Who Is God Really?

I'm trying something new and putting it here for your use and/or helpful comments. A.W. Pink's Attributes of God is available in the public domain (as far as I know), so I am not attempting to plagiarize or rip anyone off. This is an attempt to make it accessible and applicable. Below you will find the introduction and chapter 1.

If you prefer a pdf or Word format, please leave a comment with your email and I will send it your way.

Who is God?

Our knowledge of God is based on the Bible. GotQuestions.org says, "the Bible was written by God. Second Timothy 3:16 tells us that the Bible was 'breathed out' by God. God superintended the human authors of the Bible so that, while using their own writing styles and personalities, they still recorded exactly what God intended.

"Humanly speaking, the Bible was written by approximately 40 men of diverse backgrounds over the course of 1500 years. Isaiah was a prophet, Ezra was a priest, Matthew was a tax-collector, John was a fisherman, Paul was a tentmaker, Moses was a shepherd, Luke was a physician. Despite being penned by different authors over 15 centuries, the Bible does not contradict itself and does not contain any errors." (https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-authors.html)

This study uses God's description of Himself to reveal who He is and how He works. Look for yourself:

Introduction

Look up and write out the following verses:

Job 22:21

 

 

Jeremiah 9:23,24

 

 

 

 

 

A spiritual and a saving knowledge of God is our greatest need. God alone is the greatest need of every human being ever created.

All true knowledge of God begins with realizing how little we can grasp of His perfection and holiness as revealed in the Holy Scripture. Who would trust a God they don’t know? Who would want to serve Him? And how can we worship Him if we don’t understand Him? This is an effort to discover some of what the Bible teaches about His divine character. In order to benefit from the pages that follow pray, turning again and again to God asking for a blessing in Himself, for His help in applying these truths to one’s mind and heart, and for spiritual change.

We need more than head knowledge. We cannot know God until we submit to who He is, to His authority, and until every detail of our lives is given over to His words and commands.

 

 

Look up and write out the following verses:

Hosea 6:3

 

 

 

John 7:17

 

 

 

Daniel 11:32

 

 

 

 

Write a prayer asking God to help you see Him clearly, submitting to His authority and giving up your own:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1 The Solitariness of God

The word “solitary” is not the best word, but this is a difficult idea to explain because many of us don’t spend time meditating on God’s personal perfection. Most Christians would agree that God is full of wisdom, great in power, and full of mercy, but to look closely and wonder at His being, His nature, and His character as He reveals Himself in Scripture is something very, very few people have discovered. Those who read the Bible without serious thought miss out on this description of God. He is alone in His excellency.

Look up and write out the following verse:

Exodus 15:11

 

 

Before All Else

Look up and write out the following verse:

Genesis 1:1

 

 

Have you ever thought about the fact that time didn’t start until God created the heavens and the earth? Where was He before that? There was no heaven as we think of it, where He lived in glory and splendor. There was no earth for Him to oversee. There were no angels singing His praise; there was no universe to be held together by His power. There was nothing, no one, but God for all of eternity past—not just for a day, year, or century. In eternity past, God was alone and without need. He was self-sufficient, satisfied, glorified, whole, and perfect. If He had needed a universe, angels or humans to be who He is, they would have been there all along. The fact that He created them did not make Him “more” God.

Look up and write out the following verse:

Malachi 3:6

 

 

Because God does not change, nothing will or can ever affect His glory. He does not have more or less. He is fully glorious and complete in and of Himself.

His Sovereign (Absolute) Will

God did not have to create. He did not have to create anything at all. The fact that He chose to is an act of His sovereign will. He did it because He wanted to. Creation wasn’t caused by anything or anyone outside of Himself. It was for no reason other than His own pleasure.

Look up and write out the following verse:

Ephesians 1:11

 

 

By creating the heavens and the earth, God made known, or manifested, His glory.

Look up and write out the following verse:

Nehemiah 9:5

 

 

 

God does not benefit from our worship. He does not need anything outside of Himself to be complete, full, satisfied and glorified. He does not need our praise. Why did He create us for adoption and predestination?

Look up and write out the following verse and circle the reason:

Ephesians 1:5

 

 

 

This may seem strange and new, so we will move slowly and study Scripture carefully.

Look up and write out the following verses:

Romans 11:34, 35

 

Job 35:7-8

 

 

 

Luke 17:10

 

 

The message is this: God is not obligated to us. He gains nothing from us. Even our obedience does not profit Him.

Here is another difficult thought: our Lord Jesus added nothing to God’s character, being, or glory by what He did or what He suffered. Yes, He made known (or manifested) the glory of God to us, but He did not add to who God is.

Look up and write out the following verse:

Psalm 16:2

 

 

This was a Psalm of the Messiah, or Christ. The next verse (vs. 3) says that Christ’s goodness or righteousness reached His saints on earth, but God is high above and beyond it all. Only God is the Blessed One (Mark 14:61).

It is true that people honor God or dishonor Him. Their opinion does not affect who He is. It only reveals how much or how little they know Him.  It is also true that God is “glorified” by creation, by His provision, and His redemption of His people. What we know, however, is that God is not made more or less by our recognition of Him. It is His way of showing Himself to us; it doesn’t change who He is. If God wanted to, He could have gone on for all eternity without making Himself known to His creation. It was His choice. He was perfectly blessed and whole in Himself before making anyone or anything. And what does the Bible say about His creation?

 

 

Look up and write out the following verses:

Isaiah 40:15-18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 40:22, 23

 

 

 

 

 

 

God is very different than many of us know! The New Testament agrees with the Old Testament because it has the same Author.

Look up and write out the following verse:

1 Timothy 6:15, 16

 

 

 

This God is worthy of our worship, respect, and adoration. He alone, or solitary, in His majesty, He is one-of-a-kind in His excellency, single in His perfections. He keeps all, but is independent of it He gives to all, but needs none.

By Revelation

This God cannot be found by searching. He can only be known as He reveals Himself to our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the Word. Although creation tells of a Creator and “men are without excuse,” we must be careful not to limit God to what we see, hear, and experience.

Look up and write out the following verse:

Job 26:14

 

 

 

When we limit God by creation, believing we can understand Him by what He has made, we bring down the great God to a place of our own understanding and lose awe of His solitary, eternal excellence. The God of Scripture can only be known by those to whom He makes Himself known.

Look up and write out the following verse:

John 4:24

 

 

 

God cannot be known in our thinking. He is Spirit, and is known spiritually. But fallen, sinful man is not spiritual. He is dead to spiritual truth. Unless we are born again, brought to life supernaturally and taken from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, we cannot see the things of God or understand them.

Look up and write out the following verses:

John 3:3

 

 

1 Corinthians 2:14

 

 

 

2 Corinthians 4:6

 

 

 

2 Peter 3:18

 

 

 

The Holy Spirit has to shine in our hearts (not our minds) in order for us to see Christ. And even that is incomplete. Once new, the new soul must grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our prayer and aim should be this:

Look up and write out the following verse:

Colossians 1:10

 

 

Rewrite Colossians 1:10 as a personal prayer request to God:









Adapted from

The Attributes of God, by A. W. Pink. First Printing 1930. First Chapel Library edition 1993. Printed in the United States of America.

© Copyright 1993 by Chapel Library (this edition), Pensacola, Florida. Permission is expressly granted to reproduce this material by any means,

provided:

1) it is not charged for beyond a nominal sum for cost of duplication

2) this copyright notice and all the text on this page is included.