Answers to Questions

Thinking about yesterday's post, I know of another question that I often see asked in chat, and have heard in other places. It is usually posed by those who do not claim a relationship with Jesus, and often it is offered as "proof" that God's existence is not a reality.

With little variation, the question goes something like this; "If God is three persons in one God, how can He be an offering of Himself to Himself?" This is really a question about the triune nature of God, and the Trinity can be a real roadblock to for some people. I believe that what they are really asking is, "How can God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit be three distinct persons, and be one God?" It shouldn't really be surprising that people ask this question, because God is God. He is incomprehensible. We are finite beings. He is the Infinite Being, so much greater than our meager ability to understand Him.

There are so many things that we do not understand about this life and the life after, that it should be no surprise we cannot completely understand the God who created us, and all that surrounds us. The Trinity is no different. It's a word we won't find in the Bible, but is the term that theologians have selected to help describe the relationship of the persons of the Godhead. I've heard Chuck Smith and other pastors say things like, "Mine is not to understand it, mine is just to believe it." Part of the reason we accept certain doctrines as true, is precisely because they are beyond our comprehension.

In yesterday's post, I talked a bit about the Savior's two natures, because He is at once fully human and fully divine. Again, this is a mystery to us. We can't fully understand it, but we know that it is true. I believe that the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity as He is often called, came to earth and took on human form, and in full submission to the Father's will, died on the Cross in our place.

Asking the question, "How could God sacrifice Himself to Himself?" is an attempt to apply logic to God to explain or deny Him. There's nothing wrong with logic as I see it, but it can only take one so far. It can also create more problems than it might solve in the realm of things spiritual. I don't write this to excuse careless thinking. I write it to encourage us to remember that our intellect and our ability to discern things, have limits.

As a friend of mine once told me, there is nothing wrong with telling someone who asks, that we don't have a compelling answer for such questions, or that we have no answer at all. If I were the one asking the question, I would certainly appreciate the honesty.