerfully who our God is. In this article, as well as the article for next week, I would like for us to look at other descriptions of God that are found in the Scriptures.
First, God is omniscient. This means that God is all-knowing. There is nothing that is outside the realm of God’s knowledge. As Psalm 147:5 says, “His understanding is beyond measure.” In 1 John 3:20, the apostle John presents a very similar message: “He knows everything.” In Romans 11:33, Paul writes, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”
Second, God is omnipotent. This means that God is all-powerful. Our God is “great” and “abundant in power” (Psalm 147:5). In Genesis 18:14, the Lord asks, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” We know that the answer to that question is a resounding “no” because “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). As Jehoshaphat said so well in a prayer to God, “In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you” (2 Chronicles 20:5).
Third, God is omnibenevolent. This means that God is all-loving. Love is a part of God’s nature; as 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.” How can we see the love that God has for humanity? Paul answers that question in Romans 5:8, which states, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Oftentimes labeled as “the golden text of the Bible,” John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Fourth, God is omnipresent. This means that God is equally present everywhere at all times. We serve the God who fills heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23:24). God is “not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). God’s presence cannot be limited to a certain physical location; not even the heaven or the highest heaven is capable of containing Him (1 Kings 8:27). As David writes in Psalm 139:7-10, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”
When we think about God’s omniscience, omnipotence, omnibenevolence, or omnipresence, our focus tends to be very broad. What if we were to get more specific? If God knows everything, do you know what that means? It means that God knows you. God has searched and known you (Psalm 139:1). God knows everything about you. In His omnipotence, God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,” but we cannot stop reading Ephesians 3:20 at that point. The next phrase says that His power is “at work within us.” If God is love and loves all people, that means that God loves you. We can come to know and believe the love that He has for us (1 John 4:16). If God is present everywhere, that means that He is present with you; He will not leave or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). What an amazing God we serve, a God of both transcendence and immanence.
How should we respond? God knows you; do you know Him? God is strengthening you; are you accessing and living based on that power? God loves you; do you love Him? God is present with you; are you present with Him?
-Tyler Alverson
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