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## God's Infinite Nature

(Derived from https://ichthys.com/1Theo.htm)

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### Summary

This lesson, we are going to be talking about God's infinite nature, and what that means in terms of His abilities.
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#### Outline

- [Introduction: God's infinite nature](#4)
- [God is Spiritual](#5)
- [God is Eternal](#6)
- [God is Immeasurable (in a spatial sense)](#7)
- [God is Unique](#8)
- [God is Omnipotent](#9)
  - ["Could God create a rock so big even He couldn't lift it?"](#10)
- [God is Omniscient](#11)
  - [God's knowledge of hypotheticals](#12)
- [God is Omnipresent](#13)

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### Introduction: God's infinite nature

Key point: God's nature is infinite. *Infinite*.

God's infinity – infinity in every way and according to any conceivable true standard – is a clarifying concept, *illuminating His abilities*.

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### God is Spiritual

God's being transcends the physical universe. He is not limited or bounded by material issues or concerns. God is not subject to matter in any way. God is not made of matter – God created matter and employs it however He desires.

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### God is Eternal

God's being transcends time. He is not limited or bounded by temporal issues or concerns. God is not subject to time in any way. God is not constrained by time – God created time and employs it however He desires.

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### God is Immeasurable (in a spatial sense)

God's being transcends space. He is not limited or bounded by spatial issues or concerns. God is not subject to space in any way. God is not confined by space – God created space and employs it however He desires.

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### God is Unique

Uniqueness comes from God's infinite nature. No one else in the universe can reasonably be compared to Him. He is absolutely unique within His own creation, and therefore the one Person to whom all honor is due.

From the standpoint of His *transcendence* of the physical universe, He is unique by virtue of His spirituality, eternity and immeasurability. From the standpoint of His *supremacy* within the physical universe, He is unique by virtue of His omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.

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### God is Unique

| Essential Quality                               | Manifesting in creation as                                                                                            |
|-------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Being spiritual (rather than bound by matter)   | Omnipotence (God may affect material creation however he pleases)                                                     |
| Being eternal (rather than bound by time)       | Omniscience (God knows everything in creation from beginning to end, and even what could have been)                   |
| Being immeasurable (rather than bound by space) | Omnipresence (God is ever-present in creation: as far as the East is from the West, nothing can separate us from God) |

While we may not be properly able to fully grasp God's true nature since we are small, finite beings bound by spacetime, it should nonetheless be clearly apparent that it is not possible for any created creature to compare with the Creator. Even creatures far more powerful than ourselves---Satan and the other angels---are bound and limited in ways God is not, leaving God completely alone and unique in His transcendence of and supremacy within the physical universe.

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### God is Omnipotent

God is all-powerful, irrespective of matter. He can effect anything He desires in the material realm, and nothing can transpire apart from His will. Therefore there is no deed (nor was there ever, nor will there ever be) which God is unable to do, small or great.

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<h4>"Could God create a rock so big even He couldn't lift it?"</h4>

<p>You may have come across something like "So, could God create a rock so big even He couldn't lift it?" This is (supposedly) pitting two aspects of omnipotence against each other: God's ability to create anything He wishes <em>ex nihilo</em>, and God's strength.</p>

<p>People argue that the two superlatives mandated by omnipotence contradict each other. Supposedly, if God cannot create an object too heavy for Him to lift, he is not omnipotent, because an omnipotent creature would be able to create anything. And likewise, if there would exist some object that God could create but was unable to lift, then He also would not be omnipotent, because an omnipotent creature would be able to lift everything. "See!", they say, "either way, He cannot do something; therefore, He is not omnipotent!"</p>

<p>We can let people who wish to not believe on account such an argument go on their merry way. We needn't take them up on the debate. For it is <em>obvious</em> that God can both create whatsoever He wishes, and also manipulate His creation in whatever ways He wishes. The idea of a material object He cannot create is definitionally impossible, and so too a material object He cannot manipulate. Put differently, there is no such thing as an object He could create but not lift, or an object He could lift but not create. So the entire objection is circular by assuming such a thing can exist to begin with. That is, they've already put God in a box from the very beginning, and then only proceed to smugly knock down nothing but a straw man.</p>

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<h4>"Could God create a rock so big even He couldn't lift it?"</h4>

<p>My counsel would be to avoid all such nonsense. God can do "it", whatever "it" may be. Always. We follow אֵל שַׁדַּי, <em>El Shaddai</em>, God Almighty, He who was, and is, and is to come---He who holds the strings of the universe in His hands, and can create or annihilate galaxies in the blink of an eye. And we'd better fear that power and majesty as we ought, to keep our lives in perspective. We are tiny compared to the vastness of the Earth, much less our solar system, much less our galaxy, much less the universe. But God is even bigger (infinitely bigger), and could snuff them all out in the blink of an eye if He decided to. <em>That</em> is the kind of power in view when we speak of God being omnipotent. Not that He will actually snuff out the universe on a whim, but that it would be nothing for Him to do so, since He is in complete control of matter, time, and space... and things only exist because <em>He</em> causes them to exist.</p>

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### God is Omniscient

God is all-knowing, irrespective of time. He can effect anything He desires in the temporal realm. Therefore God knows (has always known, and always will know) everything, the end from the beginning. As the Everlasting One (Ps.90:2; 90:4), His knowledge of every event that ever has or will or even could occur within His creation is comprehensive and absolute.

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#### God's knowledge of hypotheticals

The "could occur" bit is important. God's knowledge of all possible hypotheticals is sometimes discussed in terms of so-called ["Molinism"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molinism) and "middle knowledge". I prefer to discuss it independent from all the baggage there, however.

Here's an example: since the Bible says that God will never test us past what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), then that implies He knows what we would and would not be able to bear. He wouldn't be able to perfectly test us to refine our faith unless He knew all information like this.

Same deal with perfectly disciplining us, and plenty of other matters besides. Put simply, God's perfect foreordination of all things logically requires that He know everything about all potential paths in the mind-bogglingly complex decision tree that spans the history of the entire universe. It has always puzzled me why people would ever think to argue against such a notion, but alas, some people do for some reason. Perhaps it is because such a belief requires one to appreciate how truly "big" and unlike us (with our very finite perspective) God really is?

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#### God's knowledge of hypotheticals

For now, you should mostly ignore the fact that some people have again put God in a box in their minds, and content yourself with the sure confidence that God knows everything---absolutely everything, inclusive of our free-will decisions before we even make them---and is so infinitely wise as to have perfectly mapped out all of creature history before the universe was even created. There is a Perfect Divine Plan being worked out around us, and God knows very well what He is doing, rest assured.

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### God is Omnipresent

God is ever-present, irrespective of space. He can effect anything He desires in the spatial realm (Job 26:7). Therefore God has the ability (has always had, and always will have) to be anywhere and everywhere, local and universal.

Of particular note is that this means God sees all. Nobody can sneak anything past God, and on that Great Day of Days, all will be revealed. It also means it is completely futile to try to run away from God. Like Jonah, we will find that no matter where we go, God and His purposes for us will always be there too.

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#### Outline