Because God is Wise...
Notes
Transcript
Romans 11:33-36
Oh, the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments
and untraceable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?
And who has ever given to God,
that he should be repaid?
For from him and through him
and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen.
God possess both all knowledge and wisdom (v.33a)
God possess both all knowledge and wisdom (v.33a)
Romans 11:33a
Oh, the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments
and untraceable his ways!
There is a difference in the words used
Knowledge is all things (that facts or things that can be learned)
Wisdom being Utilization of Knowledge and experiences
This is probably the hardest point for us to wrap our heads around - the Wisdom portion.
I think as most people think about God they would get the whole “God knows all things” - aka the knowledge portion.
And I think we can understand that because it is the easiest to wrap our heads around.
God knows all facts. Easy.
But its really hard for us to grasp the wisdom portion because its not as tangible....because facts are things I can find in books or online while wisdom however....is different
... its not just that God knows all things, but He knows how each thing, and event, and person, will affect every other situation for all of time.
And because we either haven’t heard this, or don’t think and dwell on this enough, that when things don’t go the way we think they should this is one of the things we push back on.
Because really when we argue that God was wrong for allow something to happen, we are leveraging an argument, in part, against God’s wisdom.
Most of the time, it seems like we would say “If God knew what this was going to do to me or how it would affect me He wouldn’t have let it happen”
This is, at its core saying, if God had either more information (knowledge) or knew how that thing would affect a certain person (wisdom) He would have done something differently
But for us to say this....it actually brings us to our next point...
God has the “highest” vantage point (at which to view events) (v.33b)
God has the “highest” vantage point (at which to view events) (v.33b)
Romans 11:33b
Oh, the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments
and untraceable his ways!
Not referring to actual heights...
Part of this actually jumps to the fact that God is eternal.
For God, all of time is seen at the same time.
God being eternal and above (in power and all other ways) all things is the “highest place” one can be to view and judge events.
Because remember the statement that brought us to this point was that if God knew x or knew how this would affect x then He wouldn’t have let it happen...
For us to make that make that statement is for us to say (directly against this verse) that we can not only search God’s judgments but also “trace His ways” AND we would say at times they were wrong.
And when we do things like this, if we are honest, we are not doing them from a place of power or actual knowledge, we are doing them from a place of pain.
Something has happened in our life that is tragic or not what we planned so we lash back by saying essentially that we know better
Therefore God has no, or needs to counselor or consultant (v. 34-35)
Therefore God has no, or needs to counselor or consultant (v. 34-35)
Romans 11:34-35
For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?
And who has ever given to God,
that he should be repaid?
Based on our previous 2 points, this point must follow. If God already possesses all knowledge and wisdom, and He is at the highest vantage point to view all events, then this point is obvious..
Who would be able to be God’s counselor...
Because anyone saying that would be questioning or advising God based on lesser knowledge (all things that can be learned) or wisdom (how to use all things those things that can be learned)
God controls all things, based on His knowledge and wisdom, to end in His glory. (v. 36)
God controls all things, based on His knowledge and wisdom, to end in His glory. (v. 36)
Romans 11:36
For from him and through him
and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen.
This is our last point, this is the end to which God is orchestrating all things - to His glory
The first week we learned that God is in control…now we see that...
God is not just in control, God is in control and He knows what He is doing
God is not just in control, God is in control and He knows what He is doing
That is why our theme statement today is
Because God is Wise, I Can Trust Him
Because God is Wise, I Can Trust Him