We live our daily lives with the inherent belief that we are masters of our destiny, captains of our souls. When a tragic accident happens to someone, the usual remark is “Oh, how unlucky”. Or if the individual escapes with only a few bruises, then how lucky he is. What we all need to understand is that there is no Lady Luck, no superstitious trick we can exercise to insure a good life. The Bible plainly tells us that the same God who created us is the same God that controls all things by His sovereign will:

(Proverbs 16.33) “The lot [literally, dice] is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing [outcome of the throw] is of the Lord..”

When Americans elect a new President, some are disappointed because their man didn’t get into the White House. But God controls governments and our electoral process just as easily as He controls the rotation of the planets around the sun:

(Proverbs 21.1) “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will..”

Scientists around the world look for ways to extend life and conquer death. Yet the Bible tells us that each man lives an appointed time on this earth, a time which we cannot live physically live beyond:

(Job 14.5) “Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with Thee; Thou hast appointed his bounds which he cannot pass..”

And the atheist who mocks God in his unbelieving stupidity is regarded by this Sovereign Being as what he is, an object of mockery:

(Psalm 2.4) “..He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall have them in derision..”

The great God, the only God Jehovah, is who we will be reverently studying in this series. He is unlike any made up god of the ancient pagans, without an achilles heel or subject to the base lusts that we as humans share in. To study our God is to get to know Him better, so that we might serve Him better. He isn’t the wrathful God that the Holiness (Legalist) movement would have you to fear. Neither is He the polly-anna God that overlooks unrighteousness in His people. He does judge, and does punish, but He is also the very epitome of love. We will be looking at the attributes of our Creator in detail, and I hope that by the end of this article you will be more familiar with Him who already knows you.
 

1. EL or ELOHIM, means “All Powerful One”. This name shows our God to be omnipotent, the very definition of power.

2. YHWH or JHWH, means “I AM”. It denotes God as self existent and self perpetuating, one who existed from eternity past and will continue into eternity future. He causes all things, but is caused to exist by no one.

3. ADONAI, means “Lord”. It shows God’s kingship over all, and conversely shows the servitude that we should retroactively show our Master.

4. EL SHADDAI, means “The Almighty Destroyer”. It explains that that which God has created, He can also sovereignly and at will destroy. This name of God is used in Biblical contexts where God destroys the enemies of His children.

5. EL ELOINE, meaning “The Most High God”. This name shows God’s pre-eminence over everything and everyone: He alone is God, and there is no other.

6. EL OLAM, meaning “The Everlasting God”. God in His eternity has always been God, always will be God. He does not “grow” as a god or man. He is complete and an island unto Himself.

7. ADONAI JHWH, meaning “Lord Jehovah”. This name shows God in His absolute immutability. In Genesis 2.4 this name is used to emphasize that He is a covenant keeping God, and that His promises are unchanging.

8. LORD OF HOSTS, and it’s varying applications, is used to show that God is in control of the angelic armies. He is the supreme “Commander in Chief”.

In the New Testament, three names or titles are used most often for God. These are:

9. THEOS is the Greek New Testament equivalent for JHWH or YHWH.

10. KURIOS, meaning “Lord”, denotes God’s superiority and rulership over all. This name is used repeatedly for Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 15.24-28; John 5.22-27; 9.39; Romans 2.3-5).

11. PATER, meaning “Father”. This title for God is used only in the New Testament, as it was the death and ressurection of Christ that led to the adoption of the believer as a “son”.
 

The INCOMMUNICABLE attributes of God are those Divine Characteristics that cannot be shared with mankind. The more commonly recognized incommunicable attributes are:

