YAHWEH – the Sovereign source of truth & love

YAHWEH — the Sovereign Source of Truth and Love 

What does it mean to believe and declare that God is Sovereign?  What is said by a believer when he or she acknowledges that they believe God is Sovereign?

First, to Biblically acknowledge and, in true faith, believe God is “Sovereign” is to embrace “the reality of His absolute rule and authority over all things!” (From “Biblical Doctrine, A Systematic Study of Bible Truth,”, MacArthur, Mayhue, Crossway Publishing).

Titus 1:1-3; Genesis 1-2; Numbers 23:19; Exodus 15:18; Isaiah 44:6(6-8; Job 12:13-25); 55:8,9- 11; 40:5-8; 41:8-10,1314; 42:5-9; 43:1-7; 45:5-7; 66:1-2; 46:8-10; Jeremiah 10:10-13

Secondly, to Biblically acknowledge and in true faith embrace the reality of God’s “Sovereign will” is to acknowledge the fact that “God’s choices and decisions are in no way constrained by factors outside Himself.  It is to also acknowledge God’s right to choose without being answerable to anyone or anything outside Himself.”  (From “Biblical Doctrine, A Systematic Study of Bible Truth,”, MacArthur, Mayhue, Crossway Publishing).

Titus 1:2(1-3); Exodus 15:18; Psalm 50:21; 135:6; 139:16; Isaiah 55:8; 49:6; Acts 17:26; Romans 9:17-18; Revelation 20:15.

This brief Biblical testimony of our God’s Sovereignty and Sovereign, providential will is the basis for the remainder of this article.  First, consider the eternal significance of His being, as stated in the title, the Sovereign Source of Truth and Love.  As the Sovereign SOURCE of TRUTH and LOVE, the glorious immutable fact is, that He is equally, inherently the Sovereign, uncreated, always existent, Trinitarian SOURCE of all creation — all things throughout His infinite universe, all created beings, every personal life experience and event of human life on the entire stage of human history from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, He is the source of.

Titus 1:1-2; Ephesians 1:3-6; Genesis 1-2; Job 37:2-13; 38-41; Romans 11:33-36; Psalm 50:10-12(all); Hebrews 11:3.

Isaiah 38:4-8 reveals it all = created beings (Hezekiah), things (disease, the sun/shadows), and events (the shadow going back 10 steps, instantaneously); Proverbs 21:1-2; 16:1,4,9,33.  We’ll see Isaiah 38 again in this study.

Now, to consider something of the infinite, humanly incomprehensible, Sovereign comprehensiveness of our God as the SOURCE of all creation we’ll look at some selected examples of His Sovereign TRUTH that reveal some of what He is the glorious SOURCE of.  

Because our precious Holy Lord is the always existent, uncreated Sovereign God of all created things, it inherently follows that every aspect of who He is and every characteristic of His Holy nature and character is in like manner, both uncreated and always existent — Truth is of the nature and person and mind and will of God, the Truth, by the very fact of its existence as it rules over all things and beings created by God is uncreated and has always existed — before anything was, Truth was and is and always will be throughout all eternity — Isaiah 44:6; 46:8- 10; 55:6-7,8,9-13; 65:16; 66:1-2; Psalm 19:7-11; Proverbs 30:5-6; John 17:17; Revelation 21- 22.

However, before considering these examples, it behooves us to give some thought to the meaning of the word “source”, both secularly and Biblically.  

First, the secular definitions:

Merriam-Websters 2022 edition gives, as a noun, entries for the meaning of source as follows:

  1.  a:  a generative force:  CAUSE;  b:  (1) a point of origin or procurement:  BEGINNING; (2) one that initiates:  AUTHOR; (3) one that supplies information 
  2.  a:  the point of origin of a stream of water:  FOUNTAINHEAD;  b:  archaic:  SPRING, FOUNT
  3.  a:  a firsthand document or primary reference work
  4. an electrode in a field-effect transistor that supplies the charge carriers for current flow 

Synonyms:   Origin, root, well spring

Webster 1828 Dictionary offers 3 definitive statements of the meaning of “source”:

  1. Properly, the spring of fountain from which a stream of water proceeds, or any collection of water within the earth or upon its surface, in which a stream originates.  This is called also the head of the stream.  We call the water of a spring where it issues from the earth the source of the steam or rivulet proceeding from it.  We also say that springs have their sources in subterranean poons, lakes, or collections of water.  We say also that a large river has its source in a lake.  For example, the St. Lawrence has its source in the Great Lakes of America.    
  1. First cause:  original;  that which give rise to anything.  Thus ambition, the love of power and of fame, have even been the sources of half the calamities of nations.  Intemperance is the source of innumerable evils to individuals.
  1. The first producer; he or that which originates; in Greece the source of arts.

