God Loves… Himself

How does the self-existence of God promote the endeavors of the mind and heart after God? This sounds so abstract, I can almost hear some say, that it might promote abstract thinking, but it will not promote love for God and His glory. But surely this is a false way of thinking. The self-existence of God is at the very core of His being and influences His moral attributes and how they come to man in order to strengthen him. This is the attribute of God that shows that He has no need and is the very cause of all things and is a necessary Being. This is the attribute that Paul preached at Athens to distinguish between their false gods and the One and true God. This is a necessary teaching and is the declaration of the true God. Self-existence is, after all, the real meaning behind the name YAHWEH. The great I AM is the God of Israel and makes no apologies for doing all for His name’s sake.

Man’s understanding should be lifted up and formed by his thoughts of God. After all, this text tells us to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2). What can be more transforming than thinking the thoughts of God after Him? What can be more elevating to the mind than to think and meditate on the glory of God? What can drive man from the fleeting pleasures of sin more than thinking on the very glory and majesty of God?

The teaching on the self-existence of God gets to the heart of creation issues and those having to do with life and the beginning of life. Meditating on God and His glory takes the mind from creaturely issues and focuses it on God and His glory. Meditating on self-existence sharpens the focus of man in his understanding on what the truth is regarding all the physical things on earth as well. Life only comes from life and all life comes from the God who is life itself. How breathtaking it is to meditate on life itself. It is not wrong to study biology, but how glorious it is to trace all biological life back to God who is life, that is, the very source of all life in the beginning and the One who sustains all life even now. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but the only way to keep from wasting the mind and what it was created for is to use it to in meditating on its Creator and how all things relate to Him.

Dwelling upon God is this way as the self-existent One helps man fight deception. The world is set up by the Prince of the power of darkness (Eph 2:1-3) and it operates according to morals and mindsets of that kingdom. Those who love God must escape that mindset by focusing on the truth of who God is. Seeing beyond this realm to the spiritual realm helps man not to be deceived by the allure of worldly attitudes and customs. Sin is really a deception as to what is reality and to what is truly good for man.

Dwelling upon the truth of God and His self-existence and self-sufficiency should delight the heart of those who love God. It is glorious to meditate upon Him who needs nothing and no one. He is the I AM. It is delightful to the heart and the affections to meditate upon the freeness of the love and grace of God. He needs no one and is under obligation to no one. He is utterly free in terms of having no need and can do as He pleases with no one being able to thwart Him or call Him to account (Dan 4:35). Yet this great God in order to demonstrate the glory of His grace shows grace and love to man. There is nothing in man that can move God to show this love and grace, but God is self-moved because He is self-existent. How this should fire the affections and joy of saved sinners to see just how free salvation is. This should give man great grounds for praying for the glory of God and His kingdom since He is self-moved. What freedom one has to approach God based on the name of Christ to plead with Him to do that which is to the glory of His name. With what freedom man can approach God to ask Him to strengthen His people with His love since it is His love and is for His glory. How this should free man from slavery to works or any other thing but a love for the glory of God. How this should free man from self-consciousness and self-centeredness and deliver him over to a love for the glory of the self-existent and self-sufficient God from whom all things come.

This teaching should move man to flee from the world. All the items in the world have been created to manifest the glory of God. When I dote on an object as something for self, I am an idolater. God is the creator, owner, and sustainer of all things including me. I am created to be filled with His glory in order to manifest His character and to use things for the purpose which they have been made. Idolatry is to use things for self rather than to manifest God. Meditating on the I AM will help deliver from idolatry. How this should drive man to an utter humility to see his need for God at each and every moment and that God does not need him for anything at all. Free grace. Glory.

Reflecting on the self-existence of God might seem to be more of a philosophical endeavor than of something that is useful to the Church or individual people. Some might want to ask something on the order of how this teaching would help a person in evangelism. Those who are inclined to practical things, they would say, do not need such teachings. They want something that will help them live and do what they do. In contrast to that way of thinking, I argue that the most practical thing in the world is the knowledge of God. Evangelism has to do with the Gospel of God and so the more we know of God the more we see the glory of God in the Gospel. Let us look at a few verses on the importance of the knowledge of God.

