Fix Your Eyes: A 5-Day Plan on Knowing God Rightlyಮಾದರಿ

DAY 3

Aseity

God relies on no one and nothing. He alone is self-sufficient and self-existent. He does not derive life from any source outside of himself; he does not need to, for he “has life in himself.”

I have always considered myself an independent person. But in theological terms, that self-conception is laughable. I require food to sustain my life, sleep to maintain my body, and oxygen to fill my lungs. A very brief survey finds me dependent on a plethora of things simply to survive (not to mention to thrive).

But God is wholly other. God needs nothing apart from himself. God is the only truly independent; the only one who is, in his essence, autonomous. He was not created by any other source, power, or person. He has existed for all time, on his own, without the support or supply of another. He is transcendent, existing by his power, dependent on nothing but himself. This is why the Bible opens with such an assumptive first line: “In the beginning, God ...” There was no cause to the One who caused the first activity of the universe; there was no creator for the One who created the world. He always has been, and he always will be completely, eternally, and perfectly self-sufficient and self-existent.

Immutable and Impassible

God does not change. Who he is in his nature, character, and essence is eternally the same.

God does not grow and evolve as we speak of people doing. Though we may look at our friends and family members, reminiscing about ways they used to be, hairstyles they used to have, or opinions they used to hold passionately (thank the good Lord I no longer wear pajama pants in public), the same kind of conversation cannot be applied to God. He does not change. From eternity past, he has remained the same. This is God’s immutability.

God’s impassibility works in tandem with it. While his immutability speaks to the big-picture conversation about God’s unchangeability (his nature, essence, being, character, etc.), God’s impassibility sets him apart from humans when it comes to our proclivity to change in response to our daily experiences. God is not given over to passions (hence his impassible nature). Unlike us, his emotions don’t ride a roller coaster, and he isn’t given over to temper tantrums. He is eternally the same.