Secondly the Biblical definitions:

The word “source” appears only four times in the NASB translation; only two in the ESV; none in the KJV; and six in the NIV.

Consider the four references in the NASB:  Job 28:6, Matthew 21:25, Hebrews 5:9, and James 4:1:

Job 28:6:  6 “Its rocks are the source of sapphires, And its dust contains gold.”  *** “source” – a common noun indicating a place; a spot, space, or stand; primary meaning = a place 

Matthew 21:25:  25 “The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’   *** “source” – a place; of origin or source; from what author or giver; of cause; how is that?  how can that be?

Hebrews 5:9:  9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,  *** “source” – reason, relationship; responsible for; to cause; source

James 4:1:   1  What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?  *** “source” – adv: 1) from where; what sense; where; how many, much; cause; how 2) denoting from a place; of the cause or source 

The obvious primary meaning and use of the word “source” in Scripture is associated with various aspects of earthly circumstances and living.

This being the case we’ll consider some other Biblical words or terms that give us greater insight into the meaning of “source” in reference to the Sovereign person and power of God.  I’ve chosen three passages to consider:  Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Revelation 11:17.

Genesis 1:1:  1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  The name translated  “God” in this verse is the proper name of God, Elohim.  It should be understood in the context of God’s Sovereign, uncreated existence – namely “I Am who I Am” – the One who was, who is, and who always will be.

Exodus 3:14:  14 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.’ ”

Revelation 11:15-17:  15 Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,  “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”  16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.

The name Elohim occurs over 2,600 times in the Old Testament.  In the plural it may be regarded as intensive to indicate God’s fullness of power; as majestic to indicate His Kingly rule; as an allusion to His Trinitarian glory (Genesis 1:26).   All of these passages emphasize the uncreated, always existent, self existent, eternality of God.

Of these passages we have considered, the ultimate Biblical manifestation of the reality of our Father being the Sovereign SOURCE of TRUTH and LOVE is that all of this was motivated by His supernatural, always existent perfectly rational love for His Holy Son, our precious Savior and His promise to provide Him a Holy Bride (Titus 1:1-3; Ephesians 1:3-6).  

Perhaps the most comprehensive revelation of our God, as the Sovereign SOURCE of all love and truth is found in Revelation 4:8:

Revelation 4:8:  8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.’

As a point of departure consider the following.  The very name “God”, inherently elicits in the human heart and mind thoughts of a Being who inherently is the singular possessor of Sovereignty.  It elicits thoughts of guilt, fear, punishment, death, judgement, all of which are inherent in being alienated from Him by ones sin (Romans 3:23; 1:18-19; 8:7).  As such God is, as the SOURCE of TRUTH and LOVE, in like manner, the Sovereign SOURCE of Authority, of Immutability, of Transcendence, Holiness, Purity, Sinlessness, Superintending Providential Power and Control, and final Eternal Judgement.

Now, having attempted to Biblically establish the fact of our God being the infinite SOURCE of TRUTH and LOVE, consider with me something of the comprehensiveness of that fact as it relates to His Sovereignty over all His creation.  The remainder of this article will be focused on considering a number of examples of what our God, in the fullness of His Sovereign Holiness (Isaiah 44:6; Psalm 135:6), is indeed the glorious source of.

As the SOURCE of TRUTH and LOVE, the following are a few examples of the infinite number of creative works of God:  

