God is impassable

We're in a summer sermon series on the attributes, the character of God.

We have looked at a number of different attributes, a number of different attributes and characteristics

of God, and the hope is that as we grow to know God, as we behold who God is, his character,

the very essence of who he is, that we will grow in our love for him, that we're going

to grow in our ability to read his word and encounter him in his word in a more robust

way.

And some of these attributes, they seem quite obvious for us.

They're nothing new.

If you've been at church even for a few weeks, some of these types of attributes make their

appearances week after week, talking about God's self-existence or God's omnipotence.

These are very clear.

There's very clear instances in scripture where God and his character are revealed, that God

is the creator.

I mean, I think George, he mentions that almost every week.

If you're new and if you haven't heard George mention it, by the way, George is our lead

pastor.

You'll hear it.

These are certain characteristics that we hear often.

However, we're looking this morning at God's impassibility, something that isn't talked

about all that much.

Not because George skirts around the issue or it's something that is extremely controversial.

It's because it's just a lesser talked about doctrine.

The idea behind the impassibility of God is that God is incapable of suffering.

He is incapable of being overwhelmed.

And he is incapable of being overcome by anything.

So the idea is in the kind of the older sense of the word passion, like Jesus' passion, Jesus'

suffering, that God is incapable of suffering.

So that's where we get this term, the impassibility of God.

And this actually goes hand in glove with what Shane preached on last week on God's unchangingness

or his immutability, that God never changes.

And we must take these things together.

In fact, like I mentioned a few weeks ago, the last time I opened up God's word at Messiah,

is that these attributes of God, they are to be taken together.

We do not have the liberty to pick and choose God's attributes.

We can't treat God like a buffet where we go there.

There's many different options.

And we are bypassing the noodles and going straight for the stir fry.

It is, we don't have the luxury of picking, okay, I really like God being omnipotent, but this

idea of him being omnipresent everywhere, it seems a bit far-fetched.

I don't really like that.

We don't have that luxury.

So this attribute of God, it's deeply important.

In fact, I want to put forward to you this morning that the impassibility of God is the key characteristic of God

by which we can have assurance of our salvation.

We preach that when you put your hope and faith and trust in Jesus,

his grip on us, on you, is greater than your grip on him.

That if you are his, you are adopted by grace.

He isn't going to unadopt you.

You're not heading back to some kind of spiritual orphanage.

The impassibility of God is key in this, in understanding a true and hearty assurance of salvation.

So it's important that we do our best to get this right.

It is not an easy doctrine to talk about because although, of course, we can say that God doesn't suffer,

it opens up a lot of issues that we might find in the Bible.

There are some stories, there are some passages in the Scripture that seem to contradict this idea that God does not suffer,

or God does not change, or God isn't overwhelmed.

So, we're first, this morning, we're going to look at this idea of divine impassibility.

What does it mean for God not to suffer?

For God not to be overwhelmed?

The second thing is we're going to try to tackle these apparent contradictions in the Scriptures when we read about it.

And I'll have a few examples.

And then, at the end, why does this matter for us?

Why is it so key?

I talked about assurance of salvation, but why?

Why does it give us true assurance of salvation?

So first, let's take a look at what does this actually mean, God's impassibility.

God is completely immune to suffering.

With God being fully sovereign and fully omnipotent, meaning that he is fully powerful,

there's no power greater than him,

it means that there is no greater power that rivals him.

There is no great power that will somehow influence God to do something contrary to his will,

or to his character, or to his knowledge.

It's not as if God is all-powerful,

but in the sense of God is 1A, but there's something else that's like a 1B.

We have to understand that God being all-powerful, completely omnipotent,

means that if God has all power, there is an unbreachable chasm for the next powerful being.

And a big part of that is because God has created everything.

He is the only uncreated being, and that everything in existence is his creation.

And therefore, he is completely, completely powerful, more powerful than, infinitely powerful than his creation.

So that God, what follows is that God can't be overwhelmed.

He can't be overcome by anything.

He's unaffected by anything whatsoever.

There is no outside influence that can somehow cause God to second-guess,

or to regret,

or to somehow expose his lack of love,

or his lack of mercy, or his lack of justice.

That God is completely perfect.

He is completely other than.

And as such, he doesn't have any unrealized potential.

