God is Self-existent (Part 2)

You’re not a God who is comprehensible to us. Lord, we know some things according to the ability that you’ve given to us when you created us. But Lord, there are many things that exceed our understanding and we are so glad for that. Lord, help us to truly stand in awe each one of all of your attributes and of this attribute in particular. And Lord, help us to to really give you praise and live like you are the God you describe yourself to be.

And so Lord, we look to you now as we look in your word in Jesus name. Amen. All right. So what we saw last time is in God’s self-existence, the primary kind of go-to verse for this is Exodus 3 14 in which God speaks to Moses. He says when Moses asks what God’s name is so that he can tell the children of Israel, the Bible says and God said to Moses, I am that I am.

Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am, hath sent me unto you. And I am as we saw is just the be verb, which is the statement of God’s existence. So no matter what point in what we would call history, whether it’s past, present or future, God can always say I am at that moment because he exists. That’s that’s what that describes.

Then we looked at Isaiah several verses in Isaiah. We looked at Revelation chapter one. I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end. And then the two things in particular that we we kind of derived from this truth is that God has no original cause. The fact of God’s existence means that that God pre-exists everything and nothing brought God into existence. He is his own cause.

And in fact, he has no cause. And that he is the original cause of all things. And so whatever came into existence came into existence dependent upon God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. And then this quote from from Tozer, which we’re going to look at this book, several quotes from this book today. Just some good things.

Tozer has a way of putting things in a very concise and powerful way, unlike many other authors. And so I just want to share some of those quotes with you today. But this is one quote of his. He says, God has no origin said innovation and it is precisely this concept of no origin which distinguishes that which is God from whatever is not God. The second thing we looked at also was because God is self-existent and does not had no original cause.

So before anything was God already was therefore God is not dependent upon any thing. I’ll read these verses again just as review. Job 22 verse 2 and 3. Can a man be profitable unto God as he that is wise may be profitable unto his self unto himself? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous or is it is it gained to him that thou makest thy ways perfect?

Psalm 16 verse 2. Oh my soul thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord my goodness extendeth not to thee. Act 17 five. Neither is God worshiped with men’s hands as though he needed anything seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things. So one of the primary identifying characteristics of the true God if he is laid beside everything in this world that is called God is God is self-existent.

He depends upon and needs nothing whatsoever. I want to be honest with you and we’ll see it in just a minute. That fact bothers some professing Christians. That fact bothers some professing Christians. The reason it does is because some people have been taught to think God needs them.

But that’s not the God of the Bible. You know what? The Lord’s not concerned to be honest with you. I don’t think he’s concerned one wit that his attribute bothers us. I don’t think that worries him at all. It doesn’t. So it is upon us to look at the scripture and to read how God has described himself. He says this is the way I am. This is who I am.

This is how I am. And if we have a right view of God himself then that sets everything else in the right view as well. So we have three things. Remember every one of these attributes what I want to do is go through each one. I want to go through the theological part which is what we did last week. I want to look at the practical part.

I want to look at, so relate, I called it in my notes for those of you that take notes, Ms. Brenna. Relation to practice, relation to Jesus Christ, and relation to the gospel. That’s kind of the three ways I’m looking at it. So how does this attribute of God, God’s aseity or self existence, relate to our practical life? Our practical life. As I said, this attribute bothers not only Christian, professing Christian people, but this attribute is directly contradictory.

It is one of the primary attributes that contradicts some claims of so-called science. Now, you might think that the primary attribute of God that contradicts what might be called science is the fact of God’s being a creator. God is creative. That might be one, but actually kind of at a lower level, this attribute really is diametrically opposed to the God of science. Now, I love science. I’m a science person.

I like, read the encyclopedia for fun. So I like science. But the Bible says that there is no wisdom or counsel or knowledge against the Lord. And so science, the word science means knowledge. That’s what the word means. And yet the worldview that has at its top, at the very peak, that has science as God is going to be in conflict with the God of the Bible.

There can only be one. And science is not it. Now, why do I say that science has, that mankind, secularists, if you will, atheistic types, agnostic types, have science as their God? Because they would not say that. If you say, oh, you believe in science, so science is your God. They’ll, I don’t believe in God. Science is not God. Science is just facts.

But here’s the thing. You know, remember, in Acts 17, we saw that Paul used the aseity or self-existence of God to identify him among the other gods. Remember? Did you remember seeing that in Acts 17? So if we label something as self-existent, we are giving that thing or person, as the case may be, an attribute of God that identifies him as deity. And that is exactly what science has done with itself.

Okay? So if you ask someone who has science as their God, or maybe a person who has science as his or her God, asks us, okay, you believe in God, then where did God come from? And we say nowhere.

