The Doctrine of God (1)

The Character of God: "Incommunicable" Attributes

A. The Existence of God

• How do we know God exists?
• First, all people have an inner sense of God.
  
• Second, we believe the evidence that is found in Scripture and in nature.

1. Humanity's inner sense of God.
2. Believing the evidence in Scripture and nature

B. The Knowability of God

1. We can never fully understand God

• Because God is infinite and we are finite or limited, we can never fully understand God.
• It is not true to say that God is unable to be understood, but it is true to say that he cannot be understood fully or exhaustively.
• Psalm 145:3, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable."
• Psalm 147:5, "Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure."
• This doctrine of God's incomprehensibility has much positive application for our own lives. It means that we will never be able to know "too much" about God, for we will never run out of things to learn about him, and we will thus never tire in delighting in the discovery of more and more of his excellence and of the greatness of his works.

2. Yet we can know God truly

• Although we cannot know God exhaustively, we can know true things about God. All that Scripture tells us about God is true. God is love, that God is light, that God is spirit, that God is righteous, and so on.
• Jeremiah 9:23-24
• Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord.

C. Introduction to the Study of God's Character: God's Attributes

• Incommunicable attributes
  
• God's eternity - God has existed for all eternity but we have not
• Unchangeableness - God does not change but we do
• Omnipresence - God is everywhere present but we are present in only one place
• Communicable attributes
• Love - God is love and we are able to love as well
• Knowledge - God has knowledge and we are able to have knowledge as well
• Mercy - God is merciful and we are able to be merciful
• Justice - God is just and we, too, are able to be just
• However, there is no attribute of God that is completely communicable, and there is no attribute of God that is completely incommunicable. God's wisdom for example would usually be called a communicable attribute, because we also can be wise but, we will never be infinitely wise as God is.