Monday, May 27, 2013
Romans 11:33-34 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"
WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD?
In the Smalcald Articles of 1537, Martin Luther wrote what all Christians believe about the nature of the true God: "The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons in one divine essence and nature [Matthew 28:19], are one God, who has created heaven and earth [1 Corinthians 8:6]."
The same is echoed in the Augsburg Confession of 1530: "God is one divine essence who is eternal, without a body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness ... Yet there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit [Matthew 28:19]. These three persons are of the same essence and power. Our churches use the term 'person' as the Fathers have used it. We use it to signify, not a part or quality in another, but that which subsists of itself."
These statements, which both express what Scripture truly teaches, do not make reasonable sense to the human mind. How can Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be of the same essence -- that is, be one God -- while at the same time be distinct from one another? And how can Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- while subsisting separately of themselves -- be also of the same essence and power, only one God?
This is not the way we would conceive of a god, is it? Human minds, when they make gods for themselves, make ones that are much more reasonable to human thinking. The Greeks and Romans, for example, worshiped gods that were very much like human beings, only somewhat more powerful.
But God is wiser than man, and God is infinitely more complex that we can imagine. Should we really expect God's nature to be something we can fully grasp? And why would we want to? Don't we need God to be smarter than we are? Don't we need His power and His judgments and His love to be greater than ours?
The problem of our sin which infects us all; which has corrupted all creation and brings us no end of grief and trouble, is a problem which demands more wisdom and knowledge than we can throw at it. Our attempts to get rid of sin on our own fall hopelessly short. But the solution does not confound our God. The Father sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world!