  1. His Holy Word, without which, His Holy plan of redeeming grace and love would have never been known – Genesis 1:1; Psalm 19:7-11; II Timothy 3:14-17; II Peter 1:19-21; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19
  1. The present universe as we know it – Genesis 1-2; Job 37:2-13; 38-41; Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 11:33-36; Hebrews 11:1,6,3.                                       The following historical fact serves to uplift and exalt the glory and magnitude of our God as Creator of His universe:  In the late nineteenth century the decorated scientist, Herbert Spencer (died 1903) made the following “categorical” discovery and was honored the world over for his discovery — “All that exists; all that is reality can be contained in five categories.  Nothing exists outside these five categories.”  Spencer listed in the following “logical” order the five categories he had “discovered” – “Time, Force, Action, Space, Matter”.   Why have I included this record of Spencer’s “discovery”?   How does this fact of human history serve to magnify the glory of our God?  Genesis 1:1 clearly reveals “how” Spencer’s nineteenth century “discovery” glorifies our Sovereign God, the SOURCE of all TRUTH and LOVE and it likewise reveals “why” I’ve included Spencer’s “discovery”.   Genesis 1:1 proclaims that “In the beginning (Time) God (Force) created (Action) the heavens (Space) and the earth (Matter).  Herbert Spencer, thousands of years later, in God’s providential order for his life as a scientist, “discovered” what God gloriously revealed about His Sovereign Creator power in the very first verse of His inspired Holy Word.  To state it another way, God declared of Himself, in Genesis 1:1, what man was incapable of “categorizing” until the nineteenth century.  Dear believer, never cease to be unceasingly filled with wonder and joyful worship of our Holy Father as the Sovereign, uncreated Source of all TRUTH and LOVE.
  1. Time (future, present, and past) – Genesis 1:1; Psalm 139:16; Acts 17:26; II Peter 3:3-13; Revelation 20:15
  1. Human life (for the express purpose of providing His Holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, a Holy Bride) – Genesis 1:26; Psalm 139:16; Acts 17:26 (all Sovereignly predestined, foreordained, providentially exercised in His Holy heavenly “counsel room” before time began – Titus 1:1- 3; Ephesians 1:3-6; Romans 9:22-24
  1. The love of Christ for His bride – John 10:9-10,27-29; 19:16; Acts 1:11; Colossians 2:9-10; 1:22-23; Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:14
  1. Regeneration – Ezekiel 36:25-27 (Ezekiel 11:19-20); John 3:1-8; 6:44,65; 14:6; Romans 2: 14+; Acts 2:1-4; I Corinthians 3:16-17; 2:15-16; I John 2:20,27
  1. Repentance – John 3:1-8; Mark 1:15 (Job 42:6; Ezekiel 14:6); Acts 2:37-38
  1. Salvation – John 3:1-8; 6:44,65; 14:6 (1-6),15,21,23; Acts 4:12
  1. Sanctification – John 14:1,21,23; II Corinthians 5:17; 4:7-11; Romans 6:12-14; Matthew 6:33-34; II Peter 1:3-4,5-7, 8-11
  1. Glorification – I Corinthians 15:50-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 21-22
  1. Marriage – Genesis 1:26-28,31; 2:20-25; Ephesians 5:19-33; Colossians 3:18-21
  1. Family – Genesis 3:20; 4:1-3; Deuteronomy 11:18-21; Ephesians 6:1-4
  1. Meaningful human relations – Matthew 22:39; Leviticus 19:10,33; 24:22; 25:35; Romans 12:10-13; Hebrews 13:2
  1. Work – Genesis 1:27-28; II Thessalonians 3:10; Colossians 3:17,23; I Corinthians 10:31
  1. Beauty – Genesis 1-2; Psalm 19:1-6; Job 37-41; I Timothy 4:4-5; 6:17; Romans 11:33-36

As one specific manifestation of the incomprehensible power and infinite wellspring of God’s Creative mind as the SOURCE of all life/all creation, consider the wonder of the birds and what took place in Genesis 1:20-21.  Notice the testimony of Scripture related to the Sovereign, supernatural infinitely creative, controlling power of God revealed by the word “said”.  The point?  God, as revealed in Genesis 1:1-25, created every element of His universe, the natural world, by the power of His will by “fiat ex nihelo”(“fiat” – conceived by the power of His will; “ex nihelo” – He spoke and it came into being), meaning God spoke and out of nothing, what He had conceived came instantly into existence, fully mature and functional, according to His perfect predestined, foreordained Holy plan.  That being said, consider the birds.

Genesis 1:20-21:  20 Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” 21 God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 

Ornithologists tell us that there are approximately 11,145 present known species of birds on the earth that comprise a total number of 50 to 400,000,000,000 birds.  Birds are warm blooded vertebrates with feathers, hollow bones, and beaks instead of teeth.  Wings give birds the ability to fly.  Some can also swim on top and underneath the water.  A birds digestive and respiratory systems are uniquely made for flight.  Birds live and breed on all seven continents, their southern extreme being the snow petrel that has breeding colonies as much as 270 miles inland in Antarctica.  Many species migrate annually over great distances and across oceans.  Some seabirds come ashore only to breed, while some penguins are known to dive up to 900 feet deep in the ocean.

