“There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute; who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory…” - The Westminster Confession (1646) Three more of God's attributes are mentioned in this historical Creed of Christianity: Without parts (God’s Simplicity) or passions (God’s Impassibility), ... incomprehensible (God’s ineffability). 1. God is simple. Def. – “indivisible, not composed of parts” God’s nature is not compounded (like H2O). All that is in God is totally and simply God. God’s attributes interpenetrate each other: (Ex. God is omnipotently-eternally-righteous-love.) Good News: If God has no parts, He cannot come apart! Deut. 6:4, “The Lord our God is one Lord.” James 1:17, “… every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” Rom. 1:23, “… they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind.” Ephesians 4:6, “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” 2. God is impassible. Def. - “cannot be harmed, unable to suffer” God does not suffer in His divine nature. God is not better or worse or robbed of His own happiness. God’s feelings flow from His unchanging nature. Good News: Jesus, in the incarnation, experiences suffering and sympathizes with us in His human nature. 1 Samuel 15:29, “...the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” Acts 17:24, “The God who made the world and everything that is in it… 25 is [not] served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.” Ps 36:7, “...the sons of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. 8 They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You allow them to drink from the river of Your delights. 9 For the fountain of life is with You.” God is not emotionally drained by this troubled world. God is the infinite fountain of life that never runs dry. 3. God is Ineffable. Def. - “Beyond words, incomprehensible” God’s infinite perfections cannot be comprehended by finite imperfect creatures. We can know God truly, but not fully. Good News: We can know God as He reveals Himself (in the Word, in Christ, and in Creation). Psalm 145:3, “His greatness is unsearchable.” I Tim. 6:16, “He dwells in unapproachable light.” Deut. 29:29, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever. Isaiah 55:9, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.” I Corinthians 13:12, “…now I know in part, but then I will know fully.” How does the ineffible God become known? John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him.” CONCLUSION: God’s Attributes We yearn to know what cannot be known, to comprehend the Incomprehensible, to touch and taste the Unapproachable… the soul senses its origin and longs to return to its Source. How can this be realized? The answer of the Bible is simply, “through Jesus Christ our Lord.”- A.W. Tozer Application Question: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? One of the clearest answers to this question is inscribed in the Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock was finished in 692 AD, in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was overwhelmingly Christian at this time. But, 60 years after the death of Mohammed, Jerusalem was under Muslim rule and the Dome symbolized that rule – built on the site of the Temple that had been destroyed by the Romans. The Dome of the Rock symbolizes the supremacy of Islam over Judaism and Christianity. Inside the Dome are the earliest Quranic inscriptions: The earliest verified writings of the Quran are written on the inner walls in circular fashion. They say… 1. “There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate.” These words are a rejection of Jesus, God’s eternally begotten Son. Does that sound like the same God to you? 2. “God is only one God and that it is better to stop saying Three.” These words are a rejection of the doctrine of the Trinity. Does that sound like the same God to you? 3. The People of the Book should not speak improperly about God. These words are a warning to Christians to stop worshipping and preaching the wrong God. The wrong God according to Islam is the God who has a Son and is Triune (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). What does this mean? Islam, from the very beginning arose in disagreement with the Christian view of God. In their own words, Muslims do not worship the same God. God's true Word says in 1 John 4:2 (NASB), “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world.” Pray for Muslims to come home to true salvation, through God's true Son, and God's true Word.