I think first of all, the best thing to do is define what the word aseity means; we need to properly define it to understand what this attribute of God is all about. A quick web search gives the following meaning:

Aseity – (metaphysics, theology) Usually ascribed to deity: the attribute of being entirely self-derived (in contrast to being derived from or dependent on another); the quality of having within oneself the entire reason for one’s being; utter independent self-existence and self-sustenance ^[1].

The word comes from Latin: from “a” which means “from”, and“se” which means “oneself”; a se, “from oneself” or “from himself”.

The aseity of God refers to His attributeofindependent self-existence. God is the uncaused Cause, the uncreated Creator, and the source of all things. He is complete in and of Himself, having no need or dependence on anything outside Himself to exist. It also means that God is self-sufficient: God is complete and completely satisfied in Himself, needing nothing outside Himself for His being or well-being. The aseity of God also hints to His eternality. Since He is self-existent, He was not caused to exist, therefore He has always been, He is, and He will always be, for all eternity.

Is there anything from Scripture to underscore this attribute of God? Of course, there is! Let’s look at some of them. In Exodus 3:14, Moses wants to know what he’s going to tell the Israelites, about Who sent him. God says “I AM WHO I AM”. That is to say, moment to moment, I AM. The psalmist says in Psalm 90:2 that “…from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” In Acts 17:24-25, Luke says that God made everything (which means He transcends everything), He needs nothing, and He gives to mankind life, breath and everything else. John also writes in John 5:26, that both the Father and the Son have life in themselves. These verses collectively demonstrate God’s aseity, emphasising His eternal, unchanging, and independent existence. They affirm that God is not dependent on anything external for His being or sustenance, but rather is the source of all life, breath, and existence.

God’s aseity underscores His uniqueness and distinction from creation, emphasising His transcendence and sovereignty. It highlights God’s self-sufficiency and demonstrates that He is not dependent on human worship, sacrifice, or other external factors for His existence or approval. Aseity also underscores the importance of worshipping God for who He is, rather than trying to earn His favour or approval through human efforts (what we refer to as “righteousness by works”).

Take a moment to think about what this means. What kind of God is this we worship and serve? How powerful is He? How much control does He have? Or rather, what is the extent of His sovereignty?

We have a sun that could fit a million earths; a galaxy that has a hundred billion of suns; a universe with at least a hundred billion galaxies. All that is matter and energy. We also have the expanding space that that is within, and we also have time itself. Now God, who made all that, is over, above and beyond it. He transcends all that He made. He is outside it. Again, John says that “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” How big is our God. He alone is God, there is none like Him.

The aseity of God reminds us that He is above everything and He needs nothing to exist or to be satisfied. He is not as limited as we are. He is an infinite, self-existent, self-sufficient God. It reminds us of how big God is.

He made human beings, both men and women, in His own image and likeness. Then we fell short of His glory and deserved to die, because the wages of sin is death. Yet, in His perfect, self-sufficient love, this awesome, self-existing God, came down in the form of a human being and died on the cross, to carry the weight and punishment of our sin. Isaiah says “…He bore our iniquity…” (Isaiah 53). One of the things that makes the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross so amazing, is the magnitude of His greatness as God.

We’ll say a prayer to ask God to remind us of His self-existent nature. As we pray, let’s take a moment to think deeply about How great our God is. Think about how He is above and beyond nature and the universe itself. Then think about what Acts 20:28 says, that God purchased (died for) His church (the body of believers) with His own blood. Let’s pray:

Our Father in heaven, we glorify Your holy name. We praise You for Your greatness and Your majesty. We worship Your Son, Jesus Christ, for He is above all things, and in Him all things hold together.

We pray for Your grace and forgiveness for we have sinned against You and we have fallen short of your majestic glory.

We thank You for sending Jesus to die for us on the cross. He did not deserve it at all, but you loved us enough to offer Him as a sacrifice to atone for our sins; sins we could not even hope to atone for ourselves.

We pray that the Holy Spirit reminds us to remember Your aseity, Your transcendence above all that is, Your holiness. We pray that He convicts us to put our faith in Jesus and what He did on the cross.

Amen.

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[1] Definition of Aseity from: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aseity#Noun