Tag: nature of God

Nature of God – part 4

Ok… the last post in a series about the Nature of God.  This one really bothered me… maybe a bit more than the others.  This one is the attribute of the Jealousy of God.  The definition she gives to make her point doesn’t define His Jealousy and more importantly, it doesn’t describe our life under the New Covenant.

  • Jealous – God does not share His glory with another (Isaiah 48:11; Exodus 34:14; Isaiah 42:8)

Let’s start with looking at the Scriptures she uses to try and prove her point.

  • Isaiah 48:11: For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.

Well, that verse APPEARS to prove her point.  But remember we need to ask who is God talking to?  What is He talking about in context?  And of course how did the finished work of the Cross change this?

In this verse, the children of Israel were making idols and invoking the name of God.  They were using God’s name on the idols.  Of course, God’s not going to share His glory with idols!  But He was talking about idols, not us.   What about the next verse…..

  • Exodus 34:14:  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God

God is replacing the tablets of stone that were broken and He’s giving a list of commandments for the children of Israel.  Verse 14 is one of those.  He reveals His name as El Qana – a Jealous God.  He is not saying He’s jealous about sharing His glory with anyone!  He is saying He is a God passionate about not losing His children to false gods because they would then make covenants with the inhabitants of the land and turn away from God.

Last verse…..

  • Isaiah 42:8: I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

Again this verse is about God not giving His glory or His praise to graven images.

But what does God say about sharing His glory with us……

  • Jesus said the glory the Father gave Him, He gave to us
    • Jn 17:22: And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
  • We are filled with the FULLNESS of God — that would include His glory!
    • Eph 3:19: And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
  • God said that He would fill His new temple (US) with glory!
    • Haggai 2:7:  And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house (new temple) with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
  • The mystery of the Gospel was Christ in us… His glory in us
    • Col 1:27: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
  • He glorified us!
    • Romans 8:30 – whom He predestined, He called, whom He called, He justified, whom He justified, He glorified
    • NLT: And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory!
  • We are partakers of His divine nature — that includes His glory
    • 2 Peter 1:4: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

How exciting!  We were created for His glory.  We are carriers of His glory!  The fullness of the Deity dwells in us — the fullness of His glory dwells in us!!  That’s something to shout about!

~ Robin

Nature of God — part 3

As many of you know by now, if you’ve been reading my blog posts The Nature of God and The Nature of God – part 2, I am in a Bible study that is studying Romans and I’m not enjoying it.  We’re in Romans 9 and the lesson is on the nature of God.  The list reads like we are still under the Old Testament and Jesus never came!  A few of the attributes of God on the list just really bothered me so I have been blogging about them.

This next attribute on the list is:

  • Wrathful – God hates all that is unrighteous, and He punishes all unrighteousness.  Whatever is inconsistent with His holy standard must ultimately be atoned for or consumed. (Romans 1:18; John 3:36; 2 Chron 19:2; Col 3:5-6; Rev 15:7)

This one really bothers me!  This is not the God Jesus came to reveal.  He is not a wrathful God in the sense that He punishes all unrighteousness…. He did that already on the Cross.  I don’t even understand the definition she gives for this “attribute.”  Jesus already made atonement and God doesn’t consume whatever is inconsistent with His holy standard.  What does that even mean??  He is no longer imputing our sins against us… not just us in the Church, but the WHOLE WORLD!  Let’s take a look at the Scriptures she gives to support this “opinion”…..

  • Romans 1:18:  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…

This one seems to be a favorite when you are trying to prove God is wrathful.  But here’s another way to look at it:

Mirror Bible:  God’s passionate persuasion is uncovered from heavens perspective in sharp contrast to the foolishness of people who suppress and conceal the truth about their redeemed innocence while they continue to embrace an inferior reference of themselves.

 

Wrath in the Greek is orge meaning desire – as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind, passion.

Romans 4:15 tells us that the Law brings wrath.  Let’s look at the next Scripture:

  • John 3:36:  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Jesus is talking to the Jews in this verse and if they didn’t believe in the Son they would remain under the Law and remember it’s the Law that brings wrath.

  • 2 Chronicles 19:2:  And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.

This is Old Covenant… Jesus hadn’t come yet.  Jehoshaphat was under the Law and subject to the wrath that it brought for not obeying.  He had aligned himself with Ahab, by showing him friendship and assisting him in his war against the Syrians.