II Peter 1:2: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” There is nothing a person needs more than the grace of God. Virtually all men desire peace with others and an inner peace. Whether they recognize it or not, men must have peace with God. How are men and women to have the multiplication of grace and peace? It comes by the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. In fact, this sounds almost exactly like John 17:3 where we are told that “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Grace and peace come through the knowledge of God and eternal life is found in knowing God. So the more that people know God the more they experience eternal life and the more they will be able to declare the Gospel since the Gospel is about eternal life. The knowledge of God is the most practical thing that a person can know.

II Peter 1:3: “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”  This text tells us that everything we need for life and godliness has been granted to us by His divine power. His divine power brings us these things thought the true knowledge of Him. What does a person need to have life and godliness? The true knowledge of God is declared by Scripture to be what is needed. So again it is seen how practical the knowledge of God really is.

In the above verses we can see that what is really needed for life and all things is the knowledge of God or of knowing God. We must know about God and know God in order to be the kind of people who glorify God in the world. Evangelism is not the most important activity that there is, knowing God is. The most important thing in the world is to know and glorify God. Evangelism must flow from knowing God to telling people how to know God. God is the One that we worship in all of life and by doing evangelism; we don’t worship men and therefore do evangelism. God’s glory is more important than anything else so we must learn to do evangelism as part of loving God and doing all for His glory.

If we reflect and worship the God who is self-existent, we should know that we need strength from source to do evangelism. We will either draw strength from self-love or we will pray to God and receive strength from grace. If we do evangelism strengthened by grace, then we will do it in the power of love for God. Evangelism done out of duty or strengthened by self-love and self-righteousness is not evangelism done out of love for God or for our neighbor. So the self-existent nature of God is vital if we are going to be strengthened by grace and His love. God is not moved by us, He is moved by Himself. So for man to have proper motives and strength in evangelism, man must love God and draw from His strength and energy that are moved for His own glory.

When we go and proclaim the Gospel, are we going to tell men a message and then leave it all up to them? Surely we must tell them of the Gospel of a God who can give a new heart and put a love for Him in their hearts. Surely we want to tell them of a Gospel that is beyond their natural strength and give them a hope in the God who is moved by His own glory to save sinners. The self-existent and self-sufficient God is necessary to proclaim the Gospel of His glory to sinners. We must never present a needy God who is wringing His hands and hoping that the sinner will make a decision for Him. We must declare a God who is so glorious that the sinner will see that God must change his heart. So while it is true that many people do not need to hear of a self-existent God to evangelize, it is also not clear which gospel of which god they would be proclaiming. The Gospel that Paul declared in Acts 17 is the Gospel of a self-existent God who needs no one and declares the coming judgment of all men. Maybe we don’t evangelize like Paul did because we have forgotten the One who upholds the breath of all men every moment and so we don’t declare His glory as Paul did. Maybe self-existence is really very practical after all.

How does the self-existence of God influence the “feelings” of people? How does this make you feel? Does this teaching scare or comfort you? Does this attribute shock you or move you to wonder and adoration? Does this encourage you to obedience or leave you with the idea of giving up? Human beings are born dead in sins and trespasses. They do not love God by nature and are at enmity with Him (Rom 5:10). Man wants to rule his own life and the lives of others. Man wants independency and do it all by himself. He is at war with God over who will run his life and who will get the honor and glory for all that is done. In his pride man does not want God to rule over him and he thinks that he has the power to resist God. In a very real sense man either lives the life of Satan who is all about himself in opposition to God or is like God who lives in His people ruling them and all things by a perfect wisdom and holiness. Man wants free will to do as he pleases, but man is either ruled by the devil or by God.

