Monday, February 18, 2013
Really, Really Big
Dave Bish @ Blue Fish discusses the bigness of God:
Lewis says that God is infinitely good, but never safe. We risk, if we make God too small, making Him safe.
The other thing God's size reminds us of is his incomprehensibility. We cannot begin to understand God, and this is where the father analogy breaks down. Most adults end up understanding their parents. We will never understand God for He is so different, so much larger than us that He is beyond our frame of reference.
Finally, understanding God's immensity only emphasizes His grace. We should be beneath His notice.
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The Greek philosophers figured that god is a god of great attributes, bigger than everything else. Omniscient. Omnipotent. Omnidextrous etc. Like creation but bigger. Might leave you awestruck but not so safe. Attempts to impress leave me strangely cold... Start personal (see below) and then we can certainly talk in terms of the extent of his knowing and power etc. Then we get a knowing that isn't a spying big brother but a caring father, a power that isn't abusive and controlling but sufficient to save and give life.I have to quibble a bot. God is in fact deeply personal and hugely "Omni." Either picture without the other results in a warped view of God. He is right that if we forget the personal we think God some sort of uncaring cosmic cop. However, a personal God without a deep understanding of His power, majesty and justice leads to a God that loves us without ever changing us.
Lewis says that God is infinitely good, but never safe. We risk, if we make God too small, making Him safe.
The other thing God's size reminds us of is his incomprehensibility. We cannot begin to understand God, and this is where the father analogy breaks down. Most adults end up understanding their parents. We will never understand God for He is so different, so much larger than us that He is beyond our frame of reference.
Finally, understanding God's immensity only emphasizes His grace. We should be beneath His notice.
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