Right? We say nowhere. He is self-existent. He is, there’s never been a time that he has not existed. He is Alpha and Omega. He is I Am. Right? To the materialist who worships that, and that’s the term, that’s the Ten-cent term. For someone who believes only in the material universe and does not believe in anything outside of that, that’s called a materialist. For the materialist who worships science as the first cause of the universe, the materialist worships science as the first cause of the universe. And I’ll prove it in just a minute.

Even though, so they say that the universe had no first cause. The first cause is science, is maybe the laws of nature. Well, what you’re doing is ascribing deity to something that you say is not a God, but you’re saying it is a God. You’re worshiping it as a God. But the Bible teaches that God is not part of the created universe and does not depend upon it.

Listen to these quotes. Lawrence Krauss quoted in A Universe of Nothing, Why There is Something Better Than Nothing, says this, quote, We have discovered that all signs suggest a universe that could and plausibly did arise from a different universe. A universe that could and plausibly did arise from a deeper nothing. Now just pause and think about the logical fallacy of what was just said. What is a deeper nothing?

You know what a nothing is? Nothing is an absolute term. The complete absence of everything. How can you have a deeper nothing? Just because you can put an adjective in front of a noun in English does not mean it makes sense. Like bigger nothing, red nothing. I mean, what does that mean? Sorry, that means nothing. We have discovered that all signs suggest a universe that could and plausibly did arise from a deeper nothing, involving the absence of space itself, which I believe that, which may one day return to nothing via processes that may not only be comprehensible but also processes that do not require any external control or direction.

The processes of science that he is describing, the laws of nature, he’s saying they are self-existent. Sean Carroll, from Eternity to Here in 2010, quote, When people ask me why the universe is the way it is, my answer is usually, it just is. That sounds a lot like I am. Right? It just is. The universe is just there and that’s all. It’s self-existent. Now, these aren’t Christian people. These are people writing books from their own worldview, giving science, I say science, science is not actually giving the material universe attributes of God.

Stephen Hawking, you all know him, he has now met his maker. From The Grand Design in 2010, quote, Because there is a law like gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing, in the manner described in chapter 6. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing. Why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.

You know what he just said? He said, spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing. You see, this is why it is laughable when people say, well I don’t have faith, I believe in science. You believe in science. You have as much faith in science as any Christian has in the Bible. Again, he’s describing that everything created itself, that self-existence. Carl Sagan from Cosmos in 1980, he’s an OG science guy.

Quote, The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Beginning, was, is, and is to come, revelation, that’s a description of God, self-existence. So when I say that people who believe in science hold the material creation as God, I’m not exaggerating. They apply to it an attribute in scripture that is only given to God, that is an identifying attribute. The truth is, there is nothing in the material universe that is its own first cause. God is the cause of it all.

Now, this is the practical aspect. Every single one of us, every created thing is profoundly and totally dependent upon God for our very existence. That’s what Colossians 1, we’ve already read last week, it says, he upholds all things by the word of his power. All things, all things, let’s get that in our mind, all things. Not just people, not just items or objects down to every atom, down to the building block of every single created thing, he upholds it.

And so it is dependent on him. It is our duty then to recognize this fact and to live in this light. And it is our sin and our rebellion when we live without acknowledging him. Right? As if this were not true. Psalm 14 verse 1, you know this, this Psalm. The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Look at Isaiah 47, if you would. Verse 8. Isaiah 47, verse number 8. Now this is a prophecy given to Babylon. But I want you to notice the words here. Isaiah 47, verse number 8. It says this, Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly and sayest in thine heart, I am and none else beside me. I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children.

Look at verse 10. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness and hast said, None seeth me, thy wisdom and thy knowledge it hath perverted thee. And thou hast said in thine heart, I am and none else beside me. Here’s Babylon, but this is of course poetic, but this is speaking of Babylon saying, I am self-existent. Right? That’s what is being spoken here. This rebellion, this utter rebellion against God.

And that’s, listen, science is not against God, but people who use science absolutely have weaponized it as a way to essentially void God from the minds and hearts of men. That’s what it’s all about. Not science itself, but the misuse of it. So we say, again we’re looking at the practical part, everything cannot be God. Created things’ existence depends upon God to exist, therefore they cannot also be God.

In other words, if you have to have God to exist, you can’t also be God if you need God. Right? It’s a logical fallacy. And this is the truth of God’s self-existence is the reason why pantheism, if you are familiar with that term, the idea that God is everything, or God is in everything. This attribute is what excludes that idea, that God cannot be everything because everything has God as its first cause.