How does the self-existence of God influence the “feelings” of people? How does this make you feel? Does this teaching scare or comfort you? Does this attribute shock you or move you to wonder and adoration? Does this encourage you to obedience or leave you with the idea of giving up? Human beings are born dead in sins and trespasses. They do not love God by nature and are at enmity with Him (Rom 5:10). Man wants to rule his own life and the lives of others. Man wants independency and do it all by himself. He is at war with God over who will run his life and who will get the honor and glory for all that is done. In his pride man does not want God to rule over him and he thinks that he has the power to resist God. In a very real sense man either lives the life of Satan who is all about himself in opposition to God or is like God who lives in His people ruling them and all things by a perfect wisdom and holiness. Man wants free will to do as he pleases, but man is either ruled by the devil or by God.

Hearing about the self-existence of God, then, strikes at the very heart of sin. In his pride and independence man does not want to think of a God who does all for His own glory and does not need man. Man wants to be needed and in his pride thinks that he is doing God a favor by going to church or being nice to people. But of course that is sin too since man is doing that out of selfishness and pride rather than love for God. However, when prideful man who wants to depend on himself for all things hears of God in His glory who is self-existent, self-sufficient with no need and so cannot be served, that makes man uncomfortable. The very struggle with this attribute shows the sinfulness of the heart of man.

When man hears of this great God in whom all things exist and have their beings, it hits him hard. When he hears that his very breath is given to him by God, he might even begin to panic. He wonders how this can be. This would mean that God can take his life at any moment. This means that God is in control and not man. If God has no need and cannot be served, what can man do to manipulate God or to make up for past sins? How uncomfortable man is when he sees that he is in the hands of a sovereign God who does not need him and that he can do nothing for this great God. That is enough to make man nervous.

But what happens to the believer when he hears of God in this manner? This is true meat for the heart of the believer. He has already seen himself as a recipient of grace and knows that he cannot have saved himself. But now he sees that he had nothing to do with earning any part of his salvation or of any favor with God. He sees with relish that salvation is all of grace and is all to the glory of God (Eph 1:3-14; 2:1-10). This person now delights in his own helplessness because he can now live by grace and focus on the life of God in his own soul. This person now knows by experience that he is upheld in grace by the hand of God and not by his own so-called goodness and works. He knows now what it means to be strengthened by grace (Heb 3:9) and to labor according to His power which mightily works within (Col 1:29).

This moves the believer to confidence and so to die to self even more. The believer loves God and wants to do all things for the glory of God (I Cor 10:31). Before he thought that what he did glorified God, but now he sees that it is the love of God for His own glory in him that glorifies God. He now knows that it is not his hard labor in doing works in the name of Christ, but his dying to self and self-strength so that the love of God for His own glory would be in him and work through him. He now knows that he does not have to argue to the death with people over theology and the Bible, but he can discuss things with truth and power because it is God who is at work in him. How free the believer is who begins to understand that it does not all depend on him, but that he must depend on God alone on whom all things in reality depend.

The heart of the believer is comforted by this since he knows that God will uphold him until his work on earth is done. He can have comfort knowing that he is to love his enemies and trust in God who upholds the breath of those enemies. He can do evangelism boldly because the work is truly God’s and men are born through the work of the Scripture and the Spirit rather than man’s self-centered efforts. How freeing it is for the believer to live in light of the glory of God’s self-existence and self-sufficiency. To believe in anything less than a self-existent and self-sufficient God is really another religion and another God. How abominable it is for people to water down the biblical teaching of God in order to feel better about themselves and their so-called freedom.

How does the self-existence of God influence the “feelings” of people? How does this make you feel? Does this teaching scare or comfort you? Does this attribute shock you or move you to wonder and adoration? Does this encourage you to obedience or leave you with the idea of giving up? Human beings are born dead in sins and trespasses. They do not love God by nature and are at enmity with Him (Rom 5:10). Man wants to rule his own life and the lives of others. Man wants independency and do it all by himself. He is at war with God over who will run his life and who will get the honor and glory for all that is done. In his pride man does not want God to rule over him and he thinks that he has the power to resist God. In a very real sense man either lives the life of Satan who is all about himself in opposition to God or is like God who lives in His people ruling them and all things by a perfect wisdom and holiness. Man wants free will to do as he pleases, but man is either ruled by the devil or by God.

