QUEST. VII. What is God?
ANSW. God is a Spirit, in and of himself, infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection, all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, every where present, almighty, knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful, and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
Before we proceed to consider the divine perfections, as contained in this answer, let it be premised,
1. That it is impossible for any one to give a perfect description of God, since he is incomprehensible, therefore no words can fully express, or set forth, his perfections; when the wisest men on earth speak of him, they soon betray their own weakness, or discover, as Elihu says, that they cannot order their speech by reason of darkness, Job xxxviii. 19. or, that they are but of yesterday, and know, comparatively, nothing, chap. viii. 9. We are but like children, talking of matters above them, which their tender age can take in but little of, when we speak of the infinite perfections of the divine nature; This knowledge is too wonderful for us; it is high, we cannot attain to it, Psal. cxxxix. 6. How little a portion is heard of him? Job. xxvi. 14.
2. Though God cannot be perfectly described; yet there is something of him that we may know, and ought to make the matter of our study and diligent enquiries. When his glory is set forth in scripture, we are not to look upon the expressions there made use of, as words without any manner of ideas affixed to them; for it is one thing to have adequate ideas of an infinitely perfect being, and another thing to have no ideas at all of him; neither are our ideas of God to be reckoned, for this reason, altogether false, though they are imperfect; for it is one thing to think of him in an unbecoming way, not agreeable to his perfections, or to attribute the weakness and imperfection to him which do not belong to his nature, and another thing to think of him, with the highest and best conceptions we are able to entertain of his infinite perfections, while, at the same time, we have a due sense of our own weakness, and the shallowness of our capacities. When we thus order our thoughts concerning the great God, though we are far from comprehending his infinite perfections, yet our conceptions are not to be concluded erroneous, when directed by his word; which leads us to consider how we may conceive aright of the divine perfections, that we may not think or speak of God, that which is not right, though at best we know but little of his glory; and in order thereunto,
(1.) We must first take an estimate of finite perfections, which we have some ideas of, though not perfect ones in all respects; such as power, wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, &c.
(2.) Then we must conceive that these are eminently, though not formally in God; that is, there is no perfection in the creature, but we must ascribe the same to God, though not in the same way; or thus, whatever perfection is in the creature, the same is in God, and infinitely more; or it is in God, but not in such a finite, limited, or imperfect way, as it is in the creature; He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall not he see? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall he not know? Psal. xciv. 9, 10. Therefore,
(3.) When the same words are used that import a perfection in God, and in the creature, viz. wisdom, power, &c. we must not suppose that these words import the same thing in their different application; for when they are applied to the creature, though we call them perfections, yet they are, at best, but finite, and have many imperfections attending them, all which we must separate or abstract in our thoughts, when the same words are used to set forth any divine perfection: thus knowledge is a perfection of the human nature, and the same word is used to denote a divine perfection; yet we must consider, at the same time, that the Lord seeth not as man seeth, 1 Sam. xvi. 7. The same may be said of all his other perfections; he worketh not as man worketh; whatever perfections are ascribed to the creature, they are to be considered as agreeable to the subject in which they are; so when the same words are used to set forth any of the divine perfections, they are to be understood in a way becoming a God of infinite perfection.
This has given occasion to divines to distinguish the perfections of God, into those that are communicable, and incommunicable.
1. The communicable perfections of God are such, whereof we find some faint resemblance in intelligent creatures, though, at the same time, there is an infinite disproportion; as when we speak of God as holy, wise, just, powerful, or faithful, we find something like these perfections in the creature, though we are not to suppose them, in all respects, the same as they are in God; they are in him, in his own, that is, an infinite way; they are in us, in our own, that is, a finite and limited way.
2. The incommunicable perfections of God are such, of which there is not the least shadow, or similitude in creatures, but they rather represent him as opposed to them. Thus when we speak of him as infinite, incomprehensible, unchangeable, without beginning, independent, &c. these perfections contain in them an account of the vast distance that there is between God and the creature, or how infinitely he exceeds all other beings, and is opposed to every thing that argues imperfection in them.
From this general account we have given of the divine perfections, we may infer,
1. That there is nothing common between God and the creature; that is, there is nothing which belongs to the divine nature that can be attributed to the creature; and nothing proper to the creature is to be applied to God: yet there are some rays of the divine glory, which may be beheld as shining forth, or displayed in the creature, especially in the intelligent part of the creation, angels and men, who are, for that reason, represented as made after the divine image.
