Tuesday, July 27, 2010

knowing the unchanging, infinite

Two characteristics of God that we (Christians) put out there are that He is unchanging and that He is infinite. How does this impact our ability to “know” God (to understand His character, to follow after Him)?
His unchanging nature means that we don’t have to worry about Him developing a new perspective or re-ordering His priorities. His stability means that when we discover something about His character, we don’t need to be concerned about whether or not it will be true tomorrow. If what we have believed about God is true, it will be just as true tomorrow as it is today.
It is God’s infinity that holds the mystery of His being. This is why, as finite beings, our pursuit of God will not ever end and should never slow down. While we can (and should) rest in His immutability, we should be tireless in (and even relish) our pursuit of all that He is. I often wonder if this is why we are given eternity with Him. I’ve never been one to believe we will understand everything, completely, simply because we pass “into eternity” (which is, itself, a bogus concept- we’re already there). Rather, I think we will have a complete acceptance of God’s sufficiency, justice, worthiness and holiness. I don’t believe that we are suddenly endowed with universal understanding. We are not made omniscient or omnipotent or become a part of the God-head ourselves, so why do we assume that our understanding will be complete? What if the gift of eternal life (a life without the stain of sin, twisting our perception) is not perfect understanding but rather, constant discovery?
Because of His unchanging nature, we can know Him. His infinite nature prevents us from fully understanding every aspect of that unchanging. That should impact our walk with Him in these 2 ways:

First, we should realize that our walk is a pursuit; we are constantly following Him deeper into His own personality and character. Second, we need to accept that, on that journey into mystery, truth, and infinity, we will inevitably discover things that contradict some previous understanding and that that’s O.K.! Our changes in understanding are actually cause for great joy, since they reflect a change in us, not in God, and that change is a closer, deeper relationship with Him!

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