  • Colossians 3:5-6:  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: (6) For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

The wrath of God is for those (sons of disobedience) who have disobeyed God and broken his law. Faith in Jesus Christ saves us from the wrath of God.  Paul is talking about the old man (the man who walked under the law)… verse 7 says you also used to walk this way.  Remember the Law brought wrath against disobedience.

And the final Scripture used is Revelation 15:7 which we won’t even get into because I don’t know enough about the book of Revelation to teach from it on here.  But what I do know is this…..

  • The Law brought the wrath of God upon disobedience to the Law’s commands
    • Romans 4:15:  because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
      • before the law wrath was not used of God except in Exod. 4:14, when the anger of the Lord burned against Moses – the lawgiver –
      • and in Ex 15:7, when the blast of God’s nostril (anger) threw the Egyptian army into the sea
      • of the 499 times His wrath is shown (after the Law is given) only 51 of those times is against pagans outside of His covenant – again only after the Law
  • God has destined us for salvation NOT wrath
    • 1 Thess 5:9-10: For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him
  • Christ died for us… justifying us and saving us from the wrath that the Law brought
    • Romans 5:8-11 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (11) And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
  • God in His kindness declared us righteous and freed us from the penalty of sin
    • Romans 3:23-24 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. (24) Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 
  • Jesus left off the term vengeance of our God when He preached in Luke 4
    • Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 
      • acceptable is dektos in Greek meaning accepted; describing what is welcomed because pleasing.
  • Jesus rebuked His disciples for wanting to call down the wrath of God on “ungodly, unrighteous” people (those who wouldn’t receive Jesus)
    • Luke 9:54-55:  And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
  • God sends His blessings on the just and unjust…. on the evil and the good!
    • Matt 5:45: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
  • God the Father was in Christ on the Cross reconciling the world to Himself
    • 2 Cor 5:18-19: And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
      • reconcile is to change from enmity to friendship
  • Jesus released forgiveness for the world on the cross
    • Luke 23:34:  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots
  • Jesus was the propitiation for our sins and for the WHOLE WORLD
    • 1 John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. 
      • propitiation in Greek is hilasmos meaning showing mercy by satisfying (literally, propitiating) the wrath of God on sin
  • God reconciled us from enemies to friends
    • Romans 5:10  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 
  • God the Father’s love sent Jesus to show mercy for our sins by satisfying wrath
    • 1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
  • Jesus made reconcilation for our sins — changing us from enemies to friends of God
    • Hebrews 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.  
  • While we were yet sinners… instead of releasing wrath on us, God the Father made us alive with Christ.
  • He forgave ALL our sins
  • AND He cancelled the Law (that brought wrath) nailing it to the tree.
    • Col 2:13-14  When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decree that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!

Those are more than enough Scriptures to make us rethink the “wrathfullness” of God!  He is a good Daddy.  The Law brought His wrath under the Old Covenant to those who disobeyed it’s commands.  Jesus brought mercy, reconciliation, and forgiveness for ALL.

Let’s stop defining God’s nature by using Old Testament Scriptures…. Jesus is the Revealer.  What did He say about our Daddy?  That’s what we need to believe.

Ok…. next and last post on this series is God as a Jealous God…..

~Robin

 

The Nature of God — part 2

Yesterday I started a blog post series entitled The Nature of God.  In it I shared about a Bible study I attend that is doing a curriculum by a well-known Bible study teacher on the book of Romans.  We are in Romans 9.  I don’t care for the curriculum because it doesn’t come from a grace-based, finished work of the Cross teaching.

Our most recent lesson was on the nature of God and I won’t go back into it today…. you can click the link above and read the blog from yesterday if you want.  One of the attributes or nature of God that was listed was “Just.”  I don’t disagree that God is just…. He absolutely is.  I didn’t care for the definition that was given to describe God’s justness. It said:

  • Just – God rewards righteousness and punishes sin proportionate to His love of the former and His hatred of the latter (Psalm 89:14; Numbers 14:18, 23:19; Romans 9:14)

Let’s look at the verses that are used to prove this Bible teacher’s lesson on the nature of God being “just.”

  • Psalm 89:14 (KJV) – Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

In the Hebrew it says that Justice and Judgement are the dwelling place of His throne. Covenant Loyalty and truth shall go before your face. 

