Sermon Series: Beholding Our God

We begin by asking the question ‘how can we know who God is? How can we as finite creatures comprehend our infinite Creator? In his kindness, he has revealed himself in his works, his word and ultimately his Son, by whom we can call the almighty and eternal God, our Lord, our Shepherd, our Father…

This Sunday we contemplate the distinction between Creator and creature as we continue our series on the doctrine of God. Unlike us He is not contingent on anything for existence, rather, He has life in Himself and is the ultimate source of everything. This has huge implications: for our assurance of His sovereignty, for our response to him as Lord and Giver, for our comfort – he moves to save us not because he needs to, ut freely of grace ‘Of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.’

‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.’ Deut. 6:4. Unlike us, God is not composed of parts, rather, he is ‘simple, a unity. His attributes are not independently existing features bolted onto him that he could lose or gain, and so fragment or change, no, God is who we name when we speak of his love, holiness, goodness, wisdom, justice and power. Simplicity ensures that God is absolute, independent, and unchangeable, not one thing at one time and another thing at another. Furthermore, God’s attributes do not conflict with one another, they inform one another, His goodness is always wise, his justice is always loving, etc. Simplicity guards the distinction between Creator and creature, He is ultimate, relying on nothing outside of Himself to exist or to be.

James reminds his readers ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.’ Life, breath and everything is given out of the goodness that is God our Creator. But what if he should cease to be good? What if God could change? For assurance James continues, God the giver ‘does not change like shifting shadows.’ He is not mutable like the lengthening shadow, he is the ‘I am,’ neither becoming greater nor lesser; in his perfection and primacy, he cannot improve, deteriorate nor be modified by external forces. This offers us an unshakeable foundation, God’s promises and love are permanently secure. Divine immutability ensures that God is eternally trustworthy, an anchor for the soul in an ever-shifting world.

Can God really relate to our suffering? As we were reminded last week, He is the infinite Creator maximal in existence, immutable, and steadfast. We, as creatures, are not. As we consider divine impassibility this week, we explore the truth that the God who cannot change cannot be wounded or distressed by anything in creation. Rather than making God cold and distant, this attribute ensures that His love is constant, deliberate, and never overwhelmed. It preserves the good news that He is our unshakeable Rock. Furthermore, by uniting a human nature to His divinity in the person of Jesus Christ, He truly knows what it is like to be us, in every way. Because of the Incarnation, He can sympathise with us, help us, and ultimately, save us.