THE SELF-EXISTENCE OF GOD

EXODUS 3:13–22

“I am who i am”

(Exodus 3:14).

This name of God calls attention to one of the most important attributes of God. Here God reveals the thing about Himself that makes Him God. That attribute is defined by a word that is found more often in theological textbooks than in Sunday school literature. It’s a technical theological word, but I want everyone to learn it. The word I refer to is aseity. I love this word and what it represents. Every time I see it, it sends chills up my spine.

Independent God, dependent man

A simpler term for aseity is self-existence. To help us understand what it means to have aseity, let’s consider a common life situation. Suppose your child asks, “Who made me?” You answer confidently, “God made you.” Next question, “Who made the world?” You answer, “God.” Then comes the question, “Who made God?” Now what do you say? Did God make Himself? No, God always was.

God is eternally self-existent. Something or someone that is self-existent has no beginning, no starting point in time. It has existed eternally by its own power.

That concept is totally foreign to us because we don’t exist by our own power. We are dependent, mortal, and finite. We have a beginning, and we also have an end to our lives as we presently know them. In addition, we need support systems outside of ourselves in order to keep on living, and each day that passes is a day that brings us closer to our deaths.

But God has the power of existence in Himself. He doesn’t need water, air, food, or human fellowship. He cannot die or stop being.

The God who sustains us

God alone has the power to sustain human beings. It is God who says to Moses, “I am who I am,” and it is the same God who says to you, “I will raise you from the dead.” And though a man die, he will continue to live because God has the keys to life and to death, to heaven and to hell. He is the One who keeps and sustains us, because He is self-existent and eternal.

CORAM DEO

God enjoys life in Himself, but we are totally dependent upon Him to sustain us in every way. Where do you find you are most dependent upon Him? Where have you been overly independent? What can you do today to demonstrate your need of Him?

WEEKEND