What Are The Attributes of God And What Do They Mean?
Knowing God is probably one of the most significant knowledge we could ever have. That is why many people study theology, which is centered around the knowledge of God. But the question is, where do we start? A good starting point is His glory. This pertains to the visible manifestation of the significance of God. Simply put, we know and experience God through His attributes and character.
It is an absolute reality that no one has seen God. Even the Scripture tells us about this truth. Nonetheless, all creations have experienced His glory. The Scripture tells us that “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” (Psalm 19:1) This means He reveals who He is in general to everyone through His glory, and this revelation can be seen in His created order. To know who God is, let us answer the question: What are the attributes of God?
Incommunicable Attributes
Let’s start with attributes that are specific to God. They are only for Him, and we humans couldn’t have them. God is infinite and the creator of life and everything. We are finite and a creation of the Almighty One. God’s exclusive attributes usually have the Latin prefix “omni,” which simply means “all.”
Omnipresence (All-Present) - God has no beginning nor an end. For the world and every living creature to be created, there must be a being that has ever existed, a creator and an author of everything. In the book of Genesis, it is said that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) The beginning is for the created order, not for God. He has existed forever and is not bound by time.
Omnipotent (All-Powerful) - The creation benefits from the power in the universe. But power is limited and can be drained. So for life to continue to function, there must be someone who is the source and sustainer of all energy. This is God. He is all-powerful and able to create life and sustain it.
Omniscience (All-Knowing) - There is nothing hidden from God. He is not just knowledgeable but the most knowledgeable. He created everything in detail and knows every composition of His creation to its very bit. Even if we look at the universe or even the smallest particle of it, we can continuously discover patterns that are the handiwork of an all-knowing God.
Communicable Attributes (Character)
There are also attributes of God that are perfected in Him, but we can also manifest them in our life. We experience them first-hand from God and can also express them to others. These are also often called His character.
For instance, we experience God’s goodness and kindness every day we wake up. We have food, shelter, and clothing. The Scripture tells us that He “will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) We have the needs we are consuming to survive because God has been good and kind toward us. We can imitate this character when we choose to be kind to someone by extending a helping hand or spending time with that person.
Probably, the most remarkable character of God is His love. He let us experience this when He sent His Only Begotten Son to give us hope of salvation. The Scripture tells us that He demonstrated love toward us “in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
When Jesus died for us, we learned what true love is—selfless. Paul gave us a summary of what selfless love is in his letter to the Corinth church.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NASB95
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
We exhibit love when we are patient with someone who is not friendly toward us. We display love when we decide to put someone’s needs ahead of us. When we choose to forgive, we exhibit God’s love at its purest.
Glorify God by Manifesting His Character
As we have pointed out at the start of the article, glory is the visible manifestation of the character and significance of God. Thus, when we manifest His character toward Him and others, we glorify Him.
Even if no one has seen God at any time, we know who God is because we experience His character daily, primarily through Jesus. In Christ, we encountered selfless love. We received forgiveness.
John 1:18 NASB95
No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Like Jesus, let us glorify God by allowing others to experience His love. We should proclaim who He is to the world.
In his first epistle, John reiterated that no one had ever seen God. Nonetheless, “if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:12) So, like a light on a hilltop, let the light of Jesus’ love shine upon you so that the world will know that He lives and He loves.
