The Doctrine of God: Incomprehensibility

This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Wednesday evening, May 8, 2019.

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Review: 
"What we think about when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
- A.W. Tozer
"God is someone than whom none greater can be conceived.”
- Anselm
Our God is not manageable, He cannot be packaged. There will be unanswered questions, concepts beyond our ability to comprehend but then, a God you can fully understand, succinctly define and package is not a God worthy of your worship.
He is not a bigger version of us. He is of a different kind, above and beyond us.
Theology: Theo - God + logos - word = a word about God
Today:
The twin truths of "God is incomprehensible" and "God is knowable" are held side by side in the Christian Church. (Job 11:7-9; Isaiah 40:18 and yet, John 17:3; 1 John 5:20)
  • An impossible request-Exodus 33:18-23
Incomprehensible - impossible to understand or comprehend. Limitless, not capable of being limited. To comprehend is to have complete and exhaustive understanding of an object but God is past finding out. We cannot understand the Almighty with perfection.
Isaiah 46:5
Isaiah 40: 12-23, 28
  • An Important clarification - To say that God cannot be comprehended is not to say he cannot be known, in part.
  • 2 Ditches or pitfalls to avoid
    1. Agnosticism - we cannot know if God exists or what he is like.
    2. Mysticism - God does exist but we cannot know him or what he is like.
  • How must we approach the subject of God’s essence or person?
    1. We must acknowledge our inherent weakness.
    2. We must acknowledge if we know anything about God, it is because He has chosen to make it known.

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