When we talk about the attributes of God we refer to his qualities or characteristics that help us understand what he is like. We human beings will never fully understand all that God is, but he has revealed much about himself in his Word. Reading the Bible helps us better understand the character of God.
Something that we must always keep in mind is the fact that no attribute of God cancels another. His attributes act in unity, they shade each other, and all together form the character of God. He is not one thing today and another tomorrow, but he is and will be the same forever.
Some of the attributes of God are as follows:
1. God is holy
God’s holiness speaks of his majesty and greatness, its purity and its moral perfection. In God there is no stain or sin. In God there is no defect or evil. God is unique. There is not, nor will there ever be in all creation anyone as perfectly holy as our God. This is one of the reasons why he is the only one worthy of all our praise and adoration.
No one is holy like the Lord; there is no rock like our God. There’s no one like him!
(1 Samuel 2:2)
However, God does not allow his holiness to keep him apart from us. He is not an unattainable God. He is a compassionate God, full of grace and love who wants to intervene in our lives giving us encouragement and encouragement in the most difficult moments of life. How should we approach him? With a humble and contrite attitude, always recognizing his holiness and our immense need for him.
Because the lofty and lofty one says so, the one who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I dwell in a holy and lofty place, but also with the contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and encourage the heart of the broken.”
(Isaiah 57:15)
Other Verses on God’s Holiness:
I am the Lord your God, so sanctify yourselves and keep yourselves holy, because I am holy. Do not become impure because of the animals that creep. I am the Lord, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, to be their God. So be holy, because I am holy.
(Leviticus 11:44-45)
But the Lord Almighty will be exalted in righteousness, the holy God will show himself holy in righteousness.
(Isaiah 5:16)
In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord lofty and exalted, seated on a throne; the fringes of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each of whom had six wings: with two of them they covered his face, with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. And they said to each other: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
(Isaiah 6:1-3)
Rather, be holy in all that you do, just as he who called you is also holy; for it is written: “Be holy, for I am holy.”
(1 Peter 1:15-16)
Each of them had six wings and was covered with eyes, above and below the wings. And day and night they repeated without ceasing: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”
(Revelation 4:8)
2. God is eternal
God has no beginning and will have no end.. He has existed forever and will exist for all eternity. This is a difficult concept to understand for us human beings who count everything based on time: seconds, minutes, years, seasons… But God is not limited by time.
Contrary to everything else in the universe, God was not created by anyone: he is, he exists from eternity, and he will exist for all eternity. When Moses asked God for his name, God replied “I AM THAT I AM”. That is the eternal name of God, and the name by which he is and will be known to all generations. A name that proclaims his eternity.
Moses said to God: Suppose I go to the children of Israel and say to them: “The God of your fathers has sent me to you.” If they ask me: “What is your name?”, what will I answer?
God said to Moses: I AM THAT I AM. And he added, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘I AM he has sent me to you.’
God further said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: “The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” This is my name forever; This will be the name by which I will be remembered from generation to generation.
(Exodus 3:13-15)
Other verses about the eternity of God:
Since before the mountains were born and you created the earth and the world, from ancient times and until the last times, you are God.
(Psalm 90:2)
But you, Lord, reign forever; Your name endures through all generations.
(Psalm 102:12)
Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? The Lord is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not get tired or fatigued, and his intelligence is unfathomable.
(Isaiah 40:28)
The eternal God is your refuge; he forever he holds you in his arms.
(Deuteronomy 33:27a)
I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, the One who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
(Revelation 1:8)
Therefore, to the eternal, immortal, invisible King, to the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
(1 Timothy 1:17)
3. God is omnipotent
When we say that God is omnipotent or almighty, we are referring to the fact that he can do everything. There is nothing that God cannot do! The power of God is unlimited in all aspects and never ends. For this reason, God can do what he wants at the time and in the way he wants.
When God appeared to Abram, he presented himself as follows:
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty. He lives in my presence and be blameless.
