Recently I have been reading a bit about this concept... "we cannot comprehend God or come to an understanding of Him", at least a full understanding is not possible. I have been reading these concepts via blogs, Facebook post, articles etc... We use scripture like this Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD." We tend to go to this scripture to describe His power and unsearchable understanding, which is true BUT there are a lot of other scripture that indicate that WE CAN know and understand Him (to what degree... I have no idea). Lets look at those as well.The latest quote I have read comes from a very Godly man who will remain un-named . He states, "Not being able to fully understand God is frustrating, but it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we are capable of comprehending." A good quote. Obviously we as finite (created) beings will have difficulty conceiving the infinite (uncreated).
I only use this quote because it spurred in me several thoughts I want to share. The author of the above quote is amazing. He is a Godly man and a leader in the Kingdom. Therefore I would never criticize or defame the Lords anointed... even if I do not agree with everything he says.
This thought of not being able to know and or understand God (fully) is very prevalent in our Churches and doctrine and is not limited to one mans thoughts. It is dominate in our generation. And that is what I would like to address, the thought, not the author.
I merely want to address this concept of knowing God. Can we know God? To what degree can we know God?
I am of the conviction that we can know God (to great depths). Not just know who He is and what we believe about Him but we can actually know (intimately) and understand (some) of His actions. We can understand God. I do believe we can know as much about God as we seek (Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9).
The Scripture tell is that He wants to reveal secret things to us (Daniel 2:22, Job 12:22, Deuteronomy 29:29, 1 Corinthians 2:10). I want to highlight 1 Corinthians 2:10, "For to us God revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." God reveals the depths of Himself through the Spirit. And we have access to the Spirit. In verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 2 we see that God wants us to know things freely given by Him through the Spirit. FYI... a little further in that verse it says that we have the "mind of Christ." Let that sink in a while : )
What about Jeremiah 9:24, "...but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me..." God would not direct the prophet to write something that says, "if you boast boast that you KNOW and UNDERSTAND God..." unless He made it so that we CAN know and understand Him.
Not to mention John 14:7, "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” As you know Jesus, you know the Father. Do you know Jesus?
As a human father I want nothing more than for my children to know me and understand my heart. As a matter of fact I do a lot of things to let them know me. I tell them what I like, I tell them my feelings, I tell them the things that make me happy and I also tell them the things that make me upset. At what point do I tell my children all of these things? When they ask. When my kids ask me something I let them know (sometimes it is not the right timing or the right stage for them in life to understand, but eventually I will tell them).
Why do we think God is any different... and we are created in HIS image (likeness).
Sometimes I think that we have completely taken the character of God and set it on some weird level that dictates to us that "He is God, and we are not so suck it up and deal with it". When in fact I think that "God is God and we are not SO lets try to understand His character and nature". He wants to share it with us! He invites us to understand Him. In Isaiah 1:18 He says, "Come now let us reason together..." The idea is, "Hey lets talk... ask me questions... I will reveal myself to you though my Spirit and my Son."
So in closing... Can we Know God? YES!!! To what degree? I don't know but I would say. "How much do you want to know?" and to what degree are you willing to sacrifice and dive in to be able to understand Him? Also, when was the last time you asked God a question? A question about the deepest aspects of His character.
Hope this Helps,
Ezra
