Divine Aseity

About this sermon

The first attribute of God we find in the Bible is his self-existence. We encounter God the Creator. That is obvious. But we also find him in his aseity. The word aseity comes from Latin. The first letter “-a” means “of” and “se” means “himself.” Divine aseity means that God exists in and by himself. He is prior to all things, and everything that exists depends on him. He exists with absolute independence from everything and everyone. Consider the first verse of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” These words are more than an introduction to Genesis, or the Pentateuch, or even an introduction to the entire Bible. These words introduce the entire history of the universe. They provide a complete way of seeing, understanding, and inhabiting our world. They tell us the origin of all things and the purpose for which God created all things. In the beginning, there was God. In fact, even before there was a beginning, God already existed. Genesis is about the beginning of everything, except God. He always has been, always is, and always will be. God is God. And there is nothing and no one else to compare to Him. God is not lonely, bored, or scared. He doesn't need anything from anyone. He is the great I AM. In other words, the Bible begins with the God who never began. The first sentence of the Bible is important, not only for what it says, but for what it doesn't say. There is no preface before the first verse, no background material before the action of Genesis begins. There is nothing about a struggle between gods and goddesses. Such stories were common in the mythology of the ancient Near East. There is nothing in Genesis 1 about God needing anything or anyone. There is nothing about pre-existing matter that God molds and shapes. The story you and I inhabit is a story that has God as its author, its subject, and its center. God doesn't enter the story, because He is the story. The independence and self-existence of God are affirmed throughout the Bible. Jesus says that the Father has life in himself and has also granted the Son to have life in himself (John 5). Likewise, Moses prays: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born, before you formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 91). Paul reminds us that we live, move, and have our being in God (Acts 17), and not the other way around. In a world that constantly tells us to “express ourselves,” “find ourselves,” and sometimes even to “recreate ourselves,” we must remember that only God has life in himself, only God exists by himself, and only God owes his being to no one and nothing. Only God possesses aseity.