Attributes of God: Eternity, Freedom, Glory

By Elizabeth Prata

Sundays are a good time to ponder who God is. He is worthy of service and worship.

Tim Challies has created a visual theology of God’s attributes. Remember, God’s attributes are not parts that make up a whole. Everything good that there is, is 100% contained in God. He is 100% beauty, 100% aseity, 100% omniscient, etc. He is complete in Himself.

The paragraph on the left side in the visual illustration below explains how to view these attributes, explains what summary attributes are, and why some are in blue and others are in red. Right-click to open the illustration larger in new tab.

“To study God’s attributes is to study his character, to answer questions like, Who is God? and What is God like? A typical classification of God’s attributes divides them into those that are incommunicable (those that he does not share or “communicate” to anyone or anything else) and communicable (those that he shares with other beings).” Source, Tim Challies.

“Like most theological classifications, this one is imperfect but still helpful as we seek to understand what is so far beyond ourselves. God’s communicable attributes can be further categorized into: attributes of God’s being, mental attributes, moral attributes, attributes of purpose and “summary” attributes (attributes that, in a more particular way, modify each of the others). It is important to consider that God is not simply the sum of his attributes. His attributes are not separate from one another, but each one modifies or qualifies each of the others.” Source, Tim Challies.

ETERNITY: God has always existed, having no beginning and no end, and experiencing no succession of moments.

FREEDOM: (Attributes of Purpose) God does whatever he pleases.

GLORY: (Summary Attributes) The created brightness that surrounds God’s revelation of himself.

Previous week: Attributes of God: Aseity, Beauty, Blessedness

Further Reading: Ligonier: The Primacy of God’s Glory