(the picture in the video is from Tim Challies)
III.
Communicable Attributes
A. Spirituality or Incorporeality (being)
1. Definition
a. God’s spirituality means that God exists as a being
that is not made of any matter, has no parts or dimensions, and is unable to be
perceived by our bodily senses. (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg. 188)
b. no parts = simplicity or unity
c. no dimensions = omnipresence
2. Scriptural Data
a. John 4:24: God is spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in spirit and truth.
b. Luke 24:39: See my hands and my feet, that it is I
myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you
see that I have.
c. God is omnipresent: Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah
23:23-24; 1 Kings 8:27; Acts 17:24
d. 1 Timothy 1:17: To the King of the ages, immortal,
invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
e. 1 Timothy 6:16: who alone has immortality, who
dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be
honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
f. 1 Corinthians 2:7-9: But we impart a secret and
hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood
this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen,
nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those
who love him”
g. Exodus 20:4-5a: You shall not make for yourself a
carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is
in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them,
for I the Lord your God am a jealous God,
h. Deuteronomy 4:15-19: Therefore watch yourselves
very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at
Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a
carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or
female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any
winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the
ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. And beware lest you raise your eyes to
heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of
heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the
Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
3. Consideration and
Reflection
a. God is
nothing like His creation
i. By teaching the spirituality of God theology
stresses the fact that God has a substantial Being all His own and distinct
from the world, and that this substantial Being is immaterial, invisible, and
without composition or extension. (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, pg. 66)
b. God’s
image in man is not physical
i.
God isn’t physical, so man’s physical image can’t be like Him
c. God’s
spirituality also implies life and personality
i.
Life: thinking, loving, willing
ii.
Personality: self-consciousness and self-determination
d. The issue
of anthropomorphisms
i.
Why does the Bible describe God with human features?
-metaphorical
in most cases
-visionary experiences of God are not physical
viewings of God
4. Practical Application
a. That
which is ultimate in life is not material
i.
ultimate reality is spiritual and thus, personal
ii.
this puts the ultimate value of life in personal, spiritual beings
iii.
God and Man
-Matthew 22:36-40: “Teacher, which is the great commandment
in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And
a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two
commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
iv.
One person is worth more than the entire material universe
b. We ought
to have a spiritual focus in life, not a material focus
i. Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and
steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.
c. Our most
important needs are spiritual, not physical
i. 1 Timothy 4:7b-8: Rather train yourself for
godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in
every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to
come.
ii. Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 9:25 Paul makes this
athletic comparison: “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They
do it to receive a perishable wreath [an Olympic wreath, a garland], but we an
imperishable.” We train ourselves in godliness because we have an imperishable
reward in the life to come. Now think of how much time we lavish upon our physical
bodies. Working out. Trying to eat right. The whole cosmetics industry –
millions and millions of dollars invested in cosmetics. Hair salons and hair
treatment. We do so much to try to make our physical body in appearance to be
all that we would like it to be. But how much time by comparison do we spend on
our soul? On nurturing our spiritual self, our spiritual lives? Do we exercise
this same sort of rigor and discipline that the athlete does in his bodily
training when it comes to training our souls in Bible study, in prayer, in
corporate worship, in other spiritual disciplines? I think that we need to
remind ourselves that ultimately our most important needs are not our physical
needs. We shouldn't neglect those, but nevertheless we need to attend to our
spiritual needs and the nurture and care of our souls because this is going to
have promise for the life to come. (William Lane Craig, Defenders, part 12, www.reasonablefaith.org/defenders)
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