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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
January 23, 2022
Trusting God, Part 2: The Self-Sufficient,
Self-Existent, Immutable God – Selected Scriptures
Introduction & Review
How can you be at peace in any situation? The world offers a lot of diverse answers to that. Some of the solutions advocated are generally good and helpful in maintaining a healthy life such as a proper diet and exercise. Being healthy can help reduce stress, but that does not give you peace in any situation. Things such as recreation, relaxing entertainment, a day off or a vacation can give a break to the mind and emotions which can give some temporary relief. Even Jesus had the disciples go with Him to a secluded place to rest a while (Mark 6:31). But peace gained from any of those is only temporary for you eventually have to go back to reality. A reason that people seek alcohol and drugs, whether prescribed or illicit, is to try and escape from their troubles in life. Proverbs 31:6–7 comments on this, 6“Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to him whose life is bitter. 7 Let him drink and forget his poverty And remember his trouble no more.” But again, the escape only gives temporary relief at best, and often makes it worse when reality has to be faced again. I will add here that even though anti-depressants may enable a person to feel better, if the underlying problem is not resolved, that is like putting a band-aid on a bleeding cancerous ulcer. It can absorb some of the blood, but the disease continues to progress. Then there are extremes such as giving up, quitting, fleeing, abandoning the ship, moving away. Those may be wise and the right thing to do at times, but any of those could also be moving from the frying pan into the fire. At the heart of the issue is the reason for the action. There are groups within in our society that advocate strongly for legalizing suicide as the ultimate way of ending the pain of life and achieving peace, but the reality is that for non-Christians, death only begins the torment they will have for eternity as they are judged and condemned by God for their sins.
So I will go back to my opening question. How can you be at peace in any situation? The apostle Paul makes a very insightful comment related to this in Philippians 4:11-13 as he thanked them for the gift that they had sent him. 11 “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
Verse 13 is often quoted and used out of context. This is its context and it is directly related to Paul being content in all circumstances. Paul had been a Christian long enough to know by God’s promises and his experience that God always met his needs and the Holy Spirit enabled him to live for the glory of Christ in every situation. The “all things” here is anything God asked him to do, God would also enable Paul to do. Therefore Paul was content, sufficiently supplied, and not just at peace – without disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions – he was joyful even though he was in prison as he wrote this letter. As he stated only a few sentences prior in verses 6-7, any anxiety that arose he could cast on the Lord through prayer, supplication, thanksgiving and making his requests known to the Lord resulting in the peace of God , which surpasses all comprehension, guarding his heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
What underlies all of this is what the prophet Isaiah succinctly states in Isaiah 6:3-4, 3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. 4 “Trust in the Lord forever, For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.” Those who trust God can be at peace in any circumstance.
How then do you learn to trust God? As I pointed out last week, it begins with acknowledging who He is as your Creator for that sets you back in the proper order of reality and gives you the meaning and purpose of your life. You do not have to know all the reasons you experience the things you do. It is enough, as it was for Job, to know that God is our Creator, and He cares for what He created, as I also pointed out last week. Psalm 95:7 expresses this as the reason for worship and trusting Him, “For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.” (See: Trusting God, Pt. 1 – God: The Creator)
The better you know God and the longer you walk with Him, the better you will be able to trust Him. This morning we continue with three other attributes of God as reasons to trust Him. God is self-existent, self-sufficient and immutable. Or stated another way, God’s origin is Himself, He does not need or depend on anything outside Himself, and He is unchanging in His nature, character and attributes.
