SPIRITUALITY OF GOD OBS: God is without physical composition.
BS: God is without physical composition. God does
SERIES: THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
STEVE LAWSON
2014
INTRO:
MEANING: God a spirit being. NOT the same as our
spirit but that God is without a physical body, God is
invisible and God is infinite.
DISCLAIMER: Again, our minds cannot fathom the
reality of this attribute but what we will do is to draw
out truths from the reveal Gods word.
OBS: Since God is the utmost important being in the
entire creation and beyond, then the topic about God
is the heaviest of all topics we could ever discuss.
OBS: Nowadays, there is a prevalence of lightness of
treatment (or thoughts) about God but outside the
church and inside the church.
Everywhere in the Old and in the New Testament,
God is represented as a spiritual Being,
without form, invisible, whom no man hath seen or
can see; dwelling in the light which
no man can approach unto, and full of glory; as not
only the creator, and preserver, but
as the governor of all things; as everywhere present,
and everywhere imparting life, and
securing order. Charles Hodge
CONC: Our aim to get back to the basics of theology.
Q: What is theology? A: Study of God.
OBS: What we are embarking right now is Theology -
the (proper) understanding about God.
RECALL: How we view God affects the rest of the
things we do in our life. It affects our view of life. It
affects how we enjoy life. It affect our earthly future,
and more so, beyond.
I. IMMATERIAL
It means God is a spirit without material body.
NOT: It does not mean God is immaterial or
unimportant, He is in fact enormously important.
Joh 4:24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him
must worship in spirit and truth."
Joh 6:46 "Not that anyone has seen the Father,
not have material body like us.
OBS: God does not have a height or weight. He has no
waistline. He doesnt wear bifocals.
GOD DOES NOT HAVE BODY PARTS.
STEPHEN CHARNOCK: He hath nothing corporeal, no
mixture of matter, not a visible substance, a bodily
form.
Q: How about the verses that says God have eyes,
hands, a throne-thus He has a behind?
2Ch 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong
on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.
Num 11:23 And the LORD said to Moses, "Has the
Lord's arm been shortened? Now you shall see
whether what I say will happen to you or not."
Psa 47:8 God reigns over the nations; God sits on
His holy throne..
Psa 130:2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be
attentive To the voice of my supplications.
CONSTRAINT OF LANGUAGE
A: These are Anthropomorphic Expression means of
conveying information about God.
EXP:
God is infinite, we are finite, thus he has to
communicate on our lever.
We have limitation in understanding of God; plus
we are corrupted in thinking, therefore the Bible or
God says explicitly that He has body part for the
reason that we could understand Him.
EX: God has ears means he can hear everything. God
has eyes means He can see everything. God has arms
means he is mighty or strong.
OBS: It is as if God is talking like man, or like talking
like baby.
Q: What is the problem if God has eyes, ears, etc.?
A: That violates the fact that He is spirit and he can
only be in one place at a time.
CONC: God has to be Spirit in order to be in all places
at all time. God has no spatial limitations.
APPLIC: Since God is spirit, he is in every place,
therefore:
He is never late
We cannot hide
He is always with us
APP: We are never alone. We can never be alone.
It is only through that truth God can fulfill His
promise.
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
age." Mat 28:20
I will never leave you nor forsake you." Heb 13:5
II. INVISIBLE
A bodily form can be seen, but a Spirit cannot be
seen.
APPLIC: We are to walk by faith and not by sight.
Joh 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only
begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He
has declared Him.
Q: What does it mean: No one has seen God at any
time? A: No one has seen God at any time. That is
what it exactly means.
APPLIC: If someone says that he has seen God
literally, then he/she must be out of his mind.
(Putting God in a box?)
Exo 33:20 But He said, "You cannot see My face;
for no man shall see Me, and live."
JMAC:
One fanatical preacher approached JMAC and told
him he had seen God today while shaving. Then JMAC
replied: Did you keep shaving?
OBS: She should be dead by that time, or he should
fall face down.
OBS: People trivialize their experience of God, thus
we must know better.
OBS: The only manifestation of God , showing Himself
to man is in His incarnation God in flesh via Jesus
Christ.
except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
Not that anyone has seen the Father IT IS
IMPOSSIBLE
MOSES GLIMPSE OF GOD
The only event where man sees Gods sample of His
bright shining light of glory is when Moses asked God
to show it. Yet he still hid behind a rock to ensure his
eyes wont see God.
Exo 33:18 And he said, "Please, show me Your
glory."
Exo 33:19 Then He said, "I will make all My
goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the
name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion."
Exo 33:20 But He said, "You cannot see My face;
for no man shall see Me, and live."
Exo 33:21 And the LORD said, "Here is a place by
Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
Exo 33:22 "So it shall be, while My glory passes by,
that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will
cover you with My hand while I pass by.
Exo 33:23 "Then I will take away My hand, and you
shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."
OBS: That bright shining light is the only physical
manifestation of God. Other than that, God is an
immaterial body.
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn over all creation.
1Ti 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and
glory forever and ever. Amen.
1Ti 6:16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in
unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can
see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
CONC: This is what the Bible says, this is what we shall
embrace.
GENERAL REVELATION
Even though God can not be seen, we can see His
creation and realize what God is like, his attributes.
EX: we can conclude that since creation is complex,
God, who is the designer must be very intelligent.
Since the universe is big, God must be infinitely big,
He must be a God of beauty, order, design, purpose,
precision, majestic, sovereign, controls, vengeance
(calamity), grace (feeding animals), etc.
Rom 1:20 For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power
and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
SPECIAL REVELATION
Not only through General/Physical/Natural revelation
we can see Gods attributes but by his Special
Revelation the Bible. Thus we study the Word of
God.
