God has no needs

On the Areopagus, the Apostle Paul contrasted the idols of the Athenians with the true God: “The God who made the world and everything in it is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made with human hands, nor is he served by human hands as one who needs something, since he himself gives to all people life and breath and everything else.” (Apg 17,24-25).

Paul reveals the difference between idols and the true triune God. The true God has no needs, he is a giving God who gives life, he shares everything that is good that he has because God is love. Idols, on the other hand, need human hands, which they create in order to serve them.

But what if God were a single person, as taught by Unitarianism, which rejects the doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth? How did God live before creation and what would he have done before time began?

This God cannot be described as eternally loving because there was no living being besides him. Such a God is needy and requires creation in order to be loving. The triune God, on the other hand, is unique. Jesus reveals what the true God did before creation: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (Joh 17,24).

The relationship between God the Father and his Son is reciprocal and eternal; the Son loves the Father: “But let the world know that I love the Father and do as the Father has commanded me.” (Joh 14,31).

The Holy Spirit is love: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2. Tim 1,7).

Between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit there exists an eternal communion of love, which is why John could write that God is love: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1. Joh 4,7-8).

The triune God of love carries life within himself: “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” (Joh 5,26).

God is completely different from all other gods. He is perfect in himself. The eternal God, who carries life in himself and needs nothing, gave life to his creation and to all humanity and opened the way to eternal life through Jesus Christ. He who has no needs created the universe through an act of grace and love. Some might conclude that God doesn't care about us because God doesn't need us. God loves us and created us in his own image so that we can have fellowship with him and live in close relationship with him. God wants us to worship him, not to satisfy any need in him, but for our benefit, so that we may acknowledge him and relate to him and live in that relationship.

You can thank God the Father that through his Son Jesus Christ he gave you the universe, his life and an invitation to eternal life.

by Eddie Marsh