The SOLITARINESS of God.

THE SOLITARINESS OF GOD. 

Geoffrey R. Kirkland

Christ Fellowship Bible Church 

The SOLITARINESS of God means that God is God alone. There is no one like Him! From all eternity past, God is unrivaled and unmatched. God has no equals and no rivals. None can compare with our God!  The true and living God is totally distinct and entirely separate from all His creation. 

The song in Exodus extols this: “Who is like you, among the gods, O Lord” (Exodus 15.11)? Psalm 89 says: “Who is like you, O mighty Lord” (Psalm 89.8)? Even God Himself asks: “Who is like me? Let him proclaim and declare it” (Isaiah 44.7).  Again, God affirms: There is no God besides me, no savior besides me and no other besides me (Isaiah 43.11; 44.6; 45.5, 6). 

From all eternity past, from before the creation of all things, God existed in perfect solitary and exclusive joy. God existed alone in perfect, triune, inter-trinitarian relationship and delight. For God to be solitary in His essential being and perfections means that God depends on nothing and no one for life and for existence. He is independent and self-sufficient. He is wondrously self-contained, self-sufficient, self-relying, self-satisfied, self-magnifying and in need of nothing outside of Himself. It is this most unique and wondrous quality of God’s being that sets Him apart from anything and everything in all the universe! 

God perfectly lives in total completeness in His own essential being! He is the source and sustainer of everything. He gives life to all but needs nothing from all because He is perfectly whole and sufficient in Himself. God forever lives as the uncaused cause of everything. He creates by His own miraculous, powerful, irresistible word. He therefore is unique and distinct from His creation. 

This is why the prophet Jeremiah exclaimed: “There is none like you” (Jeremiah 10.7)!  King David affirmed in prayer: "O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You” (1 Chronicles 17.20).  Ponder this unique and God-magnifying truth today. God is solitary because none can be compared with Him! The solitariness of God defines the grand beauty and exclusive uniqueness of God and impacts all of God’s being and all the attributes and actions of our God. 

This reminds us of the many occasions in the gospels when Jesus did a miracle, or taught the gospel and crowds would respond with something like: “who is this” (Luke 9.9; Matt 21.10)? Ponder this today and get lost in wonder and praise of your Triune God. Each member — the Father, the Son, the Spirit — is unique in His unrivaled majesty, in His royal excellencies, unmatched in His perfections, and He sustains everything but is independent from everything.  This should cause you and me to rejoice deeply in His essential being. Simultaneously, it should prompt humility in our hearts in knowing that this God — the solitary God — cares about us, gives life to us, is interested in us, and loves us! Trust Him! Rest your soul in Him! Cast all your burdens, your anxieties, your fears, your cares upon this mighty and unmatched Savior!  Run to Him afresh today!  This solitary God desires and deserves your praise and worship!  

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The GLORY of God.

THE GLORY OF GOD

Geoffrey R. Kirkland

Christ Fellowship Bible Church, pastor

The GLORY OF GOD consists of the beauty of His being. God’s glory comprises the fullness of his infiniteness of all His excellencies arrayed in marvelous splendor.  It does not refer merely to something that is made that catches the eye or comes across as aesthetically beautiful, but rather the glory of God is the emanating effulgence of His infinitely arrayed excellencies. Some have said that God’s glory is the “magnificence, worth, splendor, loveliness and grandeur of His many perfections which He has and which He displays in His being, in His creative actions, and in His redemption. 

Quite simply, in a word, the glory of God is the fullness of His beautiful being. That’s why the Hebrew word for glory speaks often of His weightiness and heaviness of His manifold and wondrous being!  This is why King David exulted and said: “We praise your glorious Name” (1 Chronicles 29.13)!  We meditate on the glorious splendor of God’s majesty (Psalm 145.5). One day, Jesus Christ, the Lord of majesty, will return and reign and He will be beautiful and glorious on the earth (Isaiah 4.2-5). The Apostle Paul calls Jesus the “Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2.8). That means that Jesus is the fullness of God’s excellencies in His person.

First, the glory of God consists in the manifold beauty of His infinite perfections. God’s glory is not a part of who God is or what God does, but it is the blessed and boundless magnitude of His wonders all harmonized and working together. God’s glory is His enjoyment of Himself because of His infinite perfections. 

Second, God shows His glory visibly and manifestly at certain times when He tangibly displays His wondrous character and unrivaled power before the eyes of men. For example: before the eyes of all the sons of Israel, the glory of God appeared like a consuming fire on time of Sinai (Exodus 24.17). Moses couldn’t enter the newly constructed tabernacle because the glory of God filled it (Exodus 40.35). When Solomon prayed after he built the Temple, fire came down and consumed the sacrifices and the glory of God filled the Temple (2 Chronicles 7.1). John said that Jesus the Word became flesh and we saw His glory (John 1.14).

