Three Gods

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Sis. Cana Lingenfelter quoted from my previous message:
>> Almighty God, in the fullness of His glorious, eternal essence is utterly
>> beyond human comprehension. What a wonder that He chose to make Himself
>> known to us, to the degree our minds can grasp Him, and to identify fully
>> with humanity in the Son of God, even to the point of death.

And commented: 
>Yes, it is a wonder how God chose to save us. But the only part that is
>beyond our comprehension is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest
>in the flesh. 1 Tim 3:16. There is zero mystery within the divine nature
>of the Godhead.

I agree that God's Oneness is not a mystery. The Bible calls him "the Holy
One" over 50 times. But I certainly stand by my comment that God, in His
fullness, utterly transcends human comprehension.

Sister, if you truly believe you can fully comprehend a God who is without
beginning and without end, whose Spirit is present everywhere in the
universe at once, who has perfect knowledge of all things from beginning to
end, who brought the universe in all its wonder into existence by His word
and will, whose thoughts are infinitely beyond ours, who knows the secrets
of every heart -- then I must readily acknowledge that you have attained a
knowledge of Him far beyond my capacity.

As someone has said, "If God is small enough for man to fully understand,
He isn't big enough for man to worship."

My point was simply to express the beauty of realizing that this God, whose
greatness and grandeur is unfathomable, longs for us to know Him, and has
graciously revealed Himself to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. To the degree
we can accept what He has revealed of Himself in Scripture, to the degree
our minds can conceive Him, to the degree we can accept what He in mercy
has done for us, to the degree we can yield our hearts and souls to Him in
love and obedience, we can indeed know Him.

I regard a religious mystery as a truth about which we cannot know
everything, and about which we would know nothing at all apart from God's
revelation to us. I like this illustration: Many people regard a mystery as
an art gallery which we can't enter at all because a brick wall blocks our
way. In fact, though, a mystery is more like an endless gallery. No matter
how far you walk and explore inside, marvelling at the pictures, you're
still no closer to the end. You can see and understand more and more, but
its greatness is too overwhelming to fully appreciate in this lifetime.

No, God's Oneness is not a hidden mystery. It's plainly declared. And even
the great mystery of Godliness of 1 Timothy 3:16 has been expressed to us:
God was manifest in the flesh. I certainly cannot fully comprehend the
intricacies of how the Eternal God came to earth and walked in flesh. But I
believe it; I accept it. And I will continue to walk the gallery, exploring
the depths of this great and precious truth.

Sister Cana wrote:
>I cannot tell exactly what you believe about the Godhead, but I'll be
>praying for you!

I believe the Lord our God is One, and my greatest desire is to love Him
with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. I believe in Jesus Christ, in
whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And, like Thomas, I can
only stand in awe of this Jesus, my Savior, and cry out, "My Lord and my God!"

Cary Robison