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-12-
The God Who Is
Chapter 3
THE NATURE OF GOD
"God"——What is He like? In I Timothy chapter 1, verse 17, the Bible describes the Lord by saying, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." As King, God is sovereign over all; and unlike other kings, He is the eternal King.
Eternal
God is eternal. We are told in Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Since God is before the beginning, He is therefore eternal. Since He is the Creator, He was therefore before the Creation. Since there is only one Creator, then the Creator Himself was not created; yet He is the Cause of everything else being created. He Himself is therefore the First Cause, and as such, He is Himself uncaused.
Since He is before time, time has no influence upon Him. Although He is the "Ancient of Days," He is not, as artists have depicted Him, of great age and with white hair. He always was; and being without beginning of days, so He is without end of life. There never was a time when He was not, and there will never be a time when He is not. So, if a child asks, "Where did God come from?" the proper answer is, "He did not come from anywhere. He always was and He always will be."
He is the King; therefore, He is sovereign. He is not only a king, He is THE King. He is therefore the only One who is sovereign. He is the Lord, and He is eternal. Time has no bearing upon Him. "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day" (II Peter 3:8).
Immortal
Our King is immortal. Since time has no bearing upon Him, He is not subject to aging and death. Unlike man, God was not born, and therefore, He will not die. Men on the other hand are descendants of Adam the sinner. The reason God is unchangeable is because in Him is no sin, and therefore, no cause of decay.
Death is the consequences of sin. Therefore, when some of our Pentecostal friends tell us that they used to sin, but that they do not sin any more, remind them that "there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Remind them that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23); and tell them that you are going to watch for their name in the obituary column. Every man that is born as a descendant of Adam the sinner is going to die. But God is unchangeable, because in Him is no sin, and therefore no cause of decay.
Invisible
The Lord is invisible: He cannot be seen. The Bible tells us "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). The Greek word for "spirit" is "pneuma," and is also translated "wind." When the Holy Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost, there came the sound of a "rushing mighty wind" (Acts 2:2). The King eternal is immortal and invisible because He is incorporeal.
The Only Wise God
This King is further identified as the only wise God because He is the only God in whom there is wisdom. Other gods have eyes, but they do not see; and they have ears, but they do not hear; and they have feet, but they go nowhere. They have these features only because men have given them such features. Our God is the only wise God, and therefore honor and glory are to be given to Him for ever and ever.