God, Show Us Your Glory! Part 1 – Self-Existent
To truly know God is to be satisfied with Him above all else and thus glorify Him. If we are not satisfied with God, it is because we have been misinformed or deceived as to who He truly is. Because we are misinformed or deceived, we often settle for the worship created things (idols) rather than finding satisfaction in the Creator. One way God reveals his holiness (the fact that He is in a class all on his own) is through glory (a public display of His holiness). For example, He displays himself through creation. Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. This public display of his holiness is not only seen in creation, but also in man’s conscience (Romans 1:19), Christ (John 1:14), Christians (2 Corinthians 4:6), and scripture (2 Timothy 3:16). All of these displays of glory reveal something about his nature and attributes (Romans 1:20) and give us thousands of reasons to glorify God by treasuring Him above all else. Isaiah 40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Google the attributes of God, and you will get all kinds of lists. While they may differ slightly, they will be some close combination of the following: Self-existent, Self-Sufficient, Immutable, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Wise, Faithful, Good, Just, Merciful, Gracious, Loving, Holy, and Glorious. Over the next several weeks, I want to guide us through the scriptures and ask God to reveal His divine attributes. Anyone can academically study God’s attributes, but let us pray that God, through his Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-12), would show us His glory! Let’s pray that God will give us a better understanding of what each of these attributes means and why they make God the one true God and worthy of all glory, honor, and praise (Revelation 4:11)!
Attribute: God is Self-existent
Defined: Existing of or by oneself or itself independently of any other being or cause: not caused to exist by someone or something else. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-existent
Bible Verses:
Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
John 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Acts 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou [art] God.
1 Timothy 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom [be] honor and power everlasting. Amen.
Genesis 21:33 And [Abraham] planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
Application: The above verses tell us that God is the eternal, self-existing, I AM. He is the uncaused Cause and contains life in himself. You and I live because of God. While we can create food, clothes, building, and automobiles, we are working with material that God created out of nothing. If God had a cause, then God would not be God; the causer would be God.
“The prophet Isaiah provides us with much needed help with regard to why the self-existence of God matters, how it impacts our lives — assuming we believe in a God who truly exists:
- God alone is God — there is no other. Isaiah 45:5-7, 14, 21-22
- God alone is Creator. Isaiah 45:18; 48:12-13
- God’s word alone is true and based upon who He is. Isaiah 45:23
- God alone is Lord. Isaiah 45:23
- God alone is completely holy and righteous. Isaiah 6:3; 40:25; 45:24
- God alone can be trusted completely. Isaiah 44:8
- God alone can save us from our sins and forgive us. Isaiah 45:21-22″.
- Read the full article here: https://drbarrick.org/2017/09/the-self-existence-of-god-what-does-it-mean-why-does-it-matter/.
Additional Article(s):
“Some people stumble over the idea of God’s self-existence—even someone like the brilliant twentieth-century philosopher Bertrand Russell. In his book Why I Am Not a Christian, Russell said that when he was eighteen years old, he read an essay by the philosopher John Stuart Mill. Up to that point, he had affirmed the existence of God. But, Russell said, “At the age of eighteen, I read John Stuart Mill’s Autobiography, and I there found this sentence: ‘My father taught me that the question “Who made me?” cannot be answered, since it immediately suggests the further question “Who made god?”‘ That very simple sentence showed me, as I still think, the fallacy in the argument of the First Cause. If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause.” Russell had made an elementary error. The law of causality does not say that everything has to have a cause; rather, it says that every effect must have an antecedent cause. An effect is something that is caused by something else. A cause can only be a cause if it produces an effect. But God is not an effect, caused by something before Him. He is self-existent. He owes His being to nothing outside of Himself. He has the power of being within Himself.” -Read the full article here: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/self-existent-god/