Setting our hearts to know the incomprehensible God who has revealed Himself to us.
In the last lesson, we talked about the goal of our time together: to know "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." And Jesus tells us that to have a relationship with our First Love is the definition of what it means to enjoy, to experience, to know eternal life.
We came to terms with the reality of our starting point. God has sent prophet after prophet to bring us back to him, but we did not want to hear their message, so we ignored them and even killed them. We are lost in the woods, but God came down to find us, to rescue us, to save us, even at the cost of his own life.
In our last lesson, we said our posture for this course is not despair. Nor is it mastery. But we are going to keep asking God to give us a heart attitude of humility, worship, and awe.
In this module, we're going to consider that God is incomprehensibly great.
Why study this? Why not talk about how Jesus is our buddy? What I have experienced is that Christians have a great deal of knowledge ABOUT God. From seminaries to books to classes like this, there are so many ways that we can know God. Anyone who registers for an online course about God is likely to be a very motivated learner! So it seems like we have a really good knowledge of God.
But we need to pause and step back for a second. In a very important sense… we cannot know God!
Who else do you have a "personal relationship" with that is invisible, omnipotent, and good?
We face this issue because God is incomprehensibly great!
This doctrine is often not discussed - probably because teachers and leaders don't like to say they don't understand what they are talking about! It doesn't feel good, for me to give a lecture where I keep saying, "Ok, so, I have no idea!"
But this is a crucial doctrine for us to understand and take to heart. Here's why. When we understand that God is incomprehensible, we are motivated, first, to worship God for all that he has revealed - we treasure what he has revealed about himself as a gift and second, we are motivated to learn more about a God we will never completely understand. This doctrine awakens our curiosity!
So if you want to fire up your passion to worship God and know God, then paradoxically, you need to know that God is incomprehensible.
Oh incomprehensible but prayer-hearing God,
Known, but beyond knowledge,
Revealed, but unrevealed,
My wants and welfare draw me to you,
For you have never said, "seek me in vain."
To you I come in my difficulties, necessities, and distresses.
Possess me with yourself, with a spirit of grace and supplication, with a prayerful attitude of mind, with access into warmth of fellowship, so that in the ordinary concerns of life, my thoughts and desires may rise to you.
In Christ's name, Amen.
How does it feel to know that God is beyond your full understanding?
In what ways does God's incomprehensibility motivate you to worship Him more?
Create a piece of art, poetry, or music that expresses your response to the concept of God's incomprehensibility. Consider:
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