Skip to main content

Incomprehensible

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (I Corinthians 13:12)
            Incomprehensible. We say that God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, good, wise, holy, love, compassionate .... I pretend to have some idea of what those terms mean as I write about Him to you. You (probably) pretend to have some idea of what I'm trying to share. It's the same with most things. We think we understand gravity, genetics, the people we live with, etc., but there is always more to learn.  We understand in part.
           At the other extreme are those who say that unless one knows comprehensively and exhaustively, one cannot claim to understand at all.  This is classic reductionism. In fact, it reduces our knowledge to zero since we do not even know ourselves that well. Such know-nothing-ism is simple ignorance, the willful disregard of what can be known. God tells us in Romans 1 that He has made some knowledge of Himself available to all people in the same way that an artist does, through what He created - so that no one has an excuse. He has promised to reveal Himself further to those who seek Him. How much God reveals about Himself is His decision, and it's based on the observer's capacity to understand.  I know I understand more about most things now than I did when I was three, or five, or fifteen, or even thirty five.
           It shouldn't surprise or offend us that God is incomprehensible. In fact, it should delight us, because it means there's more to learn.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more