God Loves… Himself

The connection of immutability with the other attributes is vital in terms of importance and understanding. We have looked at the self-existence of God and how God exists in and of Himself. God is life itself and has the power of life in His being. But if God does not have the power of life immutably, then of course He would not have life without change. That would mean that it would be possible for God to go out of existence. So the teaching of God’s immutability is utterly necessary for God to be self-existent and that for eternity. We can also think of immutability in terms of eternity and know that this connection is vital and clear as well. If God could change, then He might or even would change from being eternal. We can see how this is also linked with His self-existence. A being that can change is not safe for eternity nor is anyone that depends on that being.

What would happen to God’s omnipresence if He could change? Clearly that would mean that He would not be present in all places and so He would not be in sovereign control of those places. If God is not in all places and not in control of all places, then He is not God. Another problem that would immediately come up is that if He is not in all places how could those places be kept into existence? If God changed, parts of the universe would go out of existence since God would not be there to uphold them.

God’s power would also be completely different if He changed. His omnipotence would be simply power. No longer would God be able to do any and all things that please Him. No longer could it be said that no one can thwart God and no one can ward off His hand. No longer could God say that He brings down the proud. We would also have to ask ourselves about the efficacious power of God in calling sinners to Himself through Christ.

What would happen to the holiness of God if He could change? Would God still be perfectly holy if He could change? He couldn’t be perfectly holy since perfect beings cannot change for the better or for the worse. Perfection does not and cannot change. This would mean that God is not perfect. But if God is not perfectly holy, then what standard do we really have for holiness? What would happen to the Scriptures that command us to be holy as He is holy? We would then have a God that is very powerful, but is now unholy. That means God might not keep His word and we would never know how to be like God on a daily basis. But then again, if God is not immutably holy, we might not want to be like Him. Most likely it would not matter anyway. Why would He put up with us?

Can we imagine a world where there is no love at all? That would be nothing short of hell. No one has love in them and that means that they are unable to love unless they are born of God and know Him (I John 4:7-8). But if God could change, what would happen to His perfect love? On the one hand, since God is love within the Trinity a movement away from love would destroy the Trinity which exists in perfect love. Since God’s holiness consists in perfect love for Himself, this would mean that there would be no standard for love either. This would mean that God’s love for Christ would change and since all His saving love for humanity is focused in Christ, there would be no salvation possible. Humanity would be nothing but a cesspool of hate on earth. They would then die and go to the place of eternal hate. Immutability is necessary for love to continue.

If God could change, then His truth would change as well. Scripture tells us that it is impossible for God to lie. But if He could change, then it would be possible for Him to lie. Not only would God be able to tell things that were not true, but He would not watch over His Word to see that it stood true. The Scriptures would be nothing more than statements about what used to be true about God and man. This would also reflect heavily on His faithfulness. In one sense God’s faithfulness is really just His ability to say what is true and then do what He says He will do. Immutability is necessary for the truth of God, the Scriptures, and the faithfulness of God.

As we have seen, the immutability of God is utterly vital to the Christian faith, though no more important than our very concept of God is. Without the immutability of God there would be no God and no Christianity. Without this there would be no hope for any good or love at all. When people posit a doctrine that requires God to be mutable or to change, they are teaching a different god than the God of Holy Scripture. Whether one judges that to be an unkind statement or not, it is still true. If it is true, then it is not unkind since it is always kindness to teach people the truth about God. The Church must repent and teach the glory of the immutability of God.

The immutability of God and its meaning for doctrine gives us another way to judge doctrine and discern the truth. If a doctrine requires God or His will to change, then we can know that the doctrine is not true. This attribute also gives us great comfort as we look at doctrines because we can know that the vital teachings of Scripture are always true and do not change with the changing tides of public opinion.

The majestic and glorious doctrine of the Trinity has an extra luster when seen in light of the attribute of immutability. If we think of the Trinity in terms of the inner workings of the triune Persons of the one God, it teaches us a lot about God. Scripture tells us that God is live. When we see this in terms of the inner Persons of God, we are treated to a delectable feast for the soul. We can now understand it in terms of the Father loving the Son and the Son loving the Father. When we see that love is the fruit of the Spirit, we know that all love in the human realm is at least through the Spirit. But immutability steps in and informs us about this love. It tells us that the love that flows within the Trinity is a love that does not diminish and does not stop. It is a perfect love that will never change and will never cease. Since God will never change, He will always be love within the Trinity. Surely this is a picture of what heaven will be like.