(Genesis 17:1)
God presented himself as the Almighty God. From the beginning of the conversation, God wanted to make it clear to Abram that everything he was going to tell him and the promises he was going to make to him, he would keep. There is nothing impossible for God, and we – just as Abram did – must believe and trust in the power of him so complete and endless.
Other Verses on God’s Omnipotence:
I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob under the name of God Almighty, but I did not reveal my true name, which is the LORD.
(Exodus 6:3)
Who is like you, Lord God Almighty, surrounded by power and faithfulness?
(Psalm 89:8)
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High welcomes himself in the shadow of the Almighty.
(Psalm 91:1)
Our Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; His name is the Lord Almighty.
(Isaiah 47:4)
Oh Lord my God! You, with your great strength and your mighty arm, have made the heavens and the earth. There is nothing impossible for you.
(Jeremiah 32:17)
For men it is impossible —explained Jesus, looking at them fixedly—, but for God everything is possible.
(Matthew 19:26)
Because since the creation of the world the invisible qualities of God, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, are clearly perceived through what he created, so that no one is excused.
(Romans 1:20)
Because all things proceed from him, and exist through him and for him. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
(Romans 11:36)
Then I heard voices like the noise of a huge crowd, like the crash of a waterfall and like the rumble of mighty thunder, exclaiming: Hallelujah! The Lord, our Almighty God, has already begun to reign.
(Revelation 19:6)
4. God is omniscient
To say that God is omniscient is to say that he knows all things past, present and future. His knowledge has no limits! God knows absolutely everything about the Universe, about humanity, everything that has existed and will exist. There is nothing that can escape his knowledge.
God not only knows everything in general terms about humanity and everything around us. He also knows all of us completely and personally. Psalm 139 expresses it very well. In that Psalm we see that God knows when we move or sit, what we think, what we speak… everything!
Lord, you examine me, you know me.
You know when I sit down and when I get up;
Even from a distance you read my thoughts.
You know my bustle and breaks;
all my ways are familiar to you.
The word still doesn’t reach my tongue
when you, Lord, already know it all.
Your protection surrounds me completely;
You cover me with the palm of your hand.
Such wonderful knowledge is beyond my comprehension;
It is so sublime that I cannot understand it.
(Psalm 139:1-6)
In Matthew 10:29-30 we read: “Are not two sparrows sold for a coin? However, not one of them will fall to the ground without the Father’s permission; and he counts even the hairs of your head for you.”
There we see that everything in creation is important to God, both birds and human beings, and God knows everything about each one of them. God’s knowledge is so detailed that he even knows the number of hairs on our heads!
4 things that God knows about every human being (Psalm 139)
Other Verses on God’s Omniscience:
The eyes of God see the ways of man; he watches his every step.
There are no dark places or deep shadows that can hide evildoers.
(Job 34:21-22)
Exalted is our Lord, and great is his power; the understanding of it is infinite.
(Psalm 147:5)
Our ways are in the sight of the Lord; he examines all our paths.
(Proverbs 5:21)
Thus says the Lord, who does these things known from ancient times. (Known to the Lord are all his works from ancient times.)
(Acts 15:18)
No created thing escapes the sight of God. Everything is in the open, exposed to the eyes of the one to whom we must render accounts.
(Hebrews 4:13)
In this we will know that we are of the truth, and we will feel safe before him: that although our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
(1 John 3:19-20)
5. God is love
The Bible says it very clearly so that we have no doubt: God is love (1 John 4:8). God’s love is the truest and purest love we could ever imagine. His love has nothing to do with human love that is sometimes full of ups and downs and uncertainties. God’s love is not based on feelings or emotions but is action.
Jesus Christ is the greatest and clearest expression of God’s love. After man sinned in the Garden of Eden, a separation barrier was created between man and God as a consequence of sin. However, God acted, he offered the solution. He extended his hand to us through Jesus. He sent him to earth as a token of his immense love and his desire to have a personal and eternal relationship with us.
But God, who is rich in mercy, out of his great love for us, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in sins. By grace you have been saved!
(Ephesians 2:4-5)
For God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it through him.
(John 3:16-17)
The Bible also tells us that God has…