Consider the body of a bird, remembering that God conceived it and spoke it instantly into being fully mature.  Everything about a birds body is uniquely designed to facilitate flight.  For example, the  skeleton of a bird consists of very lightweight bones.  The bones have large air-filled cavities which connect with their respiratory system.  Birds have one of the most complex respiratory systems of all animal groups.  When a bird inhales, 75% of that fresh air bypasses the lungs and flows directly into a posterior air sac which extends from the lungs and connects with air spaces in the bones, filling them with air.  The remaining 25% goes directly into the lungs.  When a bird exhales, the used air flows out of the lungs and stored fresh air from the posterior air sacs is forced into the lungs.  In this way a birds lungs receive a constant supply of fresh air during inhalation and exhalation.

Due to the constraints of space within this article and time, I’ve selected, what I’m calling, “10 amazing facts” about birds to further magnify the incomprehensible Omniscient creative power and diversity of the infinite mind of our Sovereign God:

  1. Penguins can jump as high as 9 feet high. 
  2. The fastest bird, the peregrine falcon, in a hunting dive has been clocked at an airspeed of 242 miles per hour.
  3. The common swift is the fastest in level flight – 105 miles per hour.
  4. An albatross can sleep while cruising at 25 miles per hour.
  5. Owls cannot move their eyes but because they can rotate their heads 270 degrees they achieve a 360 degree field of vision.
  6. The longest annual bird migration is that of the Arctic Tern that travels an average of 44,000 miles per year from its Arctic breeding grounds to the Antarctic non-breeding areas and back. 
  7. A bar-tailed Godwit once flew non-stop from Alaska to Tasmania, a distance of 8,425 miles.
  8. Except when nesting, swifts spend their lives in the air, living on the insects caught in flight; they drink, feed, and often mate and sleep on the wing.  Some individuals go 10 months without landing.  No other bird spends as much of its life in flight.
  9. Feathers are a most unique part of a birds body.  Birds have 6 basic types of feathers – flight, contour, down, semiplumes, filoplumes, and bristles.  The most crucial are the flight feathers of the wing and those of the tail.  Birds perform regular maintenance on their feathers.  They use their beaks to brush away foreign particles and to apply waxy secretions from a gland at the base of their tails. These secretions protect the feathers flexibility and act as an antibacterial agent inhibiting the growth of feather degrading bacteria.
  10. The final fact about birds that I call your attention to, I find to be inexpressibly amazing every time I observe it.  It is what is referred to as a murmuration or murmurating.               “Murmuration is the same as flocking, with a couple of key differences.  Starlings murmurate in much denser, bigger groups than other species of birds that flock.  They also tend to ‘dance’ and move around a lot more in an aerobic display, rather than flying together towards one direction.  The most notable feature of murmuration, however, is the deep, low murmur that can be heard from a murmurating crowd if you stood nearby.” (from www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2018/11/starling).

Starling murmuration, as I said earlier, is, to my mind, one of the most inexpressibly amazing, beautiful things to observe in all of God’s amazing universe.  Once you observe the fluidity and beauty of the “clouds” they create in their swirling, whirling, humanly inexplainable, perfectly synchronized flight you will likely not cease to be fascinated and amazed by it for a long time to come.

A murmuration of starlings is a flock of starlings that most often will murmurate just prior to roosting for the night.  The first amazing thing about a starling murmuration is the sheer volume of birds and the above mentioned sheer beauty of their flight.  A murmuration will most often have a minimum of 500 birds up to hundreds of thousands in one murmuration.  As incomprehensible as it seems, the largest murmuration recorded to date is in the city of Rome.  Ornithologists believe the birds are attracted to the warm climate of Rome.  This murmuration contains approximately 10,000,000 starlings.  In 1999 there was a murmuration at Shapwick Heath in Somerset, UK that numbered 6,000,000 starlings.  A second uniquely fascinating fact is that of the 11,000 plus known bird species, representing from 50 to 400,000,000,000 birds on planet earth today, starlings are the only birds that murmurate.  One admittedly unexplainable fact discovered by physicists who have studied these murmurations is that the starlings “model a complex physical phenomenon, seldom observed in physical and biological systems, known as scale-free correlation.  One unique feature is that there is never an individual leader.  The researchers put it this way, “the group responds as one” and “cannot be divided into independent subparts.”  In other words, if one starling changes direction or speed, each of the other birds in the murmuration responds to that change, and they do so simultaneously regardless of the size of the murmuration.  One study determined that the starlings consistently coordinate their movements with their seven nearest neighbors based more on the shape of the murmuration than on the size of the murmuration.  Somehow they are able to process messages from those seven neighbors all at once.  Now, in light of these few examples of the Sovereign source of what took place in Genesis 1:20-21 when God created the birds to “fly above the earth”, consider the fact that in spite of all the research man has carried out to try to understand just this one feature of starling murmurations – “how starlings are capable of such extraordinary collective responses”, he continues to have to admit that how they accomplish this, as one observer stated it, “fascinating natural phenomenon that is a wonder to behold”, remains a mystery to us.”

