Gen 17:1, Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.
	Last time we looked at the first part of this passage in terms of those characteristics of God which are wholly and indisputably His. There are realities of God’s nature and character that will remain forever His, Alone. As well, it is vitally important to reiterate that we, as human beings, are absolutely unable to give any full description of God, much less hope to understand, with crystal clearness, the definitive nature and character of God. We approach this entire subject with utmost fear, reverence, and trembling before the Altogether Awesome One Who is beyond any human measurement or adequacy to know. What we do know is that which He opens of Himself through His Word, by His very own Holy Spirit. That must always be at the forefront of our realization as we approach Him in humbleness and contriteness and utter subjection to His will and purpose.   
	With this understanding, we are using a cursory list complied from scripture by the Hope for the Heart Biblical Counseling Library. (from Hope for the Heart Biblical Counseling Library © 2006 by Hope for the Heart.) Please keep in mind that there is no list or manner in which we can definitively describe the Indescribable One. We are fully inadequate to do so, as even this list will reiterate.
	So, again, with regard to the first part of this passage, "I am God Almighty… we highlighted those veracities about God that are singularly His. We considered His Omniscience, His Omnipotence, His Omnipresence, His eternalness, His unchangeableness, and His unfathomableness. We considered the fact that He is self-existent and self-sufficient and infinite. He is transcendent and He is sovereign. Each of these elements serve to make us certain in our God as Creator and Savior, and that He is eternally able to complete all that is His plan and purpose in His creation.
	This morning, we begin with the second part of this passage with those aspects of God’s nature which have a very direct, personal influence on our lives. As the Lord so directed Abram in our reading, I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. We not only see the absoluteness of the Almighty, but we hear the admonition to Abram, as well as to us, with regard to how the fact of God being the Almighty One works His reality in us in a living manner. It changes who we are and how we interact with God and with others. 
	It needs to be crystal clear in our hearts and minds that what is before us in the manner of God’s intervention in our lives is only in place because of Jesus Christ. None of this is possible apart from Christ. None of it is under our abilities to perform to any measure of success. Everything that is part of us now, by virtue of our relationship with God, is wholly because we are now made to be members of Jesus Christ’s body. We are completely under His direction and guidance as the head directs the body. 
	First is the fact of the holiness of God. 1 Peter 1:15+16, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." Because God is holy, and we are now indwelled by His Holy Spirit, we need to be holy, or set apart from sin. We are no longer to live our lives after our earthly desires and lusts. We are to seek only after those things that are completely pleasing to God. This is fully an aspect of walking before God in blamelessness. 
This is nothing that we can practice or perform to any meaningful measure of our own accord. Rather, it is the fact of who we are now in Jesus Christ as He lives forth His life from us. He makes this the reality of our lives on this earth. We are holy because He is our holiness in every form and aspect. As we live by, through, and in Him, we will find His holiness daily influencing and becoming the reality of our lives.
	The next attribute of God that is imparted unto us in Christ Jesus is righteous. Again, as with all these realties, they are ours only in and through Jesus Christ. It is His righteousness that is made to be accounted unto us. As we gain a greater and increasing appreciation for the righteousness of God, that He is Absolute good in every sense, so will we develop a greater gratitude for the goodness of life that we now have in Him. Ps 119:137, Righteous art Thou, O Lord, And upright are Thy judgments. All that He does in our lives will be seen for the value to which it contributes further to His goodness as He works to His glory on this earth. 
	The Psalmist, as well, describes the next truth of God’s character that is imparted unto us in Jesus Christ in Ps 89:14, Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Thy throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before Thee. God is just in all that He does. As we partake of that justness, that perfect fairness of God’s work in action, we begin to understand that His justice and righteousness far exceed our understanding of what it means to be fair. Everything He does is right altogether, no matter how it might appear to our human understanding. 
We must keep in mind that we are tainted with sin. We are seeking after those elements of our old human nature which labels everything that does not serve to satisfy our cravings and our lusts as unfair and wrong. But God deals in purity of heart and Spirit to the nth degree. All that He does is right and just, and that needs to become the characteristic of our dealings with others, no matter who they may be. This will often necessitate our setting aside what we think of as fair to us in favor of what is of benefit to others, just as Jesus laid down His life for our sakes.  
	Next is the undeniable truth that God is Merciful. He has compassion for all. Ps 116:5, Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. This is a nature of being which we often neglect to practice with regard to others. God has compassion on us when we fail Him. He looks upon us with a heart that knows our weaknesses and our misgivings and our faithlessness, and yet He loves us to the uttermost. So are we to have compassion on those around us, even if they continually fail to meet our expectations. We should have that same heart of Jesus which understands and stands by us and encourages us with His love and His mercy and His grace despite our deepest tragedies of collapse and disappointment. 
