The Father in Abraham

One of the crowning moments of faith in Abraham's life was Moriah. It was a moment where God opened the eyes of His friend to be able to see into His own heart. When asked to offer Isaac, Abraham was given a window to experience the love of God for us. And for a brief moment Abraham experienced what it was like to be in God's shoes. God allowed Abraham access to the deepest parts of His own heart. This is something only a friend gets to see.

The Father in Abraham

It had been three days journey

When finally they reached that hill

A heart heavy father

And a boy that could hardly stand still

He lifted his eyes to see it

The mountain that would test his faith

He choked back the tears when he saw it

And tried to hide his face

He said son take the wood for the altar

I’ll take the fire in my hand

Let’s climb this mountain together

We’ll worship and come again

They set off to climb that mountain

A hill of sacrifice

When the boy looked to his father

With a question that cut like a knife

He said dad here’s the wood for the altar

You’ve got the fire in your hand

We’ve come to this place to worship

But Father, where is the lamb

Oh the heart of the Father

How it ached with love for the son

Oh how it pained him

Knowing what must be done

He tried to give him an answer

As he swallowed the lump in his throat

He fought of the tears of sorrow

As he clung to his only hope

From somewhere deep within him

Faith rushed in like a wave

He lifted his eyes to heaven

This is all I can say

We’ve got the wood for the altar

And I’ve got the fire in my hand

We’ve come to this place to worship

God will provide the lamb

God is incomprehensible but knowable?

I read this verse at thanksgiving and again to my wife tonight and I can't seem to get it out of my head. So, I guess I'll just ponder it openly with the rest of you.

Jer 9:23-24 "Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,

but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

As I step into the world of theology I come again and again to a wall. God is the wall. He is incomprehensible. His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, they are higher! Even when I consider His divine attributes I can only see those things in part. Right now I know in part but some day face to face. His grace is without limit. His mercies are new every morning. Yet at the same time His justice and His righteousness are perfect. Though it would seem that His grace and mercy would come into conflict with His righteousness and justice, he holds these attributes in perfect harmony. We can never hit the bottom of this well. The bible calls this the unsearchable riches. And there, looming in the background, is the elephant that many do not want to face. We can't even comprehend what we know in part about God. He is infinite, omniscient, omnipotent, eternal, and triune, and we can't comprehend the depths of His nature or attributes. Theology will always have a blockade when it comes to this point. Often this is where wise men begin to boast in their wisdom. They reach, at times, to grasp what we can not. Like trying to catch a lion by the tail, the Lion of Judah can't be handled. Strong men have tried to wrestle God into the conformity of their own understanding. Men rich in their biblical knowledge have argued and wrangled over the minutest details of scripture all with the hope of purchasing for themselves an understanding of God.

There is only one thing God wants us to boast about. He is incomprehensible, but we can know Him. We can get God's M.O.! We can share in knowing Him in the same way Adam knew Eve. We know that His love is steadfast, He is perfectly just, and righteous. We can know His heart, observe His dealings with mankind and come to conclusions regarding His nature. But we will never be able to comprehend Him. God delights in our knowing Him but cautions our pursuit of knowledge saying that it "puffs up." So what can we know of God's nature and attributes?

There are two Categories:
Incommunicable- These are attributes that He doesn't share with us.
Independence (self existence, self sufficiency), Immutability (unchangeablenesss), Eternality, Omnipresence, Omniscience

Communicable- These are attributes that He does share with us
Spirituality, knowledge, truthfulness, goodness, love, mercy , holiness, peace, beauty, glory, sovereignty

To sum it all up, there are parts of God that will always remain a gorgeous and beautiful mystery. We will not ever be able to comprehend them or partake in them. Like my 3 year old at Disneyland, we don't understand how it all works but it sure is gloriously thrilling! There are some things about God that I will not just know in theory but, He actually invites me to partake in experientially. I can share with Him in the Spirit, grow in grace and knowledge, love truth and mercy, partake in His holiness, rest in His peace, bask in His beauty, let my jaw drop at His glory, and trust in His sovereignty because it is motivated by His love. He is incomprehensible but He is knowable!