So for us, maybe you've known some people,

maybe you are one of these people,

where there was a lot of promise for you when you were younger,

and you grew up, and you didn't quite meet expectations.

Whether they're your expectations, or parents, or whatever.

But there's unmet expectations.

There's unrealized potential.

In God, there's none of that.

In God, there is the very definition of what love is,

of what mercy, and justice, and compassion is,

so much so in him that it is his very essence.

So we read in 1 John, where it says that God is love.

We can extend that to God is mercy.

God is compassion.

God is pure justice.

God, in a very pure way, hates evil.

That is his essence.

It's his very essence of who he is.

So he can't get overwhelmed.

There is nothing that can somehow upend him.

There is no power that, in some way, God hasn't considered.

For us, we are not like this at all, are we?

We are influenced a ton.

Some of us have better self-control than others.

Fantastic.

Other people are more kind of rock solid in their emotions than others.

But all of us, whether it be a negative or a positive aspect,

we, outside influences, can influence us, can change us,

can cause us to reconsider certain things,

can cause us to be overwhelmed.

A flirty interaction with your spouse or somebody that you might be interested in,

that is an outside influence that can level you for the day.

Like, just totally, totally take over.

At the same time, if that spouse is frustrated at you

or a pass at, you know, somebody you're interested in isn't reciprocated,

that can also just, it can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.

And that changes who you are for that day.

We are passable people.

We are.

We are given to our emotions and our passions.

And this is the way that we are.

And by the way, I'm not trying to advocate for, like, this is a terrible thing.

We need to go the way of the Stoics or the Buddhists or the Serenity Now folk.

This is just who we are as people.

Our desires are constantly in flux.

They can be disordered quite a bit.

But consider again God, how he can't be affected by anything.

Nothing, again, is his love for us, for instance, isn't contingent on how we reciprocate back.

It is not as though God loves us so that we might love him back and fill a void in his life,

in his eternal being, because there is none.

God is completely impassable.

And it's really important that we understand that it is essentially due to him being completely other than us.

He is the creator.

We are the creation.

This summer, like I mentioned, we're going through these attributes of God.

And there's a number of attributes.

I guess we could look at it like this.

The attributes of God can roughly be understood in two different camps.

Okay?

There's those attributes that we share with God.

Not completely equal, obviously, but we share.

There's a connection there.

God is a loving God.

We can be loving people.

God is, he has power.

He can influence.

Well, we can as well.

Again, to a degree.

Never to the extent of God.

So we understand this as an analogy.

We're analogous to God, not equal to God in that way.

But then there are these attributes where we have no connection.

There's complete difference with God, right?

God is immortal.

He has no beginning and no end.

We have a beginning.

Our hope in Christ is that we will not have an end and be with him for eternity.

But we've had a beginning.

We can't claim of ourselves, like God can, that he has always existed.

Unlike God, we can't claim that we're omnipresent, that we're everywhere at once.

These are unique to God.

And impassibility is one of those things.

And it's important that we understand this creature-creator distinctive.

Oftentimes, in our culture, actually in our cultures, maybe that's a better way of talking about it,

we try to switch the roles.

We try to put ourselves as God and then kind of use God as a tool, as a means for our own benefit,

as if God could be manipulated.

But with this idea of impassibility, God is completely other than us.

He's completely unique in this.

So much so that God is, as creator, that we actually have our being in him.

It says in Acts 17, the Apostle Paul is saying to the Athenians,

in him we live and move and have our being.

Psalm 18, that Shane read, verses 1 to 3 and then verse 31.

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock,

in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

For who is God but the Lord?

This idea that David is communicating, he's praising God about,

is that God can't be changed and he can't be upended

and he can't be conquered.

There is nothing at all that can prevent God from being God.

Consider the Greek and Roman gods who are given to flights of rage,

who are manipulated, who are given to lust and war.

There is an inconsistency in them.

In the Hindu pantheon, there is constant struggle.

There's no almighty God.

God, our God that we see in scriptures,

is completely other than any other God.

Any other God in any other faith tradition,

he is completely, completely other than.

And again, we don't talk about the impassibility of God all that much.

And a part of it is because here at Church of the Messiah,

we go through books of the Bible,

and it's a fantastic way to kind of systematically understand who God is

as God has revealed himself to us.