Now before I get into my discussion of these three attributes of God, I want to point you to a particular book that has been very helpful to me in understanding the nature and attributes of God beyond various systematic theologies. The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer is a short but very powerful book. (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/666758.The_Knowledge_of_the_Holy) Tozer packs a lot into very succinct essays about God’s nature, character and attributes. I have used it several times for Bible studies and produced a study guide which is posted on our website. (https://www.gracebibleny.org/knowledge-of-the-holy-study-guide) I should also mention Stephan Charnock’s book, The Existence and Attributes of God. This a classic work and exhaustive in what is covered in the two volume tome. It is excellent, but it is not for the faint of heart. It will take dedication and diligence to read through all of it. (https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/charnock/attributes_p.pdf) I should also mention J.I. Packer’s Knowing God. Itis very beneficial in both knowing about God and knowing Him personally through Jesus Christ (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/139855.Knowing_God)
God is Self-Existent
The self existence of God is not something which we can comprehend simply because it is completely out of any frame of reference by which we could try to understand it. We are trapped in the box of the time-space continuum, and everything in the box with us has some point of origin. There was some cause for it. Whatever it is, it exists or happened because something prior to it caused it. There is nothing that caused God. In the infinite regression of causes, God is the uncaused cause. His very existence arises from out of Himself. Now if that does not make a lot of sense to you, that is okay, because that is the point. God is so different from us that we cannot comprehend Him except to the degree that He has revealed Himself to us and His communicable attributes fit within our frame of reference.
The starting point of what understanding we can have of God’s self-existence begins with His revelation of His personal name to Moses in Exodus 3. Moses wanted to know what he was to tell the sons of Israel about who was sending him. What name was he to use for the God of their fathers. 14 “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.”
God first declares His essential nature in verse 14 as “I Am who I Am”which is hy6h5a6 / ehyeh from hy2h2 / hayah which is the verb of being – I am, I will be. From this same verb is derived the name Moses is to use for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that was sending him to the sons of Israel. The name is composed of the four Hebrew letters hwhy (yod-heh-vav-heh). For various reasons it has been pronounced different ways over the centuries, including Jehovah, but it probably should be pronounced something like Yahweh. This is God’s name of forever and His memorial name for all generations. It is His covenant name with Israel. Notice in your English Bible that verse 15 starts, “The Lord.” If you have a better translation, you will note that the term Lord is in small caps. This is to distinguish that the actual word here is this four letter Hebrew name, hwhy / Yahweh, and not the common Hebrew word for Lord which is yn5doa* / adonai. After the Babylonian captivity, by convention out of reverence for God’s name and fear of using it in vain manner and breaking the Third of the Ten Commandments, the Jews would say Adonai instead of Yahweh whenever they read this name. That practice carried over into most English translations. While the practice is understandable because of their fear, I am not so sure it is reverent to call God by a title instead of the name He declared for Himself.
Again, God’s covenant name, Yahweh, is derived from the verb, “to be” and directly points to Him being the self-existent One. To quote from the systematic theology, Biblical Doctrine, “the name implies that He had no beginning, will have no ending, and is ever present. The name also implies that His being is derived from His own self-determination to be and to be what He is, so He is eternally who and what He is.”
How is this related to being able to trust God? First, it points out again that God is something other than us. We cannot attribute to Him either the frailties we have as creatures or the failing characteristics we have as sinful humans. We cannot fully comprehend the Being that is so far beyond and different than us, so we must rely upon what He has revealed to us about Himself. As I pointed out last week, He is our Creator. We are simply creatures He has created for His own purposes.
Second, this is the foundation for God’s other incommunicable attributes including His eternality, infinitude, omniscience, omnipotence and sovereignty for He is the cause of all things. As John 1:3 states, 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” As Colossians 1:16–17 states, 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Since His existence arises within Himself God is more than capable of fulfilling every aspect of His will since all things originate in Him and that very same will. That also means that there is nothing that is superior to Him, so nothing can thwart Him from fulfilling His will. God can and will keep His promises.
Third, Jesus uses this very same designation for Himself in John 8:58, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” The Jews knew exactly what Jesus meant by that which is why they picked up stones to stone Him for blasphemy (vs. 59). Jesus equated Himself with God by declaring He also is the I Am – the self-existent one. That means Jesus can also be trusted because He is in fact God. The miracle of the incarnation in which the second person of the divine Godhead took on human flesh through the virgin birth does not in any way diminish the fact that He is also God. That was Jesus’ point with this response. Jesus is greater than Abraham because He existed before Abraham though His physical body was only a little over three decades old. How was that possible? Because Jesus is also the “I Am.” He is and bears the name of the self-existent God. I can trust what Jesus has done in bringing about the plan redemption to mankind through His own sacrificial death. Jesus’ physical human body could be put to death, but as the “I Am,” He could and did raise it back to life proving His claims about Himself and that He can and will keep His promises.
