Infinite and Finite

God is also incomprehensible because he is infinite, and we are finite.

How is God infinite? God is infinite in that he is without limit regarding his attributes. They are perfect and complete.

His knowledge? He knows everything. His power? He can do anything. His love? It never ends. His existence? Eternal. The theologian Millard Erickson points out, "If there really is an infinite God… then we need to realize that all our attempts to grasp and describe him must ultimately fall short of what he is."

The implication, he explains, is that all of our knowledge of God is only an approximation. I hope it is clear that we are finite, and not infinite, like God. This has a few implications.

First, as the theologian Matthew Barrett explains, it means that when God communicates with us, he is accommodating himself to our finite understanding. Further, Barrett quotes from Stephen Charnock, who advises that when we think about God, we say to ourselves, "This is not God; God is more than this: if I could conceive him, he were not God; for God is incomprehensibly above whatsoever I can say, whatsoever I can think and conceive of him."

But neither should we say we don't know God. After all, God has revealed himself to us! If anyone can give us knowledge about God, it would be an infinitely knowledgeable God.

So what kind of knowledge do we have? Theologians describe our knowledge of God as 'analogical.'

The pastor Eugene Peterson says it like this: "A metaphor is a word that makes an organic connection from what you can see to what you can't see. In any conversation involving God, whom we can't see, metaphors are invaluable for keeping language vivid and immediate. Without metaphors we are left with colorless abstractions and vague generalities."

Which compliment do you prefer? "You're strong!" Or, "You're as strong as an ox!"

They're both the same statement, but the metaphor is more powerful.

So while we don't have an exhaustive understanding of God, we can still have a rich and vibrant understanding of him through the metaphors God has provided in the Scriptures.

Through metaphors, we can know more about God's nature, even as God's reality goes beyond our comprehension.