However, it's moments, sermons like these that help us actually read the Bible better.

So, for instance, I mentioned that there seems to be contradictions in the scriptures

about this doctrine of God's impassibility.

There's a number of instances, actually.

I'll give a few examples.

God negotiates with Abraham before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.

He negotiates as if there is some kind of influence that Abraham might have on God.

God seems to rage only to calm down,

be calmed down by Moses with the idolatry of the nation of Israel.

Somehow, Moses convinces God to change his mind,

his wrath towards Israel.

Also, God anoints King Saul to be king,

and King Saul blunders,

and God says that he regrets the decision

that he made to anoint King Saul.

It's a kind of repentance, is it not?

I mean, not because God somehow sinned,

but because God made a decision that he needs to correct.

How does that jive with impassibility?

This is, it's a good question.

And if you're asking that question,

if you are, maybe you're frustrated at me

because you're anticipating some of this stuff,

and you're like, man, you're not reading the Bible properly,

or maybe it's making you squirm,

or making you feel uncomfortable,

it's a good thing because you're wanting to be faithful to the Scriptures,

and that's what we want to do.

But a few things that we need to consider

as we hold on to this doctrine of impassibility

and then encounter a seemingly impassible God in the Scriptures.

A couple things.

In the 39 Articles of Faith,

it's what kind of defines our doctrine as Anglicans.

Article 20 says that we ought not to expound

one part of Scripture over against another part.

That might contradict it.

So here's an example.

It says in the Scriptures

that God is spirit.

He doesn't have a body.

And yet, he rescues Israel from Egypt with what?

A strong arm and an outstretched hand.

I don't know if it's an outstretched arm and a strong hand.

I get those things mixed up.

But the point is,

he saves Israel,

and the language used is with his arm.

Now, do we say,

well, hold on a second.

Clearly, God has a body

because that's what it says.

Do we contradict one part of Scripture

or interpret one part of Scripture

at the expense of the other?

Well, no.

We say, hold on a second.

This is language used to communicate

that God has done a mighty work

on behalf of his people.

That God is spirit.

He is without body.

So we don't read every passage literally

at face value,

but we honor it in the way it was written.

So it's really important

that we never contradict Scripture with Scripture.

And that's not an easy thing, by the way.

It's not an easy thing.

But this is why we go through a summer series

that gives us tools

to read the Scriptures a bit better.

The second thing is that

God uses adequate language to our beings.

So the Bible isn't some collection of sayings

or a big tome of law.

It is a story.

It's a collection of different types of writing,

of course,

but ultimately it is this grand story.

And God describes himself as what?

He describes himself as a father

and as a king

and as a lord

and as a lover

and as a shepherd

and as a husband.

How does he describe us?

He describes us as his bride,

as sheep.

We are not sheep,

but the Bible is constantly using.

God has so ordered the Bible

to be written in such a way

by which we can understand it

and relate to it.

We understand life as a story,

as a journey,

as something that is this grand epic.

And this is how God has revealed himself to us.

God reveals,

the infinite God reveals himself in language

that finite, limited humans

can comprehend

and have a capacity to understand.

So, going back to King Saul,

the issue with King Saul

and God repenting,

is God really repenting?

Is God really,

did God really fail

to take in all this information

that Saul would mess up

and that God would look bad

and that he regrets

what he has done

as if God made a mistake?

Is that what is happening?

Is God,

who negotiates with Abraham

about the future of Sodom and Gomorrah,

is he really negotiating

as if he's at the market

and there's kind of like

this discussion over goods?

And say,

well, hold on a second.

We understand that God is unchanging.

He is all-knowing.

He's impassable.

So, how then do we read the scripture

in light of that?

Well, I think we need to ask ourselves

these questions.

In light of God being impassable,

what is God trying to communicate

in the story of King Saul

having his crown removed?

What is he teaching us

about the human condition?

About his great desire

to be the king of his people

and yet their apostasy,

wanting to be like the other nations

and get a king of their own,

even though the creator

of heaven and earth

is their king.

What does it tell us

about God's glory

and God's desire

to bless and not curse?

About to honor free will?

What does it tell us

about who God is

and what God has done?

What does it tell us

about God's glory?