I would be remiss at this point if I didn’t strongly encourage you to view several YouTube videos of this amazing manifestation of our God’s infinite creative mind – just search for “Starling Murmurations”.  If you’ve never observed one, you will, I believe, be amazed by the fluidity, the beauty, and the incomprehensible instantaneous synchronization of their flight.

The single, entire purpose of this article is to proclaim that God, as the Source of all TRUTH and LOVE, thus being the Source of all creation, had one and only one supreme, immutable purpose in His Holy creating economy for, not only the above fifteen examples we’ve identified, but for all His creation.  The Holy Spirit gloriously revealed in Titus 1:1-3 and Ephesians 1:3-6, that, the conceived purpose of God as prophesied in Genesis 3:15 was determined in eternity past (“long ages ago”).  The obvious question then is “What was that Holy purpose?”.  As revealed in Titus 1:1-3 there was a promise made in the Trinitarian Godhead before time began and that promise was given by God, to Christ to give Him a sinless, Holy Bride.  To put it yet another Biblical way, God is securing that Holy Bride for Christ by way of Christ’s victorious, propitiating, sacrificial death, resurrection, and ascension born out of His love for His Father and His Holy Bride.  That Holy Bride is the church, the body of Christ, the elect, those chosen of God to be the eternal fulfillment of the Father’s promise to His Holy Son – Hebrews 1:1-4; Colossians 2:9-10; 1:22-23; I Corinthians 15:50-58; Revelation 20:15; 21-22.

Titus 1:1-3:  1  Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie (Numbers 23:19), promised long ages ago (In light of this revelation to Titus by Paul, the “promise” Paul speaks of being given by God “long ages ago”, meaning in the Greek, ‘before time began’, obviously was given in that perfect, sinless, always existent dwelling place of God, heaven and just a obviously, it had to be given to One who also dwelled there – namely Christ to whom the Father promised the Holy Bride), 3  but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior,

Ephesians 1:3-6:  3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world (Herein is the revealed identification of that Holy Bride promised by God “before the foundation of the world”, to Christ in that Trinitarian counsel room of heaven as revealed in Titus 1:1-3), that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

Revelation 19:7-8:  7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Having considered these thoughts reflecting on the wonder and majesty of Yahweh, our Holy Heavenly Father (Isaiah 44:6-8), the Sovereign Source of all TRUTH and LOVE, I’ve chosen the following edifying words of others who have also sought to proclaim this immutable, uncreated, always existent reality:

Isaiah 44:6-8:  6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. 7 ‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; yes, let him recount it to Me in order, from the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place. 8 ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none.'”

The following is from two sources.  The first is from “Trinity and Triunity” by E. Charles Heinze.  The second is from the “Free Grace Broadcaster”, a free quarterly publication of Christ-centered sermons and articles produced by Mount Zion Bible Church, Pensacola, Florida.

First, as relates to our God being the Source of all TRUTH, on pages 94-98, pastor Heinze states: “God has total and perfect knowledge of Himself.  He knows all of His own attributes.  He knows all of His own purposes, plans, and works.  He knows all that He is, all that he thinks, and all that He does.  He knows all that He shall do in human history:  “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).

