Savoring a Cup of Tea: Of God...

My friend Sarah and I are working through The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges (I highly recommend it!!). As she and I talk through some of the points Bridges makes, we keep coming back to the nature of God. Biblical Christianity makes so much more sense, and is such a robust faith, when you start with the character and nature of God rather than examine man and his proposed sin nature. Who cares if we "sin" if there isn't a holy God in the first place? But, because God is holy (and sovereign, just, loving, etc.), then our sin becomes all the more reprehensible and his grace all the more undeserved and amazing.

Yesterday, in church, our responsive reading was taken from the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 2, paragraph 2. The title of the chapter is "Of God, and of the Holy Trinity." Paragraph 1 is just as amazing, so I'm going to post it first. Because the Confession is a meaty document, it's worth pondering one paragraph at a time (or one phrase!). In addition, I think it worth noting that the Confession starts with the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture, thus establishing why we can go to Scripture for our doctrine. The very next thing it tackles is the nature of God--nothing else is quite as important in my opinion. As I mentioned above, the more we meditate on who God is, the more aware of our own sinfulness we will be and the more overcome by his grace.

There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin, and who will by no means clean the guilty.