The word aseity is not found in the Scriptures. The word aseity was first used in the 1690s. "a being by itself, independent existence," 1690s, from Medieval Latin aseitas "state of being by itself," from Latin a "from" (see ab-) + se "oneself" (see suicide). (Entymoline) The King James translation of the Bible was completed in 1611 AD. While going through the Scriptures we find the coverage and import of the word both in the Old and the New Testaments.
The aseity of God is His attribute of independent self-existence. God is the uncaused Cause, the uncreated Creator. He is the source of all things, the One who originated everything and who sustains everything that exists. The aseity of God means that He is the One in whom all other things find their source, existence, and continuance. He is the ever-present Power that sustains all life. There is no other source of life and none other like Him: Isaiah 46:9 “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,”
The Scriptures, in Acts 17:24-26, teaches God’s aseity by saying that he does not need anything beyond himself “ God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;” So aseity marks the great difference between creator and creature.
The aseity of God is expressed in Exodus when Moses asked the Lord about His name, God replied, “I AM WHO I AM.” God is the eternally self-existent Being who always was and always will be. The aseity of God is related to His complete independence. God has no need. He is self-dependent and complete in and of Himself and always has been.
God’s name I AM embodies the concept of God’s eternality and immutability, both of which are linked to His aseity. Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” He did not have a beginning. He has always been. God’s aseity assures us that His autonomy is absolute. He alone decides what to do, and nothing can ever thwart His purpose to keep His promises. What He promises to do, He will do. What He predicts will come to pass. Isaiah 46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”
Thus, God has no needs. Psalm 50 teaches us that, unlike pagan worship, the worship of the true God is not intended to meet God’s needs, but to acknowledge him for his self-sufficiency and his sufficiency to meet our needs. Because the true God is “the Lord of heaven and earth,” Paul says, he “is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.” So, we depend utterly on him. He does not depend at all on us. That is the doctrine of God’s aseity. Because of the aseity of God, we can depend upon Him as the independent One who is able to deliver, protect, and keep those who trust in Him.
Dr Ashwin Drummond
Laddertoheaven.co.in