God’s knowledge includes knowledge of events from the greatest to the most insignificant in magnitude, even to the falling of a hair from a man’s head.  Among the billons of falling autumn leaves, the exact time of a particular leaf’s severance from its tree, the precise course and timing of its flight, the exact speed of the gusts of wind which buffet it, the very location of its final rest — all these facts are eternally known by God — as are all similar facts about every other leaf, or every other snowflake, or every atom or electron.  God’s self-knowledge includes all time and all the facts and events of all history and creation, of all time and all matter, from the life history of a single atom, to the life and death of His Son on a cross.  God’s self-knowledge embraces knowledge of what He is and what He does.  Hence, God’s self-knowledge embraces every fact and event of history and creation.  “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it” said King David in reflecting upon God’s knowledge of his every word or thought (Psalm 139:6).

God’s perfect knowledge is all truth.  Truth consists of God’s perfect knowledge.  In the same way that the Father by eternal generation objectifies all that He is in the Son, the Son is the objectification of His perfect self-knowledge.  Therefore, the Son could say, “I am the truth” (John 14:6).  God’s Word is truth (John 17:17), and the Son is the Word personified (John 1:1).  

In knowing Himself, God knows all that He is and all that He has eternally decreed.  Truth (singular); embracing the sum of all truths (plural), is God’s self-knowledge.  In its ultimate definition, truth is God’s perfect self-knowledge.  Truth is perfect knowledge.  Therefore, as holiness is perfect willing, so truth is perfect knowing.”

Pertaining to God as the Source of LOVE, pastor Heinze states the following: “Love has been defined as “that attribute of the divine nature in virtue of which God is eternally moved to self communication.  Self communication is the giving of oneself.  God is the great and eternal Giver.  This is perfect doing.  As holiness consists of perfect willing and truth consists in perfect knowing, so love consists in perfect doing.  Perfect self communication, perfect giving, and perfect love is the eternal activity of the Godhead.  This activity is indicative of the plurality of persons in the Godhead.  Where love is present, there is a giver and a receiver of that love.  The reality of God’s love exposes the error of Unitarianism (Unitarianism believes and teaches that God is only one person, stressing the individual freedom of belief, free use and reliance on reason in religion; promotes a united world community guided by liberal social action/jgw).  The extent of this self communication, this love, is revealed in God’s Word:

John 16:14-15:  14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

The second Person of the Trinity, the Son, states that “all things that the Father hath are mine,” indicating that nothing the Father has is withheld from the Son.  The Fathers self communication of Himself to the Son is total, allowing the Son to say “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9).  The measure of the Father’s self communication to Son validates Jesus claim “that God was His Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18).

The Son, of Himself, can do nothing, but whatsoever the Father does He does.  In other words, He does only what the Father does and all that the Father does.  Because “the Father loves the Son,” the Father communicates eternally to the Son all that the Father is and does, thus the eternal equality of Father and Son is established (John 5:19-30; 8:42; 7:28; 16:15) ……. While the Father is the source, the Son possesses the same essence and the same attributes as the Father and is thereby equal with Him.  While the hypostatic relationship presents the Father as the giver, the Son also gives.  His response of love is to give Himself in perfect obedience to the Father’s will:

John 8:28-29:   28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”

The totality of the Son’s self communication to the Father is shown in His perfect expression of the Father’s will.  This is manifested in His obedience unto death “even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).  His sacrifice is reflective of His eternal unity of purpose and harmony with the Father’s will.  Such is this fellowship of love.

This self-offering was made “through the eternal Spirit” (Hebrews 9:14).  The self communication between the Father and the Son is through the Spirit of love — the eternal communion of the Holy Spirit.  The unbroken communication of the Father to the Son and of the Son to the Father is all in the Spirit.  It is a cycle of blessedness in giving, withholding nothing, for God is love (I John 4:7-19/jgw).  Involved are perfect will, perfect self-knowledge, and perfect self-communication — that is, holiness, truth, and love.

In this communication of the Father (Deity) to the Son (Deity), and of the Son to the Father there  is movement and this movement is a movement of all that God is.  Therefore, this movement is also Deity, and, therefore is personal.  It is the Holy Spirit.

This movement, whether in creation (Genesis 1-2) or in re-creation (regeneration), is the work of the Holy Spirit.  Indeed, movement is the function of the Spirit, even in the Godhead.  However, we must not think of this movement in the transcendent Godhead as motion which requires time, for time and motion are part of the physical creation.  Rather, the movement must be thought of as a relationship.

The self communication within the Godhead is total giving.  Indeed, giving is blessedness, and God is the Blessed One.  This is God’s attribute of love.  Love — self-communication or giving — is doing.  As God’s holiness is perfect willing, and His truth is perfect knowing, so His love is perfect doing.”

