God is the benevolent, self-existent, omnipotent, omniscient, timeless, immutable creator of the universe. God, in Exodus 3, introduces Himself as the “I Am”. This is God saying that He is self-existent. Embedded in these words are the idea that God is and always was Himself, eternally. For in the Godhead, there is no change. Thus, even Jesus is able to claim to be the “I Am” (Joh 8:58). Jesus is making the claim (a claim very scandalous to his listeners) that he is/was/will be eternally existent and co-equal with God in the trinity. This is why his listeners then attempt to stone him.
We see that God is good through His redemptive plan for His elect. The Bible describes God’s elect as “adopted”, “holy”, “blameless”. All of this is “in love”. The elect are said to be objects for God’s glory, conformed to the image of Christ. The Bible is explicit:
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
Eph 1:5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Eph 1:6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
God chose the elect through His sovereign will. That is the beautiful thing: before we were born, before we lived, before we did right or wrong, God chose us in Him (Rom 9:11). Our names were written in God’s eternal book (Rev 13:8) from time eternal. This is God’s love, that God chose us while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8).
Our names were written from eternity, just as God is eternal. God is the creator of time and all that exists. God says He is the “Alpha and Omega” (Rev 22:13), simultaneously inhabiting both the beginning and the end, directing the world with His sovereign hand.
God is immutable (Mal 3:6). God’s decrees never change (Isaiah 40:8). They never fade away. We never have to worry that God will be fickle or unpredictable. We can have unwavering trust in God.
Because God is timeless, He sees and knows all that can be known. God’s understanding is infinite (Psalm 147:5). The Psalmist takes comfort in the fact that God will never be surprised, will never be taken off guard, that God’s words will come true. God alone is omniscient (1Jn 3:20).
Lastly, all power belongs to God for God created all things. God is omnipotent. God directs the nations to do His will. God directs individuals to do His will. God directs the plans of the Assyrians to punish Israel (Isa 7:17). God hardens Pharaoh to destroy him (Exo 7:3). For who has resisted the will of God (Rom 9:19)?
This is the Biblical picture of God. God truly is infinite, beyond anything human minds can fathom. God is the benevolent, self-existent, omnipotent, omniscient, timeless, immutable creator of the universe.
reality is not optional 