2. Let us never think or speak of the divine perfections but with the highest reverence, lest we take his name in vain, or debase him in our thoughts; Shall not his excellency make you afraid, and his dread fall upon you? Job xiii. 11. And whenever we compare God with the creatures, viz. angels and men, that bear somewhat of his image, let us, at the same time, abstract in our thoughts, all their imperfections, whether natural or moral, from him, and consider the infinite disproportion that there is between him and them. We now come to consider the perfections of the divine nature, in the order in which they are laid down in this answer.
I. God is a Spirit; that is, an immaterial substance, without body or bodily parts; this he is said to be in John iv. 24. But if it be enquired what we mean by a Spirit, let it be premised, that we cannot fully understand what our own spirits, or souls are; we know less of the nature of angels, a higher kind of spirits, and least of all of the spirituality of the divine nature; however, our ideas first begin at what is finite, in considering the nature and properties of spirits; and from thence we are led to conceive of God as infinitely more perfect than any finite spirit. Here we shall consider the word spirit, as applied more especially to angels, and the souls of men; and let it be observed,
1. That a spirit is the most perfect and excellent being; the soul is more excellent than the body, or indeed than any thing that is purely material; so angels are the most perfect and glorious part of the creation, as they are spiritual beings, in some things excelling the souls of men.
2. A spirit is, in its own nature, immortal; it has nothing in its frame and constitution that tends to corruption, as there is in material things, which consist of various parts, that may be dissolved or separated, and their form altered, which is what we call corruption; but this belongs not to spirits, which are liable to no change in their nature, but by the immediate hand of God, who can, if he pleases, reduce them again to their first nothing.
3. A spirit is capable of understanding, and willing, and putting forth actions agreeable thereunto, which no other being can do: thus, though the sun is a glorious and useful being; yet, because it is material, it is not capable of thought, or any moral action, such as angels, and the souls of men, can put forth.
Now these conceptions of the nature and properties of finite spirits, lead us to conceive of God as a spirit. And,
(1.) As spirits excel all other creatures, we must conclude God to be the most excellent and perfect of all beings, and also that he is incorruptible, immortal, and invisible, as he is said to be in scripture, Rom. i. 23. and 1 Tim. i. 17.
Moreover, it follows from hence, that he has an understanding and will, and so we may conceive of him as the Creator and governor of all things; this he could not be, if he were not an intelligent and sovereign being, and particularly a spirit.[48]
(2.) The difference between other spiritual substances and God, is, that all their excellency is only comparative, viz. as they excel the best of all material beings in their nature and properties; but God, as a spirit, is infinitely more excellent, not only than all material beings, but than all created spirits. Their perfections are derived from him, and therefore he is called, The Father of spirits, Heb. xii. 9. and the God of the spirits of all flesh, Numb. xvi. 22. and his perfections are underived: other spirits are, as we have observed, in their own nature, immortal, yet God can reduce them to nothing; but God is independently immortal, and therefore it is said of him, that he only hath immortality, 1 Tim. vi. 16.
Finite spirits, indeed, have understanding and will, but these powers are contained within certain limits whereas God is an infinite spirit, and therefore it can be said of none but him, that his understanding is infinite, Psal. cxlvii. 5.
From God’s being a spirit, we may infer,
1. That he is the most suitable good to the nature of our souls, which are spirits; he can communicate himself, and apply those things to them, which tend to make them happy, as the God and Father of spirits.
2. He is to be worshipped in a spiritual manner, John iv. 24. that is, with our whole souls, and in a way becoming his spiritual nature; therefore,
3. We are to frame no similitude or resemblance of him in our thoughts, as though he were a corporeal or material being; neither are we to make any pictures of him. This God forbids Israel to do, Deut. iv. 12, 15, 16. and tells them, that they had not the least pretence for so doing, inasmuch as they saw no similitude of him, when he spake to them in Horeb; and to make an image of him would be to corrupt themselves.
II. God is said to be in, and of, himself, not as though he gave being to, or was the cause of himself, for that implies a contradiction; therefore divines generally say, that God is in, and of himself, not positively, but negatively, that is, his being and perfections are underived, and not communicated to him, as all finite perfections are, by him, to the creature; therefore he is self-existent, or independent, which is one of the highest glories of the divine nature, by which he is distinguished from all creatures, who live, move, and have their being in and from him.
This attribute of independency belongs to all his perfections; thus his wisdom, power, goodness, holiness, &c. are all independent. And,
1. With respect to his knowledge or wisdom, he doth not receive ideas from any object out of himself, as all intelligent creatures do, and, in that respect, are said to depend on the object; so that if there were not such objects, they could not have the knowledge or idea of them in their minds; therefore the object known must first exist, before we can apprehend what it is. But this must not be said of God’s knowledge, for that would be to suppose the things that he knows antecedent to his knowing them. The independency of his knowledge is elegantly described in scripture; Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or, being his counsellor, has taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? Isa. xl. 13, 14.
