God Is Knowable

Written By Carol Jenkins

God’s

Incommunicable

Attributes

INTRODUCTION:

More can be known of God than any other person. This is what the writer of the Epistle to the Romans is wanting you to understand, when he pens these words:

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

The whole of creation reveals the fingerprints of God in ways that even the casual observer of nature, may know and experience something of God Himself through the beauty and magnitude of creation. His artistry and brilliance can be experienced through the seemingly endless array of colors and patterns. We see this in the skies above, the sea beneath and the landscapes of the earth. His wisdom and knowledge are discovered in the diversified yet interwoven ecosystems of the earth. His sensitivity to detail is seen in the minuteness of a hummingbird's wing, while His power and faithfulness is displayed in the vastness of the universe. God’s invisible attributes are clearly seen.

 

There are two kinds of attributes:

Communicable and Incommunicable.

 

When we consider the attributes of God, we are considering the qualities that give insight, revelation and understanding into the nature and character of God.

Because God made us in His likeness, He shared some of His attributes with us. This is why we have the capacity to demonstrate certain qualities such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and many others. These are sometimes referred to as God's communicable attributes; as his children we share these with Him. However, the God of the Bible also has attributes which set Him apart and distinguish Him from all others. These attributes are referred to as the incommunicable attributes of God.

The term incommunicable does not mean we can have no knowledge or understanding of these attributes. Rather it means they are impossible to impart to another; or these attributes are not shared with any created being. It is these incommunicable attributes which set God apart from all other beings, visible and invisible.

For this series on the incommunicable attributes of God we will review five attributes which are easily recognized in the scripture as belonging to God alone.

  • Omnipotence: All Power. Almighty power; unlimited or infinite power.

  • Omniscience: All Knowledge - All Wisdom - All Understanding

  • Omnipresence: Always Present Everywhere. The state of being everywhere at once.

  • Eternal: The quality of being which expresses absolute perfection in duration and character; being without beginning and without ending.

  • Immutable: The quality of being incapable of mutating or changing.

Carol Jenkins
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God Is Omnipotent