• Self existence: God is the first cause of everything, yet He Himself is caused by nothing.
• Exodus 3:13-14 "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."
• Immutability (or inability to characteristically change): God cannot change within His nature. He cannot lie now, now will He ever be able to do so. He cannot be party to sin, nor will He ever cause or condone it's operation. Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
• In application, then, if God makes a covenant with man, He will never break or ignore that covenant. If God hinges the completion of the covenant on His own will, it will be done!
• Hebrews 1:10-12 "And, Thou, {EMPHATIC SU, MEANING "YOU AND ONLY YOU} Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation {AORIST THEMELIOO, "ESTABLISHED A FOUNDATION ONCE AND FOR ALL} of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; {FUT MID IND APOLLUMI, "SHALL BE DESTROYED} but thou remainest; {PR AC IND DIAMENO, "CONTINUE TO ABIDE FOREVER"} and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; {FUT PAS IND PALAIOO, "SHALL BE SUPERCEDED"} And as a vesture {PERIBOLAION, "A MANTLE THAT YOU WRAP AROUND YOURSELF"} shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: {FUT PAS IND ALLASSO, "SHALL BE REPLACED"} but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.{FUT AC IND EKLEIPO, "SHALL NOT COME TO AN END"}
• Infinity refers to the cluster of unique attributes God possesses in Omnipotence (all powerful), Omnipresence (He is everywhere), and Omniscience (He is all knowing).
• The Omniscience of God is taught in:
• Psalms 139:12 "Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."
• Proverbs 15:11 "Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?"
• Psalms 147:5 "Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite."
• Isaiah 46:10 "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:"
• The Omnipresence of God is declared in the following passages:
• Psalms 139:7-12 "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."
• Jeremiah 23:23-24 "Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. "
• Acts 17:27-28 "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."
• The Omnipotence or all-powerfulness of God is describe here:
• Job 42:2 " I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee."
• Jeremiah 32:17 " Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:"
• Matthew 19:26 "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."
• Revelation 19:6 " And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
• The Simplicity of God refers to His unique unity, Triune in person, Father, Son, and Spirit.
• The Father is declared a separate Person by the Son:
• John 6:27 " Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed."
• The Son, though declared separate from God the Father, is equal with the Father:
• John 1:1 "In the beginning {AN EXACT PARALLEL TO THE HEBREW RESHIBETH OF GENESIS 1.1. THIS TEXT REFERS TO THE BEGINNING OF CREATION}was {IMP AC IND EIMI, "EXISTED IN THE PAST WITH THE RESULT THAT HE ALWAYS EXISTED"} the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. {LITERALLY, "GOD WAS THE WORD". REFER TO CATEGORIC OUTLINES TITLED "GRANVILLE SHARPE'S RULE OF KAI"}"
• John 1:14 " And the Word was made {AO AC IND GINOMAI, "BECAME". JESUS WAS NOT CREATED, BUT MOVED FROM ONE REALM OF EXISTENCE (HEAVEN) TO ANOTHER (EARTH)} flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
• The Holy Spirit is declared to be God, totally separate from both the Father and the Son:
• Acts 5:3-4 " But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God."

God didn't create a society of robots to serve Him. He could have, but He didn't. We know that we all have free-will as a benefit of God's grace in creation. God coaxes, and calls, but never forces anyone into Salvation.

When man creates a plan, that plan often fails because of outside variables that were unforeseen by the drafter. God's will stands because His Plan was created with all variables foreseen. We used to ask questions like, "What about the heathen who have never heard the Gospel? Will they be given a chance at salvation?" Now we may still ask that question, but if we do so it is in ignorance. The previous Soviet Union outlawed religion, the Church, the Bible, and forbade it's people to worship their Creator. The State was risen to the status of a god. Today the Soviet Union is disbanded, and Russia is being evangelized at a rate that's astonishing to many scoffers. Do I believe God engineered that downfall? Simply put, YES! I have read accounts of savage tribal members pondering the design of creation, and based on that seeking out and discovering Christ in a little mission Church. Though we do possess free-will, God is still God, and still able to sway nations and cultures to His immutable Plan of Salvation. And there are many instances in Scripture where God swayed nations and governments to suit His Will:

Ezekiel 29:19 "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army."

Daniel 2:21 " And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:"

God often sways the opinion of individuals in power to protect, help, or even discipline His people:

Daniel 1:9 " Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuches."

Genesis 31:7 " And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me."

Genesis 35:5 " And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob."

Genesis 45:5-8 " Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt."

Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."

Deuteronomy 2:30 "But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day."

Judges 9:23 " Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:"

1 Chronicles 5:26 "And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day."

2 Chronicles 36:22-23 "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up."

God often causes one nation to confront another nation, so that the evil nation can be destroyed:

Joshua 11:20 " For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses."

God causes His people to triumph in battle over unbelieving nations:

Genesis 14:20 "And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all."

Deuteronomy 2:31-33 " And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people."

Joshua 8:7 " Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand."

Judges 7:14 " And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host."

2 Chronicles 28:5 " Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter."

God also causes believing nations that have turned away from Him to be punished by defeat from other nations (are you listening, America?). Examples of this exercise of God's Will are found all throughout Israel's history:

Deuteronomy 28:47-49 "Because thou servest not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;"

2 Chronicles 36:16-17 " But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand."

Psalms 105:25 "He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants."

God often controls the hearts of mankind in order to maintain the integrity of His Plan. This is what was spoken of in John 12.37-40, where we read:

"But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them."

It was necessary for Christ to go to the Cross to pay for our sins. In order to make certain of this, God controlled the hearts of men so that Christ reached His pre-planned role in salvation. God decreed Christ go, Christ went.
 

