1294. The God I Cannot Fully Understand

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina today on The Daily Platform were continuing a series called our great God. Today's message will be preached by Bible Prof. Dr. Carrie McGonagle Romans chapter 11 this morning from a Chapter 11 plan is his exposition of the gospel in Romans one through 11 with these words over the depth of the riches. This is verse 30 3O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. First, you have known the mind of the Lord, or who have been his counselor or who at first given to him. Initially recompensed under him again for all of him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever. Amen. Paul uses the word depth to describe God's riches and his wisdom and his knowledge and uses the words uses words like unsearchable and past finding out to describe God's judgments and God's ways and you're taking a class right now or you feel like you're kind of in over your head.

Okay, like you, but you're totally lost my teachers look around and get some work to do. It's almost like always in over his head here as he thinks about the God of the gospel. So mostly he's lost track of God after 11 chapters of trying to follow him. I was asked to speak this morning as part of her doctrinal series on the God I cannot fully understand. So thankfully, God has made himself known to us. Thankfully we can know him, but we cannot know him fully or exhaustively because he's God and were not, and that's even true for those of us who've grown up in Christian homes and who going to Christian schools who read the Bible from cover to cover taken and aced Bible doctrines and who have advanced degrees in theology and who pastor churches, so that's actually the big idea for my message this morning and that is honest it was to respond to the incomprehensibility of God in a certain way and get to these later, but I merely am thinking in terms of four responses. Wow Willow work and wait because no matter how much you know about God.

You can never fully know him at some point you find yourself in over your heads and you lose track of God, and there a lot of places that we go in the Bible to develop this theme, but I'd like to take verse 33 of Romans 11 as our text and consider the subject from two vantage points. You see there. There's another two exclamations that Paul makes in verse 33.

The first one I'm gonna summarize as in the over our heads with God.

His inexhaustible attributes. Second one losing track of God is in comprehensible ways.

So let's begin with the first of those in over our heads with God. So, recently Mr. Charles Lacey of our math faculty shared with me that there are infinite series of numbers in math that all some to a finite value like this so he said we really can't explain how an infinite quantity can actually equal a finite number. So I started looking at that because infinite series represented by the ellipses and then you get a finite number as the sum nephew just heard a popping noise that was, I was like the circuit was a circuit in my brain that just popped something blue.

There, as I try to think about this. It's a math fact but like Lacey says we can't really explain how it's it's true, but it's unexplainable. It's really hard for minds and it to grasp this concept of infinity.

Well, the word depth that Paul uses here in verse 33 means inexhaustible magnitude. According to New Testament scholar Doug Moo.

I mean how many things can you think of that are truly in exhaustible right natural resource manager speak of exhaustible resources in exhaustible resources like coal and petroleum are exhaustible because they eventually run out. They speak of in exhaustible resources like air and sunlight because they are large they are available in large and a continuous supply. So imagine if air were like the data plan for your phone right you know the one that you're always concerned should I watch this YouTube video and eat up all my data management air were like that but it's not so good and brief good breathe again. Still more air available. Thankfully, when it comes to God's riches and wisdom and knowledge. Think of error in exhaustible unlimited continuous supply that can't be depleted, they can't run out to listing a look at the depth of God's attributes this morning as we do, let me just point out the fact that you have two ways of translating the beginning of verse 33. Some translations have O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God so you understand that way depth of riches, stays together.

For emphasis, and Paul was primarily exclaiming over God's wisdom and God's knowledge in terms of depth of riches the other way to look at it is as it's translated here in the ESV O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God's if you understand it that way. Paul is exclaiming over the depth of God's riches, the depth of God's wisdom and the depth of God's knowledge. So riches and wisdom and knowledge are all parallel grammatically to go either way I would be dogmatic about this. I just want the sake of full disclosure, let you know that I'm understanding it as it's translated here in the ESV so let's begin with the depth of God's riches failure that were riches there. In general the word riches refers to the richness of spiritual blessing and Paul is already use this term just glance back in chapter 11 verse 12 he says now if the fall of them.

Speaking of Israel. In this context, if the fall of them be the riches of the world and the diminishing of them again. Speaking of Israel, the riches of the Gentiles.

