IS GOD REALLY NECESSARY? - THE ASEITY OF GOD


Necessarily God

“He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.” Acts 17:25­

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” Rom. 11:36

“In the beginning God …” That kind of sums it all up. The first statement in all of scripture does not reason for the existence of God. It does not explain who He is or what He has done. It doesn't need to because that statement is the source of all epistemology, the beginning of all reason and logic. It simply states that which is – God is. All that is is because He is. He is alive, real, true, and living. 

There is ancient, mind boggling philosophical concept called the Aseity of God. The term Aseity comes from Latin aseite, meaning, "of oneself". It gives the idea of self-existence and self-sufficiency. In terms of God, it means that He is The Necessary Being.

Everything that is, revolves around Him. He must necessarily exist for anything to exist. In other words, it is necessary for God to exist for there to be anything at all. He is the uncaused cause. 

Rev. 4:11­ “ . . . by Your will they were created and have their being.”

The sun rose today because He exists.  I am alive today because He is alive. I exist because He exists. The earth is spinning because He started it and maintains it. All sense of being requires His being.

He created everything, He sustains everything. Everything happens because He exists. If He fails to exist than everything else that exists would be no longer. God cannot not exist. He must be.

“And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,’ and He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.’”  Exodus 3:14.   

 For God to be called, “I Am” means to be a self-existent one. God is self-existent. That means He doesn’t need anything or anyone. He can make it on His own. He doesn’t need me for anything. He doesn’t need me period. The beauty of it all is that He wants me. He wants to use me.


 Because He is self-existent He is not affected (in a transforming sense) by anything nor anyone. Because He is above all things and persons He cannot be changed from who He is. Nothing external of Him can cause anything to happen to Him. What a blessed comfort. He is who He is. In all His attributes He remains who He is. God simply is. 
Our Response to the Aseity of God

First, we are to have a sense of complete awe -  “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond what we can ask of imagine.”  Eph. 3:20.  The God you worship is real. He is not make-believe. He is not a figment of your imagination nor anyone else’s. You are rather a product of His imagination - His creation. The height of His creation. 

Secondly, we exhibit a sense of utter dependence - Because God is a Necessary Being then it is necessary that I look to Him, pray to Him, listen to Him, consider Him, and include Him in everything I do with every part of my day. My end conclusion must become, “God, You are necessary for my existence.  I need You this day.” I am ultimately dependent upon Him in everyway. 


Next, we cannot help but have a sense of deepest humility. He is everything. We are nothing apart from Him. 

Lastly, we have a sense of ultimate gratitude. Praise God that we can be His and that He desires us to be with Him forever. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More of what the Lord reveals of His aseity:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3­

 “This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.”  Isaiah 44:6 


 “’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” Revelations 1:8

“. . .it was fitting that God, for Whom and through Whom everything exists.” Hebrews 2:10­

"When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." 1 Corinthians 15:28
 “… by your will they were created and have their being.”  Revelations 4:11­

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” Romans 11:36­ 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'M A HATER

Image
I'll just come right out and admit it – I'm a full-fledged hater.  Although no one has ever called me that to my face - or even over social media – I'm sure quite a few have thought it of me.   I can’t get around the fact. I'm a hater.  It is who I am, to the core of my being. And believe it or not, as a follower of Christ, I really have no problem being known as a hater. In fact, I consider it an honor. My highest honor actually. Stick with me here! To the end. It may blow our mind and cause us all to rethink our current mantra of the day. Scripture tends to do that.  Why do I hate? I hate because God hates. "What?! But isn't God a God of love?" Certainly! In fact, God is love defined (1 John 4:8), but as Love, here’s what He tells us about Himself. " … because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them." Leviticus 20:23 "Arrogant people cannot stand in...
Read more

Seven Lame Excuses Christians Use When Confronted For Their Bad Behavior:

Image
“Who are you to judge me? Let God judge me.” This is generally taken from Matt. 7:1. But read the rest of the verse - Matt. 7:2-5. Also read 1 Cor. 5:12-13; James 2:12-13; John 7:24; Matt. 18:15-17; James 5:20; Gal. 6:1. Continually throughout the NT, God commands His people to correct, rebuke, exhort and encourage. Note as well that the one who claims that they are being judged is also judging the person doing the confronting. Kinda kills the whole argument. The judging Jesus hated was both hypocritical and based upon perceived character and intent rather than an action witnessed. Only God knows the intent and the character. We however are supposed to judge one another based upon the fruit and the action of the believer. Imagine a world where no one pointed out the wrongs of life. If we truly love someone then how can we not warn them? God uses others within the Body to warn us of His judgment. It is to be done in humility and out of love - for the person and for God's holiness...
Read more

The Lost Emotion of Anguish

Image
If you have found yourself lately with a pit in your stomach, feeling grief and sorrow in your heart over events happening in the world around you - you have your heart in the right place. It’s the heart that God has given you. The consequences of sin is devastating. It not only hurts the one doing it but also the ones around them, even if not directly. It also harms society in general. No one is an island to themselves. The wages of sin is indeed death. Not merely physical death but having repercussions that affect all. Just ask Adam.  It seems in our society, and even in the church, the knee jerk reaction when evil happens is to look for the silver lining in the cloud of despair. It’s certainly easier that way. And far less troubling. Dwelling upon a wrong that happened or is happening is too consuming. When we see that bad things are occurring around us we often drift towards finding a distraction. Caring is far too painful, especially when we think we can do no...
Read more