If I were to ask you to describe a Zebra to someone who had never seen one, you might say things like, “Well, it’s kinda like a horse, but smaller…it’s similar to a donkey, but more muscular…and it kinda has stripes like a tiger but less colorful…”. And although you would do your best and come close, most zebras would probably be a little insulted by the description (sorry Zebras).
That’s exactly what I see happening when I read Ezekiel 1:26-28. This morning I read a devotional by Andrew Wilson in his book “Incomparable” about this very thing. This is what he said.
The prophet Ezekiel is given a vision, a glimpse of the glory of God. The things he sees are pretty spectacular: windstorms, clouds, fire, gleaming metal, lightning, sparkling bronze, lions, oxen, eagles, wheels, rushing waters, an expanse of crystal, a sapphire throne, rainbows. Yet, after he describes all of this, he says, in essence, “It was kind of like all of that stuff. God’s glory looked a little similar to something that was ever so slightly like this, but it was so much more”. Why would he say this? Because the glory of our God is indescribable and too marvelous for us too ever fully comprehend.
Read that statement again because it is incredible important.
Our understanding of God is riddled with things we cannot explain properly, and this makes him more glorious, not less. Ezekiel combines all of these apparently contradictory elements when describing God – lion and ox, windstorm and rainbow, fire and water. And the Bible is full of even more of them – God being One, but Father, Son, and Spirit all being different persons. Jesus is perfectly man, and perfectly the living one who died, the High Priest and the sacrifice. God has created people with real choices, yet his sovereignty means that his choices are ultimate. God fills the heavens and the earth, yet dwelt in an ark, a tent, a temple, and now in individuals.
No wonder Ezekiel says it was “kinda of like this or that”. You try describing this God and it would probably sound a lot like Ezekiel, “fiery storm clouds, four faced living creatures, each with their own eye covered wheel, under a massive crystal wok, etc.” This doesn’t need to weird us out, it is designed to show us how beyond our comprehension God really is. Scoffer’s will always try to play off God’s attributes against each other, as if the Most High could be reduced to a few simple statements. But we worship a God who is everything Scripture says he is, even if we don’t understand how.
The point is this: God is at his most glorious when he is beyond our comprehension. The Trinity, the Word becoming flesh, the cross, the resurrection - these are impossible things to fully understand yet they are the center of our faith and the most glorious things we have ever heard or seen. Especially in a university environment where we are trying to “figure everything out”, we must not be surprised when we encounter truths we cannot grasp and depths we cannot fathom. We need not question or doubt or become frustrated. We simply need to stop and behold the glory of God.
Oh snap, I can make comments on this. Great post, Thomas. May I add this…
We only begin to know God when we admit we know hardly anything at all. Perhaps that is why Jesus said we must take on the likeness of a child to enter the Kingdom…
One more thing is that I don’t think that anyone would truly want a God that could be completely described or explained. We are built with a desire to be fascinated, how could we possibly remain fascinated with God if we could fully understand him? And since we can’t fully understand him, how in the world could we attempt to completely describe him?
“Jesus is perfectly man” – the implications of the statement bothers me. It seems as if it’s trying to make a contradictory statement true. I think inherent in the concept of man is imperfectness, and inherent in the concept of God is perfection. So it seems as if the statement says that Jesus is perfect and imperfect at the same time, which is logically impossible.
The rejoinder to this idea is God is beyond our comprehension so he can do things beyond our logical minds. This is problematic though, because can’t we now justify any sort of illogical theological statement, with its justification being God is beyond our comprehension?
Can’t we say that there is one God and there is many gods or that God is absolute good and he is absolutely evil? And when someone says that doesn’t make any sense we just respond, well God is beyond our comprehension.
So should we still believe that God is beyond or understanding? and what do we do about the divinity and humanity of Christ?