Hearing about the self-existence of God, then, strikes at the very heart of sin. In his pride and independence man does not want to think of a God who does all for His own glory and does not need man. Man wants to be needed and in his pride thinks that he is doing God a favor by going to church or being nice to people. But of course that is sin too since man is doing that out of selfishness and pride rather than love for God. However, when prideful man who wants to depend on himself for all things hears of God in His glory who is self-existent, self-sufficient with no need and so cannot be served, that makes man uncomfortable. The very struggle with this attribute shows the sinfulness of the heart of man.

When man hears of this great God in whom all things exist and have their beings, it hits him hard. When he hears that his very breath is given to him by God, he might even begin to panic. He wonders how this can be. This would mean that God can take his life at any moment. This means that God is in control and not man. If God has no need and cannot be served, what can man do to manipulate God or to make up for past sins? How uncomfortable man is when he sees that he is in the hands of a sovereign God who does not need him and that he can do nothing for this great God. That is enough to make man nervous.

But what happens to the believer when he hears of God in this manner? This is true meat for the heart of the believer. He has already seen himself as a recipient of grace and knows that he cannot have saved himself. But now he sees that he had nothing to do with earning any part of his salvation or of any favor with God. He sees with relish that salvation is all of grace and is all to the glory of God (Eph 1:3-14; 2:1-10). This person now delights in his own helplessness because he can now live by grace and focus on the life of God in his own soul. This person now knows by experience that he is upheld in grace by the hand of God and not by his own so-called goodness and works. He knows now what it means to be strengthened by grace (Heb 3:9) and to labor according to His power which mightily works within (Col 1:29).

This moves the believer to confidence and so to die to self even more. The believer loves God and wants to do all things for the glory of God (I Cor 10:31). Before he thought that what he did glorified God, but now he sees that it is the love of God for His own glory in him that glorifies God. He now knows that it is not his hard labor in doing works in the name of Christ, but his dying to self and self-strength so that the love of God for His own glory would be in him and work through him. He now knows that he does not have to argue to the death with people over theology and the Bible, but he can discuss things with truth and power because it is God who is at work in him. How free the believer is who begins to understand that it does not all depend on him, but that he must depend on God alone on whom all things in reality depend.

The heart of the believer is comforted by this since he knows that God will uphold him until his work on earth is done. He can have comfort knowing that he is to love his enemies and trust in God who upholds the breath of those enemies. He can do evangelism boldly because the work is truly God’s and men are born through the work of the Scripture and the Spirit rather than man’s self-centered efforts. How freeing it is for the believer to live in light of the glory of God’s self-existence and self-sufficiency. To believe in anything less than a self-existent and self-sufficient God is really another religion and another God. How abominable it is for people to water down the biblical teaching of God in order to feel better about themselves and their so-called freedom.

This time the meditation will be on the connection self-existence has with the other attributes. When man tries to imagine a Being (God) that exists in and of Himself and is self-sufficient with no need, man cannot really comprehend what he apprehends. This should leave us in full worship mode. We know enough to know that we are on the edge of infinity and glory and we just worship and adore. The self-existence of God means that He is an eternal Being. He never came into being and will never stop being, He is the I AM.  Only a Being who is self-existent could be eternal in the true sense of the word. He is the very essence and power of life.

Self-existence is needful for God to be omnipotent (all-powerful). God does not have to rely on any other being or beings to express all the power He desires. He is self-sufficient and does not need anyone other than Himself to carry out all of His desires. What other source of power would God need? Where else could God obtain power other than from Himself and His own self-sufficiency? Without self-existence and self-sufficiency, God would need to obtain power from other beings or other sources. However, He needs nothing.

The teachings of Scripture on hell and wrath are truly frightening by themselves, but in light of His self-sufficiency this fear is heightened. Hebrews refers to God as a consuming fire (12:29), but if God is not self-sufficient He and His fire might go out. But hell will never be lacking for the fire of His wrath because God has all life and power within Himself. He is moved by Himself and is energized by Himself. He will never stop being wrathful on His enemies because He is moved by Himself. However, heaven will never stop being the ultimate place of love, joy, and real pleasure because of that same truth about God and His self-sufficiency. He will always be sufficient in and of Himself to be wrathful to the damned and the pleasure of those in heaven.