Secondly, as relates to God being the Source of LOVE, the following is from the Free Grace Broadcaster, Issue 270, Winter 2024.  This issue focuses on “The Wonderful Love of Jesus”.

On page 19, in a message by Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) entitled “Christ’s Gift of Eternal Life” Keach states of Christ’s love “It is wonderful because a whole eternity will be but little enough to let out to believers the love of Christ.”  He then states “Christ’s love to His people is an immense or infinite love.  Christ’s love therefore to His sheep, to His saints, is an immense, incomprehensible, infinite love.  As the wrath and anger of God and the Lamb, when kindled and let out, is inconceivable, so is His precious love to His people:  this breadth, length, depth, and height doubtless refers to the unsearchable greatness and immensity of God.”

Keach continues:  “Christ’s love is an infinite or an immense love, as appears because it is without beginning.  It is from eternity, before ever the earth was.  That which was before the world was is without beginning; but the love of Christ to His elect was before the world was, even from everlasting.  Yes, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).  He continues stating that “Christ’s love is an immense and infinite love because it is without ending.  All those that Jesus Christ forth love or hath set His special affections upon, He loveth to the end (John 13:1).  His love is not only from everlasting but also to everlasting…..It is a conjugal love.  It is an espousal love…..espousal love is the sweetest, firmest, and most abiding love, especially the love of Christ’s espousal.”  Keach concludes by stating “If the love of Jesus Christ is an early love, a love of complacency, a wonderful and amazing love, an attracting and retaining love, a free an abiding love, which He hath to every believer, then He will not ever let of that hold He hath of every one of them…..such is the nature of the love of Jesus Christ.”

From page 23, “The Ocean of Christ’s Love” by Octavia’s Winslow (1808-1878) we read:  “Love originated all, explains all, illustrates all — love is the interpreter of every divine mystery.  There is not a circumstance of our Lord’s history that is not another form or manifestation of love.  His incarnation is love stooping; His sympathy is love weeping; His compassion is love succoring.  His grace is love acting; His teaching is the voice of love;  His silence is the response of love; His patience is the restraint of love; His obedience is the labor of love; His suffering is the travail of love; His cross is the altar of love; His death is the burnt-offering of love; His resurrection is the triumph of love; His ascension into heaven and sitting down at the right hand  of God are the enthronement and intercession of love.  Such is the deep, the vast, the boundless ocean upon which our thoughts are now about to launch.  The soul muses in silent awe as it gazes upon the fathomless, illimitable sea.”

Finally, two brief thoughts by Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) entitled “Breadth, Length, Depth, and Height” from a message delivered on Sunday morning, August 19, 1866 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington (London).

“The love of Jesus possesses an eternal existence in which there is not a single intermission nor even a single hint of failure or hint of an end.”

“To sum up what we have said in four words:  For breadth, the love of Jesus is immensity; for length, it is eternity; for depth it is immeasurability; and for height it is infinity.  O Christian, may the Holy Spirit instruct you in these great things!”

In closing our consideration of the Biblical testimony of our God as the uncreated, always existent Source of TRUTH and LOVE, consider if you will the following passages from Isaiah declaring the Sovereignty of our Trinitarian God.  

Isaiah 40:5-8,12-14,21-26:

40:5-8:  5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” 6  A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.

40:12-14:  12  Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales? 13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has informed Him? 14 With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge and informed Him of the way of understanding?

40:21-26:  21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22  It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23  He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. 24  Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, but He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble. 25 “To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 42:8:  8  “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images. 

Isaiah 43:11-13:  11  “I, even I, am the LORD; and there is no savior besides Me 12 “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; so you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “I am God. 13  “Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

Isaiah 44:6:  6  “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.

46:8-10:  8  “Remember this and be assured; recall it to mind you transgressors. 9 “Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other, for I am God and there is no one like Me 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all my good pleasure’;

Lastly, in chapter 38, verse 8, God declares to Hezekiah the sign that he will receive related to God’s mercy in extending his life 15 years.  I encourage you to thoughtfully contemplate the magnitude of that “sign” Hezekiah received — a majestic, incomprehensible manifestation of Sovereign TRUTH and LOVE as Creator and Sustainer of His immutable providential plan for every life that comprises the full spectrum of human history, from Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 to the last individual conceived in our Lord’s Millennial Kingdom – Revelation 20:1-4,11-14,15. .

8 “Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

Psalm 19:7-11:  7  The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8  The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 

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