The Character of God by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 6, 1913

The Character of God

By F. M. W.

DOUBT and distrust of God often come through ignorance of what he is. To know God aright is to know the source of all power, comfort, and encouragement. True, we can never fathom nor comprehend so much as one attribute of his nature in its depth and fulness. The more we think of his power, the more mighty will it appear. The longer we gaze, the more radiant and resplendent will become the divine effulgence of his glory. And thus it is and ever will be with every phase of his character. Devotion of time and study will serve to reveal deeper and hidden springs of wealth and beauty; and while we never can possess a perfect knowledge of the character of God, we can approach nearer and nearer the divine glory, and view, if necessary, from distant heights the broad expanse of his eternal unbounded fulness. In this we may find encouragement, and will find our faith and confidence increasing at every new manifestation of the divine character.

Of the many attributes composing the character of God, there are three, it appears to us, which lie at the very foundation of his existence, and furnish to the Christian a special guaranty of keeping and redeeming power. These three,—his power, his wisdom, and his love,—each and all infinite in their nature, furnish for trust and confidence a foundation both sure and steadfast. Consider these in order:—

1. Infinite power. By that power God called his universe into existence. “He spake and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast.” That same power upholds it to-day. Heb. 1:3. It is God “who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance.” “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.” Isa. 40: 12, 15.

God's power is infinite. He possesses all power in heaven and in earth. There are no conquests for him to gain, no new acquisitions to make. He possesses all power, and he can never possess more; for there is none, nor can there ever be any power but what already exists in him. In the contemplation of this attribute alone, there is much comfort and encouragement; for in possessing such unlimited power, majesty, and might, God is able to do for us “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” But infinite power alone would not constitute a perfect guaranty for the repose of confidence and trust. There must accompany that power a knowledge to rightly direct and govern its exercise. This would require,—

2. Infinite wisdom. And these two attributes, power and wisdom, are inseparable. One is the complement of the other. In God both exist in infinite degree. It required infinite wisdom to formulate the laws which govern so perfectly the intricate workings of the machinery of the universe, quite as much as it required infinite power to make these laws effective. Before man was created, God knew the history of the human race, and the detailed history of every individual composing the race from Adam to the end of time.

God knows our secret thoughts and inmost motives. Says Job: “I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” Chapter 42: 2. David says, “Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.” Ps. 139: 2. And the Lord through Isaiah (chapter 46: 9, 10) thus proclaims his wisdom: “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”

God can not gain more power, neither can he gain more wisdom. He knew all things six thousand years ago, and he knows no better to-day. He can not learn by experience, for his wisdom is infinite, perfect, absolute. This absolute wisdom insures the perfection and infallibility of every plan. Were the wisdom of God progressive, it might appear ages hence that some of his past plans were unwise, and therefore imperfectly suited to the accomplishment of his purposes.

This would entail a change in his character, a revolution in his universe. Comfort may we draw from the thought that God, in the exercise of his absolute and unlimited power, can make no mistake. His aim is unerring and his judgment unimpeachable.

3. Infinite love. Is it possible to conceive of a being all-powerful and all-wise and yet not possessing the perfect complement of these graces—infinite love? Such an existence is unthinkable. Infinite love is the offspring of infinite wisdom. These three combined make up and constitute the perfect Godhead. The remembrance of the cost of our salvation supplies the proof that infinite love is an attribute of our Heavenly Father, and of his Son, Jesus Christ. “God is love,” and “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” to die for a race of rebels. To Moses the Lord proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”

In these three attributes of God's character is found a basis for trust and confidence as broad and deep as the eternal ages. Did God possess but the first, he would have power, but neither the love to enlist nor the wisdom to direct its exercise. Did he possess power and wisdom alone, love would still be lacking to call these attributes into existence. But possessing all three, each in an infinite and incomprehensible degree of fulness, the foundation for trust and confidence is most complete and assuring. He has power to do, wisdom to guide, and love as the prompting motive.

We can never float beyond the ocean of his love. We can never sink beneath the reach of his power. Environments of sin can never be so intricate but that his wisdom can unravel and loosen their grasp. He is too wise to err, too good to be unkind. We may not at all times be able to discern the workings of his providence, but in the darkest gloom and greatest danger we may rest securely in his love, and wisdom, and power, knowing that he knows best, and has in view our highest good and perfect final happiness. “Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”

F. M. W.