God With A Capital "G" (Part 2 of 6) By Allan Turner (http://allanturner.com/)
God Is Self-Existent
The God who has revealed Himself in nature and gradually, verse by verse, step by step, makes Himself known in His special revelation, the Bible, is a necessary being who depends on nothing else or anyone else for His existence. In fact, everything else depends on Him. This means that God, ontologically speaking (i.e. having to do with the being of God), is self-existent. This is the meaning of the name "I AM THAT I AM" (Exodus 3:14). It derives from the Hebrew verb "to be" and means "He who is." It is this self-existence that is the primary point of difference between God and His creation. Therefore, in calling Himself "I AM," God is arguing ontologically that His being is uncaused. He is saying that He is; always has been; and always will be. In other words, God's being is not derived from anything and is not dependent upon anything; He just exists.
There are three New Testament passages that convey this same idea. In Romans 1:23, God is identified as being "incorruptible." In I Timothy 6:16, it is said that God "alone possesses immortality." And in John 5:26 it is taught that only God "has life in Himself." When God's self-existent nature begins to be comprehended by finite creatures, they feel the need to humble themselves before the totally independent and incorruptible I AM.
God Is Eternal
If God is self-existent, and this is what the Bible says, then
He must also be eternal. In fact, belief in the Eternal is an
essential part of the Christian's faith (Hebrews 11:6). And although
it is true that the creature will one day put on immortality and
live forever (I Corinthians 15:53,54), this is not the immortality
that God possesses. God, contrary to His creation, is immortal
by nature. In other words, only God has always existed and will
always exist. How can this be? How can a being have no beginning
and no end? How can it be that a being always was and always will
be? Because, as we have already pointed out, God, and God alone,
is self-existent, and a logical consequence of this self-existence
is eternalness.
For the creature, immortality is a gift; for God, immortality
is the essence of His nature. As finite creatures, our minds are
controlled and limited by time. Consequently, it is impossible
for us to fully understand the eternalness of God's nature. Therefore,
as we stand before Him in awe, we reverently say, along with the
apostle Paul: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His
ways past finding out!" And surely we join with Moses in
saying that the "eternal God" is our refuge, "and
underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27).
As we've pointed out, God has a unique existence. In addition
to being self-existent and eternal, God is not limited by anything
outside of Himself.
God Is Infinite
This kind of existence is referred to as being infinite, which means subject to no limitation or external determination, i.e., unbounded. But one needs to be careful with this word. As Jack Cottrell points out in his book, God The Creator, when referring to God as infinite, this term is not to be understood in its physical or mathematical sense, as if God were infinitely large, or as if He extended infinitely into space (p. 241). To say that God is infinite is to say that He is not subject to the built-in limitations of a created being.
God Is Omnipresent
God's infinitude is to be defined by His self-existence, eternalness, and omni-characteristics, which are omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. The God who is eternal, and therefore not limited by time, is omnipresent, and not limited by space (Psalm 139:7-10; Proverbs 15:3; Jeremiah 23:23,24). He is universally present to all of space at all times. Even so, this does not mean that He is dispersed throughout the infinite reaches of space, so that every part of space has at least a little part of God. In other words, God is not present in all space; he is, instead, present to all of space. This means that the unlimited God in His whole being is present at every point of our space. Perhaps a better way to express God's omnipresence is to say that all space is immediately present before Him.
God's omnipresence does not prevent Him from manifesting Himself in a localized place. In fact, although His ontological being is present to all of space equally, He has, on occasion, entered space at specific points and become present in it for a specific purpose. These "theophanies," as they are called, most often involved redemption. For example, the pillar of cloud bearing the glory of God that appeared before the Israelites (Exodus 33:9; 40:34; I Kings 8:10ff) is but one example of such a case. Of course, the most dramatic incident of God entering time and space was the incarnation itself (John 1:14; I Timothy 3:16). Consequently, Jesus was called Immanuel, or "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). But, in entering time and space, God, in His self-existent, eternal, and infinite Being, did not cease to be omnipresent. He was, in fact, still present to every point of space, holding everything together by the word of His power (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3). In fact, it is evident that the omnipresence of "God with us" is the subject of John 3:13, which says, "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of God who is in heaven." If omnipresence is not under discussion, then pray tell me what is? Remember, these words were being spoken by God Himself while enfleshed here on this earth. Another example of God interjecting Himself into time and space would be the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), as well as His indwelling of the body of every Christian (I Corinthians 6:19). "Mind-boggling," you say? Yes, but such is the magnificent nature of the great I AM.
How the Writings Became Scripture (Part 2 of 2) by Jon W. Quinn (Reprinted from The Expository Files: http://www.flash.net/~wberkley/)
Instant Scripture
"And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles'
teaching..." (Acts 2:42). These writings did not become Scripture
because years later some scholars got together and decided to
bestow that honor upon them. They were Scripture before the ink
was dry. The writings were accepted as Scripture immediately by
the church. There was no gradual evolving to it at all, as some
liberal theologians suggest today. The only things gradual about
it was the spread of the copies of the initial documents to the
ancient world and later the compiling of the writings into one
book. The apostle Paul quotes Luke's gospel in 65 A.D. and refers
to it as Scripture (compare I Tim. 5:18 with Lk. 10:7) and Peter
refers to Paul's writings as Scripture (II Pet. 3:16). The liberal
theologians try to diminish from the importance of following the
Bible today by saying these writings were regarded as just plain
letters by the church in the first century and that it wasn't
until the second and third century that they mistakenly became
regarded as authoritative Scripture. So, we do not really have
to obey the doctrines of the Bible, they say, as long as we get
the proper loving spirit and the general goodness it promotes.
These verses, and others, show that they are wrong, that these
writings were regarded as authoritative Scriptures of God from
the time they were written.
Promise, Providence and Canonicity
"...But the word of the Lord abides forever. And this is
the word which was preached to you." (I Pet. 1:25). God was
and is determined that His word will not be destroyed! It will
never be overthrown or obliterated, though many dark forces have
tried in the past and others continue to this day. During the
first three centuries of the existence of the New Testament Scriptures,
countless efforts were made by the enemies of God to eradicate
Christianity from the earth. For example, Diocletian, emperor
of Rome, decreed in 305 A.D. that all Christian literature be
destroyed throughout the world. It was thought that if the Scriptures
could be destroyed, then the new faith would fail. That is probably
true, for there can be no faith apart from the word (Rom. 10:17).
But God would not permit it to happen. Only Divine intervention
can explain why the most powerful and cruel civil, military and
religious forces that the world could muster failed in their efforts,
as did cultural and social pressures. Even opponents from within
the church itself failed to corrupt the Scriptures which the Lord
had given to His people.
When early Christians received a new Scripture from one of the
eight writers, they would make copies to send on to other Christians
in other localities, who in turn would do the same. In fact, they
were told to follow this procedure (see Col. 4:16; I Thess. 5:27
for examples). These writings were already being circulated and
accepted as Scripture when early Christians decided to gather
them all into one compilation. This compilation came to be known
as the canon of Scripture. While it is true that some tried to
get other writings included, and a few others complained that
they did not want some included that were, the issue of what belonged
in the Bible had already been settled. Writings were refused a
place that were not written by either an apostle or someone approved
by an apostle, since Jesus had promised to reveal all His truth
through these apostles. It was rather easy to tell forgeries from
the genuine, due to glaring mistakes and inconsistencies.
The history of the Bible certainly shows the care, on both God's
part as well as the parts of faithful and courageous men and women
that went into its formation and preservation. "...we
also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God's
message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what
it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in
you." (I Thess. 2:13).
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