God is Self-Sufficient
The next attribute, self-sufficient, arises directly from the fact that God is self-existent. A being which has His origin within Himself and from which everything else that exists has its origin, has no need for something outside Himself.
Reformed writers often refer to God’s attributes as His divine perfections. That is a good description that certainly fits and must be applied to this attribute. Why? Because for God to have a need, some necessity outside Himself, would mean that there is some incompleteness or imperfection in His divine being, but God is complete and perfect. God’s self existence means that God is what He is in Himself. He has no need outside Himself. Nothing outside of Himself is necessary to Him. He is, as Tozer put it, “the One who contains all, who gives all that is given, but who Himself can receive nothing that He has not first given” (pg. 39). And whatever belongs to the Father, also true of the Son – John 5:26, “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.”
The word “need” is a word that is only applied to what God has created. All things need God and are in need of what God has created. Colossians 1:17 makes that an absolute stating not only that “He is before all things,” but also that “in Him all things hold together.” Without God’s continual intervention into His creation, everything would fall apart. Even to this day nuclear physicist cannot explain what holds an atom together. They have discovered and theorized all sorts of sub-atomic particles, but what force keeps it all together is still not understood.
All that God has created has needs. Every created thing is dependent on other aspects of creation.
The Sun is dependent upon the materials from which it was formed and the physical laws of gravity and thermo-nuclear reactions.
Gravity is dependent upon the physics of whatever causes it to exist that is bound up in material bodies with mass. Without mass, there is no gravity.
Clouds can’t form without water, air, heat & gravity.
Man cannot survive without air, food, water, shelter and clothing. He can’t remain sane without relationships, and He is in desperate need for salvation from sin – which has been provided by God’s grace through faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Since God is self-sufficient, what are some possible reasons He created the universe? We find at least three in the Scriptures. First is Philippians 2:13, “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” In other words, because He wanted to do so because it would please Him.
Second, to the kind intention of and mystery of His own will. Ephesians 1:5, 9-11, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will . . .” 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” 2 Timothy 1:9 adds, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”
Third, for His own glory. This is just a very brief sampling of statements related to this. *Creation – Psalm 19:1, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” Revelation 4:11, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” *Judgment of Pharaoh & Egypt – Exodus 9:16, “But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth.” *Worship – 1 Chronicles 16:29, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him; Worship the Lord in holy array.” *Sickness, the man born blind – John 9:3, Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” *The coming of Jesus – Luke 2:14, The heavenly host declared, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Hebrews 1:3, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” *Vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy – Romans 9:22–23, 22″ What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.” Ephesians 1:5-6, 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. *The preaching of the gospel – Ephesians 3:8–11, 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The exaltation of Christ after His humiliation – Philippians 2:9–11, 9 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” *The culmination of the ages – Revelation 19:1, “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.” *A fitting benediction – 1 Timothy 1:17, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
God is self-sufficient. He does what He does for His own purposes as He desires. All that exists has value only as value is imparted to it by God by His own determination. The intrinsic value of humanity is solely due to being made in God’s image and in fulfilling His purposes. God does not need our help. He is not greater due to our existence nor would He be less if we did not exist.
How is this a basis for trusting Him? If God needed us, then our existence and value would be dependent upon what we can give to Him, and since every human is limited in various ways, no one would have hope of succeeding. Not only would our best efforts be insufficient to meet His perfect standard, the reality is that failure is normal for us and sin compounds that. Your existence and God’s acceptance of you is dependent upon His own will which is stable and trustworthy because He is consistent with Himself. We can take comfort and be at peace in His promises extended to us as unworthy creatures for He demonstrated His love toward us when Jesus Christ died for us while we were still sinners in rebellion against Him. I can trust God because my relationship with Him is dependent upon Him fulfilling His own will and not my feeble and failing efforts. He saves people from sin because He is merciful and gracious and not on the basis of any good works which we have done which would be filthy in His holy sight anyway (Titus 3:5; Isaiah 64:6).
