INCOMPREHENSIBLE BUT KNOWABLE

INCOMPREHENSIBLE BUT KNOWABLE

 

“All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.”  Matt. 11:27

The INCOMPREHENSIBILITY of God is not the same as the UNKNOWABILITY of God. And at no time in the history of the Church have those who follow the Scriptures ever taught that God is unknowable. To the contrary, the Scriptures teach that God can be known. The natural man cannot know the things of God because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14), but God has made a revelation of things concerning Himself in His word and they can be known by men who are born of God (1 Cor. 2:9-12).

  The Spirit of God knows God completely (Rom. 8:26-27; 1 Cor.2:11), and He has been pleased to reveal many things about God. These we call the attributes of God as set forth in the Bible. As yet no theologian has ever exhausted this volume of information, and never will, for it is God's word. Christ affirmed that the progressive knowledge of God is vitally associated with eternal life (John 17:3). It is affirmed that true believers know God (1 John 2:13-14), and the display of certain characteristics is evidence of knowing God (1 John 2:3-4; 4:6-8). But even though God may be known, and there is room for endless progressive growth in the knowledge of God, it is still true that no finite mind can completely comprehend God.

  There is one exception to this rule, and that is the Godman, Christ Jesus. But His was an infinite mind. "No man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him" (Matt. 11:27). For the purpose of making known the incomprehensible God, God was manifest in flesh, thus bringing the image of the invisible God within the grasp of men (Col. 1:15). As the Word, Christ became the communication of God to men (John 1:14), ever unfolding the truth of God to men (John 14:6-9; 1:13). "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true; and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:20-21).

  In function, Christ is the appointed medium of revelation of God to all created intelligences. That is the sense of the words, "the image of the invisible God." "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him" (Matt. 11:27). As the exact image of God, the Son has been that person of the Godhead through whom God always works in revelation. In His pre-incarnate state God always revealed Himself through Him. It was Christ who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush (Exod. 3:6, 13; John 8:58). The angel of Jehovah who appeared to Hagar (Gen. 21:17), to the parents of Samson (Judges 13:2-3), and watched over the people of Israel (Isa. 63:9) was none other than Christ (cf. Judges 13:15-18 and Isa. 9:6; name Wonderful for both). He is that messenger (angel) of the covenant who will eventually in the plan of God take upon Him humanity to make full revelation of God (Mal. 3:1).

THE PERSON OF CHRIST IS A MYSTERY

It is the Great Mystery of Christian Faith Cf. 1 Tim 3:16; Matt 11:27

Yet the Bible Encourages a Reverent Study of This Mystery

John 20:27; Phil. 3:8; Col. 2:2-3 ARV