God - Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, Wise (1 Tim. 1:17)

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (v. 17)

Paul ends verses 12-17 with a doxology of sorts as he describes who God is. Many people ask questions such as, "What is God like?" Thankfully, Scripture gives us clues as to who God is. In verse 17, Paul reveals four attributes of God:

1) He is eternal - The question, "Who made God?" is nonsensical (or nonsense) because only finite and mortal beings are created. God is eternal, or infinite, thus meaning He has no beginning and no end. Therefore, to ask who made him is similar to asking, "What does the color blue taste like?" It is an impossible question to answer, because God exists outside the realm of finite creations. God is eternal.

2) He is immortal - God is immortal, meaning he can never be killed (despite Friedrich Nietzsche's claim that, "God is dead and we killed him"). We can take comfort in the fact that God has always and will always exist.

3) He is invisible - Some people claim that when we get to Heaven we will see God face-to-face. Biblically, they do not have warrant for this statement, because Scripture tells us that God is invisible. He is a Spirit that transcends space and time and cannot be beheld. However, Jesus Christ, is God in human form. What a wonderful day it will be when we see Jesus face-to-face. God the Father, however, is invisible

4) He is only wise - Finally, Paul states that God alone is wise. He is the only one who has perfect knowledge and perfect wisdom. He is the only God and the only one that is worthy to be praised.

For these four attributes, we are to give him alone all honor and glory forever and ever.