The Perfection Of God: 10 Important Attributes
What can we learn from God's character? We can never fully comprehend God, but we can gain a sense of who he is through what he shows us in his word and through his creation. God's love and his power in our lives cannot be compared with anything in this world. We may not feel it every day and sometimes we may even feel alone in difficult situations. As we read the Bible, we are reminded of God's commitment and promises to his people in every chapter, as well as his many attributes and characteristics.
We can appreciate God better when we know his attributes. He is a perfect God - our understanding of Him is unimaginable. The uniqueness and incomparability of his character makes him one of a kind. He is loving, good, and kind always. While we do not know all of God's attributes, his word allows us to understand who he is.
We’ve compiled a list of 10 of God’s important attributes that are true of His character:
God Is All Powerful
Romans 11:36 — “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.”
Note that he can never do anything that contradicts his nature.
Ron Moore writes in his devotional Forward: "God's attribute of omnipotence means that God is able to do all that He desires to do. When He plans something, it will come to be. If He proposes something, it will happen. Nothing can prevent His plan. When His hand is stretched out to do something, no one can turn it back. Omnipotence comes from two Latin words. Omni means "all," and potent means "powerful." God's decisions are always in line with His character, and He has all the power to do whatever He decides to do.”
God Is Gracious
In Blue Letter Bible, it says: “Grace is the bestowal of blessing unearned or unmerited. When we speak of God's grace, we speak of those wonderful gifts (e.g., salvation) that no man deserves but God grants anyway.”
God's word exhibits a deep sense of compassion and grace for His people. He is patient, forgiving, and filled with love. He knows every struggle and hardship we face. As a loving Father, God cares for us with comfort and love.
God Is Just
As per Wikipedia, the sovereignty of God is related to his omnipotence, providence, and kingship, yet it also encompasses his freedom, and is in keeping with his goodness, righteousness, holiness, and impeccability. It refers to God being in complete control as he directs all things — no person, organization, government or any other force can stop God from executing his purpose.
Some people have come to believe that God is too kind to punish an ungodly person because of His other attributes of goodness, mercy, love, and grace. In reality, believing this only dims the reality of his infinite, unchanging justice. God will see to it that justice is done whether it is through Christ's atoning death or eternal separation from him.
God Is Good
It is explained in an article about The Goodness of God that His goodness comes from his immutability and infinite nature. This means that he will never change, he will always be good. His goodness is reflected in his mercy. “In his goodness to us, we see that He has a purpose to be good in a special way to his people.”
God is Forgiving and Merciful
Dr. Norman Geisler writes in his article Merciful God: "Mercy flows from God's attribute of goodness (or love) as grounded in His infinity and immutability. Since God is unlimited and unchangeable, then, given that He is good, He must be infinitely and unchangeably good. Since mercy flows from God's goodness, and since God is infinite, it follows that God is infinitely and unchangeably merciful. It is of His very nature to show mercy; He cannot not be merciful. As God is a necessary Being, even so He must of necessity be merciful. Were He not merciful, He would not be essentially good or loving. God is not arbitrarily merciful”
Heaven would not be possible without the mercy of God. Our sins are forgiven and cleansed because Jesus Christ took our sins on the cross in order to free us from them. If you just ask for His help, there is nothing that could keep Him from helping you. His forgiveness and mercy are unimaginable, as is His love.
God is Holy
Midtown Fellowship writes this about God’s Holiness: “In Isaiah 6 the seraphim are saying God is holy, holy, holy - in other words, He is the absolutely holiest. He’s categorically set apart from anything else. He stands alone, He stands above. If you look throughout Scripture, the holiness of God is the only attribute ever used three times in succession”.
This means God is not like you. The Bible tells us that humanity is created in God's image so we uniquely reflect God in ways that other creatures or creation doesn't. That's a unique part of being human but if we're not careful, we can begin to believe the lie that just because we are like God, that means God is like us, but He's not.”
God Is Loving
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1.
According to iBelieve, “The very character and essence of God is love. Incredible, lavish, unconditional love. He loves us more than we could ever imagine, his love is everlasting, and it’s never based on how good we are. Don’t ever believe the lie that says you are somehow “unlovable” or have gone too far in the wrong direction for God to ever care about you. It’s just not possible with our loving God. He reaches for us, chases after us, knows us by name, and He sent his only Son so that we might have a chance to live free.”
God's love can only be understood in light of his other attributes. His love for us is infinite, eternal, unchanging and sovereign.
God is our Refuge and Help
In Completing Truth, an article was written with a title What does it mean God is our refuge and strength expound on this topic. As explained in Psalm 46, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble - This is a comforting assurance that shows us God is our safety, strength, and help. In the proceeding verses, the psalmist tells us that our natural response to this promise is to live free from fear, no matter the circumstances.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling" (verses 2–3). These are some pretty extreme conditions, but we see throughout this psalm that God is fully trustworthy and fully in control.
God Is Infinite
John Stange writes about God's self-existence in his article on DesireJesus.com: "Scripture testifies to the fact that God is the self-existent originator of all that we observe. Colossians 1:16-17, in particular, is speaking of God the Son, Jesus Christ. We know that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit worked together in perfect unity to bring creation into existence, but in this passage from Colossians, we're given specific details relating to the Son. We're told that Jesus created all things in heaven and on earth. He created things we can see and things we cannot see. And not only did He create all things, He also sustains what He created. Everything He created is being divinely held together by His infinite power.
God Is Faithful
A. W. Pink writes this about God’s faithfulness: “God is true. His Word of Promise is sure. In all His relations with His people God is faithful. He may be safely relied upon. No one ever yet really trusted Him in vain. We find this precious truth expressed almost everywhere in the Scriptures, for His people need to know that faithfulness is an essential part of the Divine character. This is the basis of our confidence in Him.”
His faithfulness is not always apparent to us. Our limited understanding may make God's faithfulness appear to be abandonment. What kind of God would allow his children to suffer, to be hurt, to die? In difficult times, Christians can take comfort by remembering God's attributes, for God is unchangingly faithful, good, always with us, and wise.
Hopefully, we were able to help you gain a deeper understanding of God's attributes and learn to trust him more everyday.