Moreover, that is what makes the incarnation of God
so unique. God became visible to man.
Q: What does God look like?
A: He became man and dwelt among us.
Joh 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth.
Joh 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only
begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He
has declared Him.
The only begotten Son = That is Jesus Christ
who is in the bosom of the Father This term
denotes the mutual intimacy, love, and knowledge
existing in the Godhead
He has declared Him
Theologians derived the term exegesis or to
interpret from this word. John meant that all that
Jesus is and does interprets and explains
who God is and what He does
CONC: This invisible God become visible to us in His
Son Jesus Christ.
Q: How are we to know God?
A: We need to know so much Jesus Christ.
Joh 14:8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the
Father, and it is sufficient for us."
Joh 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you
so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He
who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can
you say, 'Show us the Father'?
LIAR, LUNATIC, LORD
Jesus, in saying this puts Himself under three
categories: liar, lunatic, Lord.
The evidence of the Scripture is enough for us to
believe Jesus was telling the truth.
Heb 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and
the express image of His person, and upholding all
things by the word of His power, when He had by
Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty on high,
CONC: Jesus is the exact representation of God.
OBS: What an excitement will it be to behold the
Father in His blazing glory, Jesus Christ in his majesty,
and the Holy Spirit in His radiant glory.
III. INIFITE
As a spirit, God is invisible and immaterial means that
He is without any bounds.
He is unlimited by time and space
There is nothing that He cannot permeate in the
fullness of He is.
Sine God is infinite, His greatness surpasses human
understanding.
Job 5:9 Who does great things, and unsearchable,
Marvelous things without number.
OBS: It puts us in a sense of awe. It stuns us in wonder
of His awesome. It makes our worship deeper as
we drown into His majesty.
OBS: May He make Himself known to us.
Job 9:10 He does great things past finding out, Yes,
wonders without number.
He is much more infinite beyond our understanding.
CONC: IF God is infinite, then nothing is impossible for
him. Nothing could hinder Him nor constraint Him.
Nothing could eliminate Him.
CONC: This is the God we want to know more deeply
through Jesus Christ.
REMINDER: We are just barely scratching truth about
God and even eternity will not be enough to know
God.
OBS: We shall never say: Ganyan Ka lang pala sa Dios.
Instead we will be speechless as we behold his glory
until infinity.
HOW TO KNOW GOD
Q: If God is such a glorious being and yet needs to be
known, then the greatest question should be: How do
we know God?
A: We CAN not know God-the God of Scripture.
First of all, God is Spirit but we are carnal. God is
perfect we are corrupted. God is all-good we are
wicked and evil is the ever pressing contents of our
hearts.
Secondly, Gods wisdom is much higher than our
wisdoms. His thoughts are much higher than our
thoughts.
That means, God is much much different from us.
Therefore, God is unknowable to man.
The only way for a man to know God is when He
reveals Himself to him/her.
HOW DOES GOD REVEAL HIMSELF TO MAN
1. Natural revelation (common sense)
Rom 1:19 For what can be known about God is
plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
Rom 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his
eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly
perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the
things that have been made. So they are without
excuse.
2. Scriptural revelation (illumination)
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be competent,
equipped for every good work.
3. Personal revelation (faith)
Rom 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to
everyone among you not to think of himself more
highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober
judgment, each according to the measure of faith
that God has assigned.
THE KING MUST ACTS IN GRACE TO REVEAL HIMSELF
TO YOU
Mat 11:27 All things have been handed over to me
by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the
Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Cf: luk 10:22
Gal 1:15 [PAUL:] But when he who had set me
apart before I was born, and who called me by his
grace,
Gal 1:16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in
order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I
did not immediately consult with anyone;
CONC: No matter how much you read the whole
Bible, no matter how good you are, no matter how
old a Christian you are, you may still not be known by
Godhence you need to personally ask God to reveal
Himself to you through the Scripture.
SO, WHAT MUST WE DO?
Repent and earnestly ask God to reveal Himself to you
personally.
Seek God by knowing, reading His Scripture. Ask
God to illuminate your heart by His Word
THE HOLY SPIRITS ROLE IN SALVATION
1. He wrote and inspired the Scripture (2 Tim 3:16-17)
2. He wrote and inspired the NT (Jn 14:26)the
Gospel
2. He took over in the establishment of the Church
(Act 1:8)
2. He illuminates the heart of the Sinner (1 Cor 2;7-14)
3. He reveals Christ/Christs wrord (Joh 16:14)
3. He regenerates the Sinner (Joh 3:6-8)
4. He baptizes the sinner into the church
5. He also resides in the believer forever (joh 14:17)
Joh 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the
world concerning sin and righteousness and
judgment:
Joh 16:9 concerning sin, because they do not believe
in me;
Joh 16:10 concerning righteousness, because I go to
the Father, and you will see me no longer;
Joh 16:11 concerning judgment, because the ruler
of this world is judged.
JI PACKER KNOWING GOD
he testifies by illuminating: opening blinded eyes,
restoring spiritual vision, enabling sinners to see that
the gospel is indeed Gods truth, and Scripture is
indeed Gods Word, and Christ is indeed Gods Son.
When he (the Spirit) comes, our Lord promised, he
will convince the world of sin and of righteousness
and of judgment (16: 7, RSV).

It is not for us to imagine that we can prove the truth

of Christianity by our own arguments; nobody can
prove the truth of Christianity save the Holy Spirit, by
his own almighty work of renewing the blinded heart.
It is the sovereign prerogative of Christs Spirit to
convince mens consciences of the truth of Christs
gospel; and Christs human witnesses must learn to
ground their hopes of success, not on clever
presentation of the truth by man, but on powerful
demonstration of the truth by the Spirit