The foundation of His throne is Justice and Righteousness but when He turns His face toward us….. what flows from that throne…. that beautiful throne of grace…. is mercy and truth.  Or as it actually says in the Hebrew, covenant loyalty (chesed) and truth.  Psalm 85 also talks of covenant loyalty (mercy) and truth together.  God’s covenant loyalty and truth, of course, are really met together only in Jesus Christ.

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ

To be just, God had to punish sin (Ezekiel 18:4 and 20). But His mercy didn’t want to give us justice (James 2:13). This problem was solved in Jesus. God the Father laid our punishment on Jesus (Isaiah 53:6), and now through Jesus, we can receive God’s mercy (Ephesians 2:4-6). Oh happy day!!!  Mercy triumphed over judgement.  Therefore, mercy and truth have come together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Thank You, Jesus!  This is a miracle that could only occur because Jesus took all of God’s wrath for our sins (Isaiah 53:6 and John 12:32) into His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).

Justice and judgment are seldom combined with mercy and truth. Since all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), all of us deserve death (Romans 6:23), not mercy and truth. But because Jesus paid for all our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21 and 1 Peter 2:24), mercy and truth are now offered to us in Jesus (Psalms 85:10).

Now what about Numbers 14:18

  • Numbers 14:18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

I have a couple of issues with this verse in regards to the New Covenant.  First of

First of all it says He by no means clears the guilty.  That was under the Old Covenant.  Under the New Covenant, our guilt has been canceled.  The Law produced guilt.  Jesus took the Law as a document and nailed it to His cross, in effect writing across the bill “Paid in Full.” The New Testament believer is no longer under the Law ( 1 Corinthians 9:21, 1 Corinthians 10:23, Romans 3:19).

  • Colossians 2:14 – Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross;
  • Romans 3:19-20 — Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (20) Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

I also have an issue with this verse saying God will visit the iniquity of the father’s upon the children Ezekiel 18:3 and Jeremiah 31:30 both say that everyone shall die for his own iniquity.  This is speaking of the New Covenant….. Jeremiah 31:31-34 says Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: (32) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: (33) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (34)And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 

Under the New Covenant, the sins of the fathers are not passed down generation to generation.

As for Numbers 23:19 I’m not sure why this one is included to prove that God hates and punishes sin and rewards and loves righteousness.  This verse is talking about Balaam being powerless to overturn God’s blessings.

The last verse given is Romans 9:14.

  • Romans 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

The verse before it says Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated.  Jacob was called to a higher position than his brother, Esau, before they were born, but that does not display any rejection of Esau on God’s part.

I’m not sure what this verse has to do with God punishing sin and rewarding righteousness.  If anything it disproves it.  He chose Jacob and Esau before they had done any good or evil, to illustrate that election was not based on performance but choice.

Of course I believe God is just.  Sin had to be dealt with.  The price for sin, all sin, has been paid!  God dealt with sin once and for all in Christ. He is now focused entirely on righteousness. Jesus did not just take our sin; He became the embodiment of it, so that we could become the embodiment of righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Some scriptures about God being just that should encourage you…..

  • He is merciful and remembers our sins no more
    • Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
      • the word for merciful is hileos which means appeasing divine wrath; It means propitious, describing God’s covenant-mercy which rescues the believer by His atonement (bringing divine satisfaction).
  • Jesus became the propitiation for the WHOLE WORLD’S sins in order to satisfy the debt the Law had placed us under
    • 1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 
      • propitiation is hilasmos in Greek meaning to appease wrath; an offering to appease (satisfy) an angry, offended party.
  • Jesus offered Himself for our sins ONCE for ALL
    • Hebrews 7:26-27 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; (27) Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
  • Jesus came to take away the sins of the world
    • John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
  • We have been sanctified and perfected by Jesus’ sacrifice
    • Hebrews 10:11-14  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (11) And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:  (12) But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; (13) From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. (14) For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
  • Jesus took our sins so that we could have His righteousness
    • 1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
  • God reconciled the world to Himself — making us friends instead of enemies
    • 2 Cor 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

      • reconcile is katallaso in Greek meaning to change from enmity to friendship, to reconcile“
  • Jesus took our chastisement for our sin, giving us instead healing
    • Isaiah 53:5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.
  • God in His kindness declared us righteous and freed us from the penalty of sin
    • Romans 3:23-24 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. (24) Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 
  • Christ died for us… justifying us and saving us from the wrath that the Law brought
    • Romans 5:8-11 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (11) And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
  • Grace abounded to us through the righteous obedience of Jesus
    • Romans 5:18-21 So then as through one transgression there resulted in condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted in justification of life to all men. (19) For as through the one man’s disobedience, the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. (20) The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, (21) so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

There are so many more verses that we could list.  I encourage you to study it for yourself.  Instead of finding Old Covenant Scriptures to “prove” that God hates and punishes sin look for New Covenant Scriptures that will show you what Jesus did for you.