And if God is the first cause, then he cannot also be the thing that he caused. Alright, second thing we’re going to look at is the relation to Jesus Christ. Look at John chapter 8. Now you remember in Exodus chapter 3, in Exodus chapter 3 verse 14, God said, I am that I am. That’s how he identified himself. Now the book of John, our brother John wrote the book of John because he wanted to demonstrate that Christ was the Son of God, and that believing in him, you might have life through his name. That’s what he says in chapter 21. That’s his purpose for writing.

So it’s no surprise then that we find these examples in the book of John when the Lord Jesus Christ calls himself by the same name as Jehovah called himself in the burning bush to Moses. I am. And I want you to see this very clearly. John 8.24. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins, for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

This is Jesus speaking. I want you to note one word in this verse which is in italics. Do you see that word? What word is in italics? Okay, so the reason why our Bible has italics. Now not all Bibles that you might look at, that you might see, have italics like this. And what’s interesting before everybody gets upset, the original 1611, the first version of the 1611 did not have italics.

Italics were added at a later edition of the King James Version. But the one we have thankfully preserves the italics. Anytime you’re going between one language and another, sometimes the languages do not match one to one. Is that true in Spanish? I’m sure it’s true in Vietnamese. I know it’s true in Cambodian. So when that happens, sometimes you have to supply words to give the sense. And the italics indicate a word that is supplied. Now it might not make sense to us as English speakers, but the italics indicate a supplied word to complete maybe the grammar or the full sense of it.

So look at the verse again, verse 24. For if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Notice what they ask him in verse 25. They then said unto him, Who art thou? Why do you think they said that? Well, he says, If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. And they stop and say, Whoa, hold on a second. Who are you?

You know why? They said that. And this is not the only time they do that. They did it because Jesus, by his statement, has reminded them of Exodus chapter 3. And they stop and they say, Hold on now. Who are you saying you are? So what’s interesting is this verse, 824, the word he is in italics because it is a supplied word. In other words, in the original Greek verse, the word he, which Greek has a he just like we have a he, it wasn’t there.

But he did say the word I. And of course you can’t say that in English, which is why the word he is supplied. Look at another example. It gets more clear as we go. Look at 8, chapter 8, verse number 28. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am, there it is again in italics, he.

And that I do nothing by myself, as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. Look at John chapter 8, same chapter, verse number 58. Look at verse 56 to get the context. Verse 56 says this, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Now that, Jesus is saying, he’s 30 some odd years old, Jesus is saying, Abraham saw me.

That’s what he’s saying. The Jews are naturally confused. Now hold on a second. How can you say that? Look at the next verse. He says this, Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet 50 years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? So they understand exactly what he’s saying. Next verse. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Now notice there’s no italics there. No italics there.

Now how do they understand what he’s saying? Look at the next verse. What does it say? What did they do? They took up songs. Why? Because he said, I am. He called himself the same thing that Jehovah called himself in the burning bush. And that is not allowed. That is a death penalty offense. Unless of course you are the I am, which he was, which is why he said it.

But notice they fully understood what he was saying. He’s saying, and remember he says I am in the context of this time differential between Abraham’s time and his own time, because he’s only 30 something years old. But if Abraham has passed away some 2000 years prior, how can, how could, that time difference, how could, but that’s exact, I am. Then I am, now I am, in the future I am. He’s applying self existence to himself.

Jesus in the flesh is saying that. Look at John 13. Hold on a second. Let me show you one more thing in John 8. Verse 58. I want you to see one other thing. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, what tense is that? Past. Then he changes the tense when he says I am. It would make natural sense to say before Abraham was I was.

But he doesn’t. He says the same thing Jehovah said in Exodus 3. Now if Jesus is claiming a seity, self existence for himself, which is what I am indicates, then he is Jehovah. Or he’s a liar. Okay? I think it’s the first. Alright, look at John 13. John 13.

Verse number 19. Now I tell you before it come, that when it is come to pass, you may believe that I am he. I am he. It’s just again the same thing. You know the John 8.58 verse we just looked at, the only difference between these two verses is that the translators did not supply the word he to get the sense. Obviously because Jesus is making an emphatic statement about I am. Right?

But in all the other cases they add the word he to get the full grammar. But he’s saying the same thing is what I want you to see. Look at John chapter 18. John 18.

Verse 5. John 18 verse number 5. It says this. Then answered him, Jesus, they answered him, this is when they come to arrest Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. See that again? See that italics? Same thing. He says the same thing. And Judas also which betrayed him stood with them. As soon as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground.

Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. There it is again. If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.

We have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 times that Jesus claims this statement of the self existence of God in the Old Testament on himself. So whatsoever, the point is, whatsoever we might apply to God in terms of his self existence can also be applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, here’s why you should understand it. I know some of you in here have maybe debated or studied the deity of Christ.