And when we ask those questions,

right, and we don't,

we ask those questions individually,

but we also ask them at church

as a community of God's people,

but we ask those questions

and all of a sudden,

all of a sudden,

we get this beautiful picture

that starts to get painted

of this God that we serve.

And it's magnificent.

It's greater than we'd ever have thought.

His love is much deeper

than we had ever imagined.

His mercy and his justice,

his patience is so much greater

than we'd ever understand.

So when we come to instances

where it seems like God is one of us,

like he is,

he is fickle,

we have to ask the questions.

Well, hold on a second.

What's really being communicated here?

We must resist the urge

to fashion God,

two extremes,

to fashion God in our own image

or somehow treat God

as if he is completely

an apathetic deity, right?

Because if I'm saying like God

is unaffected by anything,

it kind of goes to,

doesn't it kind of lead us

to logically think

that God doesn't really love?

Because the idea of love

is there's some kind of reciprocation

that he's not,

he doesn't show emotions

even though we see it in scripture.

No, no, no.

We must hold this tension

of not creating God in our image

and not treating him

as some kind of apathetic deity,

some kind of God

that makes the watch,

winds it up,

and just leaves it.

So,

the reality is,

is God does have emotions.

He most certainly does.

In Exodus chapter 3, verse 7,

Exodus 3:7

when he sees Israel crying out,

they're in Egyptian slavery,

God most certainly does feel,

but his emotions never change his essence,

who he is.

He doesn't love,

he doesn't feel out of a lack,

but actually out of fullness.

That God doesn't love to be loved

or show compassion

so that he is seen as a nice guy

or shown mercy,

he doesn't show mercy

so that people,

oh, look at this God,

we're in his pocket.

No, no, no, no.

God has emotions,

but he is completely unaffected

by his emotions.

He's unlike us in this regard.

So, this is why the study

of the attributes of God

is so important

because we come to the scriptures

and we hold these things in tension

and we realize,

hold on a second,

this God is for me.

He loves me.

And also, he's unchanging

so that I can trust

in his consistency

in his character forever.

This is where the rubber hits the road

because if God has made promises,

he doesn't go back on them.

Not because he's a good promise keeper,

is because he cannot go back on them.

Because his promises of salvation

and love,

they are outpouring of his very character,

of who he is.

And he can't go against that.

So, when we have the,

these wonderful promises

were made for little Coralie,

that if she grows up

and, you know,

she has a bad stretch,

God forbid,

God doesn't look at her

and say,

like, enough is enough,

I'm done,

and pull,

and pull the rug

from out from underneath her.

Those promises remain true.

They've remained true

all the way.

And we can,

we can take that to the bank.

It means that

when God says

that all the injustice

will be taken care of one day,

all the injustice

will be taken care of one day.

And we take that to the bank.

You can't be influenced otherwise.

When God shows mercy

to people,

that mercy doesn't get undid,

so to speak.

If he adopts you

as his son or daughter,

that is never going to be rescinded.

If you are truly his,

you are his forever.

And all of a sudden,

we understand

that the doctrine

of the impassibility of God

is key to our assurance

of salvation.

Because we have a God

that does not change,

that cannot be influenced,

that cannot be connived,

cannot be twisted,

cannot be,

he's perfect,

unchanging.

And we can take that

to the bank.

We can.

We can hold God

to his promises.

We can.

His promises come out

in his way

and in his timing,

but we can hold

to his promises.

Another wonderful thing

about this

is that

it helps us

to understand

the incarnation

really well.

One of the,

out of all the stuff

with the pandemic

and the restrictions,

and I'm not,

I'm not making comments

on government stuff,

really,

but one of the things

that has been

absolutely horrible

is elderly folk

spending their last days alone,

dying alone,

suffering alone.

Our,

my grandmother,

when all this stuff happened,

she was in

her retirement home

for three months

and we could see her

through a window.

It was heartbreaking

for us.

Maybe you guys know people

or you've experienced

some of that

with your loved ones.

We got her out

of the home,

thank God,

but other people

have been in the home

for a year,

more,

and they're suffering

alone.

They're completely alone.

In the incarnation,

God,

out of his

self-sufficient love

for us,

what does he do?

He condescends

and in the person

of Jesus Christ,

he unites himself.

The fullness

of the divinity

unites with the fullness

of humanity

in the person

of Jesus Christ.