Hebrews 13:8 sets out for us another aspect of the Trinity and how it relates to us: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” All of our doctrines of Christ are linked to this. If Jesus Christ changed at any point, then our Savior would be different than He is. Our Savior would also be different at some point in the future. This shows with clarity how necessary it is that we think of the Trinity and of Christ in terms of immutability. It is only if God does not change and if Christ does not change do we have any ground for real hope.

If God could change, or perhaps did change, then what would that do for the teaching of Scripture about the covenants? What if God changed and no longer held to His promise with Noah? Then maybe the world would perish again with huge flooding. What would happen if God changed His mind or purpose with Abraham? If we look at the covenant with Abraham as we should in the light of the teachings of Galatians, then the whole fabric of the Gospel would be changed. Perhaps it would now be a Gospel of works. If God changed regarding His covenant with David, then would Christ be on the throne now? Then again, if God changed in some way, what would become of the covenant that the Father made with the Son to redeem His people? We are not sure, but it would certainly appear that the Gospel itself would be changed.

Let us think of the doctrine of creation in light of immutability. In one sense God has already created and so that could never change in terms of fact. But if God changed, would the laws of “nature” be changed as well? Would God change His mind about gravity? What if He decided to move the sun closer or farther away from the earth? What if He decided that He liked a faster rotation of the earth? We also know that God upholds the world by the word of His power. What would happen if He decided not to do that? When we look at the teachings of Scripture regarding the Trinity and of creation, both depend on the attribute of immutability. Every day when we get up, we depend on God’s immutability whether we recognize that or not. When we walk outside and the sun is shining, we can only walk and the sun can only shine because God has not changed.

An amusing thought related to this is that of science and evolution. What would happen to the “laws” and practices of science if God changed? One can imagine a scientist doing an experiment a hundred times and getting the same result. The next time he did the experiment the result might be completely backwards. The next time the result would be even different. Scientists themselves depend heavily on the immutability of God even while some deny that He has anything to do with anything.

If God could change, what would happen to the doctrine of sin? Since God Himself is the standard, we would have the possibility of a different standard each day we woke up. Heaven and hell might be emptied if God changed and they might even have to switch places. But because God does not change, there is an eternity of joy for all who are in Christ. Because God does not change, there is never any hope on earth or in hell for those who do not have Christ. People who want another way of salvation simply want God to change. That cannot happen.

The teaching of Scripture on immutability sounds rather dull to many ears but is actually one of the foundations of a believer’s faith. After a study on immutability, Christianity shines forth with a glory that was not seen previously. This is a beautiful attribute of God that is denounced and denied by many in our day, but in so doing they are denying Christianity. This is a necessary teaching of the Christian faith if the Christian faith is going to remain the same in terms of its foundational doctrines. If the foundational doctrines change, then Christianity has changed from Christianity to something else.

The immutability of God is the attribute of God that signifies His perfection of essence and will. He is perfect in His essence and will and so He does not change and cannot change. For God to change would imply one of a few different things. He would either have to change Himself or another would have to change Him. For another to change Him would require a greater wisdom and a greater power. That simply cannot be as that would mean that God would be a god and not the true God. For God to change Himself would mean that He would either change for the better or for the worse. If for the better, then He is not perfect. If for the worse, then He is not perfect. Therefore, we can know that the perfect God will never change since He can get neither better nor worse.

More importantly, the Scriptures teach this:

1 Samuel 15:29 – “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”

Malachi 3:6 – “For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”

Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

Hebrews 6:18 – “so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.”

Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

James 1:17 – “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

Deuteronomy 32:4 – “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.”

In the last text we see that God is called “The Rock.” Then it tells us that His work is perfect. Both of these show God to be immutable. God is the Rock that cannot be moved. He is the Rock that does not change. But the fact that He is perfect shows clearly that He cannot change. As we have seen from above, if He is perfect then He cannot change for the better or for the worse. Any change at all shows that He is less than perfect. As we can see from the texts of Scripture above, the fact that God is immutable means that He cannot lie. The Word of God cannot fail because the God who spoke them and speaks them cannot change and cannot fail. As a God that cannot lie, He is perfectly faithful to be who He is and to do all that He says.

