(Friends: during this series, the messages may frequently be longer than usual due to the subject matter. Thanks for your patience, and I think you will find the considerations interesting, and hopefully, helpful in our walk with the Lord. Glen)
We cannot presently define God. We cannot know what He is. I suspect this will always be the case as God forever remains God, and we forever remain ourselves. Certainly, our Lord has drawn breathtakingly near to those who trust in the Lord Jesus, but not so near that we become Him. Nor does He become us.
“O LORD God… there is none like Thee, neither is there any God beside Thee” (II Samuel 7:22).
Early in its existence, the human race embraced the devilish lie that “ye shall be as gods”
(Genesis 3:5). The deadly error infused our flesh with the same deception that long ago began with Lucifer. We believe we can be more than God created us to be.
“Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north” (Isaiah 14:13-14). I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
The darkness of Satan became humanity’s darkness when Adam and Eve believed his lie. “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not” (II Corinthians 4:4). Such deception manifests itself in innumerable expressions of error, with pride being perhaps our greatest delusion. Again, the grave notion pervades our flesh that we can “be as gods,” leading us to believe we should be able to fulfill our own desires and control our destiny. We possess no capacity for Divinity, however, leading to blindness and frustration. “If a man thinketh himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” (Galatians 6:3).
Unto such a race of the delusional, God provides the gift of a Bible that tells us countless wonders about Himself, ourselves, creation, and glories of time and eternity. It does not include, however, a definition or explanation of its Author. It does not tell us what He is because, by definition, the proud need to be humbled. In this case, Scripture calls us to respond to One who will tell us much about Himself in order to draw us into His light. He will not tell us all, however. He will not tell us what He is.
We likely could not understand or survive a definition anyway. “No man can see Me and live” (Exodus 30:20). Even if we could, our Lord would likely withhold the information because we so desperately need to learn the foundational reality of our existence, namely, that God is God and there is no other (including and especially ourselves). I believe this truth to be perhaps the first light that must shine forth into our hearts. Indeed, the salvation in which we receive relationship with God apart from any work or effort on our part plainly reveals our complete helplessness to help ourselves. How can we be gods when we cannot save ourselves from the pit of sin into which our original fathers fell (and in which we all freely and individually participate)? We cannot, and freely given forgiveness and relationship with One whom we cannot define establishes us in the proper Creator/creation recognition of who God is, and who we are (and who we are not).
What is God? The fact that we cannot know, and that we know we cannot know should thrill our hearts with wonder. There is and will always be something, Someone, greater than ourselves who beckons us to come and see some new facet of His ineffable glory. Just as a child knows deeply within that his parents must be smarter, stronger and more capable than he is himself, so were our hearts made to find their joy in the God whose mystery fills our being with light every bit as much as His illumination. Yes, the unanswerable question of “What is God?” provides the first light of who He is, and who we are. There is no more blessed truth whereby our hearts discover peace both now and forevermore.
In our next consideration, we will address the challenge of accepting God as God, and ourselves as His dependent creatures.
“Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.”(Psalm 9:20)
“Thou art God alone.”(Psalm 86:10)
“The King of kings, and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.”(I Timothy 6:16).
Part 3 – “First Light”
We cannot presently define God. We cannot know what He is. I suspect this will always be the case as God forever remains God, and we forever remain ourselves. Certainly, our Lord has drawn breathtakingly near to those who trust in the Lord Jesus, but not so near that we become Him. Nor does He become us.
“O LORD God… there is none like Thee, neither is there any God beside Thee” (II Samuel 7:22).
Early in its existence, the human race embraced the devilish lie that “ye shall be as gods”
(Genesis 3:5). The deadly error infused our flesh with the same deception that long ago began with Lucifer. We believe we can be more than God created us to be.
“Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north” (Isaiah 14:13-14). I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
The darkness of Satan became humanity’s darkness when Adam and Eve believed his lie. “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not” (II Corinthians 4:4). Such deception manifests itself in innumerable expressions of error, with pride being perhaps our greatest delusion. Again, the grave notion pervades our flesh that we can “be as gods,” leading us to believe we should be able to fulfill our own desires and control our destiny. We possess no capacity for Divinity, however, leading to blindness and frustration. “If a man thinketh himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” (Galatians 6:3).
Unto such a race of the delusional, God provides the gift of a Bible that tells us countless wonders about Himself, ourselves, creation, and glories of time and eternity. It does not include, however, a definition or explanation of its Author. It does not tell us what He is because, by definition, the proud need to be humbled. In this case, Scripture calls us to respond to One who will tell us much about Himself in order to draw us into His light. He will not tell us all, however. He will not tell us what He is.
We likely could not understand or survive a definition anyway. “No man can see Me and live” (Exodus 30:20). Even if we could, our Lord would likely withhold the information because we so desperately need to learn the foundational reality of our existence, namely, that God is God and there is no other (including and especially ourselves). I believe this truth to be perhaps the first light that must shine forth into our hearts. Indeed, the salvation in which we receive relationship with God apart from any work or effort on our part plainly reveals our complete helplessness to help ourselves. How can we be gods when we cannot save ourselves from the pit of sin into which our original fathers fell (and in which we all freely and individually participate)? We cannot, and freely given forgiveness and relationship with One whom we cannot define establishes us in the proper Creator/creation recognition of who God is, and who we are (and who we are not).
What is God? The fact that we cannot know, and that we know we cannot know should thrill our hearts with wonder. There is and will always be something, Someone, greater than ourselves who beckons us to come and see some new facet of His ineffable glory. Just as a child knows deeply within that his parents must be smarter, stronger and more capable than he is himself, so were our hearts made to find their joy in the God whose mystery fills our being with light every bit as much as His illumination. Yes, the unanswerable question of “What is God?” provides the first light of who He is, and who we are. There is no more blessed truth whereby our hearts discover peace both now and forevermore.
In our next consideration, we will address the challenge of accepting God as God, and ourselves as His dependent creatures.
“Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.”(Psalm 9:20)
“Thou art God alone.”(Psalm 86:10)
“The King of kings, and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.”(I Timothy 6:16).
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