Recently, I was challenged to name the four things I am sure of about God. It was an interesting and revealing exercise not only because of what made it into the top four, but because of what did not make it.
I considered some of the attributes of God such as His omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience, but did not select any of them. For those folk not familiar with theology-speak, these three divine attributes are that He is everywhere present, all-powerful, and all knowing. So, why didn’t I settle on these three plus, say, His sovereignty? I think it’s because they are too incomprehensible and abstract for me; I cannot grasp them sufficiently to be sure of, and they are too intangible for me to even describe adequately. As the author of Proverbs 30:18 wrote, ‘There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand.’
What are the four things?
The first thing I know with absolute certainty about God is that all good and perfect things come from him. James 1:17 ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows’
The second is that He is with us through all the things in life that are neither good nor perfect. Psalms 23:4 ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’
The third thing I know for certainty about God is that He desires to communicate with us. Hebrews 1:1-2 ‘In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.’
And this brings me to the fourth thing I know with certainty about God and that makes sense of everything else I know about God; God is Jesus. John 14:9 “Philip, don’t you even yet know who I am, even after all the time I have been with you? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!”
If you want to know more about these important attributes of God, then listen to the sermon I preached on this by clicking on the audio link below.
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