Romans 3:26 shows us the nature of God being Just…… This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.  

His righteousness and His justness are demonstrated in that all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (v.23) and yet God with undeserved kindness declared us righteous through Christ when He freed us from the penalty of sin (v. 24) because Jesus became the sacrifice for sin, shedding His blood for us.

He is a very just God… who has defeated sin and its power in our lives, completely forgiven us and has declared us righteous.  IN CHRIST His justness is clearly seen.

Next blog post is part 3 and talking about wrathful…..

~ Robin

The nature of God

 

I love Bible study!!  I love teaching Bible study, and I also love attending a Bible study that is taught by someone else.  I just enjoy studying the Word and growing in my knowledge of Christ.  So, I joined a Bible study at my church a few months ago, and we’re studying the book of Romans.  Romans is one of my favorite books to study, but this class has been such a disappointment.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all of the women in the group and love fellowshipping every week.  I also LOVE our church that we go to when we are up here in Northern California… the Pastor is awesome, and I learn so much from him.  It’s a Rhema based church and so there is a tremendous amount of teaching on faith and specifically who we are in Christ.  Which I absolutely love!

This Bible study, however, is using a curriculum from a well-known Bible teacher and her teaching is not something I enjoy.  It doesn’t look at the Old Testament through the lens of the finished work of the Cross.  So….. suffice it to say, I’m not enjoying the class.  Today’s class was on Romans 9, and our lesson was on the nature of God.  We were learning what His attributes are… both natural and moral.  According to this lesson, natural attributes are describing what God IS, and moral attributes are describing HOW God deals with mankind.  She is not the only one who teaches this… google God’s attributes/nature, and you’ll find similar lists online through many sources.

I really had a difficult time with this lesson because it gives us an incomplete picture of who God is since some of these attributes are rooted in the Old Testament and don’t take into account what Jesus did through the Cross and the Resurrection.  Since the women in the class, except for myself and 2 other ladies, believed that this list thoroughly describes God’s nature, I thought I would share on my blog a few of the attributes that I feel are an incomplete picture of God.

The list of attributes were as follows:

Natural Attributes:

  • Omniscient
  • Omnipotent
  • Omnipresent
  • Eternal
  • Immutable
  • Incomprehensible – God, including His nature and acts, is beyond the comprehension of any creature.  Man understands only what God chooses to reveal about Himself, His purposes, and His ways (Job 11:7 and Romans 11:33)
  • Self-existent
  • Self-sufficient
  • Infinite
  • Transcendent
  • Sovereign

Moral Attributes:

  • Holy
  • Gracious
  • Righteous
  • Just – God rewards and punishes sin proportionate to His love of the former and His hatred of the latter (Psalm 89:14; Numbers 14:18, 23:19; Romans 9:14)
  • Merciful
  • Slow to anger
  • Wise
  • Loving 
  • Good
  • Wrathful – God hates all that is unrighteous, and He punishes all unrighteousness.  Whatever is inconsistent with His holy standard must ultimately be atoned for or consumed. (Romans 1:18; John 3:36; 2 Chron 19:2; Col 3:5-6; Rev 15:7)
  • Truthful
  • Faithful
  • Jealous – God does not share His glory with another (Isaiah 48:11; Exodus 34:14; Isaiah 42:8)

Reminder this is not MY list of God’s attributes/nature…. it is from a Bible study I’m attending.  

I highlighted bold the 6 that I feel are incomplete pictures of who God is.  Not that they’re necessarily wrong…. God did manifest those attributes under the Old Covenant — they are just INCOMPLETE and don’t show the reality of the finished work of the Cross.

LOVING and TRUTHFUL

I highlighted LOVING and TRUTHFUL only because I don’t feel they are moral attributes only — based on her teaching that moral attributes are HOW God deals with mankind and natural attributes being who God IS.  He is not just loving and truthful to mankind.  HE IS LOVE, and HE IS TRUTH.  Because He is those things… because His nature is love and His nature is Truth, everything He does is loving and truthful.  But He is not Love because He’s loving nor is loving an adjective to describe Him.  LOVE is His very essence. The same goes for TRUTH (Jn 14:6; Jn 16:13;).

