UNDERSTANDING GOD (Part 2: Can God Create A Rock So Big That Even He Cannot Lift It?)

Humanity, drunk with pride and wise in foolishness (Rom. 1:22), claiming to be spiritual leaders, spew forth mindless theories, viewed as facts, about the nature of God that are antagonistic to God’s own revelation of Himself (2 Tim. 4:3). Pompous speeches about what God would do and what God would not do while interpreting the law based on their preconceived image of a Heavenly, idol god that does not exist. Fearful sinners sold on interpretative judgments that can only emanate from a god they created from ignorance. It is man’s ineptness in living, verbal color “Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm” (1 Tim. 1:7). The law of God is a manifestation of the nature of God (John 1:1). Proliferating countless false ideas of the nature of God and His law, men love to pontificate about both while possessing knowledge of neither. To know the nature of God is to begin the proper mindset to interpret the law, righteousness, and truth.

The title question requires a discussion of the nature of God. To understand God, one must not only consider His relationship to mankind but consider the foolishness of how people perceive God in many situations. While God reveals Himself to humanity, this does not guarantee humanity accurately understands the nature of God. People ponder how God could create a world where most people condemn themselves (discussed last week), they also ask how God could be all-powerful and yet limited in actions (Titus 1:2), or how could a loving God send someone to Hell? God provides such answers for those who take the time to seek the answers in the right place (Heb. 11:6).

God “inhabiteth eternity” (Isa. 57:15). God exists outside time, which allows Him to see all of human existence as a single event. People try to put God in the timeline of human idealism by saying God’s prophecies are unrealistic and false because by predicting the future, one changes it. Others attempt to discredit the idea of God because He has no beginning and end, saying it is not logical. Using these excuses, critics only show their lack of understanding in the nature of God and eternity. God created time; therefore, He must exist beyond time and space (2 Peter 3:8; Gen. 1:1).

“For I am the Lord, I change not” (Ma. 3:6). The invariableness and unchanging nature of God reveals likewise, His unchanging judgment and teachings (Heb. 13:8; Rom. 2:11; James 1:17). When the foolishness of false doctrine states that God is not the same God of the Old Testament, and God’s measure of judgment is dependent on what a person believes, they are showing their ignorance in God’s nature. God’s judgment will not change just because man wants Him to be more tolerant toward homosexuals, transgenders, fornicators, drunkards, drug abusers, etc… The laws of Christ in the Bible are not antiquated, they are as immutable as God.

God, likewise, inhabiteth supremacy, being all-powerful. “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee” (Jer. 32:17). The foolishness of men may ask, “Can God make a rock so heavy He cannot lift it?” Either way one answers, it implies there is something God cannot do. All-powerful does not mean that God can do anything and everything He wants without consequences. Such an idea is the misguided understanding of how a person sees the term ‘all-powerful.’ God cannot lie (Tit. 1:2), God cannot be tempted by sin, God cannot use sin to tempt people (James 1:13). All-powerful does not mean one can sin without consequence because sin is a show of weakness not a show of power; sin is a shortcoming (Rom. 3:23). God is all-powerful because He has no weakness nor shortcoming. If one reads the Bible with the idea that God will do whatever ‘I want Him to do,’ or ‘what I think He should do,’ then the studier is wrong. A person will likely stop reading and studying the Bible under this mindset because the individual thinks God is not what is expected, but a seeker of truth cannot expect of God what God did not promise or say He would do. A reader of the Bible must see God for who He says He is. It is not fair to project on God what God never put on Himself.

Divine wrath is often an enigma to man (2 Thess. 1:8,9). How can a loving God send someone to eternal damnation? Is this not a contradiction in character? God allows people the freedom of choice (Joshua 24:15). People choose to walk down a path to condemnation (Matt. 7:13,14), people choose to ignore the truth and commands of God (Matt. 13:15), people choose to not obey the gospel despite all that God has done for mankind (Rom. 1:21,22). In short, God does not condemn people, people condemn themselves by refusing the guidance of God and obedience to the gospel (Heb. 2:3)! God is going to give the world everything needed to be saved, but people must accept it. It is not the fault of God if people refuse His Words.

God’s nature, unlike man’s inquires, do not deal in the illogical. Before the skeptics pat themselves on their backs for a brilliantly orchestrated question designed to discredit the Almighty, the individuals first need to ask if the question fits within the framework of what God has said about Himself. All such dubious questions about God expose the ignorance of the one asking the question rather than demean the authority of God.

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