This attribute of God is not dealt with in many of the books on the attributes of God, but it is really the foundation for a proper understanding of other attributes. This is vital for understanding the true nature and character of God. It is vital for understanding the sovereignty, love and grace of God. While it may not seem vital on the surface, we are more interested in truth than we are in the surface. This attribute takes us into the very being or “isness” of God. It takes us about as far as we can go into the core of His being. It is humbling and yet a time to worship as we travel toward glory itself.
The basic definition of self-existence is that God exists in and of Himself without any help or need of anyone. That definition should cause us to stop and adore the glory and majesty of God. How can any human really understand what it means for God to exist in and of Himself? What can it mean to have no need and no possibility of being helped in any way? For one thing, human beings should repent immediately if they think that anything they do helps God in any way. God is self-sufficient, self-satisfied, and self-contained. As such, He has no need since He is life itself and all power of life is contained in Him or simply is as it is in Him. Exodus 3:14 is simply a verse that should thrill our souls: “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” Now, what does the “I AM” mean? It refers to YAHWEH the self-existent God. He has revealed Himself as the one who is “I AM,” not as the one who has existed or will exist. God exists in and of Himself since He is the “I AM” and is nothing other. He who is life itself is to be adored in reverent worship.
Isa 43:10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. 11 “I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me. 12 “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And I am God. 13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”
Isaiah 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone.”
There are many verses like this in Scripture that proclaim the self-existence of God, or at least they teach them when people have their eyes opened to them. YAHWEH is the only God that there will ever be. In other words, all things came from Him. There were no other gods and there will be no other gods ever. He is all that there possibly can be. No one can stop Him from acting or reverse what He does. It is He who formed all people from the womb and He is the maker of all things. He needed no assistance in stretching out the heavens and spreading out the earth. What is there that man can do for God?
Reflect for a few moments on the following text: “Thus says the LORD, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isa 66:1-2). In this verse we see that the LORD (YAHWEH, the self-existent One) is speaking. If the heavens are His throne and earth is but a puny little footstool, what do the Israelites think they are doing when they build Him a house? Can He rest there? No, He cannot. They thought they were doing this for God as if He couldn’t do it Himself. But the LORD tells them that He brought all things into being. Will they use the things He brought into being and think that they can do something for God? That was absurd then and it is absurd now. Today there are many people who think that they are doing something for God. But it cannot be that YAHWEH can be served like that. He is pleased and glorified by those who are humble and contrite in spirit and who tremble at His word. These are people who have seen that He cannot be served but that all must be done for His glory in dependence on Him. What a God! Let us stop encouraging people to do things in their own power, but to encourage them to God who does things through them.
God Loves... Himself 
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