As believers, there are core beliefs we should have about God. Doctrines we should know to be true. Two of them are the knowability and incomprehensibility of God.
For us to know God, He has to make Himself known to us. His is self-revelation.
“For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them.” Romans 1:19 ESV
Here are two facts about this,
“God’s free decision to make himself known through both general and special revelation and the God-given capacity of human beings, as image-bearers of God to know him.” (Allison, 2018 )
When we believe that there is a God, it is because God has given us this knowledge. Whether we choose to accept or deny this does not change that there is a God. Whether you refuse that you can know God (agnosticism) or you deny that He exists (atheism), in some way, you have to know about God in order not to believe in Him.
Let’s look closer at the general and special revelation.
“General revelation is God’s disclosure of himself to all people at all time and in all places. It come through the creation, conscience, God’s providential care and an innate sense of God with which all peoples are wired. The recipients of general revelation know that God exists, some of divine attributes and basic principles of his moral law” (Allision, 2018)
“The Bible witnesses to five modes of special revelation, which is God’s communication to particular people whom he has chosen. (1) Scripture leads to faith in Christ for salvation and equips believers for every good work (2 Tim 3:15-17) …. (2) historical event (for example exodus), by which God manifested his power, righteousness, and wrath; (3) dreams and visions (for example, to Abraham and Joseph), internal communication by which God reveals his will; (4) direct divine speech (for example God’s communication with Moses) by which expressed his commands and promises and the (5) incarnation, by which the Son of God became a man and revealed the words, works and nature of God.” (Allison, 2018)
This revelation demonstrates that God reveals Himself to us naturally (general revelation) and personally (special revelation). To understand the natural revelation, we must learn about the personal revelation through Christ.
Jesus tell us in Matthew 11:27
“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” ESV
Although we can know God personally, we must remember that we can never understand him fully.
“Because God is infinite and we are finite or limited, we can never fully understand God. In this sense God is said to be incomprehensible…… It is not true to say that God is unable to be understood, but it is true to say that he cannot be understood fully or exhaustively…..it is also true that we can never fully understand any single thing about God” (Grudem, 2020)
Our capacity as created beings is limited, yet we should rejoice in what we know about God.
God is love (I John 4:8), He is light ( I John 1:5), He is righteous and just (Rom 3:26) are just a few that the Scriptures tell us.
“We have true knowledge of God from Scripture, even though we do not have exhaustive knowledge” (Grudem, 2020)
“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” Psalms 145:1-3 ESV
References
Allison, G. R. (2018) 50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith: A Guide to Understanding and Teaching Theology
Grudem, W (2020) Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine 2nd Edition
Wow!!!