Because God is immutable we don’t have to worry that the Gospel will change before the day or week is out. The Gospel is founded on His promises which means the Gospel is only as good as the words of God are. God’s words are only as good as He is immutable. But since He is immutable and cannot change, but instead exists in perfect beauty and love, the Gospel will never change. Christianity cannot be anything but the manifestation of the glory of God which is full of truth and grace (John 1:14). The truth of Christianity rests upon the truth of God and of the God who does not change. This is why the Gospel is the eternal Gospel and it will always be the one and only Gospel. God never changes His Word and His Son never changes. Therefore, we are not consumed.

The link between God’s omnipotence in life and the meaning of life is a tight and vital link. At each and every moment we live there are choices going on around us by many human beings as well as ourselves. The activities of life that go on around us that have some determining power in what we do are too many for us to count in virtually every minute of life. For example, we might not know how the car that got to the signal light at the corner ahead of us got there in time to trigger traffic control switch at the light so that it could go but that we would have to stop. We might not know that it barely missed colliding with another car at the previous intersection. If it would have collided with the car at the previous intersection, it would not have triggered the light that caused us to stop. But of course if we had not of stopped at that light that would have meant we would have been right by the building where the explosion was. So who is in control of all the little things in life that prevent or cause other things to happen? Does God have all power to work all things according to His eternal plan or does everything happen according to the multiple contingencies of nature and human will? This gives meaning to life rather than chaos.

The naturalistic evolutionist, if he really thought about it, would be nothing but a bundle of nerves. Who in his or her right mind could actually believe that he has any control over anything at all if everything that happens is according to natural law or human contingency? While the evolutionists see nothing but the laws of uniformity in nature, the believers sees that uniformity is nothing but God in control and it is God that is immutable. While the evolutionists think that things that happen are by some form of accident or natural phenomenon, that makes life out to be absurd and meaningless. If we are nothing but the result of mindless laws that brought matter and energy together (never mind where those came from) in a way that mankind is nothing but an absurd accident in the universe operated upon by nature and thousands of contingent events headed toward utter extinction, then our lives on earth are absurd and meaningless. However, the believer knows that God created all things according to His eternal purpose and His purpose cannot fail because of God’s power to bring His purpose to pass. Everything that happens to the believer is intended for good and will work for God because God promises it and He has all power to make it happen. That is true meaning in life.

The world around us is either in utter chaos or under the hand and plan of an omnipotent God. All the storms that happen are not accidents and just things that happen, they are under the control of almighty God. All the events in the world happen according to God’s plan. They cannot happen apart from His permission because nothing can happen apart from His power. In the book of Job we see that the devil had to have permission to send the storm on Job’s children that killed them. The storm was directed by God. In the book of Jonah we see that the power of God was in full control of the storm that kept the boat Jonah was on from the shore. The Scripture tells us that God hurled the storm at the boat. When the sailors tried to row harder, the omnipotent hand send just the right amount of wind to frustrate the efforts of the sailors. God’s power means that all these things bring meaning to life.

Who is in charge of the events that happen to each person? God is because they could not happen apart from His power and all the “almost happenings” did not happen because He did not want them to. When people design evil plans against us, what has to happen for them to be carried out? God must will it for those things to happen or they would not happen. God is in charge of all things that happen to His people and He brings them to pass in order to bring true good to them. This power of God brings meaning to life in all that happens to us.

Who is in control of all the events in the world? God is in full control. He is working with power upon the leaders and governments of the world in order to bring His plan to fruition. The world thinks it is in control but it is not. God works all things as He pleases in order to make known His glory through the Church. While this is certainly not obvious to the world which hates the Church, God is using the weak to declare His glory to the watching spiritual realms. World events are for the sake of God’s glory through the Church and His power is thus seen. This shows how much His power has for true meaning in life.

God’s power is seen in the grace of salvation. The world is oblivious to this, but in reality the glory of God’s power shines in the salvation of sinners. It is an almighty and sovereign grace that takes sinners and transfers them from the power of the devil and the world and sets them in the kingdom of the Beloved Son. That shows that the power of God brings meaning to life and to eternity as well. What glory and what meaning shine in His power!

