The true paradox
Truth in the tension
The nature of God is a paradox. God is both transcendent and immanent, hidden and self-disclosing, sovereign yet offering his creatures real freedom.
The truth is in the tension. The cosmos can’t contain him, but the Lord was wrapped in Mary’s womb. The God who is beyond understanding communicates himself through his Word, the Christ, the Spirit. The one who speaks worlds into being bids his people to choose this day whom they will serve.
It requires spiritual naivety to grasp only one side of the paradox.
“God is unknowable.” But he makes himself known!
“I know all about God.” We know something of what God has revealed, but his power, goodness, mercy, and faithfulness are unfathomable.
We fear God, yet boldly call on him by faith.
We know we can’t comprehend God, but we embrace and trust in the reliability of the images he offers—a shepherd, a father waiting for his son to come to his senses, a hen gathering her brood beneath her wings, a sower, a fisherman casting his net.
And more than anything else we look to the ultimate self-disclosure of God in Jesus of Nazareth.
“Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1.1-3a).
Know Jesus, and you know the mind, heart, and power of the Trinity.