What Characteristics of God Make Him Unique?
Theology that focuses on God specifically—who he is and what he has done—is known as “theology proper.” This is really the most important topic in theology, because if you do not understand God properly, you cannot understand the rest of theology properly. Everything else flows from God’s character and work, even what we have already looked at: God’s Word.
God is an infinite being, and therefore we cannot know him perfectly and exhaustively. In this sense, God is “incomprehensible.” Nevertheless, God has revealed himself—primarily through his Son, Jesus Christ—and therefore he is comprehensible to an extent (John 14:7; 1 John 5:20). Our goal, then, is to so desire to know our amazingly great God that we continue to deepen our understanding of him for the rest of our lives.
But we should also be careful to distinguish between knowing about God and really knowing God. Knowing about God just deals with facts. Really knowing God includes relationship. Our longing should be to have such an intimate and growing relationship with God that we want to go beyond mere facts about God. This means we need to consider implications and applications of what we know about God. If God is like this, then what? What difference does it make? We will try to do a bit of this in what follows, but truly it will only be scratching the surface.
We could start with arguments for the existence of God, but that is not where the Bible starts. The biblical authors simply assume God’s existence and build on that (Genesis 1:1), so that is what we will do as well. Arguments for the existence of God really fall more under philosophy or the philosophical end of theology.
The study of God’s nature is usually done by examining his attributes or characteristics, that is, whatever God has revealed to be true about himself. Sometimes called “perfections,” these are usually divided into two categories. God’s incommunicable attributes are those characteristics that are only true of himself; they make him unique. God’s communicable attributes are those characteristics he shares to a limited extent with humans.1 Here and in chapter 7, we will consider a few of his incommunicable attributes. In chapter 8 we will consider a few of his communicable attributes.
Some of God’s Incommunicable Attributes
A good place to start is with God’s spirituality. This seems to be the closest we can come to “defining” the nature of God. Jesus said, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24 NIV1984). This basically means he is immaterial or incorporeal—he has no physical, material body.
The second commandment is related to this fact: “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” (Exodus 20:4). Trying to represent the one, true God by means of a material form fundamentally misrepresents him. God’s spiritual nature also means that he is invisible; he cannot be seen by the human eye (1 Timothy 1:17; 6:15–16).
One application of God’s spirituality comes from that declaration of Jesus: Because “God is spirit,” we are to worship him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). At the least, this means we must not try to drag him into our material realm, as if he could be contained in a place—cathedral, church, chapel, wherever. Rather, we enter into his realm—the spiritual—and we can do that anywhere, at any time.
Another application is that God’s realm is ultimate and central, and our prerogatives in life should reflect this. That’s what Jesus meant when he said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness [spiritual things], and all these things [material things] will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
Another important implication of God’s spirituality, a divine attribute in itself, is his perfect unity or simplicity. This means God has no parts to divide up. Nothing can be added to God, and nothing can be taken away from God. As we study his attributes, we should not think of them as “parts,” that if we add all his attributes together the sum will be God. Rather, we should think of his attributes as different perspectives on, or descriptions of, his perfect unity.
God’s sovereignty means he rules over and controls his entire creation absolutely and completely. The Bible often uses terms like reign, authority, and dominion to describe this. Read King David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10–16, where, even though he does not use the word sovereignty, the concept permeates what he says. Sovereignty is why Paul can say that God “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). What God wants to do, God does (see also Psalm 115:3).
Because he is God, he does not tolerate encroachments upon his sovereignty. We must always be humble before him and gladly willing to submit to him. The story of King Nebuchadnezzar, recorded in Daniel 4, is an illustration (especially vv. 25, 34–37). Another application is that we can trust the work of God implicitly. He is in perfect control of all circumstances of our lives, even when those circumstances seem to us to be totally out of control.
An implication of God’s sovereignty, and yet another attribute, is his self-sufficiency or independence (Acts 17:24–25). God needs nothing from outside of himself; he is not dependent on anyone or anything for anything. In contrast, all the rest of creation is totally dependent upon him.
God’s omnipotence means he is able to do whatever he wills to do; he is not limited by anything outside of himself; he is all-powerful. This does not mean that God can do anything—he cannot do anything contrary to his nature. For example, he cannot sin or cause himself to cease to exist.
It does mean he can do anything that is consistent with his nature and his will. This is why God can simply say, “Let there be,” and what did not exist before springs into existence (Psalm 33:6, 9). This is why he could enable Abraham’s wife, Sarah, to conceive at the age of eighty-nine (Genesis 18:10–14). This is why he could enable Mary to conceive Jesus apart from a human father (Luke 1:26–38). And this is why he can save sinners (Matthew 19:23–26). After all, the gospel “is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).
This assures us that God will do whatever he promises to do (Romans 4:20–21). It also assures us that when we need help and strength, God can and will provide it (Ephesians 1:18–20).
God’s omnipresence means he is present everywhere (Psalm 139:7–10). This along with his omnipotence and sovereignty is a source of great comfort to believers (Psalm 139:10). Over and over again, when God’s people needed comfort and encouragement, he would say, “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:11–12; cf. Deuteronomy 31:7–8; Joshua 1:9; Hebrews 13:5–6; et al.). On the other hand, God’s omnipresence is a warning: Those who persist in sin cannot hide themselves or their sinful deeds from him (Psalm 139:11–12).
What Other Characteristics of God Make Him Unique?