In Hebrews 1 we see the claim of Scripture that Jesus Christ (as God) is in fact the One through whom the world was made. Then the text goes on to say in verse 3 that “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” It is the Lord Jesus Christ who upholds the world this moment by the word of His power. Colossians also tells the same story. “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (1:16-17). To see the universe is to see what Christ as the eternal Logos has done. Jesus Christ is not just some form of Savior, He is the omnipotent Savior.

The doctrine of omnipotence as it relates to Christ will be seen in Christ if the deity of Christ is true. But of course it is true and so we see miracles throughout the life and then the resurrection of Christ. We can see the power of Christ over death when we see Him raising the dead. In John 11 the text tells us that Jesus remained where He was when He heard that Lazarus was sick (v. 6). He did this so that to the glory of God: “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it” (v. 4). Then later on in the chapter Jesus said to Martha in v. 40: “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” At least part of the glory that Jesus put on display was the power of God. When Jesus spoke the power of God was exerted and Lazarus came to life. The omnipotent power of God was displayed.

In Luke 8 we read where a man fell at the feet of Jesus and implored Him to come to his house because he had a daughter who was dying. When Jesus arrived at the house, the daughter was already dead. But Jesus took her by the hand and said, “Child, arise” (v. 54). The child got up immediately. When Jesus spoke and the omnipotence of God acted, whatever He desired happened. However it is that the soul of a person is collected from wherever it is and the chemical aspects of the body is moved as well; Jesus Christ had and has power over every aspect of life and death. The omnipotent power of God was glorified here as well.

In John 2 we have the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine. The people at the wedding party were running out of wine and so Jesus had the servants fill the pots with water. With power over the elements and whatever there is, He turned water into wine. When wine is made, it takes a while for the grapes to grow and then for the fermenting process to take place. But for the One who can call things into being, and not have a need for a process of creating, so there was no need of waiting here. It became wine without all the normal processes because of the power of the will of Christ. Nothing can resist His desires. On the other hand we see Christ feeding thousands with a few fish and a few loaves. He did not have to go through the process of breeding fish, catching them, cleaning them, and then cooking them. He did not have to go through the process of planting a seed and waiting for the grain to grow and then harvesting it. He did not have to wait to make dough and then cook it. He has the power to will anything to happen and it does.

Jesus the Christ is referred to as Lord over and over. On the last day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). In Matthew 28:18 Jesus says this to His disciples: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” The word for authority is translated at various times as power. It means the power to act which is what authority is. All authority which is all power in heaven and earth was given to Christ. The human mind simply cannot even begin to grasp what that means. No matter what power there is in nature, Christ has power and authority over that. No matter what spiritual power there is, Christ has power and authority over that. He is in the most supreme sense the absolute and utter Lord of all. It is because of and on the basis of this power and authority that Jesus Christ commands His Church to go forth and make disciples of all nations.

The Gospel as power of God was set out in another BLOG. However, we can still look at one aspect. Colossians 1:13 teaches that “He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” In this the power of God in rescuing sinners from the power of the evil one is seen. But the contrast with the power of the Son is seen. Believers are in the kingdom, that is, the reign and rule (power) or the Son. Once the believer is in that kingdom, s/he is absolutely safe. “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” The rest of Romans 8 declares “no.”

The teaching of the omnipotent God is glorious in His display of power and glory. But of course we are not used to thinking of God’s power in terms of God Himself. God’s power is simply His ability to do what He pleases. God’s power is not seen in His lifting huge weights, but in His carrying out what He has decreed.

As we look upon the world, we see a mass of humanity running around in rebellion against God seemingly free from constraint to sin as they please. If God is all-powerful, then how can that be? Is God really in control? Surely a God of love and high moral standards would not let sin run so free. Many have tried to show that God cannot be both omnipotent and omni-benevolent at the same time. However, all they have shown is that God cannot be benevolent in the humanistic way they want to set that out. God is God and He is the kind of love that He is and not the kind that fallen man sets out as a standard for Him to meet. The Scripture is the guide and not fallen humanity that lives in intellectual and moral darkness.

