God Known through Actions

Many people think that to learn about God we should study his attributes such as his omnipotence, omniscience, transcendence, immutability, etc. While there is value to this approach it really misses the main way we should seek to know God.

You see the Christian God is a personal God. He wishes to enter into relationships with mankind. In the bible a massive amount of interaction between God and man is revealed. Jesus fully God and fully man walked among us and interacted with us.

You see if we study the attributes of God we do learn something about God. But if we want to really understand God it is more helpful to look at the interactions between God and man than to study his attributes.

Studying the attributes of God is rather like looking at a resume on a piece of paper. You get a lot of facts about the person but don't see much of the nature revealed. You see we see far more of the nature of God in his interactions with mankind than we see by studying his attributes.

Seeing the recorded history of God interacting with mankind is much more like meeting God than studying God's attributes. The attributes of God of course are of great importance, but to really know God we must never think the attributes of God are in any way sufficient. It is more important to see God as he interacts in history.

Johnathan Edwards Quote

"It is most evident by the Works of God, that his understanding and power are infinite. ... Being thus infinite in understanding and power, he must also be perfectly holy; for unholiness always argues some defect, some blindness. Where there is no darkness or delusion, there can be no unholiness. ... God being infinite in power and knowledge, he must be self-sufficient and all-sufficient; therefore it is impossible that he should be under any temptation to do any thing amiss; for he can have no end in doing it. ... So God is essentially holy, and nothing is more impossible than that God should do amiss."

A bit by Johnathan Edwards from John Piper's book
A GOD-ENTRANCED VISION OF ALL THINGS