The Great Doctrines of the Bible | Page 7

could be
no communion; if both God and man were one there could be no
communion, and, consequently, no religion. An independent personal
relationship on both sides is absolutely necessary to communion. Man
can have no communion with an influence, a force, an impersonal
something; nor can an influence have any moving or affection towards
man. It is absolutely necessary to the true definition of religion that
both God and man be persons. God is person, not force or influence.
a) Definition of Personality.
Personality exists where there is intelligence, mind, will, reason,
individuality, self-consciousness, and self-determination. There must

be not mere consciousness--for the beast has that--but
self-consciousness. Nor is personality determination--for the beast has
this, too, even though this determination be the result of influences
from without--but self-determination, the power by which man from an
act of his own free will determines his acts from within.
Neither corporeity nor substance, as we understand these words, are
necessarily, if at all, involved in personality. There may be true
personality without either or both of these.
b) Scripture Teaching on the Personality of God.
(In this connection it will Be well to refer to the Ontological Argument
for the Existence of God, for which see p. 17.)
(1) Exod 3:14;--"I AM THAT I AM."
This name is wonderfully significant. Its central idea is that of
existence and personality. The words signify "I AM, I WAS, I SHALL
BE," so suggestively corresponding with the New Testament statement
concerning God: "Who wast, and art, and art to come."
All the names given to God in the Scripture denote personality. Here
are some of them:
Jehovah--Jireh: The Lord will provide (Gen. 22:13, 14).
Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord that healeth (Exod. 15:26).
Jehovah-Nissi: The Lord our Banner (Exod. 17:8-15).
Jehovah-Shalom: The Lord our Peace (Judges 6:24).
Jehovah-Ra-ah: The Lord my Shepherd (Psa. 23:1).
Jehovah-Tsidkenu: The Lord our Righteousness (Jer. 23:6).
Jehovah-Shammah: The Lord is present (Ezek. 48:35).

Moreover, the personal pronouns ascribed to God prove personality:
John 17:3, et al. "To know thee"--we cannot know an influence in the
sense in which the word know is here used. Statement: All through the
Scriptures names and personal pronouns are ascribed to God which
undeniably prove that God is a Person.
(2) A sharp distinction is drawn in the Scriptures between the gods of
heathen and the Lord God of Israel (See Jer. 10:10-16).
Note the context: vv. 3-9: Idols are things, not persons; they cannot
walk, speak, do good or evil. God is wiser than the men who made
these idols; if the idol-makers are persons, much more is God.
See the sharp contrast drawn between dead idols and the living,
personal, true and only God: Acts 14:15; 1 Thess. 1:9; Psa. 94:9, 10.
Statement: God is to be clearly distinguished from things which have
no life; he is a living Person.
(3) Attributes of personality are ascribed to God in the Scriptures.
God repents (Gen. 6:6}; grieves {Gen 6:6}; is angry {1 Kings 11:9); is
jealous (Deut. 6:15); loves (Rev. 3:19); hates (Prov. 6:16).
Statement: God possesses the attributes of personality, and therefore is
a Person.
(4) The relation which God bears to the Universe and to Men, as set
forth in the Scriptures, can be explained only on the basis that God is a
Person.
Deism maintains that God, while the Creator of the world, yet sustains
no further relations to it. He made it just as the clock-maker makes a
self-winding clock: makes it and then leaves it to run itself without any
interference on His part. Such teaching as this finds no sanction in the
Bible. What are God's relations to the universe and to men?
aa) He is the Creator of the Universe and Man.

Gen. 1:1, 26; John. 1:1-3. These verses contain vital truths. The
universe did not exist from eternity, nor was it made from existing
matter. It did not proceed as an emanation from the infinite, but was
summoned into being by the decree of God. Science, by disclosing to
us the marvellous power and accuracy of natural law, compels us to
believe in a superintending intelligence who is infinite. Tyndall said: "I
have noticed that it is not during the hours of my clearness and vigor
that the doctrine of material atheism commends itself to my mind."
(In this connection the Arguments from Cause and Design, pp. 16 and
17, may be properly considered.)
Statement: The Creation of the Universe and Man proves the
Personality of the Creator--God.
bb) God sustains certain relations to the Universe and Man which He
has made.
Heb 1:3--"Uphold all things." Col. 1:15-17--"By him all things hold
together." Psa. 104:27-30--All creatures wait upon Him for "their meat
in due season." Psa. 75:6, 7--"Promotion" among men, the putting
down of one man and the setting up of