“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” This is a quote from Deuteronomy 29:29, which basically tells me that there are some things we just don’t know. Maybe we will know them in heaven when all is revealed, maybe not. I also believe this was the case with the tree in the midst of the garden mentioned in Genesis. Although it was referred to as the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ and carried with it a ‘disclaimer’ that eating from it would make them like God, knowing good and evil, it did not make them all-knowing (or, omniscient) like God. Neither did it make them omnipotent, omnipresent, or any of the other all-encompassing attributes that God is. Perhaps it was Adam and Eve’s misunderstanding of the instruction concerning the tree and its true description and potential danger. When it comes to mankind, I believe God loves us so much that He has placed limitations on how much we can know about Him, from Him, and see or even perceive of Him. In Genesis 3, after putting Adam and Eve out of the garden, He placed an angel with a flaming sword there “to keep the way of the tree of life” (v. 24), thereby protecting it from them and them from it!
And what about the infamous city of Babel in Genesis 11 where the people got a (crazy) notion to build a tower that would reach up to heaven LEST THEY BE SCATTERED ABROAD OVER THE EARTH. How ironic! Even though God responded to this first by acknowledging that their unified efforts would allow them to achieve anything they set out to do, He would only allow them to go so far, thus He thwarted their plans by destroying their ability to communicate effectively with one another. The end result: they were scattered abroad over the earth. Isaiah 14 also talks about the boast of Lucifer and his claim that he will exalt himself and his throne above God’s. And how did that work for him? Verse 15: “Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” That’s quite a fall. Need I mention Job and his friends and the way God put them all in their little finite places because they were trying to declare things they did not understand, much less know? The old testament is full of examples in which God rebukes humans who were nowhere around when He created the world as we know it, including us.
A Christian songwriter once wrote:
“God is God and I am not.
I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting.
God is God and I am man, so I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God.”
And He has reserved for Himself that right. I also believe that that it is for our highest good and we should be content with that. Yes, I believe that God reveals things to us by His Spirit, but not all things. And yes, I have the mind of Christ, which means that I am capable of thinking like Him and doing what He does, but not to know everything that He knows. Just like God told Adam and Eve that they could FREELY EAT of all the other trees in the garden, Deuteronomy 29 says that the things that ARE revealed belong to us and our children forever. And I believe there is so much that has been revealed that we will spend the rest of our earthly lives striving to obtain just a portion of it! Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 13:9,10 that we see in part and we prophesy in part, BUT when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part will be done away. As children grow into adults, so also do we see and know more clearly as we grow in faith and grace, but we have yet to see and know those secret things
God is God and He is holy. And I don’t think we even know what true holiness is. But He seems to have us living out somewhat of an endless ‘Catch 22′ by telling us to be holy and perfect (mature, complete) as He is holy and perfect, which we obviously are not. So, why does He do us like that? I believe it is because of the absence of and need for eternity, and finding our role in it, that He created within us that is meant to keep us seeking, hungering, thirsting, and longing for Him and His righteousness (we’re not 100% sure what that one is either). I like what Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 13:12, that now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. And now we KNOW in part, but then shall we know even as we are known (Brown’s paraphrase). If this is true, then my true self is only known and seen by Him. How can I possibly claim to fully know Him when I don’t even fully know myself because THAT is, on this side of eternity, only known by Him? And when I really think about it, knowing myself the way that an all-knowing God knows me is kinda scary.
Great stuff, Michael! I think Steven Curtis Chapman wrote those lyrics. There's a genuine peace that comes with not knowing it all; however, the mysteries of God is meant to compel to run after him, not stall in apathy. It may be easy to give up sometimes, but we can't shut down or withdraw as we discover all that we do NOT know in the world. Instead, it's better to pursue the balance of rest and proactive seeking, in terms of where God's heart intersects with the arena He's called us to.
ReplyDelete