Afterwords -- week 42
"The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.'" (Exodus 34:6-7)
October 8, 2022
Dear friends,
In our systematic theology class, we are beginning to study the attributes of God. These are the qualities or characteristics of who God is, as revealed in the Bible.
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. So, why should we study the attributes of God?
1) To build our trust and confidence in God. As believers we take God at his word, but further, we trust the great and good character which stands behind his word (Eze 36:36).
2) For the praise and glory of God. We study his attributes that we might better glorify God with our worship and prayer. Many of God's attributes are expressed in the Psalms, a book given specially to guide our life of praise (Ps 145).
3) For our comfort and encouragement. In times of fear or doubt these attributes remind us of who God is and what he has promised to be to us and for us (Ps 18:2).
4) To lead us to the Lord Jesus. Our Savior perfectly embodies the attributes of God and in him we see these qualities embodied (John 14:9; Col 1:15).
5) For our growth in character. As Jesus reflects the image of God in perfection, so we (in Christ) are being renewed by the Holy Spirit to that same image, and so we begin to reflect God's good character too (Col 3:10).
6) For the joyful anticipation of hope. God's attributes give us a vision of our glorious future in God's presence (Rev 22:4). The fullness of his wonderful nature will fill the new heavens and earth. We shall see his face!
My wife and I did a little project in which we wrote out in a notebook an attribute for each letter of the alphabet (see ABC picture above). Here's one list of attributes in alphabetical order.
WHAT I'M READING.
-- I've almost finished the two-volume biography of John R. W. Stott (by Timothy Dudley-Smith). One of the values of reading a well-done biography is not only the insights gained from studying the life of a person, but also seeing the events, movements, and issues of the time.
-- Finished Wisdom & Wonder: Common Grace in Science & Art, by Abraham Kuyper (d. 1920) (Christian's Library Press, 2011). Here's a quote...
"Glory is, in fact, nothing other than a higher degree of beauty. It is beauty in its consummation, but still in a way whereby present beauty and coming glory are connected to one another, such that both are revelations of one and the same principle... But the beauty that will soon shine forth in the kingdom of glory will far surpass even the beauty of paradise. Between those two there now stands the marred beauty of our sinful condition, a situation that, no matter how lovely and exalted it may still be, nevertheless no longer corresponds to what once existed, and is far from reaching the beauty that will soon be revealed to us." (Abraham Kuyper)
-- Beginning After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man, by Michael Ward.
WHAT I'M LISTENING TO.
-- Phil Wickham "Hymn of Heaven," long-play acoustic version called "Sunset Listen Through" with lyrics. Very nicely done.
-- S. Lewis Johnson series at Believers Chapel in 1989 on the book of Revelation. Here's an excerpt from the first sermon:
"[The book of Revelation] presents a divine estimate of history. No human empire, Revelation tells us, can endure. Fascism may have its day. Communism may have its day. Fascism has already passed from the scene, largely. Communism is breaking up. The fabric of its garment is falling apart as one can see. Democracy will have its day as well and its fabric shall also come to ruins as well. No human empire can endure. That's plainly taught in this book, as well as in other places of the word of God. It also teaches that the Second Advent of Jesus Christ is God's panacea. It's the disinfectant of a sovereign God for this universe. ...The world has forgotten in its preoccupation with the left and the right that there is an above and below." (S. Lewis Johnson)
That's it for week 42!
Sandy
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.