Not Manifold, But One
Chapter 2: Of God and the Holy Trinity
2. God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them. He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever himself pleaseth. In his sight all things are open and manifest, his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent, or uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever
In the modern remake of the movie “Clash of the Titans” and its sequel “Wrath of the Titans,” the gods of Greek mythology are depicted as being dependent on the prayers of mortals for their very existence. Because of this, said gods coaxed prayers from humanity either through tyranny or bribery: giving them what they wanted, or threatening them with destruction if they did not offer worship. And in general this is in alignment with all of the pagan false deities: they can be controlled by giving them what they want, so that at the end of the day, humanity ends up being at the center of the universe. After all, who really is the supreme being if the gods are controlled by men? And it would seam that the Israelites at one point in history had fallen into a similar mindset. They assumed that because God set up a system of sacrifices for them that they were giving God sustenance, or that they could build up a good store of credit with him by doing so regularly. To such a false idea, God has a response:
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?" -Psalm 50:9-13
God rebukes them for such an idea. That He would need anything from them is preposterous! God, as He declares in His word, and as is confessed in the Westminster Confession of faith, is self-sufficient. This means that He has no need of anything for His being or the continuation of His life, or the improvement of His situation, His happiness, or His blessedness. Jesus says that the Father has all life in Himself (John 5:26), meaning that His existence is dependent on nothing, and God declares Himself to be Yahweh: “I am,” the One who is.
Some might say that God made us because He wanted someone to love, but that too is attributing a human condition of want or need to the eternal God. God has existed eternally as a Trinity: One God in three persons. Therefore He has no need for community or objects of His affections. He has lived eternally in communion within Himself! Furthermore, the confession declares that God has no need to learn anything either, and that nothing is to Him contingent or uncertain, meaning that there is nothing in which God says “I hope this happens.” Instead, God declares, “...I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying 'My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose...I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.'" Isaiah 46: 9-11.
So there is no aspect of creation of which God is dependent; neither for His existence nor for the carrying out of His purposes. Instead, as the Apostle Paul declares: “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:34-36). And since this is the case, and since it is in fact the case that everything else is dependent on God for its very existence, who should we recognize to be the true center of all creation? It certainly is not you and me, no matter how much we may like to think we are the center of it all. No, it is God, the creator, sustainer, and director of all things. He is the One who is center stage of all creation, who not only has the right to, but deserves the complete devotion and attention of all that He has created.
And since God is the source of all that is good, blessed and life-giving, we should rejoice that He is at the center of it all, and that we were created in order to enjoy Him and all of the blessings of who He is! He had no need for us, yet He has made humanity for this amazing purpose! Yet Adam sinned by rejecting this right order of creation, instead desiring to be at the center of it all himself, and in so doing he wandered away from God into darkness, and into pain, sorrow, suffering and despair. Yet Christ came to restore people to their rightful place of enjoying God’s blessed presence forever; not because He needed to do so, but because God is by His very being a loving God who delights to bless His people with the greatest thing in the universe: Himself.
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?" -Psalm 50:9-13
God rebukes them for such an idea. That He would need anything from them is preposterous! God, as He declares in His word, and as is confessed in the Westminster Confession of faith, is self-sufficient. This means that He has no need of anything for His being or the continuation of His life, or the improvement of His situation, His happiness, or His blessedness. Jesus says that the Father has all life in Himself (John 5:26), meaning that His existence is dependent on nothing, and God declares Himself to be Yahweh: “I am,” the One who is.
Some might say that God made us because He wanted someone to love, but that too is attributing a human condition of want or need to the eternal God. God has existed eternally as a Trinity: One God in three persons. Therefore He has no need for community or objects of His affections. He has lived eternally in communion within Himself! Furthermore, the confession declares that God has no need to learn anything either, and that nothing is to Him contingent or uncertain, meaning that there is nothing in which God says “I hope this happens.” Instead, God declares, “...I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying 'My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose...I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.'" Isaiah 46: 9-11.
So there is no aspect of creation of which God is dependent; neither for His existence nor for the carrying out of His purposes. Instead, as the Apostle Paul declares: “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:34-36). And since this is the case, and since it is in fact the case that everything else is dependent on God for its very existence, who should we recognize to be the true center of all creation? It certainly is not you and me, no matter how much we may like to think we are the center of it all. No, it is God, the creator, sustainer, and director of all things. He is the One who is center stage of all creation, who not only has the right to, but deserves the complete devotion and attention of all that He has created.
And since God is the source of all that is good, blessed and life-giving, we should rejoice that He is at the center of it all, and that we were created in order to enjoy Him and all of the blessings of who He is! He had no need for us, yet He has made humanity for this amazing purpose! Yet Adam sinned by rejecting this right order of creation, instead desiring to be at the center of it all himself, and in so doing he wandered away from God into darkness, and into pain, sorrow, suffering and despair. Yet Christ came to restore people to their rightful place of enjoying God’s blessed presence forever; not because He needed to do so, but because God is by His very being a loving God who delights to bless His people with the greatest thing in the universe: Himself.