Genesis 4:7 was an instruction to Cain that sin wanted him. Genesis 6:5 tells us the extent of the sin that each human has flowing from the heart. Each human being is given over to sinful motives and intents each moment of his or her existence apart from Christ. We can look at those two verses and know that unless God was restraining the evil in the human heart humanity would have destroyed itself a long time ago. Each human heart wants to be god to itself and others. If each person had his or her way all of humanity would be for his or her selfish use. If God did not rule over man with supreme power, there would be no civilization at all. This shows the restraining power of God over all humanity.

In Genesis 19-20 Abraham went to the land of the Philistines because there was a famine. He was afraid since his wife was beautiful that he would be killed so that she could be taken by another. So he told them that she was his sister. Abimelech was the king of that area and he took Sarah to be his wife. God sent judgment upon his household and then revealed this to him in a dream. God told Abimelech that He kept him from sinning against Him. This demonstrates the power that God has in keeping a man away from his new and beautiful wife.

We have an amazing story in Exodus 34. Three times a year all the males were to appear before God (v. 23). While they were gone the land would be left open for raiders to come in and steal the crops and the women. But the promise of God in v. 24 was that no one would even covet their land while they were gone. If we meditate on that for even a few moments, the power of God shines. God is so powerful that He is able to guarantee that no man would even covet the property of the Israelites while they were gone.

On the other hand, we have verses from the other side as well. “But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me. 12 “So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices” (Psalm 81:11-12). When people do not listen to God and obey Him, He gives them over to the stubbornness of their hearts to walk in their own ways and devices and that is sin. This sounds a lot like Romans 1:18-31 where God punishes people for their sin by hardening their heart and turning them over to more and more sin. This is the power of God in judging sin by turning people over to more sin.

“For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness” (II Thess 2:11-12). This text shows that the Lord punishes people by sending deluding influences upon them in order that they will believe what is false. This is a judgment upon them because they did not believe the truth but instead took pleasure in wickedness. Here we see the power of God in judging the people for their sin by turning them over to more sin.

We see the power of God over sin when we are taught to pray to be kept from temptation and the evil one in the Lord’s Prayer. Man is in bondage to sin and cannot extricate himself unless God in His power does it. The fact that the world is almost consumed by sin does not prove that God is not omnipotent, but rather shows His power to punish sin. We must learn that God punishes with “natural” calamities and moral evil. He is holy, good, loving, and omnipotent in doing so. However, He is loving, holy, and good according to the standard of His glory and not fallen man. His power is displayed in carrying out His perfectly just punishment for sin which is love for Himself.

The power of God is fundamental to evangelism. It is a truth about God that is displayed in nature that enables us to tell people that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20). It is a truth of God that each person is upheld by God each moment (Heb 1:3) and that it is God who gives them their existence and breath each moment (Acts 17:24-28). It is because of the omnipotence of God that we are able to tell people that there is a final judgment and all will stand before Him (Acts 17:30-31). While those who believe that all of life consists in material things (that there is no spiritual realm) laugh, nevertheless we tell them that God has fixed a day and all will be brought into judgment. The power of God stands against those who think that He cannot raise all from the dead and bring them to judgment on the last day.

In evangelism we deal with people who are dead in sins and trespasses. These people are spiritually dead and no power on earth can raise them from the spiritual dead despite what many tell us about free will. It takes the power of God to raise a person from the spiritual dead and clothe that person with new life. Believers can have confidence in evangelism because God has the power to raise sinners from spiritual death. While the world thinks that the Gospel is a weak message for intellectually shallow people, it is actually the power of God for salvation (Rom 1:16). This is why no one should mess with the Gospel message. When we try to change it to make it attractive to the world, we simply have a different message and there is no power to it. No wonder they laugh.

In evangelism the Word of God must be preached rather than resorting to entertainment and programs designed to make people laugh or make a decision for something. We have the Word of God which is to be preached with power: “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock” (Jeremiah 23:29). It is the Word of God that is powerful when preached in truth by the Spirit. It is not all the activities that people do that convince people of Christ; it is the power of God through the preached Word. “My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (I Cor 2:4). “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures” (James 1:18). “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God” (I Peter 1:23).

