The Spirituality of God

Tommy Walls delivered a sermon focusing on the profound and often complex attribute of God's spirituality, a topic deeply rooted in theological study. He emphasized that understanding the spirituality of God is challenging because it transcends our sensory experiences and common understandings.

Walls discussed several of God’s attributes to frame his main point about spirituality:

1. Omnipotence - God is all-powerful, with every form of power deriving from Him.
2. Omniscience - God possesses complete knowledge, aware of everything without exception.
3. Omnipresence - God exists everywhere at all times, unlike humans who are bound to one location at any given moment.

The spirituality of God represents a step beyond these attributes into the realm of the unknown and unseeable. Walls cautioned against conceptualizing God through our sensory or worldly understanding, noting that creating physical representations or idols of God is explicitly forbidden in the scriptures as it limits our perception of His true nature.

Walls illustrated that God’s essence is not composed of physical elements like humans and other material beings; instead, God is a pure being. This pure being is the basis of all existence, not bound by material constraints or visible forms. Importantly, Walls pointed out that God's spirituality is closely tied to the doctrine of the Trinity, which describes God as three persons sharing one essence.

He reinforced the concept of God’s immaterial and infinite nature, suggesting that God's ways and thoughts are far beyond human comprehension. He used scriptural references to support the idea that God does not share the physical or temporal limitations of human beings.

Lastly, Walls addressed the visibility of God through the person of Jesus Christ, describing Christ as the "image of the invisible God" and the means by which humans can come to understand aspects of God’s nature. He concluded with an invitation to deeper knowledge and relationship with God through Christ, who reveals God to humanity.

In essence, Walls’ sermon invited the congregation to reflect on the immense and incomprehensible nature of God, urging a respect for His transcendence while also acknowledging the personal connection offered through Jesus Christ.

