Word of God (The attributes and the perfections of God) - Essay Example

However certain Scriptures do make reference to physical features, this is called anthropomorphisms, and should not be taken literally (Swindoll p.180). In addition to God being spirit, he is described as "living and true God" (1 Thessalonians 1:19). God is life itself. Therefore, knowing God is life. He is also eternal. Isaiah referred to God as the "everlasting God" (Isaiah 40:28). God is not bound by space or time, He is endless; God has always existed and always will.Knowing God is eternal, it brings us peace to know the power of God, God manifests His power through one of His perfections known as omniscience, and this means 'God knows all'.

God sees everything in present tense without effort. He knows the past and future as present (Swindoll p181). God is all powerful or omnipotent as has been rightly stated, "The voice of the LORD is powerful" (Psalms 29:4). The whole universe was created upon the spoken Word of God. One of the greatest displays of omnipotence is salvation (Romans 1:16). "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God."Understanding God's power in creation is important, but we must recognize that 'God is active in His creation, but is not to be identified with it' (Swindoll p.183). Failing to understand this distinction could lead to Pantheism.

God is omnipresent, He is everywhere at once but not diffused throughout the universe as pantheism teaches. Another attribute that gives believers security is the fact that God never changes. Believers can always stand on the promises of God. God is completely self-existing, He is free and independent; there is nothing he needs that we might offer. God's attributes are impossible to list, therefore we know God is inscrutable; there will always remain aspects of God that are a mystery beyond our comprehension (Swindoll p.185). God is always faithful.

This gives us peace to know. Man will disappoint us but God's faithfulness will never fail. In addition to God's faithfulness, He is truth; God can never break a promise or lie, this goes against who he is, 'truth'. God is a Holy God, because Holiness is who He is. Therefore, he is completely separate from all that is unholy. God has shown love for man by sending His son as the ultimate perfect sacrifice so we may be seen righteous before a Holy God. John declared, "Jesus Christ, the Righteous one" (1 John 2:1) without the blood of the Righteous one, man would be hopeless.

God's faithfulness means that He is completely dependable and will never let us down. There is a promise in the Word of God that speaks of God's faithfulness (1 Corinthians 10:13). "And God is faithful; He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." Many times when God wants to build our faith he has to break us down. This breaking down of oneself is how we continually understand that we must depend on Christ for all things.

Mercy is another wonderful moral attribute of God. God's mercy is not achieved by human efforts,