Understanding Our Triune God: The Attributes of God

We, as finite human beings in our fallen state, cannot comprehend God fully. Most of who God is will always remain a mystery to us. But the word of God does reveal some of his attributes.

God is spirit. He is immaterial. He is eternal. God has always existed. There was never a time when he did not exist. He is not bound by the limits of human time. He has neither a beginning nor an ending.

God is the Creator of the universe. The whole cosmic system of matter and energy, of which the Earth is a part, was created by him out of nothing. The cosmos is a systematic whole held to arise by and persist through the direct intervention of divine power. God is the Creator and not a created being nor a part of the creation. 

God is omnipotent. He is all-powerful. He is the Almighty God. He has the ultimate power and authority over all things.

God is holy and perfect. God is righteous and in him there is no sin. God cannot sin for it is not in his nature.

God is omnipresent. He is present everywhere simultaneously, observing and watching everything we do.

God is omniscient. God knows everything. He knows and sees our actions. He knows our thoughts and he knows our hearts. 

God is love. God's love is unconditional and selfless toward mankind, supremely expressed when he sent his Son, Jesus, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 

God is good. God is good and all that he originally created before the Fall was good.

God is full of mercy. Our sins demand punishment and damnation, but God does not destroy mankind. Instead, he offers the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

God is patient. God expressed his patience first with Adam and Eve, for he did not destroy them as he could have done. He even made for them clothing from animal skins to cover their nakedness. As humanity grew extremely wicked, God was angry and regretted that he had even made man. He vowed to destroy mankind, but waited patiently while Noah constructed the ark.

God is truth. God cannot lie. God is truth and is trustworthy in all He says and does. God proclaimed before Moses, "The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." (Exodus 34:6 KJV). His Spirit is called the "Spirit of truth" (John 14:17 KJV). His Son called Himself, "The way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6 KJV).

God is just. God is fair, honest, and just in his dealings with and treatment of mankind. God hates sin and loves righteousness. He is just in condemning fallen man to death, yet sent his Son to atone for our sin that we may have life. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them… For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:19, 21 KJV).

God is faithful. God will perform what He has revealed in his Word, and will carry out his promises and warnings. His faithfulness should be of comfort to all believers, and bring fear to those who walk in unrighteousness.

He is Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord who provides. He is El-Shaddai, the all-sufficient one. He is Abba, our Heavenly Father.

The doctrine of the Trinity

Trinity is not a word that Jesus used. It is not even found in the Bible, but it is used to describe what we know about God. The doctrine of the Trinity is a difficult subject to understand even for many Christians. But one must be clear on one fact--- Christianity stands or falls by what the doctrine says. The doctrine of the Trinity is not an invention of men, nor is it an addition to the Bible. The Trinity is a crystallization of the teachings of the Bible.

God is Triune. God is one God who is manifested in three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully divine and equal to the other two; yet they are not three Gods, but one, fully and completely united in purpose. They are not three Gods but one. The word used to describe this attribute of God is known as the Trinity (tri + unity or triad, the union of three). The doctrine of the Trinity states:

1)         God eternally exists as three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

2)         Each person is fully God.

3)         There is one God.

The Triune God

God has always been a Trinity from all eternity. The person of the Father is not the same as the Son. The person of the Son is not the same as the Holy Spirit. The person of the Holy Spirit is not the same as the Father. If you take away any one, there is no God.

The creation story hints of the trinity with the plural words US and OUR, "And God said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness" (Genesis 1:26 KJV). "For there are three that bear record in heaven," John tells us. "The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." (1 John 5:7 & 8 KJV).

Jesus said, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9 KJV). Many scriptures mention all three persons of the Godhead. Jesus said, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26 KJV).  “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3 NIV).  “That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him” (John 5:23 NIV).

The Son has been entrusted with the power of judgment. He possesses equal dignity with the Father and shares with him judicial as well as executive authority. Conversely, since the Son is equal in authority, he can rightly claim equal honor with God.

“You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:35 NIV).  “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV). "The most important one” answered Jesus, "is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Mark 12:29 NIV).

That God is one does not deny the doctrine of the Trinity.  “I and the Father are one" (John 10:30 NIV).  "I and the Father" preserves the separate individuality of the two Persons in the Godhead; the word "one" asserts unity of nature or equality. The Jews were quick to apprehend this statement and reacted by preparing to stone Jesus for blasphemy because he, a man, had asserted that he was one with God.

Three significant things took place when Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. These three things validate and authenticate the doctrine of the Trinity. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16 & 17 NIV). Jesus Christ, the Son, was baptized. When Jesus stepped out of the water the Holy Spirit came down upon him. Then the voice of the Father is heard. In one single episode, we find the manifestation of all three persons of the Trinity.

Ultimate revelation through Jesus Christ

The writer of Hebrews states, "In the past, God spoke to our forefathers at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word" (Hebrews 1:1-3). God’s final revelation of his attributes and his character is found in Jesus Christ. If we want to understand fully who God is and what he is like, then we must look to Jesus for he is God who took on flesh and pitched his tent amongst mankind.

Selie Visa