The Mysteries of God

· People like mysteries

o Where there’s something hidden that needs to be uncovered

· So people like different kinds of mysteries

o Murder mysteries like Agatha Christie, or Father Brown, or Sherlock

o Adventures and Exploration– seeing what is around the next bend

o The hunger to uncover mysteries drives all science and discovery, as it should

o Getting to know others – I still am learning about Dawn though I’ve known her many years

· Today is Trinity Sunday

o It is one of the few Sundays in the Church Calendar that is devoted to a Christian doctrine.

o As much as we know about him, there is still mystery surrounding God,

§ and no concept of God is more mysterious than the concept of the Trinity.

o While the word Trinity is not in the Bible, the mystery of God’s nature is.

· For instance:

o The Jewish people were always strict monotheists

o That made them different from most other people on the planet, because they believed there was only One God

o Most other people believed in a whole pantheon of Gods, sometimes in hundreds – or even thousands

· But God had revealed that he was the only God

o He told Moses

Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

§ The beginning of what Jesus said was the greatest commandment

o He told Isaiah Isaiah 43:10b (NIV) “Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.”

o Isaiah 44:6 (NIV) 6 "This is what the LORD says-- Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: ‘I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.’”

· And yet in the very first verse of the Torah we are told that

o Genesis 1:1 (NIV) 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

o God = “Elohim”

§ Which is actually the plural of eloha

· Daniel has a vision of God...and someone else

Daniel 7:9-14 (NLT2)

9 I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like purest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, 10 and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from his presence.

Millions of angels ministered to him; many millions stood to attend him. Then the court began its session, and the books were opened.

13 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

· We understand now that the Son of Man was a vision of Jesus about 600 years before Jesus was born

· And we know the doctrine of the Trinity is that the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Spirit are all God, but that there’s only one God

· Which is just what the Jews believed –

o That there was God, Creator and Judge

o The Son of Man – who is adorned with authority, worshipped, and given a kingdom

o And the Spirit of Elohim, who is, as we are told in Psalm 139, everywhere, and there is nowhere we can go and hide from him

· How can 3 gods actually be one god?

o The Jews saw this as a mystery to be pondered, not solved

o And we will never solve it either

· The _____ is God (Father, Son, Spirit)

o the Father is not the Son or the Spirit

o the Son is not the Father or the Spirit

o the Spirit is not the Father or the Son

o and – oh by the way – there’s not 3 Gods but 1

· How can that be?

o You won’t solve it

o But it’s good for you to ponder it

o To wonder at it

· With all he has revealed about himself,

o There’s the unknown about him

o That is meant, I think, to whet our appetites and make us hunger to know more

· Who is he? What is he really like?

· No matter how much someone else tells you about God, you have to find out on your own

o There are some things that only satisfy by going to the source

Proverbs 25:2 (NIV) 2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

· Proverbs 25:2 (CEV) 2 God is praised for being mysterious; rulers are praised for explaining mysteries.

· So what is God really like?

o Can you see him? Is he really so holy and powerful that nobody can look upon him and live?

o If so, why did Ezekiel and John both describe how he looks?

o John’s first look into heaven in Revelation is of God’s throne:

Revelation 4:2b-3 (NLT2) 2 I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. 3 The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.

§ Ezekiel said,

Ezekiel 1:26-28 (NIV) 26 Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a 📷figure like that of a man. 27 I 📷saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.

· 📷Is that why Moses thought a bush was on fire? Was it that God’s like a fire from the waist down and he was standing behind the bush?

· Or maybe it was an angel, because Scripture describes an angel as

Revelation 10:1 (NIV) 1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.

o But if that’s what angels look like, then does that mean an angel was sitting on God’s throne? Why would God allow that?

· Thinking about all this, what does it mean to be made in his image?

· Sure, we have theological answers, but where is the wonder?

o Theology tells us that we are made in his image for reasons such as:

§ We are spiritual, as he is

§ We were made to be in relationship, because he is relational

§ We are rational, logical, existential thinkers, because God is

§ We love because God loved us first

o But what else might it mean that we are made “in his image”?

§ Might it also be that we have 2 legs and arms because (as Ezekiel among others implies) he does?

§ I don’t know

o There’s a mystery here, and it’s worth looking into

Proverbs 25:2 (NIV) 2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

· Romance has its power because of mystery

Proverbs 30:18-19 (NLT2) 18 There are three things that amaze me— no, four things that I don’t understand: 19 how an eagle glides through the sky,

o How does it make progress?

§ Avian biology

§ Aerodynamics

§ But there’s still a poetry and something undefinable

o The same goes for

how a snake slithers on a rock,

how a ship navigates the ocean,

how a man loves a woman.

o You can talk about hormones,

o and brain chemistry

o and relationship skills

o but there is still something mysterious in the romance, isn’t there

o that je ne sais quoi that is enticing and magical in a good relationship

· The same thing is true in our relationship with God

o It goes beyond good theology

o And daily disciplines of prayer and Bible study

o And baptism and communion

o There is mystery, and divine romance that is meant to

§ Make us interested in Him

§ And draw us closer

§ And touch us deeper than just right belief and orthodox experience

· Take time to ponder the wonders of God

Job 5:9 (NIV) 9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

· As deep as you go, you won’t touch bottom

· But it is a glorious thing to seek those things out

Proverbs 25:2 (NIV) 2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

o To look into Just how BIG is he? How loving?

o How can he be both fully just AND fully loving?

o Does he have a sense of humor? Does he laugh at the same things I do?

· Diving into mysteries about God

o – Things we don’t understand –

o can unlock places in our hearts that knowledge and memorization and obedience can’t

o And it takes our hearts fully alive to come to know God fully

Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV) 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

· You’ll never know how big God might be if you’re afraid to see if he’s big enough for you right now

o You have to ask the hard questions, put him to the test

o And wonder about things that – at first glance – may seem silly

§ What might the whole of creation look like to God? How many universes? And from what perspective does he look?

§ Has he created life on other planets?

· If so, what does the Crucifixion mean to them? Because we have been told that all of creation is redeemed by Jesus’s work on the cross

· So don’t be afraid to dive into the mysteries

o Sometimes the questions are more important than finding answers