Key Attributes of God

God is Sovereign

Everything belongs to God and he is in control of everything. Nothing happens against his will. God creates what he wants. He destroys what he wants. God saves whomever he wants. Our salvation is up to God’s will not anything else or anything we may do. Things happen according to God’s plan and will and not our own. God is free to do whatever he wants and what ever pleases him, and everything he does is just. To speak of God’s sovereignty is to confirm that he is the creator of all things, the Most High and Holy, the Almighty God. God is free to do whatever he desires and he is able to do it.

God is Eternal

God has always existed and he will exist forever. God was not created. God had no beginning. God has no end. God existed before time existed. God created time. He will continue to exist when time ends. God is not bound by time. Imagine that He sees the past, present and future laid-out before Him all at the same time in one continuum.

God is Omnipresent

This means God is everywhere all at the same time. While we can accept this concept, I don’t think we can fully appreciate what it is like to be a being with this quality and we certainly can’t understand how this could be possible. This means there is no escaping God, nowhere to hide. God doesn’t have to travel here or there, he is always present. This includes the past, present and future.

God is Immense, Infinite

God is large without limits. God has no edges, no boundaries. Consider the vast universe of millions and millions of galaxies and dimensions. All that cannot contain God. God is greater, bigger than his creation. Remember that God doesn’t have a physical body, so do not think of him as being spread all over the place. God is a spirit. God is with out measure. This infinite quality of God also applies to every other attribute of God.

God is All-Powerful, Almighty

There is nothing that God cannot do. God rules over his entire creation. Nothing is impossible for God. Nothing and no one can oppose him. His will is always done. Only God can create something out of nothing. This is why there had to be a Creator because nothing can come from nothing. God’s power is infinite; it never diminishes or needs renewing. So what about paradoxes like “Can God create a rock so heavy that he can’t lift it?” And, “So, why doesn’t God eliminate all suffering and evil?”

God is All-knowing

This is a big one. This should be awesome and truly mind boggling to you. God knows everything that ever was, is, and ever will be. Just what does everything include? That is what is amazing. God knows every single little thought that every human ever had, has and ever will have. Right now he knows that. Think of all the grains of sand in the oceans. Think of every gain of sand on all the planets and moons. He not only knows how many there are but the location of each one…..throughout time! He knows all the drops of water in the oceans. He knows all the hairs on your head as it is told, but he knows all the hairs on all the bodies of animals as well. He doesn’t need to count or recount as things change, he just knows.

Nothing is hidden from God. Most important is that God knows all that has happened and all that will happen. God knows how every situation, every cause and effect scenario will or would play out. He knew when he created the world that man would sin. He knew evil would enter the world. He knew there would be people who would live very hard lives and die horrible deaths. He knew there would be child abusers, murders, and perverts. He knows every cruel and terrible thing anyone has ever experienced and he knew it ahead of time. God knows every sin that ever was committed. But, he still made his creation. He knows there is a purpose for all of it, even though we do not understand it.

God knew all about you before you were born. God knows if you will be saved or not. God knew before you were born everything you would do and every decision and choice you would make. This doesn’t mean that you didn’t have Free Will. Does this mean you have a destiny? What does Predestination mean?

God’s knowledge is unconceivable to us.

God is Unchanging, Immutable

God is the same now as he ever has been and ever will be. God does not change. God has never changed his opinion, viewpoint, standards, expectations, wisdom, justice, purpose, promises or any of his attributes. All his attributes have always existed in their completeness and always will. God has never learned anything.

Some people site a difference between the God written about in the Old Testament verses the New Testament. They say the God of the Old Testament was an angry and vengeful God and the God of the New Testament was an understanding and loving God. This is nonsense. God has always been the same.

God is Impassable

God is without Passions. That is to say, while God has emotions, he is never over emotional. His emotions never lead him astray. He is not overtaken by them or ever loses control regardless of the circumstances or severity. God loves. He grieves. He desires. But He is not subject to involuntary reactions, certainly not over reactions.

God is a Spirit, Immaterial, Self-Sufficient

God is not composed of matter. God does not have a human body. None of the limitations of the physical world or laws of physics apply to God. God can only be seen if he reveals himself. God needs nothing to exist. He requires none of the things we human do.

God is Faithful

God always keeps his promises. Everything God has said will come to pass, there can be no doubt. Everything God has ever said is 100% the truth. This is extremely important because we trust that God will forgive our sins and give us eternal life because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

God is Holy

God is pure, without evil. He is majestic and perfect. There is absolutely no sin in God or evil, not even one thought. He is to be worshiped and praised by all his creation

God is Loving and Good

God cares about us. He wants the best for us. He finds no pleasure in our suffering. We do not deserve God’s love, but he loves us anyway. God is immensely tolerant of our bad behavior. It is often said that God is Love. Our well-being appears to be his primary concern. God is kind and full of goodness toward us. God is gracious and loves to bestow blessings upon us. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was the ultimate act of love.

God is Just

Even though we do not understand it most times God’s justice is perfect. In fact, God demands justice. Justice must be satisfied. No one gets off the hook. Like with all sin, our sins, God demands that a price be paid. Jesus paid that price for us.

God is Forgiving and Merciful

It is part of God’s nature to be merciful. God is free to show mercy to anyone he chooses regardless of whether they deserve it. Often we do not understand why God shows mercy one place and not another. But remember, it is His judgment, which is flawless.