Transcript

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The attributes of God. I don't know that there's a greater endeavor in our studies of scriptural things than to study. The topic of theology. And that of God. So it's my privilege. Today to teach on the attribute. Of the spirituality of God. The spirituality of God. And. I've enjoyed studying and researching and looking into this and I'm excited to share this information. With you today. So. The attribute of God spirituality is probably the most difficult to understand. Because we're entering a territory outside. As it relates to things we know. And I'll unfold that in a minute. So we can understand to it to a degree. Some of the attributes of God like his omnipotence. That means he's all-powerful. I mean we know what power is we can kind of understand power. But then we attribute all power to God. Any power that is. Comes from God. Our very ability. To live and move and have our being. To tie our shoes. To stand up and walk. Is from the power of God. We can also think about knowledge. We know what knowledge is. And this God being omniscient. He has all knowledge. He knows all things about everything. There's nothing. That he doesn't know. There's nothing hidden. From him. He knows all things. Now maybe a little bit more difficult. As we move toward the spirituality of God would be the omnipresence of God. That God is present everywhere. Now we know what it means to be present. We're all present here this morning. Now we could be somewhere else. In our minds. Maybe some of you are. I hope not. We can be somewhere or think about being somewhere else. But we can only be in one place at one time. But God. Is everywhere. He's present. Everywhere. So. When we think about the attribute of God spirituality. We're entering into the unknown. We go beyond our senses. Beyond that which we can experience. We can know something. Know what something is by. Looking at it. We can look at something and know what that is. We can handle something. And maybe know what that is. We can hear something. We can hear a train. Maybe we don't see the train. But we hear the horn of the train. We hear the roar of the train. We know there's a train coming. So we know what things are by our senses. We can smell or taste something. Or even by a simple description of something. We know what it is. By the way Jimmy's jealous this morning. I've got the new screens. I get to use and I get to do it first. So Amen. And that's going to be nice. Isn't it? Especially with the preaching time and people in up there. Sometimes I don't know if you've ever set up there. But if you're sitting in certain sections, it's kind of hard to see the preacher. So that'll be up there now. So that's going to be very helpful. We're thankful for that and all the work that went into getting out about. So so what is that? We see something burning. We see a picture. We know that that's fire. What's that? What motivation? What is that? Y'all can answer. What is that? Okay. What is it? What is it? It's wood. It's wood and it's metal or iron or the metal compositions made up of certain alloys probably. So things are made up of things. More simply, I could just say some words and you would have a picture in your mind of what that is, you know, like pig scissors, ladder, shoe. Now, this is where we can get into trouble if we're not careful in thinking about God. If we try to put an image. To God. What happens if we do that? We may be breaking a commandment, right? You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that it is earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. So we know we're not to make an idol and worship that even something that's pertains to God. You know, we have these statues in certain places or these different things and we're not worshiping the statue. We're not worshiping the thing. It just helps us get in the mind to think about right. That's okay, right? No. So even as we think in our mind, we need to be careful about putting an image or thinking about an image that we can worship. We worship God. We worship him. So when we talk about the spirituality of God, we're trying to describe what he is. Now all the previous illustrations of things that we can see or think of they're made up of other things. We are made up of bone and water and blood and muscle and sinew and cartilage and so forth. But even those things are made up of minerals and elements and down to the atom. That's we think of God who made all things. God made all things. Therefore, he's outside of the makeup of those things. He does not consist of any minerals or elements or atoms. So let's think about that. God said to Moses, I believe Pastor Jeff touched on this passage last week relating to Moses when he asked God, Art you want me to go and deliver your people out of Egypt? But who should I tell them has sent me if I go on my own authority, they're not going with you God or telling me to go. Who do I tell them has sent me and God said to Moses, I am who I am. Your translation might say I am that I am and he said say this to the people of Israel. I am has sent me to you. What is he saying? What does he mean? I believe that he's saying you cannot tell them what I'm like. You cannot tell them who I am because you cannot compare me to anything that you know. You cannot compare me to any one that you know. I am unlike anything that you know. I am that I am I am what I am. I am who I am. I am God and there is none else. There's none like unto me. So what does that mean? It means he's transcendent. He transcends or goes beyond all that we know things to be. Isaiah 55 8 through 9 says for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither your ways my ways declares the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. You can't compare you don't understand. I am it's not that I'm just smarter than you. It's not that I'm just bigger than you. I transcend further than the heavens are above the Earth's. Psalm 50 20 22. Think of this you sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother's son. These things you have done and I've been silent. You thought. That I was one like yourself. You thought I was a man like you are. You thought I would look over something you thought I would just not recognize what you were doing. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you Mark this then you who forget God. Lest I tear you apart and there be none to deliver that's. A stern warning in it. That we can't think of God like a man. We can't think of God in terms that we think of one another or high even highly important people. And when we begin to think of him in ways that he's not. Lower than what he really is. He said you forget me. You forget who I am you forget what I am. So let's not think of God as a mere man. So what is God? What is God? This is not a question that children often ask they may ask it but more often they're asking. Where does God live? Where does where did God come from? They may ask what does God look like? But not often do they ask what is God? What is he? What is he made up of? Here's where he's different than all other beings. God is a being. He is the only pure. Being. And from him all other beings have their being. He is the supreme ultimate being. So the spirituality of God God is pure being and God is the only pure being. In 1 Corinthians 15 38. Talking about the resurrection there. And it states there that God has given. Everything a body. He talks about different bodies or different beings. There's one body. For man, there's one body for the Beast. There's one body for the birds. There's one body for the fish. But then he says we're so on a natural body. We're raised. Why? Spiritual body. So these bodies that he talks about God is a person. He's not a man. But he's person. And he's not just a person. He's three persons. Three persons one essence. What do we know that as of course is the Trinity. The Trinity. Someone has said try to comprehend the