Our Triune God reveals himself in many ways, yet remains beyond our comprehension. Learn to cultivate humble worship, awe, and curiosity before God.
Our Triune God reveals his existence, identity, and love for us in many ways: Creation, conscience, the canon of Scripture, and ultimately through Christ. Yet even as God reveals who he is and how he loves us, God is infinite, eternal, and holy. To know God is to know that God remains beyond our comprehension.
Yet we live within cultures that value clarity, efficiency, knowledge, control, and excellence. As helpful as these values are, paradoxically, they can also function as barriers to seeing, knowing, obeying, and worshipping a God who is greater than we can ever understand or imagine.
To cultivate a posture of humble worship, awe, and curiosity before God that motivates us to be like Christ.
When I was in high school, I noticed that some religious leaders liked to talk about how "God is mysterious" and "beyond our understanding" so that they could say whatever they wanted to say about God. If God is unknowable, then we may claim that God is aligned with whatever causes we want him to support.
If anyone pushed back and said, "But wait, the Bible teaches that God isn't like that!" then there was a convenient reply: "That's just your limited interpretation. But God is bigger than any of the boxes we put him in."
Even if I couldn't articulate it at the time, I felt that I was being played. In response, I craved a theological system that promised Biblical faithfulness, logical organization, and practical clarity. In a confusing world, the last thing I needed was a confusing God!
But over time, despite my best efforts to identify a theological system that could hold its ground, I kept running into paradoxes that defied my understanding:
Even as I pursued additional theological study, first by completing an M.Div. at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and then by enrolling in the Doctor of Ministry program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, the challenges multiplied.
I became increasingly aware of the complexity in the academic debates between Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Anglicans, and a hundred other denominations. The study of church history added another layer of disagreement. Finally, our own society is experiencing rapid change, with new debates among Christians about gender, sexuality, technology, and politics.
But I couldn't look the other way. As an active ministry leader, people were coming to me with their questions, and they wanted answers. It's no good to say, "Well, no one really knows, you'll have to figure it out yourself."
At the same time, despite my best efforts, I grew older. Perhaps as a function of aging, I felt less of a need for the certainties of my zealous, youthful approach to faith. I realized that my desire for neat theological boxes often reflected my need for control. But if there was one thing I knew about God, it was that I was not in control.
As I've continued to seek God and experience that God is pursuing me with his love, I came to realize that these paradoxes are a gift from God.
For instance, in Proverbs 25:2, we read,
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter > and the glory of kings to investigate a matter. > As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, > so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.
Commenting on this verse in the New American Commentary, Duane Garrett explains, "Those who assume they have full comprehension of theological truth, however 'religious' they may be, lose true piety." In short, admitting that God is beyond us is necessary for humility, growth, and worship.
Of course, Solomon isn't the only one who is fond of riddles. We see the same approach in Jesus, who is himself the ultimate mystery: the Word made flesh! (And how do we explain the Trinity?)
At one point in his ministry, Jesus tells the crowds a story that appears to be about a farmer sowing seeds. Yet cryptically, at the end, he tells the crowd, "Let anyone who has ears to hear listen." Jesus is hinting: I just told you a riddle.
So there's a deeper meaning, but what is it?
Then Mark records this exchange:
When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables. He answered them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables so that they may indeed look, and yet not perceive; they may indeed listen, and yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back and be forgiven" (Mark 4:10-12).
But doesn't Jesus want everyone to turn back and be forgiven? Why would he tell parables if they might keep someone from following him?
In his commentary on the passage, the theologian R.T. France explains that the kingdom of God is paradoxical because it opposes our human perspectives. In short, we lack the ability to understand God's point of view without God's assistance. Even Jesus' disciples had to confess, "We don't know what he's talking about" (John 16:18).
Further, consider that even when Jesus spoke plainly, very few people understood what he meant! And even when we know exactly what Jesus has told us to do, how often are we willing to put it into practice?
As the Apostle Paul models for us in 1 Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror... now I know in part." If the Apostle Paul — who was 'caught up to the third heaven' (2 Corinthians 12:2) — only "knew in part" then how confident should we be about our understanding of God?
Whether we are investigating Jesus, a new disciple, or a spiritual leader, we all need space to puzzle through the mysteries of life and God with one another.
It's uncomfortable to admit that, despite our best efforts, God remains incomprehensible. Perhaps one reason we hesitate to do so is that we've seen how these complicated questions can lead people astray.
One caution is that these riddles can lead us into endless, idle speculation. Instead of growing closer to God, we avoid God by intellectualizing our faith. Our goal in this course is not to daydream about obscure questions, but to worship God with all of our minds.
Another risk of paradoxes is paralysis. We get so caught up in trying to figure out how to decode these puzzles that we neglect the clear priorities: to love God and our neighbor. Instead of reading our Bibles to nourish our souls, we feel the pressure to read at least five commentaries before deciding what God is saying to us.
Yet whether we like it or not, accepting that life is a riddle and God is beyond our comprehension is necessary for our spiritual growth. For instance, the more we take these paradoxes seriously, we will grow to spiritual maturity in important ways:
Finally, it would be an overstatement to think that life is such a profound mystery that we don't really know anything at all. (It would also be self-defeating: how could we know that we don't know?) Rather, we are only seeking to grow in love for God and our neighbors.
My prayer for us is the same one that the Apostle Paul prayed for the Philippian church:
And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
So, as we go through this course together, may we depend on God as we grow in our love for God and our neighbor! May we learn to celebrate both what has been revealed and what remains mysterious, knowing that both lead us deeper into a loving relationship with the one true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—assuming you have heard about the administration of God's grace that he gave to me for you. The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above. By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace that was given to me by the working of his power. This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ, and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. This is so that God's multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens. This is according to his eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him. So, then, I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God's love, and to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
What is the mystery Paul describes? How does it relate to both God's revelation and hiddenness?
How does Paul say this mystery is made known to us? What role does the Spirit play?
How does Paul describe God's love as 'surpassing knowledge' (v. 19)? What does this tell us about the limits of our understanding?
Where do you feel the 'width and length and height and depth' (v. 18) of God's love most personally, even when you can't fully comprehend it?
How might praying Paul's prayer (vv. 16-19) change your posture when you encounter things about God you don't understand?
Take a moment to pray one or more of these prayers:
Discuss how God was at work in your lives this week.
Discuss Ephesians 3:1-21 together. What did you learn through your personal study of this text?
What is one assumption you've had that this lesson challenges?
How do you feel about living with mystery or unanswered questions about God?
In what ways does our culture's emphasis on immediate information and certainty create barriers to embracing divine mystery?
Duration: 5 minutes
Take five minutes of silence to be with God. When your mind begins to race with questions or distractions, gently return to this prayer: "Holy Spirit, please lead me into a greater understanding of the truth" (John 16:13).
As you start studying Paradoxes of the Christian Life with a friend or a group, reach out to a member of the group you don't know as well, and get to know them better.
How can you share what you're learning with someone in your life who might be wrestling with unanswered questions?
What will you stop or start doing in light of this paradox? When, why, and how?
What goal can you share with the group for their encouragement and support?
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