Last week’s sermon was too long for one aimed at children, so I’m going to try to behave this week and limit this one to just three characteristics of God. Before we can do that, however, we need to quickly remind everyone of what we learned about the Most High in part one of this series.
Kids, the first thing we learned last Sunday was God is omnivorous, right?
Not exactly, eh? 🙂
Actually, the first thing we learned was that God is the uncaused cause. Nothing created God, because He was never created. He has always been and always will be. The great I Am just is.
Do you remember the other two things we learned about God? That He is…
- Incorporeal — God does not have a body and is not made of matter.
- Omnipresent — God is everywhere at the same time.
Now on to our first divine characteristic of God…
Omniscient
What does “omniscient” mean? Heading back to my Mac’s dictionary:
knowing everything: the story is told by an omniscient narrator.
[ These are quick sermon notes…not cleaned-up…and missing the “extras” that come out in the audio (which is available here). All quotes are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted. ]
Saying our Lord is omniscient means He knows everything, past, present, and future. How do we know that? Let’s go to the Bible and find out!:
12Â For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13Â And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:12-13).
Last week we learned there is no where you can go to get away from God. It makes sense that if you cannot hide from God, then He is knows everything about you. However, notice the writer of Hebrews is talking about more than the Almighty seeing you physically…He knows your heart. And it’s not just man He sees:
3Â The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3).
He watches all evil and good, which makes sense given…
5Â Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure (Psalm 147:5).
What about my assertion He knows all, past, present, and future? Is that accurate?:
10Â declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ (Isaiah 46:10).
Although that (in my book) is more of an omnipotence verse, God could not declare the end from the beginning if He didn’t know all, past, present, and future.
Now, those were all great verses…but can we get a Bible reference that just blatantly says God knows everything? Why, yes we can: 🙂
19Â By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20Â for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything (1 John 3:19-20).
We could go on, but at this point do we agree that Scripture makes it clear God is omniscient? That He knows everything?
Omnipotent
Well, since we mentioned it, let’s hop right into omnipotent, first starting with the verses around God decreeing the beginning from the end.
Wait! Before we do that kids, what does it mean to be “omnipotent”? My Mac says:
(of a deity) having unlimited power; able to do anything.
Omnipotent means all-powerful. God can do anything! Well, except anything that is nonsense. For instance, God cannot create a square triangle because the definition of each means there can be no such thing. Ditto with folks who ask if God can create a rock too heavy for Him to lift. Of course not…not because our Lord has limited power…but because the question is self-contradictory. Like asking if a god who can do anything can make it so he cannot do something. Well, then he isn’t a god who can do everything.
But enough of that…how do we know God is omnipotent…that God is able to do everything? Remember how I mentioned God declaring the end from the beginning? Let’s look at it in its larger context:
8Â “Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
9Â remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10Â declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
11Â calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it (Isaiah 46:8-11)
God could not boastfully say that what He declared the end from the beginning…that what He has spoken will come to pass…unless He is all powerful and can make it come to pass.
And He can! Or, as Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 32:17:
17Â ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
What is too hard for God?
Nothing?
Why?
Because He is omnipotent…all powerful…He can do anything!
Or, as Jesus succinctly says in Matthew 19:26:
26Â But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Many things are impossible for us…but with God…
All things are possible.
Immutable
Although the last characteristic of God we are going to discuss today may not seem as impressive as being all-knowing or all-powerful, it may be the most comforting of all we have learned so far. Does anyone know what “immutable” means? Per my Mac’s dictionary:
unchanging over time or unable to be changed: an immutable fact.
God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
He is not fickle like humans. He won’t be your best friend today, then diss you at school tomorrow. He won’t promise you something important, and then change His mind.
God does not change. Heading back into the Bible, we’ll look at three separate verses, starting with Numbers 23:19:
19Â God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Now let’s turn to Malachi 3:6:
6Â “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
And finally, James 1:17:
17Â Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
- God is not like us…
- He does not lie.
- He does not change His mind.
- He does what he promises.
- He does not change.
- With Him there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Short version? You can trust God!
And isn’t that something to praise God for?
Put your trust in God…He will never, ever, ever, ever, ever disappoint you. He does not change.
Wrapping Up
Well, there you go kids…we’ve learned three things about God today. Do you remember them?
- God is omniscient — He knows everything.
- God is omnipotent — He can do anything.
- God is immutable — He does not change.
Next week we’ll wrap up with “Anthony’s Sermon of Why and How God Is…God (Part 3)”…starting with…
Well, only God knows for sure ’cause He is omniscient, omnipotent, and immutable. 🙂 I know the characteristic I plan on starting off with, but I don’t know everything, don’t have the power to make sure I’ll start off with it, and I could change my mind.
Unlike God. 🙂