Third, the glory of God appears in His wonderful acts as He created all things, sustains all things, upholds all things, and brings all things to their appointed end (Psalm 19.1; Isaiah 43.7).

Fourth, humans must behold the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3.18) by gazing on Christ so as to respond and reflect, to mediate and marvel, to proclaim and ponder, to praise and honor the God of glory.  We must glory in His Holy name (1 Chronicles 16.10). We are to worship God by ascribing — giving — God glory and strength (Psalm 29.1). We shall speak of the glory of God’s kingdom (Psalm 145.11). And one day, in the Kingdom, we shall all cry out: “Glory to the Righteous One” (Isaiah 24.16). We must grow strong in faith (like Abraham), giving glory to God (Romans 4.20). In fact, everything that we do, whether eating and drinking, should all be done for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10.31). 

Fifth, what is heaven by the infinite effulgence and happy radiance of God’s glory for endless eternities and our enjoyment in His glory. The Lamb who sits on the throne shall receive glory forevermore (Revelation 5.12,13; 7:12; 21.23).

So then, in conclusion, if the glory of God consists in the fullness of God’s personhood and the going forth of His beauty and the happy enjoyment of God being God and putting His wonders on display for all to behold, then let us contemplate God today. Let us get lost in wonder in His deep splendors and bottomless excellencies. And let us think on Him, and consider Him, and speak of Him, and worship Him, and ascribe the highest honors and reverence and praises to Him and to Him alone (Psalm 96.3)! 

**More on this ongoing blog-series on the Attributes of God HERE.

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The JEALOUSY of God.

THE JEALOUSY OF GOD.

Geoffrey R. Kirkland

Christ Fellowship Bible Church, pastor

 

The jealousy of God speaks of God’s noble and passionate desire for His people to worship Him exclusively. The Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God (Exodus 34.14). This is part of God’s essential being which flows out of His infinite goodness, perfections, joy and preeminence. Because of who God is and how beautiful He is, He longs for pure and total devotion from His creatures. Not only does He long for this devotion but He fully deserves it. Thus, for God to be jealous means that He longs for His people to have highest joy and infinite pleasure in complete devotion to the highest pursuit of their affections — God alone! 

The holiness of God and the love of God fuel His jealousy. He knows Himself fully and He cares for His creatures deeply and He jealousy calls for submission, devotion, and affection in every area of life. God can and should do this because He is the highest good and His own glory and honor is the most soul-satisfying and happy pursuit that man could ever attain. God’s jealousy does not consist of a passing or passing mood swing. Rather, it is the very essence and core of His worthy and excellent Being to earnestly desire His magnificence to be enjoyed by all His creatures! 

The LORD is a jealous fire and a consuming God. Even looking at the example of God’s passionate and jealous love in the book of Hosea, we see God’s passionate pursuit of His people and His love for their truest devotion (Hosea 6.1-3). The prophet Nahum preached and spoke of God being a jealous and avenging God (Nahum 1.2). Thus, when His creatures do not worship Him appropriately, God rightly responds with jealous anger and wrath because He fully deserves it; and indeed, He made them for infinite delight in Him (Nahum 1.2-6). 

Most practically, then, the jealousy of God means that He passionately longs for your full and total devotion.  He wants you to submit to Him and to delight in His Lordship (Luke 9.23). He wants you to confess Him as Lord, bow to Him as King, trust Him as Father, and give your ultimate allegiance and ardent love to Him as your Bridegroom (Deuteronomy 6.4-5).

Further, it has been well stated that God’s jealousy speaks to his holy commitment to his honor, glory and love seen in the salvation of his people and the just condemnation of all who oppose him. His fervent passion is for His own to find ultimate happiness not in the things of this world but in Him alone!  Contemplate your God and His loving jealousy for you to love Him and serve Him and speak of Him.  Consider your God whose open arms invite you to find your happiest joys in Him and in Him alone. His perfections and holiness and excellencies fuel His jealousy and at the same time invite you to exult in Him.  Consider Him. Reaffirm your love for Him and submit to His Lordship in every area of your life.

 

 

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The TRUTH of God.

THE TRUTH OF GOD.

Geoffrey R. Kirkland

Christ Fellowship Bible Church, pastor

 

 

God never forgets His lovingkindness and His truth (Genesis 24.27).  The truth of God refers to His essential being which is totally reliable and always true to His word. When referring to God as the God of truth, we mean that He alone is the exclusive God of truth. There is none other. It also means that God knows all things exhaustively and that His being is impeccably dependable and reliable.  As God, and as the definer and standard of truth, He is the author of truth, the source of truth, the determiner of truth, and the final judge over all truth. 