This also allows trust to build, for God will meet the needs of His people as we step forward to put His kingdom and righteousness first in our lives (Matthew 6:33). I can be straightforward and honest in proclaiming the gospel knowing salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit instead of trying to market Jesus and manipulate people into what would end up being a false profession of faith. You must place your faith in the person and work of the Biblical Jesus if you are to be saved from sin. Repeating the words of a prayer to a Jesus you do not know in order to avoid hell without repentance from sin only condemns.
The Christian is to depend upon God for everything for everything you are and everything you do is dependent upon God being at work in and through you. That is a safe place to be because God is trustworthy in all things. Even those with exemplary character cannot be fully trusted because as humans we cannot control all the factors necessary to even keep promises we make. You may not be strong or wise enough to do it, and too many factors can interfere – car breaks down, you get sick, the materials did not arrive in time – to keep you from succeeding. God is self-sufficient. None of that can ever happen to Him.
God is Immutable
The last attribute I want to look at today is that God is immutable. Immutable is just a big word that means unchanging. Immutability arises out of God being self-existent, self-sufficient and eternal. If there was any degree of change, then these things could not be true. A temporal being changes by coming into existence, improving, declining and going out of existence, and a dependent being must change in order to take in what is necessary. Several Scripture passages point out that this is a characteristic of God.
The first I want to mention is Numbers 23:19 which contrasts the nature of man with that of God. 19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” That is two firm declarations and two rhetorical questions that emphasize that God is not like man. He does not lie. He does not repent. He does what He says He will do. Those are qualities of immutability. 1 Samuel 15:29 states the same thing. “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”
Here are some additional Scriptures that point out God’s character is unchanging and therefore so are His actions arising out it.
Psalm 103:17 17 But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children.
Malachi 3:6, “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.” If God was not true to His promises – unchanging – the nation would have been brought to an end.
Hebrews 6:17–18 17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.” If God was changeable, malleable, arbitrary in His will and actions, He could not be trusted. Because He is unchangeable and does not lie, then He can be completely trusted and the strongest oath possible is upon Himself.
James 1:17, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” Two more analogies pointing out the immutability of God.
Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Again, the attributes that belong to the Father also belong to the Son. Jesus has, is and will remain constant from eternity past to eternity future.
It is a blessing that man is the opposite – mutable, changing – because within that lies the hope of redemption & sanctification. That includes both a sinner becoming a saint, a change in position in relationship to God, and the redeemed being conformed into the image of Christ, a change in character and manner of life. However, that a man could be changed for the better would be uncertain if God was changing because both He and His promises could not be trusted.
God’s immutability is a great comfort for the believer for it enables us to trust that He will remain true in His nature, character and attributes and to His precious and magnificent promises which are part of all that He has granted to believers pertaining to life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:4). It is by these He grants that we become partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Peter 1:5). Why? Because salvation comes by faith – trust in the promises related to the person and work of Jesus Christ in bringing about redemption and forgiving sins. These include that He came seeking to save the lost (Luke 19:10). His invitation in Matthew 11:28–30, 28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” His promise in John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” His pledge in John 14:1–3, 1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
While God’s immutability is a comfort to Biblical Christians, it should be a terror to those who are not. God also keeps His promises of judgment. Unbelievers deny God in various ways ranging from the blatant rejection of God by atheists to the subtle replacement of Him with a near substitute god and different gospel in the various cults. Regardless of the particulars of the denial, unbelievers do not think that the Biblical God poses a danger to them. However, the day will come when reality will be fully exposed and the true God judges them according to His unchangeable word and without partiality resulting in their just condemnation according to their evil deeds. The time of mercy will have passed and they will spend eternity shut out from God in torment (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; Revelation 20:11-15). That has not happened yet, but it could at any time for any individual. That is why today is the day of salvation. Don’t leave today without getting right with God. Talk with me or any of our leaders after the service.