	This, then, highlights the fact that God is Long-suffering. He is patient with us as we walk on this earth. He works tirelessly to bring about His perfection of each of these characteristics of Himself into our lives. He does so with the complete Omniscience that it will happen in His time. Therefore, He bears with our mistakes and self-indulgences as He tirelessly manifests Himself unto us, day after day after day without any loss of temper or aggravation or capitulation. 2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 
	As well, and in complete line with His patience, God is Wise. He is perfect in all His choices, including the fact of making us partakers of His very salvation in Jesus Christ. It is completely beyond our understanding of why He chose you and me. It was His wisdom alone that decreed our inclusion in Jesus Christ. And we must ever thank Him for that exercise of His wisdom on our behalf. Ps 104:24, O Lord, how many are Thy works! In wisdom Thou hast made them all; The earth is full of Thy possessions. 
	As part and parcel of His wisdom in action, He freely gives His guidance and His counsel in all our decisions, if we are wise enough to seek Him and to ask Him to show us His way. He becomes our wisdom to face every trial and assessment and evaluation that is required of us in this world. We can trust Him!
	Likewise, we should be counted as trustworthy in seeking His way when we are approached by others in need of direction and counseling. We are to become living fountains of the life of Jesus Christ to all those who thirst for truth and wisdom and knowledge.
	The next characteristic of God that is to be evidenced in our lives is the fact that God is Good. Rom 2:4, Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Everything He does is for the good of His people. He has brought forth the only manner of salvation and freely offered it to all men in Jesus Christ. No man has an excuse in terms of denying that it is the goodness of God Who has manifested Himself even unto death on the cross for the eternal sake of all who will but call upon the name of Jesus. 
	And, in our lives, we have the absolute and concrete encouragement of Rom 8:28 as the bedrock of the goodness of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. In line with this reality, we should be finding that our lives can be more and more characterized as good. Not for our sakes and for our uplifting, but for the world to see the very goodness of God in operation to His glory alone. We should be working and treating others with the very goodness of God as He is ruling and overruling in our lives. 
	In absolute line with His goodness then is the fact that God is Wrathful. In other words, God hates sin. It is anathema to every reality of His nature. Rom 1:18, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness… We were under this wrath of God against sin until we found eternal life and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Because of the righteous wrath of God against all that would serve to harm us and to put us to death, He sent His Son to bear that wrath in all its fury. Christ faced the holy judgment for you and for me and He paid the price by His own life’s blood. He bore all that wrath to set us free forever from the stain of sin and the curse of death. Therefore, in our lives, we should know that the wrath of God against sin is in place for our benefit. He does all that is necessary to release us from the horribleness of the sin that would otherwise only hurt and destroy us. He gives us everything necessary, in Jesus Christ, to see His wrath against sin as our salvation for today and all of eternity. 
	The Apostle Paul highlights the next attribute of God in his letter to Titus, Chapter 1, verses 1-3, 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, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, 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… 
	This is the fact that God is absolutely Truthful. We can count on every Word of God being true. Every promise He makes, every encouragement He utters, every direction He gives, in everything He is pure in His every Word and deed. There is no darkness or lie in Him. In our lives, as we hold firmly onto the Word of God for our every edification and encouragement, so should our words ring forth with truth and clarity. We should find that our lives become more and more identified with truth and with purity of spirit and reality. When we speak, it should be with the clarion call that since God is truthful, we must also be truthful.
	The final attribute that we will consider this morning is directly connected to the truthfulness of God. As He is truthful, so also He is absolutely Faithful. We can count on Him in every instance, in every situation, in every time of testing, struggle, and trouble. He is true to His promises. 2 Tim 2:13, If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself. He will do everything that He says He will do, including our perfection in Jesus Christ. We can count on Him, no matter what may befall! He will accomplish what He has begun in our lives and in the lives of all those whom He has called unto Himself in Jesus Christ. As well, this should have its measured effect in our lives in terms of our faithfulness unto God and unto man. We should be faithful in our commitments to God and to one another. 
	We will conclude this consideration next time, Lord willing. It should be serving to bring to mind those areas of our lives in which the Holy Spirit is at work to manifest the fact that we are to take to heart the reality that we have come unto the Lord God Almighty. This is no small or inconsequential thing. It is the imperative certainty that we can no longer be the same. To come into the presence of the Almighty is to be changed for all of eternity, and that should be our heart’s desire in order to please Him to the utmost. So be it!
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 145:9-13. The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. All Thy works shall give thanks to Thee, O Lord, And Thy godly ones shall bless Thee. They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, And talk of Thy power; To make known to the sons of men Thy mighty acts, And the glory of the majesty of Thy kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Thy dominion endures throughout all generations. Amen.