How encouraging to know that your God is infinitely truthful, everlastingly reliable, and totally dependable in all His words, ways, and promises. It is a moral attribute of God’s being that speaks to His dependability and integrity and blamelessness.  And he, of course, as God is the perfect standard of Truth. He is infallible and cannot fail. He is totally faithful and will keep His promises. He is exclusive and preeminent as the only true God. He is reliable because He cannot lie or deceive. 

All of God’s commandments are truth (Psalm 119.151). When Christ came into this world as the Living Word, He came as fullness of grace and truth (John 1.14). Those who know the Truth and believe the Truth shall learn that the truth sets them free (John 8.32). But in the progressive nature of Christian living, Jesus Himself prays that we would be sanctified in the Truth (John 17.19).  

Preachers must handle the Word of Truth accurately (2 Timothy 2.15). We must turn from all false teachers and erroneous teachings which lead people away from the truth (2 Peter 2.2). The saving gospel is the knowledge of the Truth and the conviction of this as the only message that saves (1 Timothy 2.4). We must be sanctified by the truth (John 17.17).

Because God’s very being consists of utter and infinite truthfulness, all believers must receive comfort knowing that God remains dependable and reliable through every situation of life. His Word is always yes and amen. He will always fulfill His promises. And believers, then, must imitate this communicable attribute of God as we practice the truth (Ephesians 4.15, 24-25). 

Unbelievers, however, must hear the warning of this truth of God. For if sinners do not repent and turn to Christ by faith alone, they will be judged forevermore (Matthew 25.46). Those who do not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved are those show ill be lost forever (2 Thessalonians 2.10). Jesus alone is the way, the Truth, and the life and no one will ever come to God except through Christ (John 14.6).

Ponder the truth of God. Let this encourage your heart while living in an untruthful and deceptive age. While the world grows darker, mischievous and unreliable, God always remains perfectly dependable, truthful, and faithful.  This is reason to rejoice. Consider your God in His perfect truthfulness!

 

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The WISDOM of God.

THE WISDOM OF GOD.

Geoffrey R. Kirkland

Pastor, Christ Fellowship Bible Church 

Wisdom and power belong to God (Daniel 2.20). All wisdom and might and counsel and understanding belongs to God (Job 12.13). The WISDOM OF GOD speaks of God’s ability to always produce the best possible results because of His perfect knowledge. The wisdom of God is perfection in action. The wisdom of God defines the very being and essence of who God is. 

Undoubtedly God knows all things (omniscience) and he also has comprehensive, infinite, exhaustive, perfect, and limitless understanding of everything in all the universe. With God is wisdom. Blessing and glory and wisdom be to our God forever and ever (Revelation 7.12). Those in heaven sing “worthy is the Lamb to receive power, riches, and wisdom (Revelation 5.12).

The wisdom of God is revealed in Holy Scripture. It is the sacred writings that are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3.15).  In Christ we have the perfect embodiment of infinite wisdom (Colossians 2.3). God’s testimonies make wise the simple (Psalm 19.7). 

God has put His magnificent wisdom on display in creation. In wisdom, God made all His works (Psalm 104.24). The prophet said God established the world by His wisdom (Jeremiah 10.12).  Take a look at creation by looking up, looking down, looking around and behold the amazing wisdom of God in action. God made all things by His power, upholds all things by His word, and has an appointed end of all things by His decrees. And all of this acts wondrously, perfectly, accordingly to His plan because God always works with unfathomable wisdom. 

Child of God, seek the Lord and seek His wisdom. You lack wisdom and should ask God who gives wisdom generously (James 1.5). God loves to give wisdom to those who ask him (Proverbs 2.6). God gives wisdom to wise men (Daniel 2.21). Even Solomon, when he reigned as king, ruled by the wisdom that God gave him (1 Kings 5.12). Even young children can grow in wisdom just as Jesus the Lord had to increase in wisdom (Luke 2:40, 52). 

The perfect wisdom of God’s being is the perfect foundation and blessed hope we have for the planning of redemption, the achievement of propitiation, the magnification of the Son, the security of the saints, and the everlasting bliss that awaits us in glory. God’s wisdom is not just intellectual data. It is the sovereign choosing, the wondrous achieving, and the outworking of all of His decrees (in space and time) so as to glorify Himself. 

 

In the plan to save corrupt sinners from wrath, God put His wisdom on display in sending His own perfect Son as the Lamb, the sinless substitute, the perfect redeemer, the wrath-appeasing propitiation, and the ultimate sacrifice to take away sin and reconcile sinners to Himself (1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5).

It has been well said that God is infinitely wise, consistently wise, and perfectly wise. AW Tozer writes: "Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means. It sees the end from the beginning, so there can be no need to guess or conjecture. Wisdom sees everything in focus, each in proper relation to all, and is thus able to work toward predestined goals with flawless precision.”

When you consider the perfect goodness of God’s unfrustrated wisdom you will say with the Apostle Paul: Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God (Romans 11.33).

 

 

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