Theology I: Attributes of God (part 1)
Understanding God’s Attributes | Transcendence, Immanence, and the Glory of God
In this theology lecture, Cedarville University students begin a focused study on the attributes of God, asking one of the most important questions in Christian theology: What is God like? Building on earlier discussions of the Trinity, this session explores God’s transcendence and immanence and introduces the incommunicable attributes that make God utterly unique as the greatest being in the universe.
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0:28 Review of God as triune
0:36 Transcendence and immanence defined
2:27 God’s uniqueness among world religions
4:17 Why our view of God matters
7:28 A. W. Tozer on the knowledge of God
9:27 We become like what we worship
9:56 Psalm 115 and the danger of idolatry
12:33 Transformation through beholding Christ
14:00 Defining God’s attributes
16:10 Incommunicable and communicable attributes
18:27 God’s unique glory
19:42 Worship and the glory of God
23:21 God’s eternality
26:51 God’s infinity and omnipresence
28:24 Psalm 139 and God’s presence
30:36 God’s omniscience
32:06 God’s omnipotence
33:30 Trusting God in suffering and providence
The lecture opens by revisiting the doctrines of God’s transcendence and immanence. God is transcendent, exalted above creation, wholly distinct from His creatures, and infinitely majestic. At the same time, God is immanent, choosing to relate personally to humanity through covenant. This combination sets the God of the Bible apart from every false religion, whether gods that are too human or gods that are distant and unknowable.
Students are then challenged to consider why their view of God matters. Drawing from A. W. Tozer and Scripture, the lecture explains that what we think about God shapes our worship, our obedience, and ultimately our lives. Psalm 115 and 2 Corinthians 3 highlight a sobering truth: we become like what we worship. Idols deaden the soul, while beholding the glory of God transforms believers into Christ’s likeness.
The session introduces the concept of God’s attributes as the defining perfections that make God who He is. These attributes are divided into incommunicable attributes, which belong to God alone, and communicable attributes, which God reflects in limited ways through His people. The lecture focuses especially on God’s incommunicable attributes, including His glory, eternality, infinity, omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence.
Passages like Psalm 90 and Psalm 139 are used to show that God has no beginning or end, is present to every point in space, knows all things past, present, and future, and accomplishes all His purposes without frustration or limitation. These truths are not abstract theology but a source of comfort and confidence for believers, even in suffering and uncertainty.
The lecture concludes by calling students to humility, trust, and worship. God’s attributes remind us that He is worthy of glory, utterly dependable, and actively at work in every moment of our lives.
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