A good example is, again, salvation. Under God's Directive Will, He recommends that we accept the finished work of the Cross to be saved. If we reject this provision, then after physical death we will "lift our eyes up in Hell" under the Decreetive Will. The Decreetive Will demands, not requests.

Another good example of the categories of God's Will is in the life of the believer. God Directs that we remain in fellowship, that we study the Bible, that we minister among the Saints. If we ignore God's Direction, then we fall under Divine Discipline, a function of the Decreetive Will. If we continue to ignore God's warnings, we fall under the sin unto death (another option under the Decreetive Will).

C.S. LEWIS..."God gave us the choice of being able to contribute to the course of His events in two different ways: 1) He made the universe in such a way that we can, in those limits, do things to it, and (2) He made His own plan or plot of history such that it admits a certain amount of free play, and can be modified in response to our prayers.."

SATIRES, BOOK 4, SATIRE 10, LINE 3.."God has left Himself a discretionary power. Had He not done so, prayer would have been an activity too dangerous for man, and we would have had the horrible state of things envisaged by Juvinal 'enormous prayers which Heaven in anger grants'.."

Another way in which God's Will functions is in prayer. Prayer is always composed of a petition (what we ask for), and a desire (what we want). Within the Directive Will of God we are to ask for certain things, and the Decreetive Will that we not ask for other things. In the Directive Will we can ask for food, money, clothing, sustenance, the salvation of loved ones, and so on. In the Decreetive Will we are forbidden to ask for murder, fornications, money (when we regard it as a god), and so on. When we ask for something that the Decreetive Will has forbidden, we are wasting prayer time (and breath). God always answers prayer in one of four ways:

Some believers take the texts of Matthew 18.18 and 16.19 out of context, and believing that prayer following a certain format will force God to answer positively every time. These verses, in the original language of the New Testament, read:

Matthew 18:18 "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind{DESETE, AO AC SUBJ} on earth shall be bound {ESTAI DEDEMENA, PERIPHRASTIC FUT PER PAS, "SHALL HAVE ALREADY BEEN BOUND"} in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose {LUSETE, AO AC SUBJ}on earth shall be loosed {ESTAI LELUMENA, PERIPHRASTIC FUT PER PAS, "SHALL HAVE ALREADY BEEN LOOSED"} in heaven."

Matthew 16:19 "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind {DESETE, AO AC SUBJ}on earth shall be bound {ESTAI DEDEMENA, PERIPHRASTIC FUT PER PAS, "SHALL HAVE ALREADY BEEN BOUND"}in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose {LUSETE, AO AC SUBJ}on earth shall be loosed {ESTAI LELUMENA, PERIPHRASTIC FUT PER PAS, "SHALL HAVE ALREADY BEEN LOOSED"}in heaven."

These verses, rather than teaching our power over Heaven, teach that prayer is a unity between God and man. When we use the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven (the power of the Holy Spirit) we keep our prayers within the Will of God. When we pray within the Will of God, prayer is answered. It can't be any simpler.
 

Though humans consume billions of cubic feet of oxygen every day (not to mention what we waste through pollution), God decreed that plantlife take the waste from our lungs (carbon dioxide) and replenish our oxygen. His Decreetive Will holds each atomic particle in suspension, making the solid world around us possible.

Even in medical science, God's Decreetive Will is evident:

C.S. Lewis "Doctors themselves do not take the view that medicine heals the body. The magic is not in the medicine, but in the body. What the doctor does is to stimulate nature's functions in the body, and to try to remove the hindrances. A cut heals itself, for no dressing shall heal a cut on a corpse.."

John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

1 Thessalonians 5:23 "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

God is a Spirit, that is, He has essence not composed of solid materiel, like a human's body. Man also has a spirit, though in the unbeliever this spirit is dead (Ephesians 2.1-6). The believer is trichotomous, that is, composed of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. The body is the solid shell that contains your soul and spirit. The soul is who you are, your essence. And the spiritual part of you is that which allows you to interact with God, who is also a Spirit.

The Bible clearly distinguishes between the soul and the spirit in man (Hebrews 4.12). We would be unable to communicate with God without that human spirit He so blessed us with (1 Co 2.14).

God has intelligence. Though God's intelligence is much greater than man's, we have intelligence because God shared this attribute with us.

Romans 11:33 "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!"

God also possesses righteousness. Man possesses a type of this attribute which we call morality. All men have an innate sense of right and wrong, good and evil. Though men don't often follow their conscience or a moral code, God's shared attribute with us makes law and order possible.

Isaiah 64:6 "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

Man's morality will not save him, though. It will make life possible through a universal moral code, through the establishment of law, order, and government: but at best man's morality is only a shriveled up shadow of the righteousness possible through salvation in Jesus Christ.