2. He is independent in power, therefore as he receives strength from no one, so he doth not act dependently on the will of the creature; Who hath enjoined him his way; Job xxxvi. 23. and accordingly, as he received the power of acting from no one, so none can hinder, turn aside, or controul his power, or put a stop to his methods of acting.
3. He is independent as to his holiness, hating sin necessarily, and not barely depending on some reasons out of himself, which induce him thereunto; for it is essential to the divine nature to be infinitely opposite to all sin, and therefore to be independently holy.
4. He is independent as to his bounty and goodness, and so he communicates blessings not by constraint, but according to his sovereign will. Thus he gave being to the world, and all things therein, which was the first instance of bounty and goodness, and a very great one it was, not by constraint, but by his free will, for his pleasure they are and were created. In like manner, whatever instances of mercy he extends to miserable creatures, he still acts independently, in the display thereof; nothing out of himself moves or lays a constraint upon him, but he shews mercy because it is his pleasure so to do.
But, to evince the truth of this doctrine, that God is independent as to his being, and all his perfections, let it be farther considered,
(1.) That all things depend on his power, which brought them into, and preserves them in being; therefore they exist by his will, as their creator and preserver, and consequently are not necessary, but dependent beings. If therefore all things depend on God, it is the greatest absurdity to say that God depends on any thing, for this would be to suppose the cause and the effect to be mutually dependent on, and derived from each other, which infers a contradiction.
(2.) If God be infinitely above the highest creatures, he cannot depend on any of them; for dependence argues inferiority. Now that God is above all things is certain: this is represented in a very beautiful manner by the prophet, when he says, Isa. xl. 15, 17. Behold the nations are as the drop of the bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; all nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity; therefore he cannot be said to be inferior to them, and, by consequence, to depend on them.
(3.) If God depends on any creature, he does not exist necessarily: and if so, then he might not have been; for the same will, by which he is supposed to exist, might have determined that he should not have existed. If therefore God be not independent, he might not have been, and, according to the same method of reasoning, he might cease to be; for the same will, that gave being to him, might take it away at pleasure, which is altogether inconsistent with the idea of a God.
From God’s being independent, or in and of himself, we infer,
1. That we ought to conclude that the creature cannot lay any obligation on him, or do any thing that may tend to make him more happy than he is in himself; the apostle gives a challenge to this effect, Who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again, Rom. xi. 35. and Eliphaz says to Job, Job xxii. 2, 3. Can a man be profitable to God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?
2. If independency be a divine perfection, then let it not, in any instance, or by any consequence, be attributed to the creature; let us conclude, that all our springs are in him, and that all we enjoy and hope for is from him, who is the author and finisher of our faith, and the fountain of all our blessedness.
III. God is infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection. To be infinite, is to be without all bounds or limits, either actual or possible: now that God is so, is evident, from his being independent and uncreated; and because his will fixes the bounds of all the excellencies, perfections, and powers of the creature. If therefore he doth not exist by the will of another, he is infinite in being, and consequently in all perfection: thus it is said, Psal. cxlvii. 5. his understanding is infinite, which will farther appear, when we consider him as omniscient; his will determines what shall come to pass, with an infinite sovereignty, that cannot be controuled, or rendered ineffectual; his power is infinite, and therefore all things are equally possible, and easy to it, nor can it be resisted by any contrary force or power; and he is infinite in blessedness, as being self-sufficient, or not standing in need of any thing to make him more happy than he was in himself, from all eternity. The Psalmist is supposed by many, to speak in the person of Christ, when he says, Psal. xvi. 2. My goodness extendeth not to thee, q. d. “How much soever thy relative glory may be illustrated, by what I have engaged to perform in the covenant of redemption, yet this can make no addition to thine essential glory.” And if so, then certainly nothing can be done by us which may in the least contribute thereunto.
IV. God is all-sufficient, by which we understand that he hath enough in himself to satisfy the most enlarged desires of his creatures, and to make them completely blessed. As his self-sufficiency is that whereby he has enough in himself to denominate him completely blessed, as a God of infinite perfection; so his all-sufficiency is that, whereby he is able to communicate as much blessedness to his creatures, as he is pleased to make them capable of receiving; and therefore he is able not only to supply all their wants, but to do exceedingly above all that they ask or think, Phil. iv. 19. and Eph. iii. 20. This he can do, either in an immediate way; or, if he thinks fit to make use of creatures as instruments, to fulfil his pleasure, and communicate what he designs to impart to us, he is never at a loss; for as they are the work of his hands, so he has a right to use them at his will; upon which account, they are said, all of them to be his servants, Psal. cxix. 91.
