We can know God even though he is incomprehensible

“What is God Jehovah Almighty?”  “Who is God Jehovah Almighty?”  People often wonder if these questions can be answered; especially when we in the Christian Church proclaim that the true God is eternal, infinite, and perfect in all his being.  I mean, if he is without beginning or ending when will we ever fully know, say his love or justice?  Would we ever come to the end of his perfect love or justice?  Well, if he is infinite (without beginning or ending) then of course not.  So then can we know him? 

Yes.  Let me explain.

First, it is true it is impossible for anyone to give a perfect description of God or know God completely as God knows himself.  God is incomprehensible because he is infinitely perfect. No human mind or word can fully know and express the perfections of God!  See these Bible verses Job 11:7; 27:23; Psalm 77:19; 145:3; Isaiah 40:28; 45:22; Romans 11:33.

But secondly, though God cannot be fully know or described by us, yet we may know and describe something about him.  He has revealed himself to us, and that which he makes known to us we can know for he teaches it to us.  For instance God sent his only begotten Son, Jesus to this earth to be the Saviour of sinners.  Now we see God in the flesh.  “He that has seen me, has seen the Father,” Jesus said (John 14:9).  Also God’s glory is set forth in the Bible.  The Bible is God’s Word.  In it God teaches us about himself as we read of his works in our world.  And then there is creation.  Our natural world reveals the attributes of God to us…so much so as to leave us without excuse!  See Romans 1.

You see in Jesus Christ, in the God-the-Spirit-inspired-Bible, and in creation God overcomes our darkness and finite mind.  We can know something of God, because God wants us to know something about him.  Yes, we cannot know God perfectly, but what we do know about God from Jesus Christ and the Spirit speaking through the Bible is perfectly true.  And we come to know what God wants us to know through the things I mentioned above through the Spirit and the faith he gives us.  Thanks be to God that “in his light we see light.”  (Psalm 36:9)

Faith is mental health

Faith is a gift of God to us; and that gift becomes, by God's grace, a natural habit of the Christian's mind.  Yes, often we do not believe and trust like we want to (Rom 7:22), yet we still think God's thoughts after him and delight in God's word in our inmost self. 

Bavink wrote, "Believing is the natural breath of the children of God.  Their submission to the Word of God is not slavery but freedom.  In that sense faith is not a sacrifice of the intellect but mental health."

Sanctification Part 4: Let Jesus Christ be your mould.

I continue on the topic of sanctification.  Remember sanctification is “the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” (WSC Q.35)

Also remember in these posts we are listing the role and work of Jesus Christ in our sanctification.  Today we look at the forth way Jesus is involved in our sanctification.

Jesus Christ according to the will and purpose of God is our copy, our example of holiness.  He in his humanity and divinity sets before the pattern and path of Christian holiness.  Therefore, we must keep his Person always before us as the authority and pattern of holiness.  No man, no psychological advise, no man made law, and no mere moral resolution can be our example.  Only Jesus is the standard.  Look at 1 Peter 1:15 and 1 Peter 2:21.  We are to walk in his steps.

So, in your Christian life look with faith to Christ’s love, patience, long-suffering, mercy, humility, hatred of sin, zeal, and truth.  And then by faith pore your life into him and his way.  Let him be your mould!

Sanctification Part 3: Jesus Christ changes us to want holiness

We continue our discussion of Jesus' role in our sanctification. Today I will try to explain one more way Jesus works for us to form his holiness in us.

Let's think a bit about Philippians 2:12.  It reads, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure." 

Obviously God is at work in our Christian lives.  The result of this grace is that we work out...live out our new life in Christ.  This brings us to Another of Christ's role in our sanctification.

He by his cross and resurrection not only brings us to be holy, but also to do holiness.  You see, Christ humbled himself to be a servant for our salvation - even to the point of the cross (Philippians 2:6-8), to open and secure God to work holiness in us so we will want to and can obey, grow, and mature in holiness in our lives.  God doing his part makes so we can do our part.  It’s not we doing our part first, and then God will do his.  No.  He does his work first and then and only then do we live out what being a Christian is.

