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Q. 4. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being,
wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
What is God? Children, what does it mean that God is infinite in his being?
This is a pretty good sized room--but is God bigger than this room? If
you go outside and look up at the sky--that big blue dome over our heads--is
God bigger than the sky? To say that God is infinite in his being means
that God is bigger than anything he made. And that means that wherever
you go, God is there. Even when you are afraid, remember that God is with
you. Well, then what does it mean that God is eternal in his truth? Have
you ever told a lie? Did you ever blame your sister or brother for something
you did? Well God never lies. He is eternal in his truth--that means he
tells the truth all the time! And that means that you can always trust
what he has said in his Word. His truth is eternal--it will always be right.
And what does it mean that God is unchangeable in his justice? Have your
parents ever been inconsistent? Have they ever disciplined you for something
and then let you get away with it later? God is unchangeable in his justice.
His standard of justice will never change. When God declares you righteous
in Jesus Christ, you may be certain that this judgment will stand forever!
Sometimes I think that we get too complicated. We wrestle with the concept
of infinity, we try to comprehend the depths of eternity, and we struggle
with how to speak of God's immutability. But the Catechism is wiser than
we are. For the Catechism does not say simply that God is infinite, eternal
and unchangeable. If that was all we could say about, then we would be
left with an unknown God, for we cannot comprehend the infinite, the eternal,
and the unchangeable. But the Catechism says it rightly. It uses these
words as adjectives. You cannot simply say that God is infinite. You must
say that God is infinite in his being, his wisdom, and his truth. You cannot
simply say that God is eternal. You must say that God is eternal in his
power, his justice, and his goodness. Or, like Malachi 3:6 says, "For I
the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."
God is unchangeable in his wisdom, his holiness, and his goodness. Don't
get too confused by the adjectives-infinite, eternal and unchangeable.
They only make sense when you look at the nouns: being, wisdom, power,
holiness, justice, goodness and truth.
Malachi concludes the era of the Old Testament prophets. He is drawing
on a thousand years of prophetic writings ever since the days of Moses.
When he says, "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children
of Jacob, are not consumed," he is reminding them of something they should
know well by now. For a thousand years God has demonstrated his steadfast
love and covenant faithfulness. He has proven true to his word: He promised
Abraham that he would give his descendants the land; He promised David
that his son would sit on his throne; He warned Moses that if Israel rebelled,
he would drive them out of the land; He promised the Exiles that he would
restore them in 70 years. If God was finite, limited, and changeable in
his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, then
the children of Jacob would indeed have been consumed. You see, we are
finite in our being. We are limited in our wisdom. We are changeable in
our justice.
We were created in the image of God: therefore we share the same nouns:
we have being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. But
our finite being was created to reflect God's infinite being. Our limited
wisdom was given us that we might mirror his eternal wisdom. And yes, even
our feeble power was formed in us as a likeness of his unchangeable power.
This is why the Scripture speaks of God's mighty arm and outstretched hand.
God does not have arms and hands. But he created our arms and hands to
reflect his power. They are a physical expression of his spiritual power.
But we are not only finite and changeable, we are also fallen and changed.
Through our forefather, Adam, we rebelled against God and became not merely
finite and limited, but sinful and warped. The wisdom of humanity is but
folly, thinly veiled. What is it but human impotence that causes us to
wield power with such destructive force? And holiness? Where is holiness?
Malachi continues his prophecy to those returned from Exile, saying (v7-15)
Someday, holiness will return to the land. Someday, justice will again
prosper.
This, then, is why Paul and Malachi speak of God's immortality and unchangeability
in the context of redemption. Because the same almighty, eternal God who
created us to reflect himself, is the God who, in Jesus Christ, took upon
himself that created, mortal, changeable flesh and blood, that he might
empower it with his infinite power and glory through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead.
It is the fulfillment of this message that Paul proclaims to Timothy
in 1 Timothy 1. Paul speaks of his own deliverance from sin, that although
"formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor and insolent opponent," nonetheless
God had mercy upon him, "and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with
the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy
and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this
reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect
patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal
life." The Messiah, Jesus, came into the world to save sinners. And Paul
holds himself forth as an example. I was a blasphemer. My purpose in life
was to kill Christians. I sought with my whole heart to destroy the testimony
of Jesus. When Paul claims to be the foremost of sinners, he isn't kidding.
It doesn't get any worse than that. And I would say that it would be impossible
for anyone to try to do anything worse than what Saul of Tarsus tried to
do. He not only tried to destroy the gospel of Jesus, he tried to prevent
the gospel of Jesus from ever getting out. After all, if Saul of Tarsus
had succeeded, then Christianity wouldn't exist. There's no way of doing
that now. The gospel message has gotten out! The good news that Jesus Christ
came to save sinners has been proclaimed in every nation on the earth.
So if someone tries to tell you that they've done something so bad that
God could never forgive them, tell them that the worst sinner has already
been saved. But notice what Paul does with this. Verse 17-"To the King
of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever
and ever. Amen." The immortal, invisible, only God has come in Jesus Christ
to remove our sin. This is why even the chief of sinners can be saved!
Paul concludes his epistle to Timothy with the same sort of language: 6:13-16.
Notice how Paul blends the language of God's immortality and unapproachability,
with the language of salvation through Jesus Christ.
You may have wondered, why does the catechism say "What is God?" Why
doesn't it say "Who is God?" "What" sounds so impersonal. But the "who"
question comes next--the Trinity. The "what" question, though sets up the
"who." For Paul, the fact that God is immortal and invisible sets up the
proclamation of the good news. For Malachi, it is because God is unchanging
that salvation is even possible.
Remember, that in the ancient world, "god" was a more nebulous concept.
When we think of "God" we think of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We think of the Holy Trinity. But to the biblical world, "god"
usually referred to finite beings like Zeus, Apollo, or Baal. These were
changeable gods who looked an awful lot like humans.
So "what is God?" is a good question to ask! That same infinite, eternal,
unchangeable being, power, wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth,
has become united with our finite, limited, changeable being, power, wisdom,
holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, because only the power of an infinite
life could be a sufficient sacrifice for sin.
"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are
not consumed." "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." "To the King of
ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen."
Copyright © 2003 Peter J. Wallace
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