An Enigma Within a Mystery
History is full mysteries. How was Stonehenge constructed? What is the language of the 3500 year old Indus civilization and how did its people disappear? What happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste, an American merchantman found adrift in the Atlantic in 1872 with no lifeboats. How could the pyramids have been constructed? But the greatest mystery of all is the being of God.
Mohenjo-Daro, ancient city of the Indus civilizationWhen Muslims debate Christians, one of the first things they do is mock our arithmetic. “Don’t you know, one plus one plus one equals three, not one. Jesus could not be the Son of God for allah is one in absolute unity.”
Christians accept the Trinity as mysterious but we believe in it because God, himself, revealed it to us in the New Testament. If we are biblical Christians we are thorough going trinitarians. We believe in; God, the Father, God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit. “Jesus commissioned his followers to, “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). And yet we believe that God is one. “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deut. 6:4). These two verses seem like a contradiction.
In this series of blogs about the attributes of God we have faced many truths that have stretched our minds. But now we come face to face with three even greater mysteries. Let’s approach the revealed facts that God is a spirit, that God is one, and that God is triune slowly and with care.
The place to start is with an admission of the reality of Mystery and the reality of our own limitations. We have neither the technology nor the intelligence to search the universe for God. In our meditations on God’s attributes, we’ve found Him to be unsearchable until he reveals Himself to us. Who can comprehend eternity? Or infinity? Or omnipotence? Or omniscience?
Zophar spoke to Job saying; ”Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? …The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea” (Job 11:7,9 KJV). God is unsearchable. Paul wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out” (Rom. 11:33).
We think so highly of ourselves with our robotics, our aircraft and our space probes. We proudly think that we have reached such a place in history that all truth is open to our investigation. Nothing could be further from reality. The only way to approach God is with humility. Think back to the beginning of history; to Adam and Eve. To create within Eve the Great Sin of Pride, Satan whispered to her; “Did God really say [don’t eat?]…for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Gen. 3:1,5). That whisper echoes down through history to our day. Will we obey God? Will we approach him with faith, or arrogance? Will we read and accept what he has revealed about himself in Holy Scripture?
That God is mysterious and other-worldly should not surprise us. Actually, you and I are a mystery. The search for the essence of who we are has engaged philosophers from time immemorial. It is the secret of human consciousness. Are we just a bundle of brain synapses plus heart pumps and lung breaths? No, of course not, every human has a distinct spirit or soul that reflects his or her personality. Although researchers labour to identify which area of the brain is responsible for what function, we are not just a brain. We are living souls. And the soul is mysterious and invisible.
If we are so mysterious doesn’t it make sense that God is more so, especially since we were created in his image? The Samaritan woman confronted by Jesus at the well probably had a material concept of God. This led her and her fellow Samaritans to believe that God must be worshipped in a place. Jesus corrected her. Worship must not be limited to this mountain or to Jerusalem. “God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). We must approach God in our own spirit or soul according to the truth about worship revealed in Scripture.
God is a spirit. This means various things. He is invisible and his essence does not consist of tangible matter. Although the universe is full of his presence yet we can never isolate him to one place nor measure his width, height or length. As we read in 1 Tim. 6:16; He is the one—”who only hath immortality, dwelling in light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be glory and power everlasting”.
Being a spirit means also that he is a self-conscious and self-determining being. He is not an impersonal force. He is a personal being with thoughts, feelings such as love and a will that makes decisions.
God is beyond all the laws that he created and thus beyond the search of the scientific method. Beyond matter and mass. Beyond space and time. Beyond change and decay. Beyond any limitations, so that as a spirit, he can be fully attentive to a person in one spot with the whole of his consciousness.
Our mind-boggling God! Clearly there is much more to consider here. Is the Father separate from the Son and Spirit? What does the unity of God mean? What does the Trinity mean?
Perhaps most important for you and me is to know that when we pray in our spirits to our heavenly Father we have his total attention. He is here as an invisible spirit. He listens to our prayer. He loves us. He moves heaven and earth to take care of us.
(Let me know your thoughts on this subject. If you appreciate this blog, please pass it on. Further articles, books, and stories at: http://www.countrywindow.ca Facebook: Eric E Wright Twitter: @EricEWright1 LinkedIn: Eric Wright ––)
__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initDynamicSlot({ id: 'atatags-26942-607b75f33f304', location: 120, formFactor: '001', label: { text: 'Advertisements', }, creative: { reportAd: { text: 'Report this ad', }, privacySettings: { text: 'Privacy', } } }); });