God is utterly supreme and sovereign over all of creation because of who He is. Acts 17 sets this out clearly in that God gives all every breath and that all live, move, and exist in Him. Imagine the glory of this great God from whom all things have their being moment by moment simply at His sovereign pleasure! Who in the world does puny little man think he is? Everything we have we have only received by the sheer mercy and/or grace of God. He can withhold our next breath and take us into eternity or He can sustain our being as long as He desires. What can man do to serve this great God? Nothing, absolutely nothing at all since He needs nothing at all within His glorious self-sufficiency. Psalm 50:12: “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains.” What can man give to God that God has not already given to man? After all, the whole world is His and all that it contains. It is also true that nothing has come into being that the Word has not brought into being. Let us bow before the majesty of our self-existent God.

Will God ever run out of love, mercy, and grace? Is God moved by something within us to show love, mercy, and grace? No, God is moved by His own glory to show these things. So instead of man worrying about God running out of love, mercy, and grace, he can look to the self-existent and self-sufficient God of all love, mercy, and grace. God is love and there is simply nothing that can force Him to love. By definition mercy has to be moved by God without any obligation on His part or it becomes, at least in some sense, justice. If grace is to the undeserving and hell-deserving, then there is no obligation on God from man to show grace. It must all come from Him or it will be in some way from man. Obligation destroys grace and we know that God saves and displays grace to the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph 1:5-6). So as a self-sufficient Being who loves Himself, God is moved by love for His own glory to show love, mercy, and grace. If God has set His love on a sinner to love and lavish him with grace, then that person can know that God will never stop loving him and will never run out of love. Why is that? Because God is love and all love comes from His self-existence and self-sufficiency. Sinful man should never think that he receives love and grace for anything that he does, but because God is being God. What utter dependence man has on this self-existent God of all glory, but those who love God do not want it any other way. He is the delight of their souls by grace. 
 

Today we want to look at the self-existence of God and how it provides meaning for other doctrines. We can put this in other words and refer to the self-existence of God as that which is the basis for other doctrines. For example, let us look at the Gospel. What does the Gospel rely upon or what is the basis that the Gospel rests on? The Gospel comes to sinful man who is dead in sin. What does man need? He needs eternal life. The Gospel promises eternal life for all who believe. Okay, but where does that life come from? Can anything be relied upon for life other than He who is self-existent? Can we trust anyone for eternal life but He who is the very power of life itself? The answers are rather obvious. Of course we cannot trust in anything or anyone for life but He who is life itself. So the Gospel itself rests upon the self-existence of God. Without the self-existence of God, there would be no reality to the Gospel.

Let us look at justification by faith alone. This glorious teaching declares that God forensically declares a sinner just or righteous based on what Christ has done and that by grace through faith alone. Now, if anyone but the ultimate authority pronounces this, there is always the possibility of a higher court that can overthrow the declaration. What higher court can there be but the One who as self-existent life holds all other life in His hands and even upholds all in existence until He decides that their purposes are finished on this planet? So the forensic declaration depends on its declaration from the highest court which is really the highest form of life.

Justification by faith also depends on grace. Now if the declaration of God concerning man depends on the performances of man, all is lost. But instead we look to grace and say that we trust in grace. Okay, but from what source does man obtain grace? If the source of grace runs dry, then man is utterly lost. But how comforting it is that the God of all grace is self-existence and is the source for all that comes from Him. Since He is self-existent and needs nothing, He will always be like Himself and so can be gracious to whom He will be gracious for all eternity. Grace itself looks back to the source of grace in order that it may be a source of grace that is eternal and in the hands of the One who is self-sufficient and self-contained. This self-sufficient God has given all the grace that is needed in Christ and there is no other source for grace. Praise God that He saves to the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph 1:5-6) and not according to the works of sinful and fallible man. God alone is worthy to be praised for salvation and He alone is worthy to be trusted in. All else will break and fall before us.