So God by Christ working in us is the freedom, and argument, and motive for us to live obediently.  If Jesus is in our lives we will want to obey, and when we don’t we are saddened that God has not been glorified in us.  To put it another way Jesus by his Holy Spirit has so changed the sinner that the man or women saved by grace loves and longs to live holy.

A secret atheism in us all

Atheists are alive in our world not because of human enlightenment or modern science; it's around and always has been around due to man's sin.  Stephen Charnock put it like this,"Though some few may choke in their hearts the sentiments of God and his providence, and positively deny them, yet there is something of a secret atheism in all, which is the foundation of the evil practices in their lives, not an utter disavowing of the being of a God, but a denial or doubting of some of the rights of his nature." Existence and Attributes of God vol.1, page 24.

Sanctification Part 2: Two things Jesus does for our sanctification.

In the last blog entry I defined and described the work of sanctification which God has started in all people he has redeemed by his beloved Son.  Simply, sanctification is the work of God's grace in our lives to make us more Christ-like.

Ok, the question then comes up, "How or in what way does Christ help us in sanctification?"  As mention in the previous post, we want to answer that question.  I will give two answers today.

1.  Christ in us makes us a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:23).  In other words Jesus helps us in sanctification by making us new.  This new creation he works in us by the Spirits power when we believe. Being new in Christ brings us the promise that we are partakers of God's nature.  So we will be fruitful in good works (Colossians 1:10), abound in the graces of the Spirit (2 Peter 1:8), and be vessels of honor and glory (2 Timothy 2:21).  Jesus Christ has each of these things.  He is the sinless full of grace and truth...and being renewed after his image means growing in grace and truth.

2.  Christ together with the Father has sent to us the Holy Spirit.  The work of sanctification is constructed, built, and directed in us by the Holy Spirit.  Look at 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Galatians 5).  In John's gospel, chapters 14 to 16, our Lord gives then promises and works of the Spirit and they all are geared toward making us enjoy God and be holy.  The Spirit comforts, teaches, convicts, and is present with us.  And he is the gift of Christ.  What better gift could Jesus give than God to bring sanctification to us.

Sanctification Part 1: What it is, and are you happy about it?

As a pastor people ask me questions all the time.  The other day the question, “What is sanctification?” came up.  The Westminster Shorter Catechism question 35 came to the discussion.  It says, “Sanctification is the work of God’s grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” 

This was followed by another question, “How does Jesus Christ help us to be renewed in the image God?”  To put it another way, “How does Jesus Christ help us to be more Christ-like?”  Well, this got me thinking.  So I want do some post’s on how Christ helps us in our sanctification. 

Let’s begin with a basic definition of sanctification.  Sanctification is another word for Christ-likeness.  God the Father through his Son Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit redeems us and unites us to himself.  As we are united to God we are set apart for him…set apart for holiness and enjoying God.  Jesus Christ in his humanity was holy and enjoyed God, and the gospels goal is to make us and re-make us to be like Christ.  Sanctification is the process of God’s grace working in us to bring us to Christ-likeness.

Growing in Christ-likness is described in the Bible as...

• Growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18)

• Abiding in Christ and bringing forth fruit in Christ (John 15:5)

• Adding to faith, the knowledge of God, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (2 Pet 1:5-7)

• Going on to perfection (Hebrews 7:1)

• Growing up in Christ in all things (Ephesians 4:15)

• Working out our salvation with fear and trembling as God works in us (Philippians 2:12)

• Walking in newness of life (Romans 6:4)

• Giving ourselves to God as someone who is alive from the dead and who is now alive for God (Romans 6:13, 18)

• Serving God and others with joy and a new attitude of love (Romans 7:6)

• Being created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:23-24; Colossians 3:10)

Many more passages could be cited, but you get the idea.

But how does Jesus Christ help us become more and more like him.  We will start answering that question in the next sanctification entry.

Oh, by the way this work of sanctification brings joy to us.  Rejoice in the Lord.