The Doctrine of God
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
Flowing from the essential nature of God, which last week we termed His divine attributes, are numerous divine actions that are consistent with that nature. This week, Theology 101 calls some of these to mind. The Bible’s opening witness to God is His action of creating. By His powerful word, He spoke into being the heavens and the earth. Using His divine image as the pattern, God created human beings as male and female (Gen. 1:27).
Fast on the heels of His creative action came God’s action of blessing the human pair (Gen. 1:28). Through the generations, God has consistently been the source of material and spiritual blessings.
Early in the biblical record, God began acting as One who calls. He called Abraham and made him the covenant promise of a great nation of descendants. As the covenant-keeping God, He also became the God of Isaac and Jacob. Ultimately, He entered a new covenant under whose terms He promised to bless all who enter His spiritual family through faith in Christ.
Through the human generations, God also has shown Himself to be our speaking God. He spoke to the fathers through the prophets and has spoken to all of us through His Son (Heb. 1:1–2). He continues to speak to us through the words of Holy Scripture and through the inward impressions of the Holy Spirit.
Given the rebelliousness of the human race and due to His own loving nature, God had shown Himself to be our forgiving God. His action of forgiving repentant sinners has opened the way for Him to amass a spiritual family that spans generations. In so doing, our gracious God has adopted believers into His family.
For sinners (in which category we all find ourselves), a most blessed action of God is that of forgiving. Given the fact of human inconsistencies, the need for divine forgiveness threads through all generations. However, though He is our loving God, He is not indulgent. As a perfect Father, God acts in loving discipline of all His wayward children. Hebrews 12:6 asserts, “Whom He loves He chastens. He disciplines every child He receives.”
Just as was noted last week in thinking about the attributes of God, so this week in thinking about the actions of God, the potential list far exceeds our ability to compile a total list of those actions. However, we might add that His actions also include promising and commanding, choosing and calling, empowering and commissioning, even as He also rewards faithfulness, rebukes failures and restores the repentant.
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