God is Omniscient
Definition:
The attribute of God by which God perfectly and eternally knows all things which can be known, past, present, and future. God knows how best to attain His desired ends.
Meaning:
This, like omnipresence, demonstrates that man cannot hide from God because God knows all things. He knows the number of hairs on each head, He knows the heart and thoughts of every man. Just because no man is around to see us do wrong doesn't mean nobody saw it happen - God did. The proverbial tree falling in the forest that doesn't make a sound because no man was there to see it or know about it falling at that time, God sees and knows. Our intentions in the things we do are known to God. We need to be sure that our attitudes are congruent with our actions because God knows when we are doing things for the wrong reasons or motives.
Scripture Support:
Psalm 147:4,5
He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
Acts 15:18
Known to God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
Psalm 33:13
The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
II Kings 13:19
And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
Jeremiah 38:17-20
Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be will unto thee, and thy soul shall live
Romans 4:17
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickened the dead, and calleth those things which be not though as they were.
Isaiah 46:10
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.
Matthew 11:21-23
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
I Samuel 23:5-14
So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. And David knew that Saul secretly practiced mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. Then said David, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He will come down. Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up. Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth. And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.
Conclusion:
God knows everything that has happened and everything that will happen. He knows when we do things for the wrong reasons and when we do things for the right reasons. All things we do should be to serve Him and bring glory to Him.
“Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure’” (Isaiah 46:9–10).
Yet this passage shows that declaring the end from the beginning is not just a function of “seeing” what is “destined” to happen. Continuing in Isaiah, we read that God acts and intervenes in history to accomplish His ends, “calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it” (v. 11).
My Comment:
(God knew what he planned to do before he did it. Before he ever created anything, he already had the 'plan of salvation' in mind. To be a Christian, one must accept this as true, It is written in his infallable word. So then he knew that Lucifer was going to be flawed and fall before he ever created him. This leads us inevitably to the realisation that God created Lucifer perfectly flawed for the specific purpose that he would fall and bring sin into the Universe. How else could he prove to the Universe, to all of his creation that his peace, his vision of harmony, is perfect? Satan was created as catalyst. This also includes all of the 'fallen' angels. God created them knowing that they would fall.)
God is Omnipotent
Definition:
The attribute of God which describes his ability to do whatever He wills. God's will is limited by His nature, and He therefore cannot do anything contrary to His nature as God, such as to ignore sin, to sin, or to do something absurd or self-contradictory. God is not controlled by His power, but has complete control over it; otherwise He would not be a free being. To a certain extent, He has voluntarily limited Himself by the free will of His rational creatures.
Meaning:
This means that if God says something will happen. He has the power to make sure that it will happen. Therefore, when He promises eternal life to those who believe in Christ, He has the power to grant it. Just as He cannon sin, He has the power to forgive those who do.
Scripture Support:
Matthew 19:26
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Genesis 17:1
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Job 42:2
I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
Jeremiah 32:17,27
Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Revelation 19:6
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Conclusion:
God is omnipotent! There is even a verse that, in the King James Version and New King James Version, uses this very word: “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!” (Revelation 19:6)
My Comment:
(So, according to the Bible, God is all-powerful. He can do or create anything in his perfection. So, either God created Lucifer with his flaw on purpose, or he isn't Omnipotent. It is also interesting to note that he gave dominion of this world to Satan. In a very real sense, Satan still is God's minion.)
God is Omnipresent
Definition:
The attribute of God by which He fills the universe in all its parts and is present everywhere at once. Not a part, but the whole of God is present in every place. This is true of all three members of the Trinity. They are so closely related that where one is the others can be said to be, also.
Meaning:
Therefore, when man is sinning God is there. If a child is doing something a parent has told him not to do, God is there. There is no place man can go to hide from God.
Scripture Support:
Psalm 139:8
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Jeremiah 23:23,24
Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.
Ephesians 2:22
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Psalm 113:5
Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high.
Psalm 123:1
Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
I Kings 8:27
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
Matthew 6:9
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Hebrews 1:3
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
I Corinthians 1:27
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
Matthew 18:20
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Romans 10:6,7
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? Or, Who shall descend into the deep?
Romans 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Conclusion:
There is no place to go where God is not already there.
Ask yourself: is there any physical location in this universe where we can hide from the presence of God? The answer, according to Scripture, is a resounding “No!” In fact, King David posed this question directly, asking: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell [the grave], behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:7–10).
