The Attributes of God - Recommended Reading

A.W. Tozer wrote that “what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us” (Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy). 

I believe that is true. I am convinced that our affections are driven by our understanding of who God is. That’s so important because we attend to those things that we love… we pay more attention to them than anything else… whether that’s family, or food, or our career, or money, or our children, or our favorite sports team, or our various ministries, or whatever your favorite obsession might be.

As we come to know Him better, we will grow in our affection for Him. And, as we do that, we will grow in our devotion to the disciplines of grace… these are a package deal… we will find our prayer lives blossoming… we’ll find ourselves eager to be in God’s Word… we’ll find extraordinary joy in frequent fellowship with other believers… and our worship will come to be rich and sweet. Over all, God’s glory will become our preeminent goal.

In the introduction to Part 1 of our new sermon series, Pastor Phil said that if we think small thoughts of God, our problems will look big. I think that’s a universal principle - our problems, trials, suffering, and daily headaches will look bigger as our God shrinks in our estimation.

But, we have a sovereign God, don’t we?!

God never changes, but our estimation of Him - our affection for Him - can grow or shrink. If we have a BIG GOD in our thoughts and affections, whatever problems we face in 2022 will look smaller in comparison. And, we’ll be able to rest easy, knowing that our God is truly in control of all things.

Jerry Bridges wrote that there is a sense in which we are growing in [godliness] every day. The question is, in which direction are we growing? Are we growing toward godly character or ungodly character? (“The Practice of Godliness”). I don't know about you, but I find that to be incredibly convicting; everything we do, think, and see drives us toward one end or the other... godliness or ungodliness. It is my prayer that you will strive to grow in godliness this year through the habits of grace and a better understandign of who God is. What better to do that than to study His attributes?  

Tozer again - we’re weak when our view of God is weak, but if we see God as high and lifted up, that will lift us up. What we think about God is the most important thing about us.

To that end, we are studying God’s attributes over the next several months… we’re studying about who God is. If you’re interested in obtaining some extra resources to help you in this study, below is a list of our staff recommendations. While they may be cheaper on a mass-market outlet, wherever possible we have chosen to link these to a Christian distributor.

On the Book Table

We have purchased a couple of resources for you. We would appreciate a donation to help us cover the cost of these books, which are in the foyer on our book table.

The Attributes of God, by AW Pink.

The Attributes of God has become a Christian classic in our time. Unlike other more devotional treatments, Pink considers the Biblical evidence for each of God’s attributes and gives in-depth insight into His character and very nature. The reader leaves each chapter both exalting God and better understanding “him with whom we have to do.”

This is a brief 84-page summary of his larger work.

Suggested donation: $2.50

None Else, by Joel Beeke & Brian Cosby

This book delivers a month's worth of meditations on God's character and attributes so that you will grow in both knowledge of and love for the Rock of your salvation by the Spirit’s grace. 

None Else specifically reflects on God's manifold perfections as a means through which He graciously transforms our minds, changes our hearts, and molds us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Suggested donation: $5.00

Suggested Further Reading

God Is, by Mark Jones

God has revealed many things about himself in his Word. But God’s manifold attributes shine most clearly in his Son, Jesus Christ, who came to reveal his Father. Through Christ’s saving work on the cross, we are able to know and worship God rightly.

This book aims to help us study and understand the attributes of God so that we delight in and love him with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. Each chapter explains one attribute, shows how it is most clearly manifested in Christ, and provides practical application for the Christian life.

This book can be purchased here for $14.00.

None Like Him, by Jen Wilkin

God is self-existent, self-sufficient, eternal, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign, infinite, and incomprehensible.

We're not.

And that's a good thing.

Our limitations are by design. We were never meant to be God. But at the root of every sin is our rebellious desire to possess attributes that belong to God alone. Calling us to embrace our limits as a means of glorifying God's limitless power, Jen Wilkin invites us to celebrate the freedom that comes when we rest in letting God be God.

This book can be purchased here for $8.00.

The Attributes of God, by A.W. Pink

The timeless appeal of this classic book, written by a preacher with a worldwide ministry during the first half of the twentieth century, demonstrates the deep hunger for a saving knowledge of God present in each generation. Arthur Pink sought to give readers not just a theoretical knowledge of God but pointed them toward a personal relationship of yielding to him and living according to his biblical precepts.

Pink's book explores attributes such as God's decrees, foreknowledge, sovereignty, holiness, grace, and mercy, among many others, all packaged in a style especially useful for pastors, teachers, and Bible students. Our God who is above all names cannot be found through human searching alone, Pink teaches, but can be known only as he is revealed by the Holy Spirit through his living Word.

This book can be purchased here for $10.46

The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer

The Knowledge of the Holy by beloved evangelical author and Christian mystic A.W. Tozer illuminates God’s attributes—from wisdom, to grace, to mercy—and in doing so, attempts to restore the majesty and wonder of God in the hearts and minds of all Christians. Informative as well as inspirational, The Knowledge of the Holy returns the towering Christian concept of God to the center of the religious mind, fostering a renewed appreciation of the magnitude of God’s glory.  

A modern classic of Christian testimony and devotion, The Knowledge of the Holy shows us how we can rejuvenate our prayer life, meditate more reverently, understand God more deeply, and experience God’s presence in our daily lives.

This book can be purchased here for $11.99

None Greater: the Undomesticated Attributes of God, by Matthew Barrett

For too long, Christians have domesticated God, bringing him down to our level as if he is a God who can be tamed. But he is a God who is high and lifted up, the Creator rather than the creature, someone than whom none greater can be conceived. If God is the most perfect, supreme being, infinite and incomprehensible, then certain perfect-making attributes must be true of him. Perfections like aseity, simplicity, immutability, impassibility, and eternity shield God from being crippled by creaturely limitations. At the same time, this all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-wise God accommodates himself, exhibiting perfect holiness, mercy, and love as he makes known who he is and how he will save us. 

The attributes of God show us exactly why God is worthy of worship: there is none like him. Join Matthew Barrett as he rediscovers these divine perfections and finds himself surprised by the God he thought he knew.

This book can be purchased here for $11.50

I AM, by Brian Russell

To have a clearer vision of God should be the Christian’s supreme calling, because when we know Him we reflect Him. To love and serve the Creator in righteousness, men and women need something more than an awareness of His existence through general revelation. 

We also need to know who and what He is, where He can be found, and how He may be approached; He reveals this in His Word. Brian A. Russell here guides us through what the Bible says about the attributes of God.

This book can be purchased here for $10.99