This doctrine of God’s all-sufficiency should be improved by us,
1. To induce us to seek happiness in him alone: creatures are no more than the stream, but he is the fountain; we may, in a mediate way, receive some small drops from them, but he is the ocean of all blessedness.
2. Let us take heed that we do not reflect on, or in effect, deny this perfection; which we may be said to do in various instances. As,
(1.) When we are discontented with our present condition, and desire more than God has allotted for us. This seems to have been the sin of the angels, who left their first habitation through pride, seeking more than God designed they should have; and this was the sin by which our first parents fell, desiring a greater degree of knowledge than what they thought themselves possessed of: thus they fancied, that by eating the forbidden fruit, they should be as gods, knowing good and evil, Gen. iii. 5.
(2.) We practically deny the all-sufficiency of God, when we seek blessings of what kind soever they are, in an indirect way, as though God were not able to bestow them upon us in his own way, or in the use of lawful means: thus Rebecca and Jacob did, when they contrived a lie to obtain the blessing, chap. xxvii. as though there had not been an all-sufficiency in providence to bring it about, without their having recourse to those methods that were in themselves sinful.
(3.) When we use unlawful means to escape imminent dangers. Thus David did when he feigned himself mad, supposing, without ground, that he should have been slain by Achish, king of Gath; and that there was no other way to escape but this, 1 Sam. xxi. 13. and Abraham and Isaac, Gen. chapters xx. and xxvi. when they denied their wives, concluding this to have been an expedient to save their lives, as though God were not able to save them in a better and more honourable way.
(4.) When we distrust his providence, though we have had large experience of its appearing for us in various instances: thus David did, when he said, in his heart, I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul, 1 Sam. xxvii. 1. and the Israelites, when they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Psal. lxxviii. 19. though he had provided for them in an extraordinary way ever since they had been there: yea, Moses himself was faulty in this matter, when he said, Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me, Numb. xi. 13, 14. and Asa, when he tempted Benhadad to break his league with Baasha, who made war against him; as though God were not able to deliver him without this indirect practice, though he had in an eminent manner, appeared for him, in giving him a signal victory over Zerah the Ethiopian, when he came against him with an army of a million of men, 2 Chron. xvi. 3. compared with chap. xiv. 9, 13. and likewise Joshua, when Israel had suffered a small defeat, occasioned by Achan’s sin, when they fled before the men of Ai, though there were but thirty-six of them slain; yet, on that occasion, he is ready to wish that God had not brought them over Jordan, and meditates nothing but ruin and destruction from the Amorites, forgetting God’s former deliverances, and distrusting his faithfulness, and care of his people, and, as it were, calling in question his all-sufficiency, as though he were not able to accomplish the promises he had made to them, Josh. vii. 7, 8, 9.
(5.) When we doubt of the truth, or certain accomplishment of his promises, and so are ready to say, Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Doth his truth fail for ever? This we are apt to do, when there are great difficulties in the way of the accomplishment thereof: thus Sarah, when it was told her that she should have a child, in her old age, laughed, through unbelief, Gen. xviii. 12. and God intimates, that this was an affront to his all-sufficiency, when he says, Is any thing too hard for the Lord? ver. 14. and Gideon, though he was told that God was with him, and had an express command to go in his might, with a promise that he should deliver Israel from the Midianites, yet he says, O Lord wherewith shall I save them? for my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house, Judg. vi. 15. God tells him again, I will be with thee, and smite the Midianites, ver. 16. yet, afterwards, he desires that he would give him a sign in the wet and dry fleece. What is this but questioning his all-sufficiency?
(6.) When we decline great services, though called to them by God, under pretence of our unfitness for them: thus when the prophet Jeremiah was called to deliver the Lord’s message to the rebellious house of Israel, he desires to be excused, and says, Behold I cannot speak, for I am a child; whereas the main discouragement was the difficulty of the work, and the hazards he was like to run; but God encourages him to it, by putting him in mind of his all-sufficiency, when he tells him, that he would be with him, and deliver him, Jer. i. 6. compared with ver. 8.