INCOMPREHENSIBLE

To say God is incomprehensible is to give an incomplete picture of who God is.  He is not beyond our comprehension.  He is definitely infinitely limitless, and we will forever be learning of who He is and growing in our knowledge of Him.  He was definitely incomprehensible to the unbelieving Israelites.  Romans 11:33 says He is incomprehensible because of their rejection of the Messiah due to their unbelief.  To Job and his friends, the Lord is incomprehensible (Job 11:7).  However, the story of Job is before the finished work of the Cross.

While I do not disagree that He is incomprehensible to men at times… definitely in the Old Testament and in the New Testament to the unbelieving (because the natural mind cannot understand God)…. it still is not a complete picture of who He is.  Just leaving it at incomprehensible does nothing for my faith or help me grow in grace.  We also have a Knowability of God thanks to Jesus.

Jesus came and revealed to us who God is… what His nature looks like.  Men had a wrong, distorted perspective of God’s nature and Jesus set it straight.  Let’s take a look at Hebrews 1:1-3 and John 17:26 in some different translations.

  • Hebrews 1:1-3 says “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, (2) Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;  (3) Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person.”  
  • Hebrews 1:3 in the Message Bible:  This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!
  • Hebrews 1:3a in the Mirror Bible: Jesus is the radiant and flawless expression of the person of God. He makes the glorious intent of God visible and mirrors the character and every attribute of God in human form. 
  • John 17:26 says “and I have made Your name known to them and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” 
  • Verse 26 in the Amplified says “I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them.” 
  • Verse 26 in the Message Bible says I have made Your very being known to them—
    Who you are and what you do— And continue to make it known, So that your love for me might be in them exactly as I am in them.
  • John 17:26 in the Mirror Bible: And I have made the essence of Your being known to them so that they may know You by name, and I will also give them understanding to know that the same love with which You have loved Me is in them even as I am in them!

So a complete picture of God’s nature would include what we now have available through the Cross.  Jesus FULLY revealed His nature to us… He is no longer incomprehensible to us.  Nothing was hidden from us about God.  So what Scriptures do we have that show us the Knowability of God?

  • We can have a full and personal knowledge of Him
    • 2 Peter 1:3:  His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness
      • Amplified says through the FULL, PERSONAL knowledge of Him
  • We have been given understanding to know Him
    • Jer 9:24: but let the one who boasts boast about this:  that they have the understanding to know me,
      • Message Bible says  If you brag, brag of this and this only: That you understand and know me.  I’m God, and I act in loyal love.
      • Amplified says  But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character]
  • Eternal life is being able to know or comprehend God and His Son Jesus
    • John 17:3:  Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
      • Know is ginosko in Greek — to take in knowledge; to comprehend
      • Mirror Bible says: This life of the ages, invites them to engage in the inexhaustible adventure of knowing you, the only true God and Jesus as the Christ whom you have commissioned!
      • Amplified says: And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.
  • God has promised that ALL shall know Him
    • Heb 8:11:  And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
  • Because we love and are born of God we have the ability to know God clearly
    • 1 Jn 4:7:  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth (ginosko) God.
      • Amplified says:  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is (springs) from God; and he who loves [his fellowmen] is begotten (born) of God and is coming [progressively] to know and understand God [to perceive and recognize and get a better and clearer knowledge of Him].
  • 1 Cor 2:9-10:  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit
    • Verse 10 in the Mirror Bible says: These profound mysteries of God’s eternal resolve are now thoroughly unveiled to us by his Spirit; nothing is hidden from him; he explores the innermost thoughts of God.
  • We have the mind of Christ and so we know what Christ knows
    • 1 Cor 2:16:  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
      • Message Bible says Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.
  • We know ALL things
    • 1 John 2:20: But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

Why would I want to study the Incomprehensibility of God when the New Covenant promises me that I can FULLY, INTIMATELY, PERSONALLY, COMPLETELY, know Him. This is worth exploring in greater depth. I did not do an exhaustive study of the Knowability of God.  Study it for yourself.  Don’t just “parrot” what a Bible teacher says…. even this Bible teacher 😏  

In the next blog, we’ll look at the nature of God being Just.

~ Robin