INFINITY

GOD IS INFINITE

 

 

The next attribute in this assembly of three is that of INFINITY. Of all the attributes of God, this one is perhaps the most difficult to grasp. "Even to try to conceive of it would appear to be self-contradictory, for such conceptualization requires us to undertake something which we know at the outset we can never accomplish. Yet we must try, for the Holy Scriptures teaches that God is infinite and, if we accept His other attribute, we must of necessity accept this one, too." For the finite mind, contemplation of the infinite does not need to be full comprehension in order to reflect upon the infinite.

1.     The Biblical terminology is various. Only once does the word in­finite appear in the English translation, and in this instance it relates to God's understanding (Psa. 147:5). But inasmuch as the understanding of God is coextensive with His being, it is an affirmation of the infinitude of God. The Hebrew word means without number, that which cannot be numbered, hence without limits.

But there are a variety of ways by which the same idea is expressed in the Scriptures. The Psalmist declares that God's thoughts "cannot be reckoned up in order" (Psa. 40:5). God's righteousness and salvation cannot be known (Psa. 71:15). "Mercy shall be built up forever" (Psa. 89:2). Redemption knows no end, for "as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us" (Psa. 103:12).

Such expressions as "His greatness is unsearchable" (Psa. 145:3), "high as heaven...deeper than hell" (Job 11:7-9), "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my Footstool" (Isa. 66:1), "Heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee" (1 Kings 8:27), and "how unsearchable are his judgments, and His ways past finding out" (Rom. 11:33), all convey the same idea, namely, that God is without limits.

2.     The doctrinal explanation of the infinitude of God requires some care in expression and intense contemplation. "By infinity we mean, not that the divine nature has no known limits or bounds, but that it has no limits or bounds. That which has simply no known limits is indefinite." To say that God is in­finite means that God is wholly without limits except those which are self-imposed.

In further explanation, the infinity of God is in no way limited by the universe or confined to the universe (1 Kings 8:27). God is above, outside, beyond, and before the universe as well as in the universe. This means that "There can be no infinite universe, because an infinite universe is conceivable only as an infinite number of worlds or of minds. God himself is the only real Infinite, and the universe is but the finite expression or symbol of His greatness."

Therefore, it must be insisted upon that infinity can belong to but one Being, and cannot be shared with the universe. However, infinity must not be imagined to center in mere spatial relations, for God's infinity encompasses all that He is: personality, greatness, goodness, in short, the sum total of God's glory. This does not exclude the relationship which God shares with created and finite beings and things (Psa. 113:5, 6). The infinity of God cannot be described in terms of physical extension, for God is spirit. God is the infinite energy of spiritual life, unlimited resource, possessing boundless supply within.

Two illuminating paragraphs from the pen of the late Dr. A. W. Tozer bear repeating here:

"Again, to say that God is infinite is to say that He is measure­less. Measurement is the way created things have of account­ing for themselves. It describes limitations, imperfections, and cannot apply to God. Weight describes the gravitational pull of the earth upon material bodies; distance describes intervals between bodies in space; length means extension in space, and there are other familiar measurements such as those for liquid, energy, sound, light, and numbers for pluralities. We also try to measure abstract qualities, and speak of great or little faith, high or low intelligence, large or meager talents.

Is it not plain that all this does not and cannot apply to God? It is the way we see the works of His hands, but not the way we see Him. He is above all this, outside of it, and beyond it.

Our concepts of measurement embrace mountains and men, atoms and stars, gravity, energy, numbers, speed, but never God. We cannot speak of measure or amount or size or weight and at the same time be speaking of God, for these tell of de­grees and there are no degrees in God. All that He is He is without growth or addition or development. Nothing in God is less or more, or large or small. He is what He is in Himself, without qualifying thought or word. He is simply God."

3. Any such doctrine as this encounters problems, and there are pro­blems associated with the infinity of God. Is not God limited in some ways? The answer to this is an affirmative. When God created men with free will, He limited Himself. But this was a self-imposed limitation, and therefore not a limitation in basic meaning. Men by rebellion set a limit on God. And the unrepentant sin­ner who dies limits God to a certain course of action. But it is not true to say that any limitation makes God something less than infinite. Such a charge is limiting God by denying His infinity. Since God limited Himself by deciding to act only in response to faith, those who "turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel" (Psa. 78:41), did so by their speech, but in no sense was this a limitation of God's power.

It may appear to some that the infinity of God places Him so far above men that He cannot be reached. But the facts are quite to the contrary. Only an infinite God can be reached by men. God is infinite in greatness so that He is ^"not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:27). But more than that, God is also in­finite in goodness and "loved the world," making provision for men to believe that they might have everlasting life (John 3:16). The infinite God "humbleth Himself to behold the things... in the earth. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust" (Psa. 113:6-7).

Two passages in which the word infinite appear in the English version have troubled men. "Is not thy wickedness great? And thine iniquities infinite?" (Job 22:5). "Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite" (Nahum 3:9). In neither of these verses does the word infinite represent the same Hebrew word as that used of God in Psa. 147:5. In both of these instances the word carries the sense of extreme, but not the sense of without limit. In an effort to emphasize extremity or excess, men have taken to using the word infinite as a mode of ex­pression, but not intending to convey the impression of limitlessness. In both of these instances men have reached an extreme which is possible for men.

4. Certain practical values grow out of the infinitude of God. It comes as a great encouragement and comfort to God's people. Whatever has been their experience with God, it can be said to them as Christ said to Nathaniel, "thou shalt see greater things than these" (John 1:50). In God there are "the exceeding riches of his grace" (Eph. 2:8), so that His resources are never exhausted. He is always "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think" (Eph. 3:20). "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Rom. 5:20), and in the severest testing of life, "He giveth more grace" (James 4:6). Surpas­sing the wildest imaginations of the saints, when the valley is past and saints are joined with the Lord, "He shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them" (Luke 12:37). The infinite One, the unlimited Spirit, the I AM of the Bible so completely satisfies the yearnings of the human heart that it compels the human spirit to fall prostrate in worship: "O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:33-36).

On the other hand the infinity of God sounds a warning to the unbeliever and strikes terror to the heart of the wicked. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36). Think of it. The wrath of God is without limitations, and the God who inflicts this wrath is without time limitations, so that this wrath abides, remains, continues unabated upon the unbeliever and the wicked without surcease or diminution through an unending succession of ages.