This divine perfection affords matter of support and encouragement to believers, under the greatest straits and difficulties they are exposed to in this world; and we have many instances in scripture of those who have had recourse to it in the like cases. Thus, when David was in the greatest straits that ever he met with, upon the Amalekites’ spoiling of Ziklag, and carrying away the women captives, the people talked of stoning him, and all things seemed to make against him; yet it is said, that he encouraged himself in the Lord his God, 1 Sam. xxx. 6. so Mordecai was confident that the enlargement and deliverance of the Jews should come some other way, if not by Esther’s intercession for them, when she was afraid to go in to the king, Esth. iv. 14. and this confidence he could never have obtained, considering the present posture of their affairs, without a due regard to God’s all-sufficiency. Moreover, it was this divine perfection that encouraged Abraham to obey the difficult command of offering his son: as the apostle observes, he did this as knowing that God was able to raise him from the dead, Heb. xi. 19. and when believers are under the greatest distress, from the assaults of their spiritual enemies, they have a warrant from God, as the apostle had, to encourage themselves, that they shall come off victorious, because his grace is sufficient for them, 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9.
V. God is eternal: this respects his duration, to wit, as he was without beginning, as well as shall be without end; or as his duration is unchangeable, or without succession, the same from everlasting to everlasting: thus the Psalmist says, Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world; even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God, Psal. xc. 2.
1. That God is from everlasting, appears,
(1.) From his being a necessary, self-existent being, or, as was before observed, in and of himself, therefore he must be from everlasting; for whatever is not produced is from eternity. Now that God did not derive his being from any one, is evident, because he gave being to all things, which is implied in their being creatures; therefore nothing gave being to him, and consequently he was from eternity.
(2.) If he is an infinitely perfect being, as has been observed before, then his duration is infinitely perfect, and consequently it is boundless, that is to say, eternal: it is an imperfection, in all created beings, that they began to exist, and therefore they are said, in a comparative sense, to be but of yesterday; we must therefore, when we conceive of God, separate this imperfection from him, and so conclude that he was from all eternity.
(3.) If he created all things in the beginning, then he was before the beginning of time, that is, from eternity: thus it is said, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, Gen. i. 1. this is very evident, for time is a successive duration, taking its rise from a certain point, or moment, which we call the beginning: now that duration, which was before this, must be from eternity, unless we suppose time before time began, or, which is all one, that there was a successive duration before successive duration began, which is a contradiction. Therefore, if God fixed that beginning to all things, as their Creator, and particularly to time, which is the measure of the duration of all created beings, then it is evident that he was before time, and consequently from eternity.
(4.) This also appears from scripture; as when it is said, The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms, Deut. xxxiii. 27. and when we read of his eternal power and Godhead, Rom. i. 20. and elsewhere, Art not thou from everlasting O Lord, my God? Hab. i. 12. Thy throne is established of old; thou art from everlasting, Psal. xciii. 2. so his attributes and perfections are said to have been from everlasting, The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, Psal. ciii. 17.
And this may be argued from many scripture-consequences: thus, there was an election of persons to holiness and happiness, before the foundation of the world, Eph. i. 4. and Christ, in particular, was fore-ordained to be our Mediator, before the foundation of the world, 1 Pet. i. 20. and set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was, Prov. viii. 23. From hence it follows, that there was a sovereign will that fore-ordained it, and therefore God, whose decree or purpose it was, existed before the foundation of the world, that is, from everlasting.
Moreover, there were grants of grace given in Christ, or put into his hand, from all eternity: thus we read of eternal life, which God promised before the world began, Tit. i. 2. and of our being saved, according to his purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began, 2 Tim. i. 9. It hence follows, that there was an eternal giver, and consequently that God was from everlasting.
2. God shall be to everlasting; thus it is said, The Lord shall endure forever, Psal. ix. 7. and that he liveth for ever and ever, Rev. iv. 9, 10. and that his years shall have no end, Psal. cii. 27. and the Lord shall reign for ever, Psal. cxlvi. 10. therefore he must endure for ever. Again, it is said, that the Lord keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him, to a thousand generations, Deut. vii. 9. and he will ever be mindful of his covenant, Psal. cxi. 5. that is, will fulfil what he has promised therein: if his truth shall not fail for ever, then he, who will accomplish what he has spoken, must endure to everlasting.
But this may be farther evinced from the perfections of his nature.
(1.) From his necessary existence, which not only argues, as has been before observed, that he could not begin to be, but equally proves, that he cannot cease to be, or that he shall be to everlasting.
(2.) He is void of all composition, and therefore must be to everlasting; none but compounded beings, viz. such as have parts, are subject to dissolution, which arises from, the contrariety of these parts, and their tendency to destroy one another, which occasions the dissolution of the whole; but God having no parts, as he is the most simple uncompounded being, there can be nothing in him that te