Sermon Notes – 1/23/2022
Trusting God, Part 2: The Self-Sufficient, Self-Existent, Immutable God – Selected Scriptures
Introduction
The world’s quest for personal peace: _____________________________________________________
God’s plan for peace: Phil. 4:11-13 _____________________________________________________
Isaiah 6:3-4 _____________________________________________________
Learning to trust God begins with recognizing Him as your _____________- Psalm 95:7
Recommended books: The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer; Knowing God by J.I. Packer’s
God is Self-Existent
God is the uncaused cause. His very existence arises from out of _______________
Exodus 3:14-15. God is “I AM WHO I AM” – hy6h5a6 / ehyeh from hy2h2 / hayah, the _______of being – I am
The Lord – hwhy – variously translated – Jehovah, Yawheh. Common word for Lord is yn5doa* / adonai
God’s covenant name, hwhy / Yawheh is derived from the verb “_________ God is self existent
God is other than us, so we ___________attribute to Him the failings or failing characteristics of humans
Self-existence is __________for other incommunicable attributes: eternality, omniscience, omnipotence . . .
God is more than capable of fulfilling every aspect of His will for all things _____________in Him
Jesus uses the same name, “I Am,” John 8:58-59, making Himself __________with God as self-existent
God is Self-Sufficient
Tthis arises directly from being self-existent
God is what He is in Himself and is ____________so He has no need outside Himself
God does not need anything, but all things _________God (Colossians 1:17)
Possible reasons for a self-sufficient God to _________: 1) Philippians 2:13 – His own good ____________
2) The kind intention of His _________- Ephesians 1:5, 9-11; 2 Timothy 1:9
3) His own __________. Creation – Psalm 19:1; Rev. 4:11.
Judgment of Pharaoh & Egypt – Exodus 9:16 Worship – 1 Chronicles 16:29.
Sickness – John 9:3. The coming of Jesus – Luke 2:14; Hebrews 1:3
Vessels of Wrath / Mercy – Romans 9:22-23; Eph. 1:5-6.
The preaching of the Gospel – Eph. 3:8-11
Humiliation & Exaltation of Christ – Philippians 2:9-11. Culmination of the ages – Rev. 19:1
A Fitting Benediction – 1 Timothy 1:17
All that exists has value only as value is imparted to it by _________by His own determination
If God needed us, then your existence & value would be dependent upon what ______could give to Him
Your existence & value is dependent on His will which is ________& trustworthy
Trust builds as you grow & _____________His faithfulness to His promises
God is Immutable – unchanging
Self-existence & self-sufficiency make God _____________for a temporal or depending being must change
Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29 _____________________________________________________
Psalm 103:17; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 6:17–18; James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8 ___________________________
It is a blessing that man is mutable / ____________ for that gives hope of redemption & sanctification
Immutability comforts the believer for it means God remains ______to His character, attributes & promises
Some of God’s precious & magnificent promises (2 Peter 1:4); Hope – 2 Peter 1:5 ____________________
God’s immutability is a terror to the __________. He will judge & condemn – 2 Thess 1:8-9; Rev. 20:11-15
If you hear / read this message, you still have time to ______& believe in Jesus – but it could end at anytime
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – 1) Count how many times God is mentioned. 2) Talk with your parents about what it means that God is self-existent, self-sufficient and unchanging.
THINK ABOUT IT!
– Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. How can you have peace in any situation? How does the world seek to gain personal peace? How did Paul learn to be content – Phil. 4:11-13? What was Paul’s situation when he wrote that? Why recognizing that God is the creator the starting point for being able to trust Him? What books have you read about the character / nature / attributes of God? How have they helped you trust Him? What does it mean that God is self-existent? What is the scriptural basis for this truth? What is God’s covenant name that He wants to be known by? How does God’s self-existence enable you to trust Him? What does it mean that God is self-sufficient? What is the scriptural basis for this truth? Why doesn’t God need anything? Why does everything in creation need something else in creation? What are some of your needs? Give three possible reasons God bothered to created things? What scriptures back up your reasons? How does God’s self-sufficiency enable you to trust Him? Could you trust Him if He was not? Explain. Why is it safe to be dependent upon God? What does it mean to be immutable? How does this attribute arise out of God’s self-existence & self-sufficiency? List some scriptures that show that God is unchanging? Why is it a blessing that man is mutable / changing? How does God’s immutability comfort you and allow you to trust Him? What are some of God’s precious & magnificent promises that enable you to trust God in the present and the future? Why should God’s immutability be a terror to the non-Christian? How does the fact that God is unchanging affect you personally? What does the non-Christian need to do to escape God’s promises of judgment and condemnation of sinners?
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