In addition to being all-powerful and everywhere-present, God is all-knowing, an attribute known as omniscience. This means he has perfect and eternal knowledge of all things (Psalm 139:1–6; Isaiah 40:12–14; 1 John 3:2). He cannot learn anything because he has always known everything. He also knows all things that could have happened but did not. An interesting biblical illustration is in 1 Samuel 23:10–13, where God tells David what would happen if King Saul came to a certain city looking for David. As it turns out, Saul never came and those things never happened. God knows what would have happened if … (you had married so-and-so!).
Another implication of omniscience seems to be that God knows everything past, present, and future. Recently there has been theological debate about the future aspect of his knowledge. “Open theology” is convinced that God does not know the future exhaustively—some of the future is “open,” unknown even to him. This position is held by some Arminians who believe that if God knows the future, then the choices we will make in the future are not free choices, which would be troublesome to the importance they place on human free will. Most Arminians and all Calvinists do not share this concern, believing that God’s exhaustive knowledge of the future is not at odds with human freedom.1
Closely connected to omniscience is God’s wisdom,2 which refers to God’s ability to choose the best goals and the best possible means to those goals in order to determine the best overall plan for all that he does. Knowledge has to do with information; wisdom has to do with how that information is used—it is practical, not just cerebral. God knows all things and also knows how to use perfect knowledge in the best way.
The best and highest goal God has chosen is to glorify himself (Numbers 14:21–23; Isaiah 48:11; Romans 11:36; Philippians 2:10–11).3 One of the very best means toward this goal is how God has created: “How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all” (Psalm 104:24; see also Proverbs 3:19). Another means to God’s glory is how he has made salvation available for all. After reflecting on the riches of his grace through Jesus Christ, resulting in justification by faith, which Paul had just unpacked (Romans 3–11), he wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!… To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33, 36; see also Ephesians 1:3–12).
By way of application, if the best goal God could choose was his own glory, we cannot improve on this. So we too should make it our goal to glorify God through good works (Matthew 5:16), bearing fruit (John 15:8), and by everything that we do (1 Corinthians 10:31). Also, if God knows everything perfectly, including ourselves and our needs, and if his wisdom is perfect (and he is sovereign and omnipotent), we can trust him implicitly. He always does what is the very best for us (Romans 8:28).
Another incommunicable attribute of God is his immutability. This means he never changes in his essence or nature. James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Hebrews 13:8 says of Jesus, the Son of God, he “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (see also Malachi 3:6).
This is a part of what makes God unique. Every aspect of his creation is characterized by constant change of some sort—growth, decay, expansion, contraction. God alone experiences no change like this.
Any change regarding God is in relation to what is outside of him. For example, sinners are under his wrath, but when sinners repent, they are under his blessing. What happened to the city of Nineveh as recorded in the book of Jonah is a good example of this.
An amazing application is that we enjoy in our relationship with God something that we do not have in any other relationship—stability and predictability (from God’s end). In every other relationship, we are never exactly sure what is going on within the other person; every such bond carries with it a degree of uncertainty and risk. Not so with God. We always know he loves us (Romans 8:38–39), has forgiven us (Colossians 2:13), and is with us to guide us and protect us; he will never abandon us (Matthew 28:20)!
Another attribute of God is his holiness. God is sinless, morally perfect, totally apart from evil (Job 34:10; Habakkuk 1:12–13).4 Even further, he is the very standard of moral perfection. Numerous times in Scripture, God says, “Be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2; 1 Peter 1:15–16). All laws and commands that come from God flow from and reflect his holy nature.
However, we still have not gotten to the most basic meaning of God’s holiness, which is that he is distinct from everyone and everything else. God is unique, in a category all by himself. This is expressed in Exodus 15:11, “Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you—majestic in holiness?” The answer: No one. Similarly, 1 Samuel 2:2 says, “There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
One effect this should have upon us is what it had on Isaiah. After having a vision of God and hearing angels say, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:3), he was humble, repentant, and willing to serve God however he could. An understanding of God’s holiness will revolutionize one’s life.
INTERESTING FACT
The concept of God’s glory is probably best seen not as an attribute but rather the effect of all of God’s attributes when they are revealed. John Piper says it well: “God’s glory is the beauty of his manifold perfections.… It can refer to the infinite moral excellence of his character.”5 Read the account of Moses asking God to show his glory. God did, but had to “tone it down” for Moses to survive the experience of a lifetime (Exodus 22:18–34:9).
1 The theological systems known as Arminianism and Calvinism will be discussed in more depth in chapter 11.
2 Technically, this is a communicable attribute because humans have wisdom as well, or at least should have. I deal with it here because it is so closely associated with God’s knowledge.
3 An excellent survey of this very important biblical theme can be found in John Piper, Desiring God (Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1986, 1996, 2003), 308–321.
4 This would be a communicable attribute, since we can and should be holy people.
5 Piper, Desiring God, 42.
FACT?
As I delight to tell my students at the beginning of the term, theology class is not just for a semester; it will be for all eternity. Here is my proof: Question—How long does it take to comprehend something that is infinite, that is, God? Answer—An infinite number of days, that is, eternity. Every day of eternity, I think, we will learn something new and amazing about God. I can’t wait!
1 Not all theologians agree on which attributes fit which category.
NIV New International Version
Aaron, D. (2012) Understanding Theology in 15 Minutes a Day. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, pp. 41–45.
