The Profound Simplicity of God's Nature

 

Summary

In our time together, we explored the profound and often overlooked doctrine of the simplicity of God, as illustrated in Exodus 3. This passage recounts Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush, where God reveals Himself as "I AM who I AM." This declaration underscores the simplicity of God, meaning that God is not composed of parts or dependent on anything outside Himself. He is pure Spirit, without body, parts, or passions. This simplicity is not a lack of complexity but rather a profound unity and fullness in God's being.

The simplicity of God challenges modern philosophical and theological perspectives that often dismiss it as impractical or irrelevant. Yet, it is a doctrine that has been upheld by great theologians throughout church history. It reveals that God's attributes are not separate from His essence; rather, God is His attributes. His goodness, holiness, and love are not qualities He possesses but are integral to His very being. This unity of attributes means that God's actions are always consistent with His nature.

The simplicity of God also harmonizes with the doctrine of the Trinity. God is one in essence but exists in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This triune nature does not contradict His simplicity but rather enriches our understanding of His unity and diversity. The Trinity reveals the relational aspect of God's being, where each person of the Godhead interpenetrates and shares in the divine essence.

As we reflect on the simplicity of God, we are drawn into deeper worship and adoration. The revelation of God's simplicity invites us to trust in His unchanging nature and to find rest in His eternal faithfulness. It challenges us to simplify our own lives, to take God at His Word, and to live in the sweetness of His presence.

Key Takeaways:

- The simplicity of God means that God is not composed of parts or dependent on anything outside Himself. He is pure Spirit, and His attributes are not separate from His essence. This profound unity challenges us to trust in God's unchanging nature and find rest in His eternal faithfulness. [08:42]

- God's attributes are not qualities He possesses but are integral to His very being. His goodness, holiness, and love are not separate from who He is. This unity of attributes means that God's actions are always consistent with His nature, inviting us to trust in His perfect character. [19:31]

- The simplicity of God harmonizes with the doctrine of the Trinity. God is one in essence but exists in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This triune nature enriches our understanding of His unity and diversity, revealing the relational aspect of God's being. [36:04]

- The revelation of God's simplicity invites us to worship and adoration. It challenges us to simplify our own lives, to take God at His Word, and to live in the sweetness of His presence. This simplicity is not a lack of complexity but a profound unity and fullness in God's being. [47:06]

- The simplicity of God enhances our appreciation of Jesus Christ, who, even in His humanity, found rest in the knowledge of God's glorious unity. This understanding invites us to meditate on the wonder of God's being and to find security in His unchanging nature. [42:24]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:28] - Moses and the Burning Bush
- [01:27] - Holy Ground and God's Identity
- [02:10] - God's Promise of Deliverance
- [02:54] - The Name "I AM"
- [03:57] - The Complexity of Simplicity
- [05:51] - The Paradox of Divine Simplicity
- [07:44] - Historical Theological Perspectives
- [08:42] - Understanding God's Simplicity
- [10:53] - Revelation at the Burning Bush
- [12:46] - The Hebrew Mind and Metaphysical Truth
- [14:36] - The Fire in the Bush
- [16:27] - God's Attributes and Essence
- [18:35] - The Unity of God's Attributes
- [20:29] - The Glory of God's Simplicity
- [22:16] - Human Encounter with God's Glory
- [24:44] - Moses and the Glory of God
- [26:34] - The Transfiguration and God's Glory
- [28:39] - Jesus and the Revelation of God
- [30:17] - The Overwhelming Simplicity of God
- [32:28] - Personal Illustrations of Simplicity
- [35:08] - The Intensity of God's Love
- [36:04] - Simplicity and the Trinity
- [37:52] - The Triune Work of God
- [39:37] - The Name of Yahweh
- [41:25] - The Impact of God's Simplicity
- [42:24] - Jesus' Rest in God's Unity
- [44:05] - The Majesty of Christ
- [45:08] - The Mystery of the Cross
- [47:06] - Worship and Transformation
- [49:22] - The Unchanging God
- [50:50] - Closing Prayer

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide: The Simplicity of God

Bible Reading:
- Exodus 3:1-14

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Observation Questions:

1. What was Moses doing when he encountered the burning bush, and how did God reveal Himself to Moses in this moment? ([00:28])

2. How does God describe Himself to Moses when asked for His name, and what significance does this have? ([02:54])

3. In the sermon, what does the pastor say about the simplicity of God and how it relates to His attributes? ([08:42])

4. How does the pastor describe the relationship between God's simplicity and the Trinity? ([36:04])

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Interpretation Questions:

1. What does the pastor mean when he says that God's attributes are not separate from His essence, and how does this understanding challenge modern views of God? ([08:42])

2. How does the concept of God's simplicity enhance our understanding of the Trinity, according to the sermon? ([36:04])

3. The pastor mentions that the simplicity of God invites us to worship and adoration. How might this understanding of God influence one's approach to worship? ([47:06])

4. How does the pastor suggest that Jesus found rest in the knowledge of God's unity, and what implications does this have for believers today? ([42:24])