I have set out several verses to show that the Word of God must be preached in evangelism. Why is that? Clearly, at least from these texts, God’s power operates through the preached Word. This is why in biblical evangelism we are not to resort to many methods, games, and trying to talk people into things. We preach the Word of God and the Gospel that is in that Word. For in it alone there is power to save because it is the power of God. When we step away from the Word, we have stepped away from the channel which God’s power operates to save sinners. It is also the case that it is only when the Word is preached is the cross and Christ preached. Apart from the Word of God neither Christ nor the cross will be preached. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (I Cor 1:18). “But to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (I Cor 1:24).

Evangelism is an important task of each church. However, the goal of evangelism must not reside in numbers of people making professions and coming to the church building. It must be done to the glory of God and in a way where people are truly converted. This is only done when we go out and rely on the power of God for salvation rather than our wisdom and our methods. The Gospel is never stripped of its power in the ultimate sense, but in a practical sense we have no power in our wisdom and methods if we go out without the primary way being the Word of God preached and Christ and the cross set out. The Word of God is what convicts of sin and opens the hearts of unbelievers because the omnipotence of God is there to do so. When professing believers step away from the Word of God as the primary instrument in evangelism, they have stepped away from the wisdom and power of God and are using their own. The Word of God and the Gospel are the means of the power of God to save sinners. We show that we think they are weak and foolish when we don’t use them as God sets out for us to do.

While it may be obvious as to the importance of the omnipotence of God for theology, it is not quite so obvious the importance of the omnipotence of God in terms of worship. But let us reflect on this for a moment. Worship is provoked in the heart by that which is worthy of worship. Worship is provoked from what the heart sees as truly valuable and as truly beautiful. Worship is usually reserved for the things that we love the most which means self is what is worshipped the most. God is viewed as being useful in terms of what He does for self and so we worship Him in order to obtain things. But of course that is not really worship of God, but is rather worship of self.

A passage in Luke points us to how this happens. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11). The Pharisee was praying and used words as if his prayer was really toward God, but his heart was really all about himself. His prayer was much like what Jesus said about the prayers of the Pharisees in Matthew. “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men” (6:5). One can be sure that these men used the name of God along with sound theology, outward piety, and perhaps some pathos in the prayer. But the real desire in the prayer was so that others would see them and honor them.

Worship can be the same. People can sing words of praise and have no heart at all for God. People can want others around them to notice their voices or their outward acts that appear as praise. Worship is the worship of God and not just those things done with religious trappings while using the name of God. There must be something greater than the self to draw the heart out in the praise and worship of the living God. There must also be a power exerted in the soul that will open the eyes of the soul and draw in out of itself in praise and worship. Worship is an activity of God and not just something that man does. It takes a divine power to lift man out of the dung heaps and rubbish of the world and the things that glitter of self.

Worship should be thought of in terms of the soul’s adoring praise and worship in terms of the life that flows from a heart that adores and trusts in God. Who will worship that which it is terrified before and does not trust? True worship requires trust in God as well as love for God. Reverence, awe, and gratitude are given in Hebrews 12 as aspects of true worship or service. “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29). The omnipotence of God is displayed by itself in raw power or as seen through the other attributes as that which evokes awe and reverence. Our God is a consuming fire and this points to the power behind the fire that draws its energy from God and not from some fuel. The fierceness of that fire and the energy of that fire both draw on the omnipotence of God. The kingdom of God is one that cannot be shaken because of the power of God. Kingdoms are built on some source of power and do not just stand because they exist. The kingdom of God will not be shaken because the King is omnipotent and cannot be shaken.

All through Scripture we see that creation in one sense worships God and it should draw human beings to worship God. Whey does creation draw humans to worship? It is because it displays the attributes and glory of God. In particular, creation displays the glory of the power of God. We know that it is with great power that God has created the universe and holds it up each moment. We know that it was with great power that God caused the mountains to rise. So we are to join all creation in worship of the glory of God displayed.

We are to adore the God of the Gospel because in it we see the power and glory of God. The Gospel is the display of God and His power to save sinners from the devil, self, and sin. The Gospel is also the power of God to save sinners from His own wrath. The Gospel is the power of God to take sinners and make them worshippers of Himself rather than self and sin. It is through the Gospel that men are taken from being lovers of self and the world to be lovers of God and His glory. So the omnipotence of God should provoke awe in the possibilities of it, but also in what it has done in opening the eyes of sinners and in delivering them from the wrath of God into the arms of a loving Savior. We are to worship the God of all power.