The Incomprehensible God

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:33-36 NASB Update). “Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?” (Job 11:7 NASB Update).

We do not presume to completely understand either the being or attributes of God. The Scriptures do not imply that God is completely unknown, but that He can never be perfectly known. If God could be perfectly known by finite man, He would not be the infinite God. The finite can never comprehend the infinite. Only the infinite can perfectly know the infinite—only God can know God. This is the reason Jesus Christ said, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27 NASB Update).

The existence of the first and supreme Cause, the One Who is the Creator and Governor of the universe, is an obvious truth that forces itself upon every reasonable, thinking person. Someone might ask, “Who made God?” This is a foolish question that contradicts itself. It is evident that no cause could make the first cause. That would make the first cause to become the second cause, which is a mathematical impossibility. There must be an alpha and omega in our reasoning. Therefore, Deity must be the starting point, as well as the termination, in all reasonable thinking. Paul states in Romans 1:19 and 20, “…because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (NASB Update). In the light of these verses, a natural knowledge of God is given man through the medium of created reality. Furthermore, this general revelation of God renders every human inexcusable.

The incomprehensibleness of God is a relative term and speaks of a relation between the creating God and a created understanding. God knows Himself, but He is incomprehensible to His creatures. The nature of God and His excellency, perfection, works, and ways are above the thoughts and apprehensions of man. The eternality of God staggers the imagination of men. We cannot comprehend how one single act of constancy can extend to all periods of time without succession. Past and future, in respect to God, are terms we are forced to use because of the defects of our finite capacity. The omnipresence of God is also astounding to men. God fills all places. He is circumscribed to no place; and yet, He is intimately present in every place. God not only foreknows but He has a determinate knowledge of all things, because God is present to all time and to all events which happen in time.

It is a paradox to say that God is the most known, yet the most unknown Being in the whole universe. General revelation is sufficient to accomplish the end intended, to render every man inexcusable before the one true God (Rom. 1: 19, 20). God’s revelation in nature, however, does not awaken the depraved man to repentance and faith—repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. A philosophy that omits either the Father or the Son is like a planetary system without a sun or a state of affairs without an attraction. Philosophy has found many things, but not the foundational truths of the Being and attributes of God. Special revelation is required to give such knowledge. (See Colossians 2.) The Christian survives the philosophies of men to find the special knowledge from the Spirit of regeneration revealing things of far greater value. Paul had the capacity to understand human philosophies; but by grace, he enjoyed what the three Persons of the Godhead revealed to him.

The apostle Paul saw the perversion of great genius, from the world’s point of view. Empty theories occupied the attention of the Athenians (Acts 17:22-31). The best of their gods were but men. Paul acknowledged that the destiny of the soul depended upon its worship; but unless the object of worship is the true and living God, it shall continually sink lower and lower. Only one Being has a claim to the worship of man—the God who creates, governs, and redeems. There is nothing in the philosophy of men, even in its highest forms, to delight a person that has been enlightened by the Spirit of God in regeneration. On the other hand, persons who say that they feel closer to God in nature than they do in church or the study of Scripture know only the “God of general revelation.”

The BEING, WORKS, and ATTRIBUTES of God are incomprehensible and the further we investigate the facts, the deeper and more wonderful these become:

THE BEING OF GOD— The Being of God is inconceivable. Man cannot fathom infinite perfection with the measuring stick of his reason. He can never stretch his thoughts until they are equal to the Divine greatness. Man’s inability to understand God excels his incapability of understanding his own nature. Since finite man is a mystery to himself, how much more is the infinite God a mystery to him?

There is one God by nature. This nature is common to the Trinity, but it is not communicated from one Person of the Trinity to another. Each member of the Trinity is a partaker of it as one individual nature. One part of the nature is not enjoyed by one Person and a part by another, but the whole is enjoyed by each Person of the Triunity. In Colossians 2:9, Paul states, “For in Him [Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (NASB Update).