Trinity. And you'll lose your mind. Deny it and you'll lose your soul. So God is a person three persons one essence. So what is God? Thinking through all these things that we are that we see these things that we are. What is God? Well, he's not a man. He is a person. And he is a spirit. God is spirit. Now, here's our here's our proof text. Of course, John 4 24 where Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well the Samaritan woman and going through that dialogue and he makes this statement. God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Your translation may say God is spirit. And I believe that would be the more correct translation because there's not an indefinite article in the Greek. There's definite article the but there's no indefinite article. And so when it says God is a spirit. And they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. It's more likely that it's God is spirit. It's written the same way as as we have God is light. We wouldn't say God is a light or God is love. We wouldn't say God is a love. So in this passage in this text, it's saying God is spirit. And here is an attribute that we have of God that Jesus himself identifies his father as. God is spirit. I want to point out that while the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead and he is spirit. But we're talking about the essence of God being spirit. It is a different category of study will say as we approach the attributes of God in both the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek. The word spirit means breath. Or wind. We get that from the wind blows where it listed where it will we can hear the sound there out but we don't know from whence it comes or where it goes. So is everyone that is born of the spirit. The spirit wind breath. You know some would say that that we couldn't relate that wind. Is like the spirit because the wind is made up of certain things right. The wind is made up of oxygen nitrogen all the elements that are in air. I think it could be more. Of something. There's air right here. It may or may not be moving but what's what's pushing what's pushing the wind. What's making the air move. There's some force behind that. Where's that? And that is more like we can say spirit. Not that it is a spirit but that that's kind of get in our minds and that. We don't know where it comes. We don't know where it's going. So is everyone that is born of a spirit of the spirit. Now we have a spirit. We have a spirit. We have a soul. And that in essence is who we are. Well, I'm running out of time quick. I wanted to go into something there. But so as we get into this, let's let's think about this. Can we really comprehend that? It's incomprehensible. God is is we cannot understand or know fully. What God is. Therefore the way he is described in his attributes of spirituality is by things that he's not. We describe this attribute of the spirituality of God by things that he's not like this. He's not comprehendible. He cannot be comprehend comprehended fully. So he's incomprehensible. He's immaterial. Now there's couple of definitions to that word. You wouldn't say that God is immaterial. As black as we know it not being important or of no importance irrelevant. Because God's far from that right? He's the main important person. He's the most relevant being. Another definition of that is spiritual not physical in Caporal not consisting of matter or material substance having no form. God's center is everywhere. His circumference is nowhere. Thomas Watson. So if he's immaterial if he's in if he if he's not made up of anything. He's outside. Of that which is made net which is created. He's doesn't have a form. He's not made up of matter. Then he must be. Invisible. Unseen. Incapable by nature of being seen inaccessible from view. Think we sing the song don't we immortal invisible. God only wise. By faith. He Moses left Egypt not being afraid of the anger of the King for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. How do you see him who is invisible? And he said. You cannot see my face. This is later as Moses was on the mouth and receiving the law and he asked God show me your glory. We know the story there. He said you can't see my face for there shall no man see my face and live. Now under the King years. Here's where we get the song from Paul speaking to young Timothy. Now under the King eternal immortal invisible the only wise God be honoring glory forever and ever. Amen. Who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man has seen nor can see to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. Then we have the words from John's commentary. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten son which is in the bosom of the father. He has declared him again. John says in 1st John. No one has seen God at any time. So he's invisible. He's immaterial. He's infinite. You see how these are negatives. He's not material. He's not visible. He's not finite. We are finite. We are beings who change. We grow. We get old. We get sick. We eventually die. God does none of these things. This is another harder and impossible thing to comprehend the attributes infinite infinity. Not only does it mean not finite. It means a number. An infinite amount. How much is an infinite amount? Just keeps going. And when we think about the God being infinite. He's infinite in all of his attributes, right? He's infinite in his power. He's infinite in his love is knowledge. He is bigger and greater. Than an eternity will be able to teach us all there is to know about him. Infinite. Eternity is not going to be too long. It's going to be glorious as we're learning of our infinite God. All we must hear God is our Lord and of great power. His understanding is infinite. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable. Many Oh Lord my God are thy wonderful works which thou has done and I thoughts which are to us word. They cannot be reckoned up in or in order unto thee. If I were to declare and speak of them they are more than can be number. The incomprehensible unknowable unable to be known God makes himself known. Oh, this is good. He makes himself known. He's made us. He's made himself known in our conscience that which may be known of God is manifest in them for he hath showed it unto them. We know there's a God. How do we know there's a God? I'm going to put it as simple because we're alive. Because we are living our very life is evidence that we didn't make ourselves. We didn't cause ourselves to be. We are alive because there is a maker of us for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power in God had so that they are without excuse. No one will be able to stand before God on the day of judgment and say I didn't know. Look around look up. He's everywhere declaring himself the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament show his handy word. Now, do you want to know everything you can know about God? Yes. You can know you can't know all a few quick verses Christ who is the image of the invisible God God who has sunder times and diverse manners spake in times past under the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son whom he appointed air of all things by whom also he made the worlds who being in the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. We can see God in Christ and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth. Jesus said to him Philip asked show us the father and we'll be satisfied. Oh Philip have I not been so long with you and still you don't know me whoever has seen me has seen the father. How can you say show us the father? For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. And Amen. Do you know God? Do you want to go know God? You can know him the spout. Father thank you so much that we could never even scratch the surface of who you are. But thank you that you give us so many insights in your word but then above all you give us Christ. God in human flesh. Bless this day in Christ name.