How much more the fullness of the Gentiles, others Israel's failure to believe, has resulted in abundant spiritual blessings. Riches benefits for the world for these Gentiles, but in particular I think we can say that Paul also uses the term riches to refer to those attributes of God behind the abundant spiritual blessings, namely God's kindness and God's grace and God's mercy all aspects of his goodness fact, if you are located earlier in this letter.

Romans chapter 2 verse four Paul says do you presume on the riches of God's kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance and Paul uses this term riches elsewhere in his epistles to describe the grace of God. So Ephesians 17 the riches of his grace. Ephesians 27. The immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. In other words, the riches that are the spiritual blessings point back to the source and the source is a God who is abundant in mercy and grace and kindness.

So again, I would point out that these attributes are pictured in terms of riches in terms of abundance in terms of wealth. I watch the YouTube video recently of a 2014 interview with between Wall Street Journal's Evelyn Russ Lee and former NBA great Shaquille O'Neal, Jack in the interview Jack told Russ Lee that he probably spends $1000 on apps a week. Okay he said last week I bought like 20 dear hundred games when I'm not working I spent all my money on apps took it to get ready to do the calculations thousand dollars a week, 52 weeks in a year. That's $52,000 a year on apps get how many of you can fathom that that is mind-boggling to the average person which that product.

That number probably represents a salary or a yearly salary or more like I can't fully understand or comprehend. Having that much money, but you know for a guy whose net worth is $400 billion that's chump change.

It's nothing for Paul when he thinks of spiritual blessings. He thinks of God's kindness and his grace and his mercy he thinks of them in terms of the immeasurable riches.

God is just doling out thousands and thousands and millions and millions of dollars, as it were in kindness and grace and mercy and salvation. It's almost like God is kindness the burner.

Socially, his grace to throw away because in no way could that begin to deplete his immeasurable resources is riches as mercy is grace.

That's impressive that deep think Paul is on the explain the depth of his wisdom. Again, Paul writes in verse 33 of the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God is God's wisdom is God's skill, his skill in devising the best means to the best ends or goals, particularly here in the context of Romans 11 were talking about his devising the plan of salvation. Yet many of us and they are pulled in by good puzzle.

Her challenge right think mortal suit. Sunoco is is is is a logic-based number possible. Okay this is this is supposed to be the hardest sudoku puzzle ever created so basely start with this. Partially filled in and then you have to work with each column in each row so that they all have all the numbers from 1 to 9 and that's also true of the sub grids.

Those 3 x 3 boxes that you see there how you've done Sunoco Sunoco okay phenotype. This particular puzzle was done by finish mathematician in 2012.

It took him three months to create it. It has only one solution and one source said it would take genius level intelligence or limitless patients to figured out.

So let's say that one of you see what your name sir Trey okay so let's let's say that Trey during the time that I've had this posted on the screen has already figured it out.

Would you think of Trey Trey is awesome right trays amazing everybody on Wellbutrin.

Not that that's not already the case. Okay, that would be pretty impressive to figure out a complicated puzzle like that, especially so quickly well in Romans chapters 9 through 11.

As I understand it, as I was taught by my professors here. The seminary Paul is dealing with three big problems.

Three big puzzles in these chapters. The big problem is Israel's failure to obtain salvation. The bigger problem is the security of people to whom God makes promises and the biggest problem has to do with whether God himself is righteous, and yet by the time Paul comes the end of this section he's bursting out in praise. Why, because God is so all these impossible puzzles with remarkable skill is like one author says Cuba God could have conceived a plan that would turn disobedience.

The disobedience of Israel into an occasion for mercy. God, displaying mercy to Gentiles and in the process reaching out universally to all who would believe in. This is just one example in the Bible of the amazing skill the amazing immeasurable wisdom of God. So again let me remind you, I'm calling you to respond to the incomprehensibility of God in a certain way with a wow and a low with working and waiting because no matter how much you know about God or how much you think you know about God.

