God Is Inconceivable And Incomprehensible

Behold, God is great,

and we do not know Him;

Nor can the number

of His years

be discovered.

Job 36:26

     Try as hard as we may as we ponder God, peruse the infinite Being and we are soon faced with the truth. We cannot fully know God. It is as Paul so aptly wrote: "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12). While we reside upon this earth God can only be known dimly, in some aspect but not completely. When in heaven with God it will be possible to know Him in a more complete manner for we shall see Him face to face. Does this mean then we will see God? No! to see God face to face is to see the infinite Being who clarifies the fact that to see Him face to face is to die: "But He said, 'You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live" (Exodus 33:20). Jesus explains this seemly contradiction for did not Jacob say that he saw the face of God? Yes! Jacob cried out after his wrestling match with a Man (Genesis 32:24) and said: so Jacob called the name of the place Peniel. For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved" (Genesis 32:30). It was not the Father that Jacob wrestled with or saw but God, the Son of God who appears many times to the men of old, these are termed Christophanies, but listen to Jesus: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him" (Matthew 11:28). Philip in his impetuousness asked Jesus: "Philip said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.' "Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not know Me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father" (John 14:8-9). Jesus reveals to those He chooses the Father, for Jesus is God, God the Son and it is by means of the Son that we can see and know the Father. Otherwise, God is inconceivable and incomprehensible.

     What is being said is that properly speaking we cannot conceive of God, that is we cannot form a mental picture of God. To form a mental picture of something we must have and be able to combine valid conceptions of that object. The Infinite God is not an object of knowledge. We cannot form an image of empty space. To form an image we find that it is limited, we cannot fully circumscribe that which we do not have an idea of the whole. To conceive is to think. A conception therefore is a thought and not necessarily an image. To say that God is conceivable is to say that He is thinkable. There is no contradiction or impossibility for the thought of God. We cannot think of a round square, or that a part is equal to the whole, but we can thing that God is infinite and eternal.

     God can be known but He cannot be comprehended. To comprehend is to have a complete and exhaustive knowledge of an object. We must understand its nature and its relations. We cannot understand force, and especially vital force. We can see its effect, but we cannot understand its nature or the reason it acts as it does. Would you not find it strange to know more than God? That we ourselves are so familiar with Him and have full sense of Him. God is past finding out and we cannot understand the Infinite God to perfection. This knowledge is impossible for man, a creature, created by the Infinite. We cannot fully know ourselves, so how then could we expect to know God? Those involved in transcendentalism claim that in this way they can know God. Those who are involved in such ideology are committed to believe that they can become so superior that they can know the unknowable. They believe in a supernatural revelation that comes as they practice meditation. The fact is that some Churches practice and teach a form of meditation, an emptying of the mind so that it is clear and available for the presence of God to appear, and in this way can bring down to earth God's kingdom. This is nothing more than Hinduism and has no place for a Christian. 

     So how can we know anything about God? How does our constitution and nature have a way so that we can know God and conceive of Him even if it is partial? It is by His Son Jesus Christ and His Word revealing to us all that we need to know about God and His purpose for man. Looking elsewhere leads to apostasy and heresy. Our focus is not some Hinduism meditation, or finding God's language, it is His Word, preached exegetical and not of one's own presuppositions. Searching to know God in some full measure outside of what has been revealed is futile. Focus on His Word, His Son, obey Him and leave the consequences to Him. As St. Augustine so aptly put it: "Love God, and live life."

We give You thanks, O Lord

     God Almight,

The One who is and who was

    and who is to come.

Because You have taken Your

    great power and reigned.

                               Revelation 11:17

May The Lord Be Merciful To You Today

Richard L. Crumb