The God We Worship Is A Se

This is third in a series called The God We Worship Is….

We come now to the attribute of self-existence, where we confess that God is wholly and absolutely dependent on none for His existence. What we mean by this is that there is no reason outside of God Himself for Him to exist – His essence alone is the sole reason for His existence. Theologians used to call this attribute His aseity, coming from the Latin a se, or “from Himself”. This phrase was not to mean that God caused Himself (for nothing can be self-caused), but that God is wholly and totally independent from anything outside of Himself – God is self-sufficient. Sadly, the language of aseity has almost disappeared from our modern vocabulary.

Scripture tells us that God has life in Himself (John 1:4; 5:26), is independent of man (Isa 40:13; Acts 7:48), independent in His mind (Rom 11:34), His will (Rom 9:15; Eph 1:11), His power (Psa 115:3), His love (Hosea 4). There is nothing that He needs from His creatures, for what else can He receive from those who depend on Him for their very existence? It is in this same breath that Paul describes God as the One in whom we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:8).

When applied to humans, “independence” is usually used relatively – we become independent from our parents and teachers the older we get. However, even the most independent man still cannot claim that he depends on himself for his continued existence. He does not sustain himself. Therein lies the difference: while we are only independent relatively, God is independent absolutely. In fact, it is upon God that every creature is dependent. The attribute of aseity is therefore the pinnacle of the Creator-creature distinction. What distinguishes the Creator from His creatures? That He alone is self-existent and everything else derives their existence from Him.

The London Baptist Confession of Faith puts it this way, “The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of Himself, infinite in being and perfection;…” (LBCF 2.1, emphasis added) and more poignantly:

God, having all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself, is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creature 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 He hath most sovereign dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever Himself pleases; 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, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, as creatures they owe unto the Creator, and whatever He is further pleased to require of them. (LBCF 2.2)

We must thus banish all notions that God created because He was lonely or needy. Rather, God is Trinity in unity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit in blessed communion for all eternity. This can only be said about the triune God. He did not begin to need us, nor does He need us. Before even the angels were formed to call Him glorious, He already possessed in Himself all the glory necessary to be glorious. Before the stars were spoken to declare Him King, He already had all the majesty required to be King over all. Before the earth was shaped to declare Him God, He already had the fullness of deity in and of Himself. Everything that He is towards us, He was from the very beginning.

The very fact that we depend on Him for our existence is sufficient reason for us to worship Him. But we often do not, for such is our inherent sin, that we would create idols for ourselves to worship. No wonder then that the first commandment is a command to turn away from idolatry, to fix our hearts and eyes on the One we were made to worship because we were made by Him.

Let us remember then, that every act of worship and devotion does nothing to benefit Him. He is not any more delighted in our warbling songs or stammering preaching than His inherent delight between Father and Son and Spirit. Rather, He calls us to worship because our lives are only made right and full when centred on the One they are for – our worship to Him benefits us. Let others have their gods – we have our God, who demands worship not for His own sake but for ours, who seeks after His glory that overflows into our good.

Let us also remember that our salvation was as unnecessary as our creation. Had God so purposed to destroy the whole cosmos because of Adam’s corruption, He would not have lost anything in Himself. Yet, He purposed to take upon Himself humanity and redeem the whole of the created order to Himself not because of any innate quality of His creatures that He depended on, but because He is kindness. He loves us not because we are any lovable nor that He needed objects to love, but because He is love.

God does not need us. Only when we finally grasp that fact, do we see with clarity our need for Him.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

- Acts 17:24-25

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