Knowing The Unknowable

In an attempt to express God’s infinite love and wisdom, a Christian kept this motto on his desk: “How great must be the God we need! How much greater is our God than our greatest need!”

In trying to grasp the mind-blowing nature of our Creator, the best we can do is use comparisons. He is like a faithful shepherd, a wise and just king, a loving parent, a trustworthy friend. All these images give us a glimpse of God’s greatness, but they are totally unable to describe Him fully.

John Wesley captured that same truth in a different way. “Give me a worm that can understand a man,” he wrote, “and I will give you a man who can understand God.” And in Psalm 145:3, David said of God, “His greatness no one can fathom.”

That is why it is so difficult to understand how we may know the Creator at all. Yet that is the wonderful message of the gospel. Our infinite God has revealed Himself to us in His Son Jesus Christ, who became a man. In the Gospels we read with awe and gratitude that the Creator became our Saviour. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). When we look to Jesus and listen to what He has said, we can know the unknowable.

—Vernon Grounds

Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious—Thy great name we praise. —Smith

If you’re looking for God, you’ll find Him in Jesus.