And what does Jesus do?

He suffers.

His humanity

suffers

and yet his divinity

conquers everything.

Conquers the grave.

Conquers sin.

Not one time,

but forever.

So in the person

of Jesus,

we have somebody

that can relate to us.

That can know

what it means

to suffer.

Know what it means

to be alone

because what did he do?

He died alone

on a cross.

And yet,

he is fully divine,

fully God

in that

in Jesus,

the divine attribute

of impassibility

along with all the other

divine attributes

don't somehow

get put on pause.

God remains

fully God

in the person

of Jesus

so that he

conquers everything.

He doesn't stay

in the grave.

He rises again.

What a wonderful truth.

we have a God

who knows,

is acquainted

with our suffering.

It says in Hebrews,

Hebrews chapter 4,

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

that we have a high priest

who is able to sympathize

with our weaknesses.

Yet,

sorry,

he was able to sympathize

with our weaknesses,

but one who in every respect

has been tempted

as we are,

yet without sin.

That means Jesus experiences

all of the emotions

we have,

but properly ordered,

without sinning,

without flying off

the handle.

He experiences

everything

that we have,

but yet is without sin.

And what's the result?

Verse 16

of Hebrews chapter 4,

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

let us then

with confidence

draw near

to the throne

of grace

that we may receive

mercy and grace

to help

in our time

of need.

Psalm 18

continues on

and it talks

about God

rescuing David,

but it's more

than just this

picture of David

being rescued

from Saul

when Saul

was trying

to attack him.

It is this

fantastic picture

of God

rescuing

his people

from the greatest

of evils,

from the greatest

of sin,

of the greatest

of what hell

has to offer.

God rescues

his people.

And he doesn't

do it

with the last

bit of mustering

of his strength.

It's done.

It's done.

Jesus himself,

what does he do?

He doesn't get

coerced into

laying down

his life for us

because somehow

we will be

in his debt,

like I've mentioned,

this idea of

quid pro quo.

But in John 10,

what does he say?

For this reason

the Father loves me

because I lay down

my life that I may

take it up again.

Verse 18,

no one takes it

from me,

but I lay it down

on my own accord.

I have authority

to lay it down.

I have authority

to take it up again.

This charge I have

received from my Father.

That God,

out of his goodness,

out of his self-sufficiency,

has suffered

through Jesus

on our behalf.

Friends,

listen,

if you are suffering,

there is someone close.

When Jesus ascended

into heaven,

he sent the Holy Spirit

to what?

To comfort us

in these times.

And oftentimes,

the Holy Spirit

comforts us

through one another,

through the reading

of his word,

through times of prayer,

through the gathering

around his table,

through the proclamation

of his word.

The Holy Spirit's at work.

We will never

have that full satisfaction

until we are glorified

in heaven with God.

But we get tastes

of what it means

to be comforted.

We get tastes

of what it means

to be in

the impassable

God's presence

here on earth

and to trust

that his promises

are true forever.

And I'll tell you,

if you are on

a spiritual journey,

if you're

in another faith,

if you are

exploring,

wherever you may be,

I'm telling you

that today,

God extends

this desire

to save,

this love

that he has done

on the cross

of Calvary,

he extends

that to you today.

And if he extends

it to you

and you are his,

you will never

not be his.

Wonderful truth,

assurance of salvation.

Heavenly Father,

we come before you

as your people

and we thank you

that you are not

like us

in many respects,

that you cannot

be manipulated,

that you don't

change your mind,

that you aren't,

in your divinity,

you do not suffer.

And yet,

in the person

and work

of your son,

Jesus Christ,

he suffered

on our behalf.

He took

every last bit

of the taste

of death

away from us

so that we don't

have to taste it

because he tasted it.

And Lord,

we can be sure

as sure can be

that we are yours

because of what

you have done for us

and you do not

rescind your adoption.

You don't send us

back to an orphanage.

You don't send us

out to be alone

and to suffer

by ourselves.

No.

So Lord,

help us to know

you more,

help us to know

your qualities,

your attributes,

your essence more.

Today,

as we read through

the scriptures

this week

and as we continue

on in our service

or in our summer

series

for the rest

of the summer,

we pray all these

things in Christ's

name.

Amen.