Independence
The Identity and Attributes of God
December 8, 2024
Rev. Dr. Gabe Sylvia
The sermon argues that God is uncreated and self-sufficient, provides for his people (as in Elijah and the widow and the miracles of multiplication), and therefore deserves supreme worship and devotion, with Christmas gifts pointing to the ultimate gift of Christ.
Summary
Responding to the child's question who made God, the sermon affirms God's self-existence: he depends on nothing, needs nothing, and upholds all things by his own being. Examples from Scripture — Elijah and the widow of Zarephath and the multiplying of bread and fish — show how the self-existent God meets human need out of nothing and shares his boundless resources with his people. The proper response to this truth is wholehearted worship and devotion that puts created things in their place, and the season of giving at Christmas points us back to the unoriginated, endless love expressed supremely in the gift of Jesus.
Key Points
- Children ask penetrating questions, such as who made God
- God is self-existent: uncreated, dependent on nothing, accountable to no one
- All created things exist and continue because of God's being
- Elijah and the widow of Zarephath illustrate how God meets desperate need from his own resources
- Miracles like multiplying bread and fish demonstrate God's independence and ability to create from nothing
- God's self-existence means he freely shares unlimited resources with his people
- Our primary duty in light of this is worship and wholehearted devotion, not misplaced attachment to created things
- Christmas gifts are tokens that point to the greater gift of Jesus and God's endless love
- The sermon closes in prayer, affirming God's unbounded, beginningless, and endless love
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