Jesus Christ is the visible residence of God. God dwelt in the tabernacle and temple in an extraordinary manner—types and shadows. God dwells in Christians in a special way of grace. Paul said to the Colossians, “For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Col. 1:29 NASB Update). Furthermore, God dwells in Jesus Christ in a unique manner. Christ is not two persons; He is one Person with two natures—Divine and human. He is both Son of God and Son of Man, but He is one and the same Person. Sometimes He takes His name from God—Lord of glory, the everlasting Father, the Word of God. Sometimes Christ takes His name from man—Son of Mary, seed of David, seed of Abraham. Sometimes He takes His name from both God and man—Immanuel (God with us), God manifest in the flesh. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the Theanthropic Person. A Trinitarian person has only one nature. A human person has a material body and a non-material soul. A Theanthropic Person has three natures. He has the Divine essence, a human body, and a human soul. Therefore, Jesus Christ is not God in man or God and man, but He is the God-Man. He is the Theanthropic Person who shall remain so forever.

THE WORKS OF GOD— The works of God are beyond the reach of the human mind. The Bible student finds that there is nothing in the whole circle of doctrine which does not surpass the capacity of man. The horizon may vary in extent from man to man, but even to the person with the greatest knowledge of God, there is an infinite horizon beyond. There are many questions created with each answered question. This does not discourage the Christian, because he knows that God will continue to give as much understanding as he is capable of receiving. David said, “Comfort, O comfort My people, says your God. Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins. A voice is calling, Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God….Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed….The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever” (Is. 40:1-3, 5, 7 NASB Update).

The consummation of God’s glory is seen in His redemptive work. It is vividly described in Revelation 5:9 and 10—“And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth” (NASB Update).

THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD— The attributes of God are unfathomable. God’s attributes are divided between negative and positive. The negative attributes, such as infinity, immutability, and immortality, set God apart from whatever is imperfect in His creatures. These attributes deny He is finite, mutable, and mortal. The positive attributes, such as wisdom, justice, holiness, mercy, etc., assert the perfections in God. Some attributes are absolute and others relative. Absolute attributes eternally agree with the essence of God, without respect to His creatures. Relative attributes agree with God in time and are expressed by Him as Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer.

The eternal God is the great “I AM.” “God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM; and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you” (Ex. 3:14 NASB Update). The present tense of this description manifests that God’s essence knows no past or future. Thus, God is distinguished from all creatures. No created being could say in truth, “I AM.” The title “I AM” speaks of the constancy of Divine reality. God could not speak of Himself as “I Was”; that would indicate that He is not now what He once was. Neither could He say, “I Will Be”; that would intimate that He is not now what He shall be. “I AM” expresses self-existence. If God came from another, He from whom He received His Being would be greater than Himself. If God gave existence to Himself, then there was a time when He was nothing. How can nothing give existence to itself? It is impossible for any being to give existence to itself. There must be an entity to act; therefore, something must first exist before it acts. “I AM” is eternal existence. The sovereign God of Christians is the independent Person among dependent beings and the unchangeable One in the midst of a changing universe. Thus, God’s eternality and immutability are inseparable perfections.

If God is not eternal, then there is no eternal covenant of grace—“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:20, 21 NASB Update). This covenant is unilateral, which involves one side. Therefore, the eternal God alone makes and maintains the covenant. God is called the “Ancient of Days” in Daniel 7:13, not the “Ancient in Days.” If God’s constancy could be measured by days, He would not be immense, immutable, and perfect. Peter said, “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (II Peter 3:8 NASB Update).

Sin is aggravated by God’s eternal existence. Unsaved people erect resemblances of God contrary to His immortal nature. Paul said, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” (Rom. 1:22, 23 NASB Update). Although unsaved people erect resemblances of God contrary to His immortal nature, God cannot be deprived of His glory. However, depraved men, in their estimation, think that they deprive Him of His glory. Thus, they show their contempt for God. How does God reply in time? The eternal God gave them over to “the lusts of their hearts,” “to degrading passions,” and “to a depraved mind” (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28 NASB Update). There is no greater description of an apostate state of our world than Romans 1:18-32. (Read I Thessalonians 5:1-6 and II Thessalonians 2:1-12.)