What does the teaching of Scripture rely on? Is the Bible true just because it is true on places? Why is it that the teachings of Scripture are applicable and true as they reach each generation of man? How can the promises of Scripture be true if they are thousands of years old? Why do Christians smile in the face of certain scientific pronouncements? This is because we know that there is a God and He is the great I AM of Scripture and of reality. Jesus Christ came and brought to the world the reality concerning God. While some men are limited in their understandings to physical things and the cause and effect relationship within physical things, Christ has taught us to look beyond that to the spiritual realm. In the spiritual realm there is the self-existent and self-sufficient God who is satisfied to do all for His own glory. There is no power apart from Him and there is no wisdom that can thwart Him. Nothing can keep Him from doing what He wants and nothing can overcome Him if He does not want something to happen (Dan 4:35-37). When Scripture speaks, it is the words of the self-existent and self-sufficient God speaking. He watches over His word so that all that it speaks of happens. The promises of Scripture are the promises of the self-existent God and nothing can keep Him from doing as He pleases. The Scriptures cannot err because He cannot err. The promises of Scripture are certain because He is certain. Scripture speaks to every generation because all come from and are upheld by Him who speaks to all as He pleases. Let us not knock Scripture as we would knock Him who has our every breath in our hand.

When we study Scripture and the doctrines of Scripture, let us look beyond the words to the spiritual reality behind it all. Behind it all is a God of everlasting glory who is life itself. Behind it all is a God that exists in and of Himself and all that He does displays His glory of who He is. His self-existence is a part of that glory that shines through all that He does. If we are blind to that, then we are blind to at least part of His glory. Let us seek eternal life from Him who is life and seek to see the glory of Him who in His self-existence upholds all things. There is nothing more glorious than beholding God in His glory, so don’t settle for anything else.

The self-existence of God is vital for the meaning of life which is one reason why so many are depressed and living without meaning. God is the origin of all things and there can be no real answers to the questions of life apart from Him. Acts 17 points out how intimately involved God is with every moment of life: “22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.'”In v. 23 Paul states that he is going to declare the truth about God. He is declaring this to the wisest of pagans who were steeped in worldly wisdom and Greek philosophy. He tells them that God created the world and is so great that He cannot be served by human hands. He is not served by human hands since He does not need anything at all. What can we do for a Being who needs nothing? We can also not serve Him because He is the one who gives life to every person, but even more, He gives them their breath and all things. In other words, since He gives life and all things to people, how can they give Him anything? Since He is the One who gives people their very breath, how can they do anything for Him who needs nothing with the breath that He gives them? It is in God that we live, move, and exist. He is sovereign over all things and He is intimately involved in the smallest details of life. While men may not think that their movements are in God and that they exist only because of Him and that the gives them their every breath, this does not negate the reality of it. But the purpose of life is seen in verses 26-27 which teach us that man is made to seek God. That is the purpose of God’s giving man being and upholding man’s every breath.

Now we can step back and look at this from the theme of self-existence. Who upholds God in existence? No one, He exists in and of Himself. But how does He uphold people in existence? While we don’t know for sure all the details, we can understand that for anything to exist at any point and that during the time of that existence someone or something must hold that being in existence. Only God who is self-existent exists in and of Himself. Therefore, He must uphold all those who are in existence because no one but a self-existent Being could uphold their existence. If we could get this glorious truth in our grasp we would never be the same. What a freeing teaching this is. How this takes the pressure off of man to keep himself and leaves him in total dependency upon the glorious One of the universe.

This text also teaches us about the meaning of life: “But you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified” (Dan 5:23). In light of the God who holds the life-breath and ways of all beings in His hands, we are to live for His glory and not our own. How utterly absurd and wicked it was for Belteshazzar to praise false gods and ignore the living and self-existent God. It is just as absurd and wicked for men now who also have their life-breath and ways in the hands of God not to live for His glory. Today men think that they are too enlightened and modern to worship idols, but they forget that they worship what they love most. Idols can be money, material possessions, honor for self, and anything the heart loves.

How delightful it should be to live before this great God who exists in and of Himself. How this should move men to humility and the hatred of pride. How can man serve a God like this? How can man even think that he can earn anything from a God like this? No, this teaches us that all we have is by grace. It can’t be otherwise.

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.