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on the idea that God's attributes are integral to His being. How does this challenge your current understanding of God's nature, and how might it affect your trust in His character? ([08:42])

2. The pastor speaks about the simplicity of God inviting us to simplify our own lives. What is one area of your life that feels overly complicated, and how can you begin to simplify it in light of God's simplicity? ([47:06])

3. Consider the relational aspect of the Trinity as described in the sermon. How can this understanding of divine relationship influence the way you interact with others in your community? ([36:04])

4. The sermon suggests that Jesus found rest in God's unity during His most challenging times. How can you apply this principle to find peace in your own life during difficult situations? ([42:24])

5. The pastor mentions that the simplicity of God invites us to take God at His Word. Is there a specific promise or command from God that you struggle to trust or obey? How can you work towards trusting it more fully? ([07:44])

6. Reflect on the pastor's statement that the simplicity of God leads to worship and adoration. How can you incorporate this understanding into your daily spiritual practices to deepen your worship experience? ([47:06])

7. The sermon challenges us to find security in God's unchanging nature. What are some practical steps you can take to remind yourself of God's faithfulness during times of uncertainty? ([49:22])

Devotional

Day 1: The Unity of God's Being
The simplicity of God means that He is not composed of parts or dependent on anything outside Himself. This profound unity challenges us to trust in God's unchanging nature and find rest in His eternal faithfulness. God's simplicity is not a lack of complexity but a profound unity and fullness in His being. This doctrine reveals that God's attributes are not separate from His essence; rather, God is His attributes. His goodness, holiness, and love are not qualities He possesses but are integral to His very being. This unity of attributes means that God's actions are always consistent with His nature, inviting us to trust in His perfect character. [08:42]

"For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed." (Malachi 3:6, ESV)

Reflection: In what area of your life do you struggle to trust in God's unchanging nature? How can you find rest in His eternal faithfulness today?


Day 2: God's Attributes as His Essence
God's attributes are not qualities He possesses but are integral to His very being. His goodness, holiness, and love are not separate from who He is. This unity of attributes means that God's actions are always consistent with His nature. Understanding this invites us to trust in His perfect character. When we recognize that God's attributes are His essence, we can have confidence that His actions are always aligned with His nature. This understanding challenges us to deepen our trust in God, knowing that His goodness, holiness, and love are not just characteristics but are who He is. [19:31]

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17, ESV)

Reflection: How does knowing that God's attributes are His essence change the way you view His actions in your life? What specific attribute of God do you need to trust more deeply today?


Day 3: The Trinity and Divine Simplicity
The simplicity of God harmonizes with the doctrine of the Trinity. God is one in essence but exists in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This triune nature enriches our understanding of His unity and diversity, revealing the relational aspect of God's being. The Trinity does not contradict God's simplicity but rather enhances our appreciation of His unity and diversity. Each person of the Godhead interpenetrates and shares in the divine essence, revealing the relational aspect of God's being. This understanding invites us to marvel at the mystery of the Trinity and to worship God in His fullness. [36:04]

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19, ESV)

Reflection: How does the relational aspect of the Trinity influence your understanding of God's nature? In what ways can you reflect this relational unity in your interactions with others today?


Day 4: Worship Through Simplicity
The revelation of God's simplicity invites us to worship and adoration. It challenges us to simplify our own lives, to take God at His Word, and to live in the sweetness of His presence. This simplicity is not a lack of complexity but a profound unity and fullness in God's being. As we reflect on the simplicity of God, we are drawn into deeper worship and adoration. This understanding challenges us to simplify our own lives, to trust in God's Word, and to find joy in His presence. By embracing the simplicity of God, we can experience transformation and a deeper connection with Him. [47:06]

"But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." (Habakkuk 2:20, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of your life that feels overly complicated? How can you simplify it to focus more on God's presence and His Word today?


Day 5: Resting in God's Unity
The simplicity of God enhances our appreciation of Jesus Christ, who, even in His humanity, found rest in the knowledge of God's glorious unity. This understanding invites us to meditate on the wonder of God's being and to find security in His unchanging nature. Jesus, in His humanity, rested in the knowledge of God's unity, providing us with a model of trust and reliance on God's nature. This understanding invites us to meditate on the wonder of God's being and to find security in His unchanging nature. By resting in God's unity, we can experience peace and assurance in our relationship with Him. [42:24]

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8, ESV)

Reflection: How can you follow Jesus' example of resting in God's unity? What practical steps can you take today to meditate on the wonder of God's being and find security in His unchanging nature?