And that’s one of the most important doctrines in scripture. And sometimes we want, I know when I was a younger Christian, I was given several go to verses. John 1, John 10, John 20, John 28, Colossians chapter 1, all that. But to prove the deity of Christ, that Jesus is actually God in the flesh, not something lesser. But the truth is that the deity of Christ is a profound doctrine that’s not just based upon proof texts.

Although those are true, it’s much deeper than that. Because of these things, these attributes, and this is not the only one. We’re going to see over and over and over and over and over and over where Jesus claims the attributes of the one and true and living God upon himself. So the truth of the deity of Christ is knit together. It’s not a string. It’s woven. You cannot pull one string and it not affect the rest. It absolutely does.

Okay? As an example, Jesus said in John 5, 26, As the Father hath life in himself, that’s self-existence. So hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. No life was given to him. He retains it on his own. All right. Now the last thing I want to look at as we finish up, and this is probably the neatest part of this, I think, my opinion.

Let me read you a couple quotes before I move on. God has a voluntary relation to everything he has made. But he has no necessary relation to anything outside of himself. God has a voluntary relation to everything that he has made. Were every man on earth to become atheist, it could not affect God in any way. He is what he is in himself without regard to any other.

To believe in him adds nothing to his perfections. To doubt him takes nothing away. It’s pretty good. Probably the hardest thought of all for our natural egotism is to entertain that God does not need our help. We commonly represent him as a busy, eager, somewhat frustrated father, hurrying about, seeking to help to carry out his benevolent plan to bring peace and salvation to the world. Can you imagine God nervous? Nervously.

I thought this was good. Too many missionary appeals are based upon this fancied frustration of Almighty God. An effective speaker can easily excite pity in his listeners, not only for the heathen, but for the God who has tried so hard and so long to save them and has failed for want of support. I fear that thousands of younger persons enter Christian service from no higher motive than to help deliver God from the embarrassing situation his love has gotten him into, and his limited abilities seem unable to get him out of.

I think this is absolutely true in the evangelical world in particular. We have to save God from the embarrassing situation of people rejecting him. He’s sad. He needs them. Poor God. Add to this a certain degree of commendable idealism for a fair amount of compassion for the unprivileged, and you have the true drive behind much Christian activity today. The Christ of popular Christianity has a weak smile and a halo.

He has become someone up there who likes people, at least some people, and these are grateful but not too impressed. If they need him, if they need him, he also needs them. So how does this relate to the gospel? And there’s a couple more I want to read in just a minute. If God has the attribute of aseity, he is self-existent. He depends upon nothing, wants nothing, needs nothing.

Why then did he plan to send his son into the world to save sinners? He didn’t need us. Our believing in him and being reconciled to him does nothing for him. He was perfect and whole and complete, lacked nothing without us. Why then did he do that? There was no motivation arising out of need because he needed nothing. If we believe in him, if we, sorry, if we do not believe in him and we’re not with him, he still lacks nothing.

He was and is and ever shall be wholly complete in himself. It was not, now this is what people think, it was not God had to save us to make himself happy. We in fact complete God. That is false. Why then did he do it? Because he wanted us. Not need, want. Now if you’re married, your wife, your wife, the reason to get married is not because you need a wife.

The reason to get married is because you want your wife. It’s voluntary. That’s the beauty of love and marriage is that it’s wholly, the one wants the other. They mutually want each other. That’s the basis for love. The Lord wanted us. The gospel came out of God’s desire, not out of God’s need. And so in relation to the gospel, God does not beg sinners to come to him. Did you know that?

I don’t know of any place in scripture where God begs a sinner to believe in him. We find God’s servants begging sinners to come to him. Yes, we do find that. We find God’s servants begging God’s people to serve him. We do find that. Romans chapter 12, verse 1, verse 2. But from God himself, independent of man, God commands men to believe, to repent. He wants man, not need, want. Act 1730.

And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. As I said, this greats, this really bothers the modern version of God that Christianity has peddled. Listen to this quote. Almighty God, just because he is almighty, needs no support. The picture of a nervous, ingratiating God fawning over men to win their favor is not a pleasant one. Yet if we look at the popular conception of God, that is precisely what we see.

20th century Christianity has put God on charity. To be right, we must think worthily of God. It is morally imperative that we purge from our minds all ignoble concepts of the deity, and let him be the God in our minds that he is in the universe.

This quote from Johann Scheffler says this. This is originally written in German. Sorry, I can’t read it in German. Fountain of good, all blessing flows from thee. No want thy fullness knows. But what but thyself canst thou desire? Yet, self-sufficient as thou art, thou dost desire my worthless heart. This, only this, dost thou require. I don’t know about you, but when I think of the fact that in no way, shape, or form that God needs me, but yet despite that he wants me, that makes me stand in awe of God, of his grace, and of his goodness, and of his motivation for the gospel.

And I hope it makes you stand in awe as well. Let’s pray together.