You can never know him fully at some point you to be in over your heads and you lose track of God and then lastly, Paul explains the depth of his knowledge in verse 33. In this context God's infinite knowledge includes the fact that he knows all things course, but it likely entails. In the context of Tom Schreiner points out that God ordains all that comes the pass he determines all that happens. The point is God's saving plan, reviewing passages like Romans nine through 11 is just bursting forth with the radiance of God's deep riches and God's deep wisdom and God's deep knowledge like fireworks exploding in the night sky and this reflection leads Paul to move and at the amazing depth of God O the depth is a great profundity to God. God is truly deep, deep in the Arctic Circle is what some have called the entrance to hell. It's a 40,230 foot deep hole in the earth, called the cola super deep borehole. It took almost 20 years to drill it so were talking 7.6 miles here so if you were to go out front campus and hanger right on the Wade Hampton and drive all the way to the Chick-fil-A and career. That's about 7.6 months, that's a stinking big hole.

In fact, according to BBC report locals swear you can hear the screams of souls tortured in hell but that but all that to say is impressively deep as the cola super deep borehole is it just scratching the surface because of I understand things correctly. The crust of the earth goes on another 17 miles and then another 1800 miles until you get to the earth's core. So, as is impressively deep as that hole is it just scratching the surface of the earth, and no matter how far you go matter how far you penetrate into the depths of God's riches and his wisdom and knowledge are just scratching the surface you have endless miles to go was Paul's point here in Romans 1133 one commentator Leon Morris sums it up nicely. Since Paul simply pronouncing on the impossibility of our understanding fully what God is doing. Because honestly God's great plan of salvation is one that no one could have conceived.

No one would've anticipated that God would affect salvation through the death of his son on the cross. No one would've anticipated that God would bring salvation to Gentiles through the disobedience of Israel, or that the blessings enjoyed by Gentiles within eventually lead to the salvation of Israel that is deep riches as deep wisdom that is deep knowledge and guess what those are only three of a host of other attributes or characteristics or perfections of God and every one of them points to another facet of God's glorious character of God is also self exist. God is unchangeable, he's eternal is omnipotent is omniscient. He's omnipresent. He's invisible he's righteous he's truthful he's faithful he's good he's just he's loving these holy he's jealous is beautiful is glorious after so many of these that theologians have tried to organize her classify them to come up with them in different buckets like when you do when you do your laundry right because doing your laundry right as I was recently in the guys dorm and I smelled something and I began to wonder anyways what you doing your laundry take you know your towels, but those of one pile we take a T-shirt you put those in another pile. So what would that look like if we were trying to organize and classify the attributes of God. Let's think for a second about the classification of God's attributes.

So there's one pile we could call that the attributes that God shares with us and then the second pile we could consist would consist of attributes that God is not shared with us. Sometimes people refer to the first group is God's communicable attributes. In the second group is God's incommunicable attributes when he let me try to illustrate here. My wife has for him valet black nose blackface cross she so here she is with Rolex and just behind her to the right is coriander or curly top.

If I were to compare myself with one of the sheep.

There are things that we share in common and things that we don't write.

Sheep are selfish, so the look around to see you who got the biggest portion of food and the push the other ones out. Well guess what, I can be selfish to sheeplike peace in their environment. I like peace in my environment. They have cool hair. I have cool air is a curly hair especially present okay anyways get the point there.

There are some things that we share in common.

But there also. There's also a big difference between me and the sheep. Even the characteristics that I may share in common are different in degree and span an expression so yes I am selfish just like they are but I don't push people out of the dinner table. I like peace and quiet. But I don't run away from running water but the fundamental level.

The biggest difference between me and the she is the fact that I'm a human being and their animals. Even so with God.

There characteristics or attributes of God that we share in common with him like his love and his faithfulness.

But even then there's a huge difference in degree and quality because God's love is perfect. God's love is infinite God's faithfulness never fails and that's because of that greater fundamental essential difference between us and that is God is God and we are not so in thinking about God's communicable attributes for go back to verse 33. Here are some that we share in common with God right and yet we don't possess or display wisdom and knowledge and kindness and grace and mercy the way God does. Here's my point. Even though we may know of her own experience what kindness or what grace is. It's impossible for us to fully understand the kindness of God that that's a unique kindness it's impossible for us to fully grasp the skill and wisdom of God because it's a unique wisdom it's immeasurable. So imagine how much more challenging it would be than when we start talking about ways in which God is completely fundamentally different from humanity document is incommunicable attributes. At this point. That's when theologians start piling up the Omni assembly, all is right.