My Comment:
(No creature, great or small. No man, nor angel can be out of God's presence. Including fallen angels. God observes and directs the flow of events on this Earth. So even though he has given 'dominion' to Satan, God is in charge. In fact, no angel [including Satan and all of his fallen angels] is capable of acting against the will of God. Actually, if this is all considered in the 'Plan-of-Salvation,' that should be 'No Creature.' If God is perfect, his Plan is Perfection itself and all of the 'War in Heaven,' and it's aftermath here on Earth, is a part of God's Plan.)
God is Immutable
Definition:
The perfection of God by which He is devoid of all change in essence, attributes, consciousness, will, and promises. No change is possible in God, because all change must be to better or worse, and God is absolute perfection. No cause for change in God exists, either in Himself or outside of Him.
Meaning:
Perfection means perfection. There is no reason for God to change because there is no change that would make Him better. However, man should be striving to be found complete and perfect in God's eyes.
Scripture Support:
Psalm 102:27
But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Malachi 3:6
For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Hebrews 6:17, 18
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.
Conclusion:
There is no reason for God to change. When something is perfect it is best to leave it alone and avoid causing it to lose it's perfection.
My Comment:
(God is perfection. So God can only create perfectly.When God decided to create Evil, then he created a perfect Evil, a counterpart to himself, being that he is billed as Good-Perfected. This leades to the question, is Lucifer-Satan then another manifestation of God himself? Perhaps his 'bad' side? We are taught, “Moderation in all things.” We tend to think of this as don't drink too much, do eat too many sweets, too much red meat is bad for you, but the phrase is “... in all things.”
Paul says,
“And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown (1 Corinthians 9:25).”
There are arguments as to exactly what Paul meant in saying, “temperate...” But it's fairly obvious that he's talking about maintaining a balance in life. So perfection is perfectly balanced. Good perfectly balanced by Evil, Sweet perfectly balanced by Bitter... etc.
So God as perfection is that god is the 'balance-point' that all other things are measured against.
When in Genesis, god saw that, “It was good,” would logically mean that he saw that , “It was balanced, perfectly.” We know that the Earth, in order to survive, must maintain a balance. That animal life, must keep a balance or species tend to go extinct. The more species who go extinct, the more Nature has to try to balance the others until such point that the balance-point is tipped and all of it comes crashing down and there is no animal-life left on Earth, including Human Beings.)
God Is Truth
Definition:
Truth is the interrelated consistency of statements and their correspondence with the facts of reality and the facts themselves. It suggests an integration of character, and adherence of virtue, a kind of reliability, which includes and goes beyond the literal meaning to include those aspects of personal behavior which seem to be implied by the love of truth. The concept of truth is derived from the character of God, and is the exact opposite of the concept of lying. "It is impossible for God to lie."
Meaning:
Since it is impossible for God to lie we know that everything He says about what will happen will actually take place. If we are to become perfect we need to be known as individuals who tell the truth, like God. That means when we promise something we need to keep that promise or not make it in the first place. We need to try to place ourselves in situations where we don't feel the need to lie to defend either ourselves or our behavior.
Scripture Support:
Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
John 17:2, 3
As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Psalm 19:9
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
Psalm 33:4
For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.
Psalm 57:10
For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.
John 8:31, 32
If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 17:17
Sanctify them through truth: thy word is truth.
John 18:37, 38
Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
II Thessalonians 2:10-13
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
Conclusion:
Whatever God says He will do, He will do. Therefore, when He says those who believe in Jesus shall have eternal life, you can rest assured that will take place. Just as sure is His providing a way out of temptation, protection from the flaming arrows of the enemy, and Satan's eventual demise by being thrown into the Lake of Fire forever.
My Conclusion:
(What is Truth? God, obviously, but then what is the truth about God? Is God a being? If so, where did he come from? A Race of Beings? Or is it more Earthly than that, it just could be that God is nothing more than an ancient People's attempts at explaining the Natural Balance through creation of a Supreme Being that interposes Order on a perceived to be disordered world.
The whole nexus of both Evolution and Creation is Natural Balance. One from the standpoint of atttempts to understand the history and artifacts of life on Earth as discovered, and the other an attempt to explain the same through means of a Supernatural, Supreme Man/Being. One view's foundations are no older than Galileo and DaVinci, the other has it's origins in the emergence of Man to self-awareness. Mankind has always had a need to explore, to understand, to explain to satisfaction, all the world around him. He has a need to order things. Everything has it's place and for millenia that place was extra-determined by God(s) for lack of any other sufficient determination, but the fact that Man was able to discover Evolutionary Theory and then to advance down that line of thought, shows that we are still evolving from what we were when we emerged as a separate species to what we will be. God has his/her/it's/their place in our history, does it have a place in our future?)
References:
http://www.parentcompany.com/awareness_of_god/aogtoc.htm
http://www.cogwriter.com/god-omnipotent-omniscient-omnipresent.htm
