“How? Who!”

"How?  Who!"

   The Bible's declaration that "there is one God" constitutes the simplest truth of its holy pages - except for the fact that God is also triune (I Timothy 2:5).

   "To us there is but one God, the Father… Unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, o God, is forever and ever… Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?... thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God" (I Corinthians 8:6; Hebrews 1:8; Acts 5:3;4).

    Scripture identifies three distinct Persons and personalities existing as one God.  Thus, the simplest truth becomes complex beyond our full understanding.  We can know enough to personally relate to the Father, through the merits of the Son, as enabled by the Holy Spirit.  However, the glorious One retains an element of mystery, just as we would expect of an infinite and eternal being.  As the Apostle Paul wrote regard the enigma of seeing God, but not seeing Him, "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" (I Timothy 6:15-16).  He dwells in light, but He cannot be approached or seen - we must become comfortable with the Truth that seems contradictory to some, but which joyfully fills and thrills the heart "hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).

   In its most basic revelation - the nature of God - the Bible tells us much.  But it cannot tell us all.  This places us in our proper role as creatures who derive our existence from One transcendently greater than us.  However, the Bible also beckons us to draw as near as possible through Christ, that is, to know the living God as loving Father.  Thus, we may experience Him personally while never beginning to fully know Him in principle.  The Apostle John, for example, laid his head on the chest of the Lord Jesus during the Savior's earthly life.  The same John fell as dead at Christ's feet when seeing Him in His risen glory (John 13:25; Revelation 1:17).  How can God be both transcendent and immanent?  How can the Beyond dwell in the midst?  We need not concern ourselves overmuch with such inquiries, acknowledging that no complete answers exist regarding the "How?".  Our concern and blessed opportunity involves the "Who?".  Our Lord calls us by His Spirit and His Word into loving and personal fellowship whereby we may know Him better than we know anyone else.  We cannot see Him, hear Him, or touch Him, but this does not matter.  He dwells nearer to us than any other, literally inhabiting the spirits of those who trust in the Lord Jesus.  How can such a thing be?  How can we know One beyond knowing?  Again, the "How?" is not our primary concern.  We rather glory in the "Who?", that is, the Father who beckons us to draw near to His Son, as led and enabled by His Spirit.  Mysterious glory?  Forevermore, yes!  Magnificent grace?  Forevermore, and in this moment, yes!

"And He said, Thou canst not see my face, for no man shall see Me and live."

(Exodus 33:20)

"God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in theface of Jesus Christ."

(II Corinthians 4:6)

Weekly Memory Verse

   "Give me understanding, and I shall keep Thy law."

 (Psalm 119:34).