God is Omni potent. He's all-powerful, he's omnipresent, he's present everywhere. He's on the science he's all know he's Omni benevolent. He's all good right in some cases even abuse negatives describe God because there's nothing in our experience the parallels that God is self existent regattas is independent but we know what it is to be dependent on things outside of ourselves, like food and water that experience, yet God is not like that he is independent he is in the he is infinite. He is unchangeable, so regardless of what labels you use. The point is that God is incomprehensible because God is God and no matter how much we know about God will never fully know him so his transition now to that second idea from in over our heads with God to losing track of God, because Paul's second exclamation here in verse 33. Is this how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out that word unsearchable. There means incomprehensible, something that we can't fully understand.

That's the point that I would make is that something that can be measured. Word translated past finding out means in the lineal goal alone that it can't be delineated, they can't. If you can't determine the exact order or boundary of it. It's impossible to plot. It's impossible to travel to the end of it.

It's impossible to trace her track to the end of it. Several years ago sitting in my tree stand when late afternoon during deer season, and a box came in view across a small creek. I pulled the trigger.

He jumped, he went immediately down into the tall think it. I waited a few minutes probably not long enough and made my way across the creek through the thorny brambles and came to the spot where the deer had been, but it wasn't there. I looked around I saw signs but he was gone. So I started circling the area looking for traces of blood, but the sun is going down. You know my my battery, my phone was dying. Of course, right.

So I called my wife and told her was happening and asked if she could bring a charger better spotlight. Bless her heart. She did, she my daughter actually dressed and getting ready for artist series, but she pulled they put on some boots and literally in their dresses. They came down into the woods to help me track that dear yet. She's awesome. They're awesome. We followed and followed the blood trail and signs until we can follow anymore because it was like the deer had just disappeared.

So we would backtrack to the place where he last seen something, and then go from there. But it was gone in a certain point was completely dark and there were no signs of him.

His ways were passed finding out so eventually had to give up my wife and daughter change their shoes.

They brush the leaves off and they came to artist series and made it at intermission I left the woods at night, completely bewildered, completely perplexed where in the world that dear go. His ways were passed finding out until the next morning when I went back up and there was enough daylight for me to find him not too far from where we were looking so this is what Paul say in Romans 1133 that God's judgments are unsearchable and his ways past finding out. It's like it's like when you start to follow God's plan of salvation you knowledge and in over your heads, but at a certain point you lose track of God but were tracking and retracting and retracting is like at some point. Off in the distance. God just disappears gone. It's a mystery. And if you want that personal experience for yourself and encourage you to study Romans 910 11 but call you this morning to respond to God's incomprehensibility with while woe worked in weight because no matter how much you know about God. You can never know him fully at some point you will be in over your heads and lose track of. So I'm not gonna take the time to develop all of these in detail, but I do want to call you to the while response standing in all God's encumbrance ability.

You have a chance to watch the doubleheader this past Saturday with the Bruins play Carolina University. It was a great game.

It was a phenomenal game. There was so much drama.

The other coaches running on the field screaming and yelling. The crowd is going nuts and Bruins came back from 73 deficit to tie the game at 77. It was an awesome game. I met a lady this week in town and she had the audacity to tell me that baseball was boring but she said that somebody purchased World Series tickets for her and she went and she fell asleep during the game.

I don't even know how that's possible right because clearly the problem is not with baseball.

The problem is with her being facetious, so if we can interact with the study of God. The doctrine of God we can trace his ways through the Scriptures.

If we can interact with his attributes and we find God to be boring. I can assure you.

The problem is not with God.

God is incomprehensible in the right response is really to stand in awe of his incomprehensible ability to acknowledge the mystery and humility to keep tracking God as far as you can and to anticipate the day when the partial Paul tells us in verse 2013 will be made more sporadic father, we are grateful that you given us this revelation of yourself, there are these things that have been revealed and given to us, and yet there are the secret things I pray you give us wisdom to know when we have reached the secret things, and in humility that we would fall on our knees and worship you for your glory. But that would also be diligent in our pursuit of increasing in the knowledge of God going after you digging and digging and digging for the sake of unearthing that treasure, which is to know you.

I pray that would be our experience in Jesus name you been listening to a sermon preached by Bible Prof. Dr. Carrie McGonagle, which is part of the series called our great God.

Listen again tomorrow as we continue the series on The Daily Platform