Quotes



And yet, the paradoxical thing about the doctrine of the simplicity of God is that in our time it is rejected by the vast majority of philosophers who regard it as untenable. It is ignored by the vast majority of theologians and probably also of Christian believers as irrelevant and impractical, and I want us to try and discover a little as we think about God at the end of this day for this last time communally in this day of grace to come to understand that though we can never grasp how utterly, sheer, simple God our God is, we can nevertheless in Jesus Christ who has revealed Him to the extent that we can ever understand, bow before Him and worship Him and recognize as we sometimes sing, "If my love were but more simple, I would take You at Your Word, and my life would be all sunshine in the sweetness of the Lord." [00:06:42]

What do we mean when we speak about the simplicity of God? This doctrine that has been held and expounded by almost all the great theologians of the Christian church, from Irenaeus in the early centuries through Augustine and Anselm and Thomas Aquinas and the great Puritans and the great orthodox Reformed theologians. What do we mean by the simplicity of God? We mean something so stunning, so singular as to say that God, as the Westminster Confession of Faith puts it, that God is pure Spirit, that He is without body, parts, or passions, or to put it in other terms echoing what we've already heard today, that God is without origin, that God is without composition, that God is without becoming. [00:08:08]

The simplicity of God means this, that the being of God and the attributes of God are one with each other. That the essence of God's being and the attributes of God's possession are not two different things that by some kind of inner divine superglue are held together, but are in fact one and the same thing; God is His attributes. That's different from you and from me. You and I have attributes, but we lose one of those attributes, for example, we are kind and gentle and something happens to us and we become malicious and personally dangerous, we lose that attribute. [00:18:14]

The essence of God's being is His attributes, and His attributes are His essence. It isn't that God has goodness; God is goodness. It isn't that God has holiness; it is that God is holiness, that the holiness that He has is the holiness that He is. And that the goodness He has by which He is good is actually the goodness that He is. That the attributes of God are not, as it were, attached to His being. This is what He is through and through. [00:19:47]

Why then do we ask, is it, that when we encounter God in His Word it emphasizes His holiness now, His love now, His goodness now, His patience now, His righteousness now, His faithfulness now, His lovingkindness now for this very simple reason, that it is not possible for a human being to bear upon his or her soul the full blast of the revelation of God as He is in the intense strength of all of those attributes that at the end of the day turn out simply to be this attribute that this is how God is. [00:22:35]

And so it is that even when our Lord Jesus Christ comes and the Apostle John, who was with him on the Mount of Transfiguration is able to say, as he does in John 1:18, that "the only Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has exegeted God to us. We beheld His glory." What he means is not that he gazed upon the bright perfect light of the perfection of the glory of God that we can only begin to describe in several different attributes. What he means is that God accommodated Himself to the ultimate manner in which we could begin to grasp who He really is. [00:27:58]

And in that glorious unity of being in that perichoresis, in that circum in cessio, that indwelling, that mutual indwelling; "I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. We will send the Holy Spirit to you, who proceeds from the Father." Within this glorious uncompounded unity of God, there is that which Jesus expresses to the disciples at the end of Matthew's Gospel by saying to them, "Now at last the time has come, when you may learn to pronounce the ineffable and unpronounced name of Yahweh." [00:38:34]

So we understand that the simple God is all of His attributes that the simple God is three-in-one and one-in-three and we understand that the simplicity of God does make a difference to the Christian believer. For one thing, to me at least, it enhances my appreciation of the wonder of my Lord Jesus Christ. As I think of my dear Lord Jesus within hours of His crucifixion, entering into the moments of His passion, surrounded by His troubled disciples, His own soul profoundly disturbed, overcome even to the point of death, what does our dear Lord Jesus find His resting place in? [00:41:33]

And so, He begins to speak to them about mysteries they never heard Him discuss before; how the Father is in the Son and the Father and the Son are one, and how the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and is going to be sent by the Son, and how the Father loves the Son, and how the Son loves the Father, and how the Spirit appears, as Augustine said, almost to be the bond of love between the Father and the Son experiencing everything in which both Father and Son share in the glory of the ineffable Trinity. [00:42:52]

And then you remember, He goes out into the garden of Gethsemane and rising from His agony, which John does not describe, the soldiers come for Him and ask the question, and Jesus responds very significantly in John's Gospel by using the ineffable divine name—I AM, ego eimi, I AM. And that's why even unbelieving pagans fall back before just a glimpse, a verbal glimpse of the inner glory of our ineffable Savior and God, Jesus Christ. [00:43:56]

And so, as we've thought today about the omniscience of God, as we've thought today about the holiness of God, we have thought today in this wonderful way about the aseity of God and thought today about the beauty of God, at the end of the day we've just been thinking about God who says to us, "Because I change not, you are not consumed," and Moses covered his face. [00:49:21]

Our Heavenly Father, our words, our minds are too many and too complex to begin to express the glory that lies in your eternal simplicity. We confess that we have often spoken where we did not understand. We have gone with light spirit and not known that You have been present. We have sung and not penetrated through the curtain behind which You reside in eternity, in majesty and glory. But as we come to the end of this day of our minds full, our hearts expanded, our lives blessed by the fellowship of Your people, our deepest desire is to prostrate ourselves before You, who has made Yourself known to us in the human face of our dear Lord Jesus Christ and to thank you with all our hearts that You who are so beyond our understanding should come for our salvation and help us to know You. [00:50:50]

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Transcript
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