“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33–36, ESV)
Can We Understand Infinity?
It’s an interesting question to ponder, isn’t it? We are created beings surrounded by created things. Everything we have every encountered throughout our entire life has had a beginning and will have an end. They are all finite. We understand this.
So, how is it possible for us to understand an infinite God? How can we fully grasp a God who has no beginning and no end? How can our limited understanding comprehend the unlimited God? Even the Apostle Paul ended Romans 11 by saying that God’s ways are impossible to understand. So, what’s the point, right?
Understanding God A Little
Saint Augustine said, “We are speaking of God. It it any wonder if you do not comprehend? For if you comprehend, it is not God you comprehend. Let it be a pious confession of ignorance rather than a rash profession of knowledge. To attain some slight knowledge of God is a great blessing; to comprehend him, however, is totally impossible.”
Augustine reminds us of the need for humility when we seek to understand God. Since God is infinite and we are finite, we can never fully comprehend God. It is beyond our ability. However, we can attain “some slight knowledge of God.” We can understand God a little. That is still a great blessing.
God Has Revealed Himself
We can understand God a little because God has revealed himself to us. Louis Berkhof says, “But while it is true that man can never fully comprehend God, it does not follow that he can have no knowledge of Him at all. He can know Him only in part, but nevertheless with a knowledge which is real and true. This is possible because God has revealed Himself. Left to his own resources, man would never have been able to discover nor to know Him.”
So, even though we cannot fully understand God, we can understand true things about God. This is possible because God has shown (revealed) true things about himself to us. God has reached out to us so we can begin the process of understanding Him.
Humility, Worship, & Eternity
It’s important to begin talking about God in this way because it forces us to be humble. It doesn’t matter how smart we are, how knowledgeable we are, how long we’ve been studying the Bible, or how long we’ve been a Christian, we will never fully comprehend God. There is always something to learn about who He is and how He works.
It is also this realization that should stir our hearts to worship. Our God is a BIG God who is beyond our comprehension—who blows our minds. His wisdom is higher than our wisdom. His ways are higher than our ways. His power is beyond our comprehension. His skill in watching over creation is higher than we can imagine. These things must bring us to our knees in worship. He is worthy.
This will be our task for all eternity. Even once we enter the new heavens and the new earth, we will be eternal but still finite and God will still be infinite. Even in heaven, we will not fully comprehend God. Yet, we will increasingly understand God more fully for the rest of eternity.
Have you ever had one of those “mind blowing” moments of understanding, when everything clicked and you found yourself in awe of who God is or what He has done? Jonathan Edwards believed this would be our experience in heaven for eternity. Our mind would be “blown” by a fresh understanding of God only to have our minds “blown” again—repeated experiences of awe and worship that will happen over and over and over again for eternity. “To Him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36).